The on-camera faces and behind-the-scenes producers and videographers from WGAL-TV’s PM Magazine recently reunited for an evening of reconnecting over memories and hilarious anecdotes, and of course, catching up on 45 years of careers and living.
In September 1980, WGAL-TV’s Kim Lemon and Josh Hooper stepped out of a van that was emblazoned with a PM Magazine logo and introduced a new television show format to the Susquehanna Valley. For the next 10 years, Monday through Friday, viewers tuned in at 7:30 p.m. to be entertained by stories about local people and landmarks, mixed among nationally produced features of celebrities, faraway places, unusual/quirky collections and eccentric personalities.
As PM Magazine and Evening Magazine shows aired on 109 television stations across the U.S., the careers of many successful future TV personalities were launched including Tom Bergeron, Nancy Glass, Matt Lauer, Leeza Gibbons, Dennis Miller and Mike Rowe. “It was a way to get into TV,” recalls Kevin Martorana, a Kutztown University student who landed an internship with WGAL-TV’s PM Magazine and was hired as a videographer and producer. “The show was incredibly creative … we had a blast doing it.” So much of a blast, in fact, that Kevin organized the reunion of 15 of the former PM crew.
Winemaker Amy Thorn
Lancaster’s Thorn Hill Vineyards Tasting Room was the party site with a special connection – owner and winemaker Amy Zacharias Thorn was a PM Magazine intern during her time as an Elizabethtown College student.
From traversing Central Pennsylvania to cover polka dancing and donkey baseball, the PM crews also traveled to Mexico, Greece, Hong Kong, Brazil, Germany and more to bring stories to the show’s viewers. Many miles were also traveled 45 years later for this reunion: former on-camera “tipster” Carolyn Black-Sotir was enroute from the Philadelphia Airport, returning from a trip to Italy, before heading to her Maryland home. Former producer Cara Williams Frey traveled from Seattle. Past PM co-hosts Nancy Byrne-Wise arrived from North Carolina, while Doug Allen made the trip from South Carolina.
Lively conversations paused for a video featuring highlights (and bloopers) from the show’s 10 years, archived and edited by Kevin. While Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Simmons and Muhammad Ali may have been among the “stars” PM hosts interviewed, the stories of the Susquehanna Valley’s unique people and the daily unpredictable consequences made the magical memories of our 20-something selves.
“It was great, like hanging out with your friends and getting paid for it,” Josh Hooper reminisced of his PM Magazine years. Kim Lemon reflected, “How grateful we were the day we were hired to work on PM Magazine. What a blessing beyond measure to know each of you and have worked with you during the ‘Golden Days’ of television.”
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