Here is a weathercast from WXLT from 1972. The same station where chubbuck killed herself. Chubbuck was emplyed at WXLT at the time of this weathercast and according to a past message from the weatherman, he does have tape of some of her work but he won't upload any of it on You Tube out of respect for Christine.
Interesting to see how low-tech local TV was back in the early 70's
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-uer93GVkKY
http://www.christinechubbuck.com/
"Christine's Story" is interesting, if only b/c the writer describes in great detail what the video would show.
Death Hag
Welcome...I never knew that 'Network' was based on an actual incident till I read this thread?Originally Posted by GraveyardGirl
Death Hag
Well done!!...I can finally put a face to this woman and what went down?
Sally Quinn, who wrote that article, is also featured in the Blvd. of Broken Dreams documentary about Christine. It seems she has actually viewed the Christine Chubbuck suicide footage based on her detailed account...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sbEp9xFAwts
Contrary to popular belief, the Christine Chubbuck suicide DID AIR LIVE on TV in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, and did not FADE TO BLACK until AFTER she had fired the shot. The camera didn't fade to black until she slowly began to slide down the chair onto the floor...which is disturbing enough to visualize.
I also spoke to that WXLT "weatherman on youtube" and he also told me he had a full episode of Suncoast Digest on tape...but won't be releasing it. I really don't understand why...I think MANY people would love to view some of her normal everyday footage...just to see what she was perhaps like in front of the camera.
The fact that "so much" about Christine has been erased from history really puzzles me...and frustrates me. She really deserves more than that.
She's one that really haunts me. So very little is known about her life and her death. It just makes me sad.
Yea, I know what you mean...I think about Christine often during my times of solitude. One of the things that I always think about is her Yellow VW Beetle...I always have recurring images of her in that car driving to work (on her last day), and parking it into her little "spot" at WXLT. I've always wondered what happened to that car...or if somebody presently owns it.
Looks like I'll be floating Greg Chubbuck an e-mail soon!
About Chubbuck, I wonder if the employees who are working at her station now even remember her and/or what she did? Did they ever do anything at all to "remember" her?
Ive wondered the same mant times.....I actually talked to a guy who worked there at the time and he did not and would not talk about her at all....
Great question. A former WXLT employee e-mailed me recently (he started working there in 1976)...this was his reply...
"I joined the station a couple years after Chubbucks not so graceful swansong from the station."
Here's a segment he did for WXLT...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my0K-...&feature=email
Another WXLT employee actually comments on one of the other Christine Chubbuck blogs (I think the weatherman), and he said that her name was "taboo" at WXLT, and that the management there had strict rules regarding employees even mentioning her...If I find the link again I'll post it!
Lee (a former WXLT employee) wrote on the Cynical-C Blog...
"Iā??m such a big fan of your site, and your post about Chris Chubbuck brought back a lot of memories. Chris and i were co-workers at WXLT during those days and besides her delightful sense of humor, i remember that she was always in the newsroom when i got there and she was always there when i left. She was a good kid."
I just don't understand why everyone wants to sweep her under the carpet.
Well, I think it's time we all removed the carpet!
If you search the internet you will find footage of her suicide. I have seen it. Try simply googling her name.
Renowned Death Hag
If you can find it then please share. We have all been looking and haven't come up with anything.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
"I will be buried in a spring loaded casket filled with confetti, and a future archaeologist will have one awesome day at work."
After searching for a whilt I could not find footage of her suicide. I know I have seen it before on the internet but it was a few years ago and it appears that all footage of the event was taken down. Sorry to get your hopes up!
Yeah thanks a lot man!I actually don't want to see the death but I am very interested in her demeanor in the moments before the deed.
I'm not sure why but this reminds me of the end of the movie The Howling where Dee Wallace Stone turns into the werewolf while she is broadcasting the news live on the air and then a tear slips down her cheek and the shoot her.
Anyone rememeber that?
I seem to recall it existing on the web back in the 90's too (although I didn't view it). Perhaps the family took the necessary steps to have it removed back then...before the internet exploded into a Youtube frenzy. I'm surprised that somebody didn't copy it or something. You would at least think the footage of her "before" the suicide would be readily available. My friend in Sarasota is looking into it...hopefully we can uncover something.
I don't think Christina would have wanted her existence to be erased like that. That WXLT in Sarasota is a JOKE for witholding all of her "innocent" broadcasts...and choosing NOT to talk about her. And that weatherman really needs to come clean and share his footage...a harmless full episode of Suncoast Digest...gheesh!!
I really believe that too. If she had wanted to disappear she wouldn't have made such a statement. Of course, I'm not the first to point out that she is now what she abhorred - a bloody freak show curiosity.
As I said though for me the curiosity is different. I don't to know that part of her. It just makes me sad. She's been so erased.
Today at work I was thinking about this thread. I wonder if WXLT is pulling a KOA here. Denver's KOA radio was the home of talk show host Alan Berg who was shot to death in front of his home back in 1984. Berg was one of those "you can kiss my ass" radio talk show hosts who would scream and yell to those who didn't agree with his views plus Berg from what I have been told used to slam many of people on the air which as it turned out cost him his life. And KOA is not some small little radio station either. With its powerful signal, pretty much everyone west of Indianapolis and Chicago can pick it up at night on AM 850.I seem to recall it existing on the web back in the 90's too (although I didn't view it). Perhaps the family took the necessary steps to have it removed back then...before the internet exploded into a Youtube frenzy. I'm surprised that somebody didn't copy it or something. You would at least think the footage of her "before" the suicide would be readily available. My friend in Sarasota is looking into it...hopefully we can uncover something.
I don't think Christina would have wanted her existence to be erased like that. That WXLT in Sarasota is a JOKE for witholding all of her "innocent" broadcasts...and choosing NOT to talk about her. And that weatherman really needs to come clean and share his footage...a harmless full episode of Suncoast Digest...gheesh!!
For years I have heard KOA had to put up with people ( from all over the world ) stopping by the station wanting to talk about Berg and/or perhaps listen to his old broadcasts thinking KOA has them available for the general public which of course they don't. Today if anyone walks in to KOA and even brings up Alan Berg, I have heard they will toss them out right into the street.
I have to wonder if this is the reason why the name "Christine Chubbuck" is still taboo at WXLT? Perhaps the station has had more than their share of the "curious", people from all over the country calling them up wanting to discuss Chubbuck or even perhaps some of those "curious" folks, out of the blue stopping by the station hoping to see the tape they believe may be in the archives there. In other words maybe WXLT is tired of people who only want to discuss Chubbuck the same way KOA is with those who are still interested in Alan Berg.
Still though WXLT should have done some memorial special or anything to honor Chubbuck. Like it or not, they do hold a place in TV history even if it is in a tragic way. At least with KOA every once in awhile some of their talk show hosts DO mention Berg. So he isn't totally forgotten there.
Last edited by Cathy J.; 06-26-2008 at 08:25 PM.
Cheers for thinking about the Christine thread at work!
It seems to me that being open about it & just putting together a nice montage of her stuff would keep the lookie loos at bay.
Exactamundo! Just give us more than 4 fuckin' seconds, WXLT (or shall I say FCC). WXLT did change their name and location...and there's no telling what happened to their archived material.
Well, looks like I'll start bothering the friendly WXLT WEATHERMAN again!
Well, looks like I'll start bothering the friendly WXLT WEATHERMAN again!
I don't get why he refuses to put Christine and her Suncoast Digest on You Tube. Maybe he says it is "out of respect" but then again I wonder if there is another reason? Maybe he doesn't even own the rights of that tape even though he may have it in his collection.
A similar situation happened with Philadelphia's TV legend Sally Starr some years back. Some of her work found it way onto You Tube. Films of her own show !! However they were taken down off You Tube by..none other than Dick Clark !!! It seems that when Dick Clark took his American Bandstand from Philadelphia to Hollywood in 1964, just before he left Philly he bought the rights to everything in the archives at the station ( WFIL..today's WPVI channel 6 ), even the shows that aired on that station that had nothing to do with American Bandstand like Sally Starr's.
I don't know if that the case here, but something tells me there is "another reason" why he won't upload anything with Chubbuck.
Maybe he'll change his mind one day...there could in fact be another reason perhaps...only he knows. I'm sure we'll get some concrete answers someday.
Senior Death Hag
Wow, I just finished reading "Christine's Story" at that website. What a sad, disturbed woman she seemed to be.
Just drink lots of Kool-Aid, and take one of these blue pills three times a day.
What a shame to go to all the trouble to off yourself on TV and then have it buried, In my opinion her wishes are not being followed. Also, wasn't anybody out and recorded the news to view later. I can't believe no one had a VCR running.
Out of the 500-1000 people that probably witnessed her suicide...there's no telling if any of them actually had a recorder then (or perhaps actually recorded it). I think the future of this footage lies in obtaining the mysterious "law enforcement training video" or the master copy in the FCC archives. I think I'm going to start "befriending" some FCC employees (via the net) to perhaps get some "insider scoop"...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Cassette_Recording
Senior Death Hag
Ah, the dark ages when a Sony Betamax cost $1000 and blank videocasettes were $30. Actually. this was even before that, I guess. I worked in a department store in 1979 and those were our prices.
It really is odd that she's just ignored and not talked about, though. She just seemed to have had a rather unhappy life, from that story on the website.
Last edited by Laura Castellano; 06-27-2008 at 05:18 PM.
Just drink lots of Kool-Aid, and take one of these blue pills three times a day.
I doubt many people had them. Probably like one person per TOWN.
I know for a FACT that I have seen this video. It was at the end of a story about the incident and on her life and I watched it. I remember being totally struck by how nonchalant and deliberate she was about the whole thing, even more than the Bud Dwyer video. I wish I had copied it but like I said, it was years ago. It is out there somewhere, for sure....I seem to recall it existing on the web back in the 90's too (although I didn't view it). Perhaps the family took the necessary steps to have it removed back then...before the internet exploded into a Youtube frenzy. I'm surprised that somebody didn't copy it or something. You would at least think the footage of her "before" the suicide would be readily available. My friend in Sarasota is looking into it...hopefully we can uncover something.
I don't think Christina would have wanted her existence to be erased like that. That WXLT in Sarasota is a JOKE for witholding all of her "innocent" broadcasts...and choosing NOT to talk about her. And that weatherman really needs to come clean and share his footage...a harmless full episode of Suncoast Digest...gheesh!!
My parents back in the 70s ( actually from 1965 until 1986 ) ran a TV store ( even after their divorce !!! ) and thats about how much they sold VCRs were back then as well.
Sears was selling VCRs, well VTR's as far back as 1972 and they I believe were about in the 1800-2800 dollar price range and they included a b/w camera too and since very few people in 1972 made more than 10,000 a year, well not too many people had them. It really was a play thing for the very rich like Carol Burnett, Elvis Presley, Sharon Tate, Hugh Hefner and of course Richard Dawson, Bob Crane and ..ok..John Carpenter !!
Death Hag of Legend
Jeez I remember back around 84 when a brand new VHS tape of a movie cost 39.99 at Target. A fuckin VHS tape! A mass produced magnetic tape recording.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
What was it, Flashdance or Staying Alive?
Death Hag of Legend
Return of the Jedi.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
I was going to say Flashdance too.
My parents for a brief time in the early 80s tried to get into the video rental business. It was quite costly to get a membership in those days.
At first they tried offering regular films like "9 to 5" and "On Golden Pond" but it didn't take very long to figure out what the public really wanted..PORN !!!
So to make money they started offering those kinds of flicks LOL and even X-rated Atari 2600 video games too ( Custer's Revenge !! ).
Actually they did quite well with renting all that porn..enough for them to buy me my very first car in 1984. A 1977 VW Rabbit!!!
Awseome
...and that was BEFORE the SPECIAL EDITION came out!
Senior Death Hag
Oh my GOD that made me laugh! My husband actually has a copy of Custer's Revenge packed away in a box somewhere! This is the only other place I'd ever heard of that thing!
Just drink lots of Kool-Aid, and take one of these blue pills three times a day.
My parents never bought me that game!
PS — Sorry Christine for getting off subject...we'll be getting back with you soon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer's_Revenge
I'm still planning to contact Sally Quinn about the Christine Chubbuck footage...but I've just been too damn busy...but I will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QZVi...eature=related
Wowza. I never heard of this one! Truly horrifying. There must be people out there who remember seeing this. Kids, too, yikes.
Wow, just spent the last 20 minutes reading up on Christine. She hid the revolver in her puppet bag!
Wonder why she had such difficulty finding a guy? She certainly was a beauty. Sounded very complex, though.
Yea, I would've asked Christine out on a date if I had worked with her in the early 70's (I really dig intelligent brunettes)...and yes, she was quite complex...too sad. I really want to score one of her funeral programs.
http://christinechubbuck.com/
Must confess, for the longest time I thought it was a guy in your sig pic. Like some hippie. It's not the best picture, she looks a little mannish. In that short clip, though, she's gorgeous and intense. Definitley a heavy vibe about her though.
Death Hag of Legend
I thought it was that Japanese dude that killed himself on a subway track that Seago posted a thread about.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
Yea, I've always preferred the "tomboy" type girls, the ones in touch with their masculine side. I'm not one that's really into girly girls...
Death Hag of Legend
Oops I am so wrong.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
It doesn't sound like many folks liked her and she made it hard for them to like her. Sad really sad.
Yea, I've always preferred the "tomboy" type girls, the ones in touch with their masculine side. I'm not one that's really into girly girls...
Me too!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote