![]() ![]() He wasn’t happy with the assignment, telling the Chicago Tribune in 1995: “The main problem I had with Albert was that he always told a joke at the end of the forecast and I never knew if it was going to be a one-liner or something longer, so it was difficult to time my forecast to fit the segment.” The American Meteorological Society wasn’t a fan of Albert, either, and gave Skilling 90 days to stop appearing with the sock puppet, or risk losing his seal of approval. weatherman, and was immediately partnered up with the finicky feline. Since 1978, Tom Skilling has been known as the head weather honcho at Chicago’s WGN-TV in Milwaukee, he’ll forever be known as the man responsible for the declawing, neutering, and eventual elimination of “Albert the Alley Cat.” Skilling was hired by WITI-TV in 1975 as the station’s 10 p.m. ![]() (In more recent years, Scott Steele kept the manimal weather team tradition alive with his late “Spunky the Weather Dog.”) Albert stuck around until 1981 and was a huge hit, though he had at least one notable detractor… Tmj4 meteorologist dies tv#The Milwaukee airwaves, however, were home to one of the most popular human-varmint teams of all time: Ward Allen and “Albert the Alley Cat.” Making their WITI-TV debut on August 2, 1965, Allen and Albert-the latter a scruffy puppet voiced and operated by local TV horror host Jack DuBlon-served as the station’s weatherbeings for decades, forever keeping a perpetually cold and dreary Milwaukee warm with the knowledge that it was getting its weather from a dude and a sock. ![]() Way back when, television was littered with serious broadcasters paired up with adorable animal sidekicks-hell, Siskel and Ebert once boasted two of them (“Spot the Wonder Dog” and “Aroma the Educated Skunk”). Zimmerman reported from the front lines in World War II (and palled around with the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein in Paris), but he’s best remembered in town for his long, distinguished run at WITI. Dubbed the “silver-haired dean of Milwaukee broadcast news” by the Journal Sentinel upon his death (at 96) in 2014, Zimmerman had the longest-running on-air broadcasting career in the city’s history, putting in more than 50 years of service in television and radio, mostly at WITI-TV (Channel 6). Join us, as we flip the channel backwards and round up 10 notable figures from Milwaukee’s glorious TV news past.Īny discussion of local TV news legends has to begin with Carl Zimmerman. But look to the past and you’ll find a whole galaxy of memorable Milwaukee broadcasters-some great, some beloved, some controversial, some made out of socks. Yes, these anchors and reporters are bona fide Milwaukee celebrities, able to breathe the same rarefied air as Bob Uecker and that guy who sells sunglasses outside the federal building in the summer. Tune into the local TV news these days and you’ll find a dizzying array of Milwaukee stars. This article was originally published in January 2015. ![]()
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