Dolly’s Christmas at Home, The Koppel Report and 20/20 (WEWS, 1990)

Craig’s notes

After hearing the news about Dolly, I changed plans for the stream and put on the Polaroid tape. The pink note promised Christmas at Home, but also something it called 'Sex in the City + Union.' Dolly showed up first, singing in Nashville and taking us through Pigeon Forge. I kept asking for commercials. Instead, just as I was settling into Christmas, the recording jumped to a report about sex in the Soviet Union. I had no idea what tape I was watching anymore.

The Koppel Report did eventually identify itself, and the WEWS breaks finally arrived. TWA offered business class for the price of coach so often that I started counting. Between those ads, the tape jumped back to Dolly, then to station promos, then back to Koppel. A news teaser showed $25,000 worth of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles toys being thrown away in South Africa. I wanted to see the actual story, but the teaser was all we reached. I also kept wanting more Dolly, and after a long search through the tape she did return: Dollywood, a Christmas church service, and the holiday special I had put it on for. I enjoyed that part, even if I thought some of it could have used an edit.

Then 20/20 turned up with a report on hidden messages in store music. I was ready to skip it until somebody started selling subliminal tapes to businesses. The report's sales pitch sent me into my own version of a workplace motivation program: play smooth jazz, interrupt it with 'work harder,' and call it an incentive. We ended in another commercial break, with a Honda in a wheat field, a Salad Shooter and one more TWA pitch. I stopped there. I never got the full Ninja Turtles story, and I haven't reached the rest of this tape.

Content inventory

Shows and segments (playback order)

1. Dolly's Christmas at Home: Nashville and Pigeon Forge: July 9, 1990 appears in the program, not as a recording-day stamp. Dolly visits Pigeon Forge and Dollywood.
2. The Koppel Report: Sex in the Soviet Union (first interruption): The recording cuts into the report while Craig is watching Dolly; he fast-forwards through part of it.
3. Dolly's Christmas at Home: first return: The show briefly comes back before another WEWS interruption.
4. The Koppel Report: return and sign-off: Ted Koppel signs off from Leningrad.
5. Dolly's Christmas at Home: extended return: Dolly returns after Craig searches ahead; the program includes Dollywood, a Christmas church service and a wood-carver appearance.
6. 20/20: hidden messages in store music: Craig watches the subliminal-message report and riffs on the idea of playing motivation tapes at work. The program continues beyond the teaser.

Commercial inventory

WEWS first Koppel break

1. TWA business class for coach fare
2. Arm & Hammer Dental Care
3. U.S. Sprint: more meetings
4. Discover Card

WEWS break after Dolly return

1. TWA business class, repeat: Another TWA pitch after the initial break.
2. Ed McMahon millionaire pitch: Advertiser not identified.
3. 100% Colombian Coffee, cruise ship
4. Sony Trinitron XBR: NASA, Disney-MGM and NFL

WEWS break after Koppel sign-off

1. Arm & Hammer Dental Care, repeat
2. Sucrets: Physicians' Desk Reference
3. U.S. Sprint versus AT&T
4. Discover Card at the ATM
5. Nytol jingle

20/20 and its following break

1. Honda Accord Coupe in a wheat field
2. Minolta Freedom Cameras
3. Presto Salad Shooter at Kmart
4. Grape-Nuts: try it for a week
5. TWA business class, late repeat

Station and show promos

WEWS first Koppel break

1. All My Children

Dolly return / WEWS station break

1. WEWS Cleveland evening-news tease: Lyndhurst robbery tease.
2. A Cleveland Portrait on TV5: Station show promo.
3. WEWS Home for the Holidays appeal: Wilma Smith asks viewers to pledge for housing assistance.
4. Dolly Parton Christmas at Home: Friday promo: On-air promo for the special.
5. WEWS Eyewitness News: TMNT toy disposal teaser: A teaser reports a South African religious group disposing of $25,000 worth of toys. The full report was not reached.

WEWS break after Koppel sign-off

1. Into the Night with Judge Wapner
2. Football: Redskins and Colts Saturday night
3. 20/20: Romanian orphans preview: Upcoming-program teaser, not proof that this story played in the watched portion.

20/20 and its following break

1. The Golden Child: ABC Sunday Night Movie: Film promo encountered during the earlier search and at the final break; not evidence of two distinct tape airings.
2. Equal Justice: January: Show promo.

Tape details

Archive ID

VHS-2026-038

Recording type

Home TV recording

Format

VHS

Channel

WEWS Cleveland / ABC (on-tape continuity)

Recording period

December 1990 program/break evidence; exact recording day not established

Viewed

August 25, 2026 (partial; tape continued beyond the final ad break)

Label

Pink handwritten note; its wording does not reliably identify every recorded program

On the label

• Pink handwritten note: Lists Sex in the City + Union, a 51-minute pause, Dolly Parton Christmas at Home and 20-20. The first phrase is not an established program title.
• Polaroid Supercolor T-120 sleeve: Sleeve text; it does not date the recording or prove a runtime.