We Hoped "Lounge TV" Would Be Back, But It Won't Be Returning

Over the past two years, people have asked if our show would be back.

It was my intention to resume production of the show, but quite frankly, I was tied-up with a couple of other things. This Summer however, I had began taking tentative steps which likely would have brought us back for a couple of specials during the fourth quarter of 2006 and hopefully, a resumption of "Lounge TV" as a series in 2007.

Sadly, that will not happen.

I will not go into the details, but circumstances beyond our control have forced us to abandon plans to resume production of "Lounge TV". Unfortunately, the series has now ended.

I hate to have to announce such a decision. "Lounge TV" had a large and loyal viewing audience, who really enjoyed watching our show.

While "Lounge TV" is now in the history books, I hope to be hosting some other television program of some type in the near future. I can't tell you when that will be, since at this writing, I don't have any ideas for a show or offers to do one. It may be several months.

But one thing is for sure. I enjoy working in front of a television camera and hosting programs that entertain and even inform. I expect to host another program sometime in the future. Drop by our website from time-to-time, and should any new show for me come up, you'll learn about it.

In the meantime, many, many thanks for your support of "Lounge TV". Your watching our show made it all worth it.

Curse? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Curse!
The Boston Red Sox have done it!

For the first time in 86 years, the Sox are World Series Champions!

After their amazing comeback in the American League Championship Series (coming back from a 0-3 decifit against the New York Yankees to win the AL pennant), perhaps it was only fitting that they not only beat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, but to beat the Cards in four straight games.

Not only did the Red Sox lift the "Curse Of The Bambino", they smashed it!

For Red Sox fans, this makes up for the 1946 and 1967 World Series, when the Sox on both occassions took St. Louis to a seventh and deciding game, only to see the Cardinals win.

It will go down as the greatest moment in the history of Boston sports, and one of the greatest moments in the long and storied history of America's national game.

Congratulations on a job well done!

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

(This message was posted a little more than an hour after the conclusion of Game 4, a 3-0 Boston victory)

Is The Curse Finished?
Boston Red Sox fans have always been told that nothing is easy.

Even after the stunning come-from-behind victory over the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, many Red Sox fans thought that if the Olde Towne Team were to finally win a World Series for the first time since 1918, that the victory would only come after a seven-game nailbiter of a World Series.

As I am writing this entry, the Red Sox have just won the third game of the Series to take a 3-0 lead over St. Louis. One more victory, and the "Curse Of The Bambino" will be smashed.

Only one team in baseball history has ever blown a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven postseason series to lose it: none other than this year's Yankees.

Since Game 4 of the ALCS, the Red Sox have played like......well, they've played like no Red Sox team ever has.

If the Red Sox do win the Series, they will win it not only for themselves, but for the 1948 and 1967 teams who lost the Series to St. Louis, both times in seven games; the 1948 team that lost a one-game playoff for the pennant to Cleveland, the 1978 team that lost a one-game playoff for the AL East title to the Yankees, the 1986 team who heartbreakingly lost the Series to the New York Mets in seven, and every other BoSox team who has come close to winning, but never could do it.

Expect tomorrow night's (October 27th) Game 4 to attract the largest television audience in Boston history for anything. More Bostonians will probably watch it than did the first moonwalk.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

Miracle On The Diamond
As we're based here in the Boston area, the Boston Red Sox' amazing comeback against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series (after falling behind three games to none, Boston came back to win the series four games to three) is something that will be talked about for generations to come.

Ahead: the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. While many Red Sox fans were hoping to face Houston (and perhaps seeing ex-Sox pitcher Roger Clemens face the Sox and maybe play in Fenway Park for one last time), the Red Sox do have a rather painful history against St. Louis. Remember 1946, when Enos Slaughter's baserunning won Game 7? Or remember 1967, when Bob Gibson's pitching in Game 7 closed the door on the "Impossible Dream" season?

Teams from Boston and St. Louis have met for the championship in all of the "big four" sports (the basektball meetings were prior to the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta). And in three of those sports, Boston teams have beaten St. Louis. In 1957, 1960 and 1961, the Celtics beat the old Hawks. In 1970, the Bruins beat the Blues. And just a little more than two and a half years ago, the Pats dramatically beat the Rams.

The only sport where a Boston team has never beaten a St. Louis team is baseball.

Until now.

Many of us in the Boston area believe that this is the year that the Red Sox will break the "Curse Of The Bambino" and finally win the big one for the first time since 1918.

Why not? Last year's Red Sox team would never have been able to come back from a 0-3 deficit against the Yankees. This year's team did.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV".

(Disclaimer: This entry was written and posted several hours before the start of the first game of the 2004 World Series)

A Radio Format Change I Have Mixed Feelings About
Regular viewers of our show are aware that vocalist Joan Goodman and musical director David Cuddy perform many of the greatest standards from the American Songbook.

And for the last three and a half years, WCRN radio (830) programmed this kind of music, referred to in the industry as "adult standards".

Although based in Worcester, WCRN has a powerful 50,000 watt daytime signal (and 5,000 watts at night) aimed straight at Boston. They have gotten a go-ahead from the FCC to boost nighttime power to the same 50,000 watt level.

But yesterday (August 29th), WCRN abruptly changed formats to a 1950's/1960's oldies format.

If you listen to oldies radio on a regular basis, you know that most such stations have dumped music from the mid-1950's (the birth of rock 'n roll) through 1963. Most stations playing oldies music now focus on the 1964-1978 period, and it may no more than a couple of years before music of the rest of the 1960's and the first half of the 1970's vanishes from most oldies stations.

WCRN will find a loyal, if not enormous, audience with their new format.

As for me personally, I have mixed feelings. As an adult standards format, WCRN helped keep the great standards of American music on the radio in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, music often performed on our show.

But on the other hand, Joni, David and I all grew up on the music (okay, maybe not the mid-fifties stuff) WCRN is now programming. And regular viewers of our show will know that Joni and David have performed 1950's and 1960's rock 'n roll songs on the show.

For the moment, adult standards can still be heard in the Boston area on WXKS-AM (1430). But WXKS-AM has a major drawback: Although it has a good daytime signal through the Boston area, after sunset their signal becomes directional. At night, WXKS-AM's signal is beamed towards the "North Shore" suburbs north of the city. Night reception in downtown Boston is spotty at best; areas to the west and south of Boston, including my house, can't pick it up.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

Update, October, 2004: WXKS-AM has also dropped adult standards to carry talk programming from the Air America Radio network. WXKS dropped standards on October 1st, and after running a weekend of taped bits of Air America's Al Franken and hard-rock songs about "freedom" and "liberty" (this is known as a "stunt" in the business), began broadcasting Air America programming on October 4th.

"Idol" Worship
Last Tuesday (August 24th), I weaned myself away from watching the nonstop Olympics coverage to TV to travel to Worcester along with our resident vocalist Joan Goodman to see a concert by ten of the finalists from this past season's "American Idol".

Joni's a very big fan of "Idol" and during each season of the show, she's had strong opinions about who should advance and who should be voted-off.

We were both quite impressed with "Idol 3" winner Fantasia Barrino, especially her show-stopping performance of the old standard "Summertime". As incredible as her performance of that song was on television, it's twenty times that when you hear it in person. I feel she will be a major force in the music business for years to come.

Another observation: Although his interest in the great standards of the American Songbook bely his young age (16 when he competed on the show; he's now 17), John Stevens' singing during the concert caused the thousands of very young girls in the stands at the Worcester Centrum to scream at the top of their lungs. Believe it or not, screaming from teenybopper girls was what someone who went to a Frank Sinatra concert in the early 1940's would have heard!

But the best part of the show for me came during the intermission, when two young fans of "Lounge TV" came up to me and had some nice words about the show. They probably came to scream their hearts out for John Stevens, but they were extremely nice to me, and I appreciate their enjoying our show. Those nice words made the hour-long drive to Worcester worth it.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

Where Did Everybody Go??
Before the recent Democratic Convention, everyone was predicting that there would be mammoth traffic jams here in the Boston area, thanks to some roads being closed for security reasons.

Some feared that these closures would create traffic jams that would extend hundreds of miles from Boston.

But something else happened during Convention week.

The roads were almost completely devoid of traffic.

Much of Boston resembled the deserted backlot of an abandoned motion-picture studio. It was that empty.

Everybody who didn't have Convention-related business either stayed inside their homes or left town for the week.

Now that the convention is over, Boston will once again have it's notorious rush-hour traffic jams. And you know what? It will be great for the city to get back to normal.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

Can The Red Sox Stay Red-Hot?
If you've lived here in the Boston area for any period of time, you know that the city's baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, are almost like a religion.

Really!

The team sells-out most of it's home games. The team's games attract large TV audiences. If you walk along any New England beach on a hot Summer afternoon when the Sox are playing, you can hear the voices of WEEI radio broadcasters Joe Castiglione and Jerry Trupiano coming out of every transistor radio and boombox.

And through the first month of the 2004 season, the Sox are in first place.

Those outside of the Boston area wonder why we're not even more excited about a first-place baseball team.

They don't know that the Red Sox have a history of somehow managing to avoid winning a World Series championship since 1918. Remember game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series?

So, Red Sox fans are taking all this with the proverbial "grain of salt".

But they're also optimistic, and are hopeful that the Sox will finally win the 2004 World Series.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

We're On Hiatus

Our show is on hiatus because of the fact (as noted on our homepage and in a press release posted on our press releases page) that the responsibility for local cable-access programming in Norwood is being shifted from Comcast to a new organization just starting-up.

At the moment, we do not have a studio available to us for taping the show, so we are on hiatus.

If you've seen other parts of our website, you know that we're hoping to move into regional syndication.

We should emphasize that "Lounge TV" has NOT been cancelled. It WILL come back. We simply don't know when, or whether it will be shown on local-access cable in the Norwood area or go into regional syndication.

Let me conclude this entry by saying that your watching our show means a lot to us. Let me also reassure you that as soon as we find out the exact date that our show will be coming back, we'll post that information on our homepage.

This isn't the end of "Lounge TV"---only the end of the beginning. Stay tuned.

-Joseph Gallant, Host, "Lounge TV"

 

Update, September 18th, 2006: The above entry was written on February 22nd, 2004. As noted in the entry written on September 18th, 2006, "Lounge TV" will not be coming back. We are very sorry, because we were looking to resume production of the show as a couple of specials in late 2006 and then as a regular series in 2007. Again, thanks for all your support of our show over the years. Your watching our show made a real difference!