The Collegians television show was hosted by Mr. T. Oliver Hughes, owner of the Hughes Lumber Company on Reisterstown Road, a few blocks north of Park Circle. He had converted one of his lumber storage buildings into a TV studio, and the TV show was done ‘live’ by remote pickup. Originally on WAAM-TV the show aired on Saturday afternoons at 1:00PM, then on WMAR-TV channel 2 on Saturday mornings, usually at 11:00 AM.
The Collegians program was designed to showcase local teen talent and featured sounds by the studio house band Chas & the Belairs. Many local teens performed on the show including drummer Roger Pace, the Merrymounts, Bobby Hirschmann & the Originals, The Poker Chips…
Alberta Nathanson, a teacher at Freitag’s Music Store in Glen Burnie, was the pianist for the show. Around 1955 she arranged for the Del Freitag Juniors to appear on the show and they became regular performers for over a year.
In the summer months, after the TV show was over, Mr. Hughes would rent a bus, and all the TV performers would pile into it and travel to do live shows in the afternoon or evening at carnivals or county fairs in Maryland or Pennsylvania.
Gary Hendrickson of the Del Freitag Juniors recalls that “Mr. Hughes was a dear, sweet, old man, but he had absolutely no (broadcasting) talent. He even spoke in a monotone when he was introducing the acts for the show. But he footed the entire bill for the bus trips, etc., as his way of giving something back to the community.”
“As I recall, the TV show didn’t have any formal “sponsors”, and was considered a “sustaining” show by the TV station, so it’s scheduled time varied occasionally, depending upon when the station could fit it in. Later on, the show was taped, and played on the air when time would allow, rather than being done “live”.”
