| Huell Howser |
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Information AboutHuell Howser |
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| american television personalities | |
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Huell Burnley Howser (b. October 18 , 1945 in Gallatin , Tennessee ) is the host of several travel and human interest series produced by the Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET . Howser is best known as the host of the PBS travel series, '' California's Gold ''. The show tours historical and cultural sites in California as Howser investigates and conducts informal interviews with small ethnic groups, local residents, business owners, tour guides and docents, curators, experts, and so on, walking along with them and the cameraman (whom he usually refers to by name, including Luis, Troye, or Cameron). The production of the series is generally low-key but because of Howser's affable on-air personality and his Southern drawl, it is still enjoyable to many public station viewers. Howser is popularly known by his trademark exclamation "Oh My Gawd!" and other expressions, such as "Oh it's beautiful!". Also memorable is his closing line "...and it is a fine example of California's Gold. S'long everybody!" Howser hosts other similar programs such as ''Visiting... with Huell Howser'', in which he visits several neighborhoods, including mainly unique business establishments, special local events, and ethnic communities, throughout the Los Angeles . The AAA-sponsored one-hour program ''Road Trip'' is a similar premise to ''California's Gold'' where he visits mainly small towns and multiple destinations throughout the state of California. Other programs include Our Neighborhoods (profiling communities in Los Angeles), The Bench (focusing on informal interviews with interesting people), and various specials. Educated in Tennessee and after receiving his Bachelors degree from University Of Tennessee, Knoxville , his career in television began at WSM-TV in Nashville , after serving on the staff of Senator Howard Baker ( Republican -Tennessee). Howser began a series of "human interest" stories for WSM, such as interviewing the owners of pet pigs. This segment began as a way of filling out the local newscast, which had recently been expanded to an hour format for the first time and had a serious need for additional content. Howser became extremely popular in the Nashville area as the host of a popular segment on what was at that time still a market-dominant station, especially with regard to local news. However, he became the subject of controversy in the summer of 1979 . Howser did a story about how the former Tennessee Governor's Mansion was slated for demolition to make way for a Popeye's Fried Chicken outlet. In this story, he made no secret of his outrage and disgust at this development. He was ordered by station management not to make any further mention of this on the air, but ignored the order and did so anyway. At this point, he was given a thirty-day suspension. Before the suspension was over, Howser secured new employment doing essentially the same thing in a far larger market, New York, and left Nashville. He has often since stated that he might still be looking for more pet pigs around Nashville if this incident had never occurred. After working in New York for several years, he moved to Los Angeles in 1981 to work as a reporter for KCBS-TV. He worked globally from Switzerland and Middle East to Nicaragua , and then from Nicaragua to former Soviet Union , before returning to the type of human-interest local reporting in which he initially made his mark. Each program has its own Underwriter (i.e., a public television term for a "sponsor"). For example, ''California's Gold'' is underwritten by Sempra Energy , ''Road Trip'' by the American Automobile Association , AAA, California's Golden Parks by Toyota , and ''California's Green'' (a nature-themed program) by British Petroleum . Several articles written by Huell Howser have appeared in ''Westways Magazine'' , of the Automobile Club Of Southern California . These articles were mainly reflections of the travels in the AAA-sponsored Road Trip series . Howser seems to have been a to America and the major American political parties in a 1999 interview with the Riverside County newspaper ''The Press-Telegram'' . Howser is suspected to be a Homosexual by some. He usually avoids speaking about his private life, but lives alone and is apparently unmarried. [http://www.seniorlifeusa.com/huel.htm Howser was parodied as Howell Huser in '' The Simpsons '' episode, There's Something About Marrying . In the episode, he literally falls off a turnip truck. He currently resides in Palm Springs . PROGRAMS (TITLES AND EMPHASIS) All shows are 30 minutes in duration and are broadcasted during the weekdays. Road Trip is a one hour program and is typically aired on weekends. Series
Specials
EXTERNAL SITES
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