Getting Schooled: The Good Ship News (1960's)

Many of us have grown up with WTEN's morning news briefing for kids, The Good Ship News, which started as a 5 minute program, airing at 7:55 am, as a lead-in to Captain Kangaroo on CBS. Anchorman Ralph Vartigan, billed as Commander Ralph, read the news, with a weather puppet, Mr. Monkey, aiding Vartigan in reading the forecast at the end of the show.



Fellow blogger Chuck Miller acquired the above image from a 3rd party for his blog on the Albany Times-Union website about 10 years ago. Another image, on flickr.com, suggests Good Ship News launched in 1963, as Vartigan and Mr. Monkey are sitting before a cake marking the newscast's 10th anniversary.

Unfortunately, in the words of Geoffrey Chaucer, all good things must come to an end.

In the fall of 1977, as WTEN was switching from CBS to ABC, swapping affiliations with WAST (now WNYT), Good Ship News came to an end, replaced at 6:55 am by Young People's News. Vartigan retired his Navy uniform, and would pull double duty, as he also co-anchored WTEN's noon newscast at that time. In fact, for much of the 70's, he'd use the time after Good Ship to change outfits and co-host Dialing For Dollars, another 70's staple at WTEN that didn't survive the decade.

Rating: A.