Phoenix Television, Circa 1971
Black-and-White Wednesday: A young girl watches THE WALLACE AND LADMO SHOW.
A seven-year-old girl watches The Wallace and Ladmo Show on KPHO, Phoenix, Arizona, at 4:46 p.m. on a day in 1971 or 1972. Rabbit-ear antennae and Phoenix Library books sit on top of the set and a clock shows the time.
Ostensibly a kids show, Wallace and Ladmo contained hilariously satirical and parodic bits—featuring a cowardly superhero (Captain Super), a down-on-his-luck movie cowboy (Marshall Good), and Aunt Maude, who read frightful children’s books. Its hosts, Wallace (right) and Ladmo, are visible in the photo. Broadcast live for much of its 35-year (!) run, it became a Phoenix institution—still fondly remembered long after it went off the air in 1989.
Steven Spielberg has even spoken of the show’s impact on his filmmaking and sense of humor while he was a boy in Scottsdale.
An Interview with the Folks Behind Wallace and Ladmo
I had the good fortune to interview Bill Thompson, Ladimir Kwiatkowski, and Pat McMahon in the summer of 1974 when I was an intern at KDKB radio. The audio interview is now online.
Why the canted angle?
I’ve chosen to post an uncropped image to once again show the difficulty I had getting level shots with a twin-lens reflex camera. I raised this issue previously in a photo of Maureen posing in front of a pizzeria.
Photo Deets
Camera - Yashica Mat-124 twin-lens reflex
Film Stock - Kodak Tri-X film
Film Type - 120 (2 1/4 x 2 1/4” or 6 x 6 cm)
ASA - 400
Focal length - 80 mm
Shutter speed unknown
Date of capture - circa 1971
Scanned from the original 120 negative, October 2017, at 3200 dpi resolution (7413x7272 pixels—including the sprocket holes)
© Copyright 1971 Jeremy Butler.
TLR camera tilts aside, I love this nod to that era so much!
An interesting glimpse back in time. When I read the precise time on some day over a two year period, I had to read that again. At first it seemed such an odd statement, at odds with itself. Then it registered in my head and I went back and studied the image further, finding the clock that just had to be there somewhere! Thanks for sharing.
Btw as much I love tlrs, their viewfinders aren't the most intuitive for alignment purposes 🤔🙃🙂