By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
BOSTON – There once was a time when news anchors were such household names that they bordered on celebrity status. National broadcast journalists like Walter Cronkite and Mike Wallace certainly fit the bill but the state of Massachusetts was not without its own local legends. Namely, WBZ-TV Channel 4’s Bob Lobel, Joyce Kulhawik, Bruce Schwoegler, Liz Walker and Jack Williams, otherwise known as The Dream Team.
Captivating audiences
Back when print newspapers were a thing, local television news stations also ruled the day by captivating audiences with their on-air personalities. During the 1970s, WCVB-TV Channel 5 had husband and wife team Chet Curtis and Natalie Jacobson, along with weather forecaster Dick Albert, sports reporter Mike Lynch and entertainment reporter Dixie Whatley. Meanwhile, WBZ-TV Channel 4 was forming an all-star cast of its own.
Meteorologist Bruce Schwoegler (1968-2001) was at the station along with news anchor Jack Williams (1975-2015), during the Blizzard of ’78. Other members of the team were not able to get to work. Schwoegler’s wife Barbara recalled her husband leaving home on a Monday and taking some extra clothes with him, knowing something big was going to happen. The Navy veteran not only forecasted local weather, but he also taught audiences how weather happens in the first place.
Schwoegler, who won New England’s first Emmy Award for Outstanding Meteorologist earned a spot in the Massachusetts Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame, along with co-workers Jack Williams, Liz Walker and Bob Lobel, died in 2022 at the age of 80.
Jack Williams started leaving an emergency bag in his office after that fateful winter ordeal. Originally from Pocatello, Idaho, he joined WBZ in 1975 and also founded “Wednesday’s Child” in 1981, a non-profit adoption agency for special needs children. He was honored by Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton at the White House for his efforts. Williams has retired from anchoring a TV news desk and currently lives in Las Vegas.
Sportscaster Bob Lobel (1979-2008) will perhaps forever be remembered for his catchphrase “Why can’t we get players like that?” and for using props like the “Panic Button” when a local team was on a losing streak. The Ohio native anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday and hosted the weekly programs “Sports Final” and “Patriots 5th Quarter.”
Hailing from nearby Connecticut was Joyce Kulhawik, serving as an associate producer and tipster for “Evening Magazine” in 1978 and the station’s arts and entertainment reporter from 1981 until 2008. The three-time cancer survivor resides in Wayland and in May 2007, was named one of the first inductees to the Massachusetts Broadcasters Hall of Fame.
The strikingly tall Liz Walker was the first black woman to co-anchor a newscast in Boston in 1980 at a time when racial tensions were high. Walker began her career in her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas as the public affairs director at station KATV. Now a retired journalist, she became the pastor of the Roxbury Presbyterian Church in 2014.
Looking back
Viewer Diane McGahan is one of many who recalled in The Boston Globe in 2024 how well the Dream Team gelled together on and off air.
“Thank you for this walk down memory lane (The Home Team,” December 31). I was one of the lucky viewers back then; WBZ Boston was the news I watched every day. This article brought to light every member of the Fab Five’s personality and the reasons why they were a successful team, not to mention the best of friends. It was magic in a bottle. There’s been nothing better since.”
This five-member “dream team” represents a time gone by when network television news was must-see TV.
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