WEWS Cleveland: Soaps, Oprah, Air Show and Jeopardy! (1989)

Craig’s notes

I went back to this tape five times because I kept wanting to know how much of the day somebody had recorded. We started with Oprah's weight-loss computer, a conversation about Milo and Otis that got pretty sad, and a Labor Day road-safety checklist. Then it was Cleveland news, Loving, All My Children, and another Oprah where a couples therapist suggested scheduling a fight. One man curled up on his partner's lap and cried, and I was worried about his coworkers seeing it on TV.

The tape kept going. Live on 5 was at the Cleveland National Air Show, where somebody hoped we'd see the Golden Knights and the camera gave us clouds. In between the show and the news were ads that felt especially Cleveland: Hills swearing on a Bible for its Low Price Promise, Handy Andy's Forest City and its cartoon mascot, and Murray's Carpet opening in North Olmsted. I also watched Lunchables try to sell lunch to adults. The later news followed A. Bartlett Giamatti's death, and by then I was still asking how much tape was left.

Wheel of Fortune came and went. I stopped with a sliver of tape left and returned the next night for Jeopardy!'s Teen Tournament final. The tape ended before Final Jeopardy. After all that TV, we missed the one question I wanted at the end.

Content inventory

Shows and segments (playback order)

1. Oprah: weight-loss demonstration, Milo and Otis, Labor Day road safety: Kirk Lamar’s computer demonstration, a discussion of Milo and Otis and Leon Kaplan’s road-safety kit.
2. Channel 5 Eyewitness News: early Cleveland bulletin: Airshow, Crips trial, Gary D/FCC story, baby Shamu, Mossman Movie Meter and Fred Stephens’s seatbelt-law opinion.
3. Loving
4. All My Children
5. Oprah: Harville Hendrix and couples therapy: The segment includes advice to “schedule a fight.”
6. Live on 5: Cleveland National Air Show: 60th-anniversary air-show coverage, Thistledown race results, a Giamatti breaking update, and interviews with Hoot Gibson and Paul Tibbets.
7. NewsCenter 5: Cleveland evening news: Air show, traffic, school delays, Giamatti, weather, boating and sports.
8. ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings: Giamatti’s death, Panama, Colombia, South Africa, the Bakker trial and Person of the Week Chris Evert.
9. Wheel of Fortune: Contestants Yvonne, Stephanie and Joy; the purported May 24 rerun date remains unverified.
10. Ohio Lottery draw: Numbers logged as 6-3-9 and 9-5-3-2.
11. Jeopardy! Teen Tournament final: Elena Whitley, Stan Wu and Eric Newhouse appear; the tape runs out before Final Jeopardy.

Commercial inventory

Oprah: daytime opening

1. Fruit of the Loom: boys’ briefs
2. Ranch Italian dressing from Hidden Valley
3. Finesse hair spray
4. Midol for periods
5. Direct stain spray (brand not identified)
6. Dacron Freedom Fabric with Barbara Mandrell
7. Geritol Complete
8. Suave: first day managing a restaurant
9. Kudos – kid and baseball
10. Value City Moonlight Madness talking clock
11. Light and Lively 100 calories – Eat Smart
12. Eagle Potato Chips with kids and jingle
13. Florida orange juice diner spot
14. Johnson's Baby Oil
15. Tic Tac calorie-comparison pitch
16. Smucker's Lite
17. Hyundai Sonata
18. California Cooler
19. SOS Streak Free Glass Cleaner with animated ghost
20. Dairy industry butter spot
21. Jell-O 1-2-3
22. Hyundai spot with Fred Gwynne (voice attribution in notes)
23. Lime-A-Way
24. Quaker 100% Natural Cereal with Ed Begley Jr.
25. Grapefruit juice animated spot (character and voice unverified)
26. Hefty Hefty Hefty
27. Polydent

Channel 5 Eyewitness News: early break

1. Geauga County Fair Promo
2. Twin Value with Ben Stein
3. EyeLab / Pearle
4. Hills – Low Price Promise – Cleveland
5. Polaroid One Film – it makes picking film less confusing
6. IGA – Pop, Snack Pack, Hot Dogs
7. The Plain Dealer – Newspaper ad
8. Value City Clock ad Again
9. Dannon Light
10. Stop N Shop ad
11. Arby’s five-for-five roast beef
12. Lunchables – marketed towards adults
13. U Can Rent

Loving: first and continued breaks

1. Jimmy Dean Sausage
2. Spiffits animated spot
3. Hellmann's cholesterol free
4. ColorTyme – you can rent an entertainment center (cartoon)
5. Lysol Pine Action
6. Campho-Phenique
7. Bayer pain relief
8. Tampax – heavy day song
9. Flintstone Kids Vitamins
10. Snickers: “I wasn’t looking at his girl, I was looking at the Snickers”
11. Vivarin
12. Acutrim: “One is made for you”
13. Kudos; Oh so good
14. California Cooler; now drier!
15. Serenity; bladder control

All My Children: first and continued breaks

1. Bugs Bunny Vitamins
2. Value City
3. Reach toothbrush
4. Eggo waffles; Leggo my Eggo
5. Master locks for lockers
6. Coca Cola; Can't beat the feeling
7. Huggies Diapers; Supertrip
8. Playskool Sound thing; Sesame Street
9. Endust; works like a magnet
10. Chico San; Popcorn Cakes
11. Cathy / McDonald’s salads (identity as noted; unclear)
12. Payless Shoes
13. Geritol with Beta Carotene
14. Sara Lee cheesecakes
15. Color Tile Labor Day Savings!
16. Cafe Vienna from International Foods
17. Gaines Gravy Train
18. L'Oréal Mattique; illusion of glow
19. Jell-O 1-2-3
20. Vivarin
21. Fruit Moods from Dannon
22. Gussini the Shoe Works; they only look expensive
23. Lunchables: adult-positioned campaign

Oprah: later couples-therapy breaks

1. Kraft Singles; kids on a bench
2. Eggo Nutri-Grain Waffles with Nancy Travis
3. Suede leather shoes at Picway Shoes
4. Ontario “Incredible!” promo
5. Hills; sizes don't stop at 12 (Cleveland-branded)
6. Dairy Queen Full Meal Deal; $2.19
7. Murray's Carpet; North Olmsted grand opening
8. Payless ShoeSource
9. Mr. Clean after the renovation
10. Puffs Plus; aloe in the tissue
11. Silverman's back-to-school; guy painted silver
12. Jell-O 1-2-3; it's got layers
13. American Airlines; *Oprah* sponsor

Live on 5: Cleveland Air Show

1. Tuffy costumed-mascot spot
2. Spitzer 1989 closeout
3. Puritan cooking oil
4. Sanka; more important how it tastes than how it looks
5. Spitzer; $1,500 off list price, 1989 closeout
6. Hills Low Price Promise: Bible oath
7. Toyota Corolla; “Shake on it”
8. GMC Safari van from the NEC World Series of Golf / 5-Star GMC Truck Dealers
9. Olive Garden
10. Handy Andy’s Forest City: cartoon mascot and jingle
11. Heinen's Own oven-ready entrées
12. Mid-Ohio IndyCar event, sponsored by Red Roof Inn
13. Old-fashioned Bob Evans sausage
14. Spitzer Chevy; vans
15. J.L. Goodman Furniture
16. Finast; $1 off Oktoberfest admission
17. Mullinax 1989 Labor Day sale
18. Twin Value with Ben Stein
19. Long John Silver’s Pirate Family meal
20. Air-show ad; guy in dog suit
21. Burlington Coat Factory back-to-school
22. Red Lobster Crab Lovers Festival
23. Banner Auto Group sale
24. Estée Lauder Future Perfect microtargeted skin gel at Higbee's

NewsCenter 5: evening newscast

1. Mullinax; Mustangs
2. EyeLab is now Pearle; hand-sketched spot
3. GMC Safari van / NEC World Series of Golf
4. Red Lobster Crab Lovers
5. Banner Auto Group All Out Sell Out
6. Northern Ohio Dodge alien-invasion spot (spokesperson unverified)
7. Folgers decaf instant coffee
8. Nissan Marathon Event
9. Mullinax Ford end-of-1989 Labor Day sale
10. Burlington Coat Factory back-to-school sale
11. Saab promo

ABC World News Tonight

1. Western Union with Jason Alexander
2. Bayer for pain
3. Thompson's WaterSeal
4. Color Tile Labor Day Savings Celebration
5. Advil for arthritis pain
6. Post-it Notes; for busy people
7. AT&T 800 number to grow your business
8. Subaru Legacy in Arizona
9. Made in the USA pitch
10. Nutri-Grain with Mark Linn-Baker (attribution in notes)
11. Serenity Guards; liquid turns to gel
12. No Nonsense pantyhose
13. Mylanta 2 roll packs; flat tire
14. Color Tile Labor Day savings
15. Ace with John Madden
16. Freedent; won't stick to dental work, guy on golf course
17. Hills Low Price Promise

Wheel of Fortune

1. Match Maker International; dating-service worker
2. IGA soft drink, Hunt’s Snack Pack and hot dogs (one logged spot)
3. Conair Thermacell cordless curler
4. Supermarket of Shoes grand opening
5. Shell Auto Care
6. Pure Florida grapefruit juice: animated character (identity uncertain)
7. Jell-O Pudding Snacks
8. Honey Bunches of Oats
9. Hefty Cinch Sak
10. Reader’s Digest with Willard Scott
11. Finast Markets
12. Zest: Cleveland hard-water spot
13. Delta faucets / Ohio Sanitary Supply
14. Folgers instant coffee
15. Lunchables; old adult-positioned version

Jeopardy! Teen Tournament final

1. Nissan Marathon
2. Manwich; “Please”
3. Value City Moonlight Madness; man's face as a moon clock
4. Mudd Mask and Mudd Scrub; Cyndi Lauper
5. Premsyn; it’s for before periods
6. Genesee Lite: Genny Light spot
7. Conair cordless curler
8. Ford Car Clearance; “winning Ohio over”

Station and show promos

Channel 5 Eyewitness News: early break

1. Oprah Promo
2. Miracles Promo
3. Morning Exchange Promo

Loving: first and continued breaks

1. Great Circuses of the World promo
2. Family Matters Promo

All My Children: first and continued breaks

1. Gideon Oliver promo
2. My Two Loves promo
3. *MacGyver* promo; guy with burnt face
4. *Miracles* comedy promo

Oprah: later couples-therapy breaks

1. Live on Five air-show preview
2. Monday Morning Exchange: intimacy and Potato Festival
3. Alex Trebek Channel 5 *Jeopardy!* promo
4. Webster’s Backyard Weather
5. Live on 5; complete air-show preview

Live on 5: Cleveland Air Show

1. *Amazing Stories* movie promo (Channel 5)
2. Join the Woodsy Team; WEWS cartoon promo

NewsCenter 5: evening newscast

1. WEWS *Jeopardy!* promo
2. Morning Exchange: relationship discussion and plus-size modeling
3. Regis and Kathie Lee European-vacation trivia
4. Wheel of Fortune Wheelies puppets
5. *Miracles* WEWS promo
6. *Oprah* promo with sports heroes
7. *Amazing Stories* WEWS movie promo

ABC World News Tonight

1. 20/20: compulsive eating
2. *My Two Loves* WEWS promo
3. ABC News TV5 Everywhere
4. *Miracles* Movie5 promo

Wheel of Fortune

1. Cleveland Eyewitness News; send events from your video camera
2. *Morning Exchange*

Tape details

Archive ID

VHS-2026-046

Recording type

Home TV recording

Format

VHS

Station

WEWS Cleveland / ABC; syndicated game shows

Recording period

September 1, 1989 supported by contemporary news and WEWS continuity; individual earlier program/episode air dates not independently verified

Viewed

April 28, May 3, July 26, September 1 and September 2, 2026; tape completed September 2

Ending

Tape ends during the 1989 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament final, before Final Jeopardy

Recording speed

EP (catalog metadata)

On the label

• GE Lifetime Warranty T-120 sleeve: Printed GE and T-120 text; sleeve design does not date the recording.
• Handwritten program note: Reads “WEWS 91-89,” “Home,” Loving, All My Children, Oprah Winfrey, News Center 5, World News Tonight and Wheel of Fortune; 91-89 is not a verified recording date.