NotTV: Orion Samuelson retiring from WGN 720

[Bob Jersey]

The self-described “unknown cow milker from western Wisconsin," 86, will continue to deliver five or six daily business reports for WGN until Dec 31st. He and wife Gloria will split time between homes in the Chicago 'burbs and Arizona.

https://www.robertfeder.com/2020/09/23/orion-samuelson-retire-60-years-wgn-radio/ (link)

B

[Mark Jeffries]

Orion's time with WGN also included television, most notably the "U.S. Farm Report," which is still running in syndication as "This Week in Agribusiness" with longtime WGN colleague Max Armstrong hosting.  And for many of us in Chicago who had to get up before 6:30 every morning and would put on channel 9 before Ray Rayner, he was seen hosting "Top o' the Morning" with staff organist Harold Turner, where he provided the farm news and markets while Turner played some melodies.  WGN-TV's signon routine was interesting with the fact that Chicago's Bozo the Clown, Bob Bell, did the signon newscast every morning at 6:15 a.m. before going into the announce booth (allegedly with a can of Old Style beer) and doing the station breaks between radio and TV before the daily rehearsal--if you want to call it that--for "Bozo's Circus."  Supposedly, when someone asked Bell why he was still doing booth announcer work, his response was, "Oh, this Bozo thing is never going to last."  He retired from WGN and Bozo in 1984 and the show ran for 17 more years.

Mark Jeffries
spotl...@gmail.com

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[Bob Jersey]

Samuelson's successor is his understudy, Steve Alexander. " I’ve often joked that he gave me the key to the tractor, and I was able to keep it out of the ditch until he returned. "

https://radioink.com/2020/12/17/wgn-names-taps-samuelson-successor/ (link)

B 

Moi, Sept 23rd: