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It practically gallops!

Tennessee Talker

Two people called me last week to tell me about Huell Howser. My wife was in Missouri, visiting with relatives who had recently traveled to California. They were trying to describe a TV host with an unusual accent and unbridled enthusiasm for his subject matter. My wife knew instantly that they were talking about Huell and called me to confirm his name.

A few days later I got a call from a friend who works as a production assistant on a network series that is currently on hiatus. He told me that he sent an email to Huell Howser Productions offering to do some volunteering during his off-time. He got back a form letter, which said that Huell can’t answer all his mail personally. He thought that was the end of it until his phone rang at 9 o’clock one morning. It was Huell himself, calling to say thanks for the kind offer and to explain that his show has only a two-man crew.

Like a lot of viewers, I would flip past KCET and find myself unable to turn off whichever of Huell’s programs was on at the time. There are at least five different series but they are all just the “Huell Howser Show” to me. The basic gist of them is the same. Huell and his cameraman go someplace mundane and make an interesting story out of it by talking with the locals. One of my favorite episodes was shot at a tuna cannery. I learned that the fish goes in raw and gets cooked during the canning process.

I didn’t know it at the time, but Huell is from Tennessee. It’s no wonder I like him. He was born in Gallatin and broke into TV in Nashville. Not only did he graduate from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, he served as student body president while he was here. However, I doubt he’s coming back. He told the Pasadena Weekly that he wants his ashes to be placed in twenty different locations around California.

One episode of Huell’s show motivated me to get in the car and drive from Burbank to Montebello to buy some egg nog in a glass bottle. My son and I also bought some chocolate milk at Broguiere’s Farm Fresh Dairy.

Coffee is one of my newer passions. During the boring parts of last night’s “Dancing With the Stars,” I watched Huell get amazed by some fancy brewing techniques at Lamill Coffee in Silverlake. It’s one of many episodes available online.

April 13, 2010 | Filed Under Uncategorized 

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