header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
May 26
1956 - Placerita Canyon State Park dedicated [story]
Oak of the Golden Dream


Viewers in community after community are being exposed to Santa Clarita's ultra-local cultural activities and history.
| Monday, Aug 29, 2011

Host Roger Martin interviews Santa Clarita Councilwoman Laurene Weste for an episode of "Out & About" at Hart Park in April 2010.

People all over the world are finding out about the William S. Hart Mansion, Lombardi Ranch and other Santa Clarita Valley locations.

That’s because in recent months, the long-running TV series, “Out & About with Roger Martin,” has spread well beyond SCVTV and its sister station in Beverly Hills.

Today the program – hosted by onetime SCVTV staff member Roger Martin and often featuring Santa Clarita events and locations – is carried on cable television channels across the United States, on satellite TV in five European countries, and on three broadcast channels in New Zealand.

“Jim and I have worked hard to develop a worldwide audience, and we’re keeping at it,” said Martin, referring to his longtime producer Jim Lichnerowicz.

“It’s exciting to know that a worldwide audience is learning about our ultra-local cultural activities and history,” Martin said.

Through “Out & About,” Martin and Lichnerowicz are able to focus on events that are off network television’s beaten path, such as the Ramona Days festival at Rancho Camulos and a Western-themed fundraiser at LARC Ranch in Saugus.

 

A New Series

Martin’s venture into the great Southern California outdoors began in March 1991 when he was on the staff of BHTV Channel 3 in Beverly Hills. A producer at the station, Lichnerowicz, offered to produce and edit a news magazine series with a suggested title of “Out & About in Beverly Hills.”

Martin abruptly snuffed out the idea when he determined there was not  enough new material in Beverly Hills to sustain an entire series.

“So it became ‘Out & About with Roger Martin’,” the host said. “We expanded the concept to include events mostly around Los Angeles and Southern California, with some coverage in New Mexico, Utah and Canada.”

The duo continued to go “out and about” when Martin joined the SCVTV team in 1995.

Twenty years have seen the production of more than 267 episodes – 100 more than “I Love Lucy,” Martin notes – and most contain coverage of two different Southland events.

“That makes well over 500 places we’ve visited,” Martin said, “shooting, learning and airing the experience.”

 

Santa Clarita Coverage

One of Martin’s earliest episodes to feature the Santa Clarita Valley came in 1994 when he was still on staff in Beverly Hills. Martin and Lichnerowicz were the only L.A.-based crew to provide thorough, documentary-style coverage of the devastation wrought locally by the Northridge earthquake in January of that year.

Guiding the pair was SCV resident Dianne Wohlleben, who would stay with them and contribute to later episodes.

Martin’s earthquake coverage included interviews with local victims, and with then-Mayor George Pederson and current City Manager Ken Pulskamp, who was assistant city manager at the time.

Martin strikes a classic pose that is growing increasingly familiar to people outside of Southern California.

The episode aired “even before the SCVTV studio was fully constructed,” Martin said. It was one of the first programs to be shown on SCVTV in 1994 after Santa Clarita’s two separate public television channels merged into Channel 20 on the local cable systems.

Today, SCVTV is available in Santa Clarita on Time Warner Cable Channel 20, AT&T U-verse 99, and worldwide at SCVTV.com.

And today, it is the Internet that is helping Martin and Lichnerowicz achieve global syndication.

A Web-based service utilized by community television channels (including SCVTV) enables other stations to download “Out & About” episodes. Martin said some of the best response for his program through the new distribution method has come from Fort Worth, Texas.

A TV station in Huntington, West Va., has aired the show regularly for years, he added. And for the past dozen years, it has been available on Channel 36 in Los Angeles.

This week it makes its debut on KCLV Channel 2 in Las Vegas. It continues to run weekly on SCVTV.

 

New Episodes, New Audiences

Martin, now 70, left SCVTV in 2003. But Martin and Lichnerowicz haven’t scaled back their production schedule. If anything, they’ve stepped it up.

In community after community, first-time viewers are being exposed to new and repeat episodes that have featured the Hart Park Animal Fair, the opening of the Jan Heidt Newhall Metrolink Station, the Gibbon Conservation Center in Saugus, Pumpkin Days at Lombardi Ranch, various street art festivals in Santa Clarita, and last year’s unveiling of the new William S. Hart postage stamp on the grounds of Hart’s Newhall home.

When Rancho Camulos celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 1910 D.W. Griffith film “Ramona” with Mary Pickford, and when the SCV Historical Society celebrated the life of Charlie Chaplin in February, Martin and his crew were there.

“Viewers all over the world are beginning to be exposed to the highlights of the good life in the Santa Clarita Valley,” Martin said.

 

For detailed episode information, visit www.outandabouttv.com and click on the “episodes” button or follow the link to the show’s Facebook page. “Out & About with Roger Martin” can be seen Mondays at 9:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 9:30 a.m. on SCVTV, and online at SCVTV.com.

Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

0 Comments

You can be the first one to leave a comment.

Leave a Comment


ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT LINKS
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Friday, May 24, 2024
Santa Clarita Ballet will present "The Wizard of Oz" on the main stage of the Santa Clarita Perfomring Arts Center at College of the Canyons on Saturday and Sunday June 8-9 at 2 p.m.
Friday, May 24, 2024
The Remo Music Center is dedicated to providing an atmosphere where people from all walks of life, of all ages, with or without a musical background, can experience making music with others in a welcoming, friendly, non-challenging environment and experience the benefit and joys of making music.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
The Society Comedy Troupe Improv Night: April Foolsish Show will appear on stage at The MAIN in Old Town Newhall on Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
"The Play That Goes Wrong" will open 8 p.m. Saturday, May 25 at the Canyon Theatre Guild in Old Town Newhall. The opening night performance will also feature a free wine and champagne reception for ticket holders.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
The city of Santa Clarita and GreenSantaClarita.com will host a fun, free Eco Hero Show on Friday, June 21 from 11 a.m. to noon.
Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
1956 - Placerita Canyon State Park dedicated [story]
Oak of the Golden Dream
1966 - Mustang Drive-In theater opens on Soledad Canyon Road [story]
Mustang Drive-In
ARTree invites the Santa Clarita Valley community to be a part of this recycled bottlecap art project. Families can participate in the making of the mural at the Old Town Newhall Branch of the Santa Clarita Library on June 1, from 2:30-4 p.m.
June 1: Be Part of the Bottlecap Recycled Art Project
Children’s Bureau is seeking foster families and now offers two virtual ways for individuals and/or couples to learn how to help children in foster care while reunifying with birth families or how to provide legal permanency by adoption.
June 20: Foster Families Sought, Attend a Virtual Orientation
As part of the I-5 North County Enhancements Project, OHLA-USA will be extending the existing southbound Calgrove Boulevard off ramp.
Calgrove SB Off Ramp Nighttime Closure May 29-June 28
The public is invited to celebrate the third annual California State Parks Week, June 12-16. This year’s theme: “This is Where You Live” will offer more than 200 events presented by California State Parks, Save the Redwoods League, Parks California and California State Parks Foundation.
Celebrate Third Annual California State Parks Week June 12-16
The NAACP Santa Clarita will host its Annual Juneteenth Celebration over two days, June 14-15. Day one will feature an adults only game night mixer and day two will feature a family celebration at Central Park.
June 14-15: NAACP Santa Clarita Junteenth Two-Day Celebration
Santa Clarita Ballet will present "The Wizard of Oz" on the main stage of the Santa Clarita Perfomring Arts Center at College of the Canyons on Saturday and Sunday June 8-9 at 2 p.m.
June 8-9: Santa Clarita Ballet Performs ‘The Wizard of Oz’
The Remo Music Center is dedicated to providing an atmosphere where people from all walks of life, of all ages, with or without a musical background, can experience making music with others in a welcoming, friendly, non-challenging environment and experience the benefit and joys of making music.
Free Kids, Family Drum Circle at Remo Music Center
After years of hard and heartfelt work, Bridge to Home celebrated the opening of their permanent year-round shelter in Santa Clarita on May 21.
Kathryn Barger | Keeping Up With Kathryn
Volunteer Cabin Counselors at The Painted Turtle Camp are being sought for June 8 - July 30. The mission of The Painted Turtle, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is to provide a year-round, life-changing environment and authentic camp experience for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.
Painted Turtle Volunteer Cabin Counselors Sought
The city of Santa Clarita invites volunteers to join the Wildland Weekend Warriors in planting and watering plants in Golden Valley or Elsmere Canyon Open Space, or Taylor Trailhead to feed the local pollinators and wildlife. For this project, volunteers should bring work gloves. A long-handled shovel is optional, but helpful.
Wildland Weed Warriors Sought for Open Space Areas
California State Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, (D-Chatsworth) announced that all of her bills on the Assembly floor have passed with all but one receiving bipartisan support, and are now moving forward for consideration in the Senate.
Schiavo’s Legislative Package Advances to Senate
California State Sen. Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita) has announced that his bill to make wildfire settlement payments tax free was approved unanimously on the Senate floor.
Wilk’s Bill to Make Wildfire Settlements Tax Free Clears Senate
A free scrap tire collection event will be held Saturday, June 22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Via Princessa Metrolink Station, 19201 Via Princessa, Santa Clarita, CA 91321.
June 22: Free Scrap Tire Collection Event
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang is reaching out to disabled veterans throughout L.A County to remind them that they may qualify for a significant property tax savings.
Disabled Vets Can Qualify for Property Tax Savings
The Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corporation 2024 Economic Outlook Forecast event will be held Friday, Sept. 27 the Santa Clarita Perfomring Arts Center at College of the Canyons.
May 31: Last Day for Early Bird Tickets to SCVEDC 2024 Economic Outlook
The Master's women's 4x800 relay team got to stand on the podium after an eighth-place finish, and several individuals qualified for event finals, at the NAIA Track & Field National Championships.
TMU Women’s Relay Team Earns a Podium
A City Wide Revival led by Eriona Grabocka of Eriona Grabocka Ministries will be held Friday, May 31 at Cougar Stadium Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.
May 31: City Wide Revival at Cougar Stadium
The Santa Clarita City Council will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday, May 28 at 6 p.m. that will discuss road work projects, development projects, state legislation and a Public Hearing regarding an amendment to the Tourism Marketing District Ordinance that would update the benefit zone to include newly constructed hotels
May 28: City Council to Discuss Development, Roads, Legislation
1860 - Colonel Thomas F. Mitchell arrives in Soledad Canyon [story]
T.F. Mitchell
The Society Comedy Troupe Improv Night: April Foolsish Show will appear on stage at The MAIN in Old Town Newhall on Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m.
June 1: Society Comedy Troupe Improv Night at The MAIN
"Splash in the Water" at Castaic Lake is a free boating and water safety event for children ages 7 to 14. Presented by California State University, Northridge, and Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation. The program runs on Fridays now throuogh Aug. 9.
‘Splash in the Water’ at Castaic Lake
"The Play That Goes Wrong" will open 8 p.m. Saturday, May 25 at the Canyon Theatre Guild in Old Town Newhall. The opening night performance will also feature a free wine and champagne reception for ticket holders.
May 25-June 29: ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ at CTG
SCVNews.com