Friday Flashback: WSBK TV38

Something happened to television this week. New shows came on the air, new seasons premiered their new episodes, and a whole new network has taken to the stage – the CW. Since childhood we've known NBC, CBS, and ABC as the big three. At some point along the line that Simpson's carrying station Fox hit the UHF band, but we still had our favorite indie stations on the ultra-high frequencies. TV38 (WSBK) and WLVI 56 replayed sitcoms, showed cartoons for kids, and each had their own special flavor of programming and hosts. We've mused on it before, but TV38's movie loft certainly kept us busy in front of the tube on some rainy weekends.

We don't claim to have an inside track on station acquisition, politics of affiliation, or what programming will actually make it through the fall season. We do know that it was almost comforting to see WSBK back out on it's own as a station. They've kept the circle logo that they used with the UPN branding that they just left behind, but have replaced the UPN with 38 inside the circle. It would have been nice to see them return to some of the 80's era TV38 logos and pull Dana Hersey back into the studio. Alas, we can't always get what we want. 56 is the big change this week as they re-launched under the CW network branding and programs from both the WB and UPN. 56 has also been acquired by the parent company of WHDH (channel 7) and will integrate the local NBC newscasts and personalities as their news team. We suppose that TV38 (home to the Red Sox on TV once upon a time) might have gotten the nod as the local CW affiliate if we were still turning the UHF dial to tune stations in. Making it all the way around to 56 was a bit more of an undertaking than hitting 38 on the TV we grew up with. This week we bring you a Friday Flashback we found on YouTube of TV38's lineup promotion 30-second spot. 'Dinner' sounds delish.