Talk:Huell Howser/Archive 1

TV screenshot
I was thinking about putting a TV screenshot of Huell with his microphone. Is that allowed here or is that a breach of copyright? Just a Huell fan and just want to see this article spruced up, nothing more. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.195.115.174 (talk • contribs).
 * Sure, it falls under fair use. Just be sure to mark the image with a film-screenshot tag.  -- Scott  ei&#960;  07:07, July 22, 2005 (UTC)

Hi, I asked the question above. Given the very nature of this Wikipedia concept, I've decided not to go through the hassle of posting the Huell Howser pic. If someone else wants to do it, then go for it. (My AOL IP changes and I was accused for "vandalizing" a page that apparently happened a year ago or so by someone else. And I just started here a month ago.  Some people must enjoy assuming arbitrary authority.) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.192.194.49 (talk • contribs).


 * Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. Like anyplace else on the internet, Wikipedia has its share of jerks. I hope you stay, though; most people here won't bite, and it can be a lot of fun. I encourage you to create a user account. Most vandalism is done by non-logged-in editors, which makes you suspect if you're not logged-in. It takes five seconds to create an account, and you don't even need an email address. You'll get your own user page and editing history, which will prevent any more confusion of this sort. Also, you'll get a user talk page, which is where I otherwise would have put this message (as it is, I'm not sure if you'll see this). See here for more of the benefits of having an account. -- Scott ei&#960;  23:29, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I too was going to post a picture for this Huell Howser article, but I felt it was not worth the hassle for a site loaded with both vandalizers and power-hungry jerks. -J. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 130.182.31.144 (talk • contribs).

Huell
Love the show, but I personally wouldn't want to be accosted by the interlocutor Huell Howser. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.196.8.46 (talk • contribs).

anybody search the iTunes store for Huell Howser? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.183.210.233 (talk • contribs).

Huell Howser is a good TV host. Howser always find something fascinating to him on some things we don't find it interesting. "Look at this...Like it...oh wonderful...I want a piece of that...very good...this is interesting to me." Any TV production company want to hire Huell Howser? I bet they do...and was Howser a voice narrator on the Food Network shows or on TV commercials? His voice sounds familiar, so my fellow Wikis, find me anything to solve the question. + 207.200.116.136 04:59, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

His Adobe House in 29 Palms, California
Historic Stubbs Adobe House User: Kevin Taylor 17:56, 01 June (UTC)

Log Cabin Republicans and Howswer
Howser was an active member of a Southern California chapter of Log Cabin Republicans from the late 1980's through the mid-1990's, owing to his close and enduring friendship with Gov. Pete Wilson's wife Gayle.

Does anyone have any source for this statement. If not, it isn't verifiable, so it shouldn't be here in this article for one. I did a lexis-nexis search and could not find anything related to howser and any relationship with the republican part beyond working for howard baker -- i haven't done any search of any off line sources, though. his only notable public political act seems to be his attempt to stop the destruction of the Long Beach Naval Station. Therefore, I believe this statement should not be included in Wikipedia. XinJeisan 15:24, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

I've worked as a campaign consultant for (mostly) Republican candidates since the mid-'80's. Also, I was Gov. Pete Wilson's special representative on CAL-150 (The California Sesquicentennial Foundation). In these various capacities, I have worked with Mr. Howser and have come to know a bit about the evolution of his political thought. Howser has had a lon-standing friendship with Pete and (particularly) Gayle Wilson. He has maintained friendships with Jerry Brown and his sister Kathleen, leading California Democrats, as-well-as former State Librarian Kevin Starr, a Democrat too. Being a gay man and an instinctual libertarian, Howser was a member of a Southern California chapter of Log Cabin Republicans through the 2000 election cycle at least. Feel free to contact me for any additional information or clarification.

That is interesting to know, but Wikipedia policy states that for living people, all things must be sourced by a third party, reliable source. So, unless you can call a reliable journalist (not me!) and have them write a story about your experiences with Huell Howser, I don't think it can be included in the main article. And, my research and knowledge about Huell Howser seems to show that publicly he is not very political, save for the sourced events mentioned in the article. To be honest, I think he is only known for his travel show, and there should not be a political section at all. The section on his being against the vietnam war should be moved to the career section, because that is how he got into the tv buisness. His action against the long beach should be placed in personal life, or, other events, or something like that. Looking through the LA times and other newspaper archives, plus lexis nexis and google, I see know real public face of Huell Howswer save for his TV show. And, his TV show is not really covered except for him. So, that is why I think 1) There should not be a political section for him and 2) California gold should be merged into this article. XinJeisan 14:41, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

Merging California Gold into this page
California Gold exists only because of Huell Howser, and all his shows are pretty similar, so, it would be better to list his shows in his article, and setting up a redirect from California Gold to this article. XinJeisan 19:21, 11 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I strongly disagree. California's Gold is an important show in its own right and should not be simply merged into the host's article, any more than we'd merge Seinfeld into Jerry Seinfeld. FCYTravis 17:46, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I don't deny it is an important show. However, I don't think California Gold is as notable as Seinfeld or Huell Howswer as notable as Jerry Seinfeld. and Seinfeld the TV show was also had a lot of influence from other people, such as Larry David.  If you look at the article California Gold as it is now, it doesn't say anything.  And, I am tempted to say that any heavily researched article would still not say much more.  The show is basically an extension of Huell's personallity  and I think if you merge the two articles and do some research on both, a GA-class article can come from it.  Are any of Huell's other shows drastically different than California Gold.  They are all him walking around with a microphone talking to average folks around California and elsewhere.  But, in my lexis-nexis and other search for information, he is just not that much of a public figure beyond his TV shows -- which are extensions of his TV personality -- and any article about Huell will talk about his TV shows and TV show personallity and any article about his TV show will talk about Huell and his personality -- so basically they are one in the same.   So, I think Wikipedia readers would be helped tremendously if we work together to make one good well sourced article as opposed to the two poorly sourced amaturish sounding ones we have now.  What do you think?  XinJeisan 20:05, 12 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I agree with XinJeisan. I've been watching Huell since he was with KCBS and find that his shows are not only very similar to each other but don't really stand on their own separate from Huell. I don't think it would be a disservice to merge all of his shows with his main entry.Rob Banzai 17:01, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I think that the article for California's Gold could, and should be expanded significantly (episode list and so forth). When that happens, it will fall outside the scope of Huel Howser's biography.  I would recommend against the merge.  Huel has other programs too.  Sea photo Talk  05:02, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Error on Huell's service in Armed Forces
Huell was in the Marine Corps, not the Navy. Yes the MC is part of the Dept of the Navy but to say Huell was in the Navy and not the Marine Corps is wrong. Source is Huell's bio on his Huell Howser Productions web page at http://www.calgold.com/about.asp Couldn't figure out to fix it. Liberriandude (talk) 16:56, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Huell in pop culture
removed the "pop culture" section today. While the general guideline is to not have trivia sections and for them to be integrated into the article, I think the items mentioned in the section were encyclopedic enough that they should be included. It helps explain how he exists in the zeitgeist outside of Southern California (through Loveline, The Simpsons, etc).

I'm not saying Will's removal was incorrect, or that it should be re-added as-is- but I did want to link to the removal so that a talented wordsmith can re-add it as prose, explaining the items in the context of Huell Howser. tedder (talk) 21:36, 28 May 2009 (UTC)


 * From what I gather, most of these are very short appearances, which is why they aren't significant. Giving a separate line to each, and a section to all of them, is probably undue weight. A single line, to the effect of "Howser has been satirized in TV shows such as..." would cover it. If he were a major character in one of the pop culture references then that'd be different. Also, they need to be sourced, like anything in a BLP.   Will Beback    talk    21:42, 28 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I completely agree about undue weight. And I like the sentence you are proposing. I'm not sure they need sourcing- 'Who Killed the Electric Car? (which you left) is a plot point, as is There's Something About Marrying and Weeds. Loveline needs (primary) sources, which won't be hard to find, and ACS already had a ref.
 * I can object to myself on the Simpsons episode, as it wasn't named exactly after him. It could be stated as "there was a character X in Y" and letting the reader decide. tedder (talk) 21:47, 28 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I added it back as prose with inspiration from these comments. Let me know what you think. tedder (talk) 21:53, 28 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a good plan. Go for it.   Will Beback    talk    21:54, 28 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks! I think 18 minutes is a new record for achieving consensus. And thanks for the sentence intro, which is the only reason I was able to do it. tedder (talk) 21:59, 28 May 2009 (UTC)