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The WOUB Oral History Project: Merlin The Magician
< < Back toOn this edition of Conversations from Studio B, Joan Butcher talks with Joe Berman, a longtime Ohio University professor and the former producer and director of the nationally syndicated WOUB original television program, Merlin The Magician.
Merlin The Magician first aired in the fall of 1964 and ran throughout much of the decade. Merlin could be seen in 75 markets throughout the United States – all before the creation of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).
Berman and Butcher discuss the founding and history of Merlin, as well as a number of quirks that went into the creation of television programming in the early days of educational broadcasting.
"No start, no stop. If we had an error somewhere occurring, we had to stop the show, stop the tape, re-rack the tape machines, and start recording all over again from the top," said Berman.
You can check out an episode of Merlin The Magician here.