BEN HUNTER

One comment Hunter made during one of his shows has always bothered me.  He said that "a driver's license was a privilege."

The TV Party/Lost LA writes:

Do you by any chance remember a fellow on KTTV channel 11 in L.A. named Ben Hunter?

As I recall, he hosted one of those afternoon movie shows in which he would call someone at random, and they'd answer a movie trivia question. I believe he referred to it as Hunter's College of Movie Knowledge, or something like that. I remember he died in 1980, which upset all of us - his show had become a regular ritual for my mom and me (well, for me in the summer--I was in school back then).

If you do remember, is there a chance you might have a page devoted to him eventually?  From the LA Times: 

Having lived all over the country, growing up with L.A. TV in the 1950s and 1960s was the best. I saw such good movies on Channel 9 and 11 that I've never seen since. Programs like Chucko the Clown, Sheriff John, Ben Hunter's Movie Matinee (with cigarette and coffee cup in hand), George Putnam and the News, Seymour's Horror Theatre, the Channel Nine Movie (where you saw the same movie everyday for a week so you won't miss it). What a time to live! Today's reality junk starring forgettable losers will never compare. TV like those days we will never see likes of again.

An affectionate review of Ben Hunter's book, The Baja Feeling: 

THE BAJA FEELING was written by Ben Hunter, the host of KTTV's Movie Matinee (going back 30-40 years ago).  I remember him telling his TV audience about the book, but I never looked into buying it. For some reason, this summer I thought about it and decided to try to find it. It is a gem of a book if you like to read about traveling. And it is a special gem, because the Baja that existed when Ben and his wife traveled, no longer exists. I was sad to find out that Ben Hunter died not too long after having written this book--and I haven't been able to find a good biography of his life on line. It would be nice to find out more about him...I think his wife lived about 20 years or more as a widow, and I read somewhere that one of their sons lives in the house they built in Baja. GOD BLESS BEN AND MARGIE HUNTER...THANK YOU FOR A GREAT BOOK ABOUT AN ENCHANTED TIME!

At the 2:07 minute mark of this video, you will see Ben Hunter advertising home equity loans with Continental Home Loan.  He had a terrific voice.  But watch the video all the way through if you can.  You'll find lots of terrific commercials from those days.  Love them.

Sally Baker, a.k.a. Hobo Kelly.  Here is her Facebook page.  Here is her Wikiwand page.  There was something disturbing about her I thought.  I didn't like that she called her dog "Dum Dum," nor that her make-up made her look like she had a missing front tooth.  I would not let my kids watch her show if it were still on.  

After I received today's comment from Raiderman, I cleaned the format on this post up a bit.  Thank you, Raiderman.  And in doing so I found that a few of the links were now dead, so I needed to replace them.  I found that Sally Baker who played TV's most lovable hobo was married to Walt Baker, who according to this IMDB biography was known for "macabre movies."  Now that may explain why I found Hobo Kelly a bit creepy.  I don't know.  But then I found this.

Baker was the executive producer of a sex education documentary that aired on Channel 9 on Dec. 29, 1983. In a seven-paragraph review that appeared in the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, reviewer Peter Bunzel wrote, “My impression is that executive producer Walt Baker . . . told his writer . . . ‘We’ve got a hot potato here—let’s pour on titillating innuendo and as much bare flesh as we can get away with. Viewers will eat it up.’”

So that's troubling, though in his defense, he sued for libel, but people do have 1st Amendment protections of free speech.  Then there was this.

Baker sued the newspaper and the reviewer, saying that no such conversation took place and that the article defamed him.A state trial judge threw out the libel suit, ruling that the review was an expression of opinion, but a California appeals court said it went beyond a mere critique and reinstated the suit.

After the state Supreme Court overruled the appeals court, saying that the article was a constitutionally protected statement of opinion, Baker brought his case to the nation’s highest court, but the U.S. Supreme Court in January 1987 refused to revive the suit.

At KHJ, Baker also produced other documentaries and was executive producer of Los Angeles Lakers road games. He later served as vice president of Celtic Vision in Dublin and as director of programming and public affairs at KBCI-TV in Boise, where he hosted Eye on Idaho. 

So what is the verdict?  Given what I saw on screen then and what I see on YouTube today of her episodes of her old show, I am creeped out.  I would say that Walt Baker was pushing the envelope of decency.  And how does one overlook the fact that he created the character El Vira?  Baker was an executive at KHJ-9, Channel 9.  I remember it well. 

Walt Baker, a former programming executive at KHJ-TV in Los Angeles whose libel lawsuit over a highly critical TV review in a local newspaper made it all the way to the Supreme Court, has died. He was 84.

Baker, who hired Cassandra Peterson to host late-night horror movies as the sexy and gothic Elvira character, died April 7 of natural causes at his home in Boise, Idaho, his family said.  Sexy and gothic? 

Yeah, I'd say he and his wife, Hobo Kelly, were into something.  

 Cal Worthington and his dog, Spot.