Circa 1990: Post-MTV and pre-Killer Nerd. The owners of local talk-radio staple WNIR launched some low-power TV stations in the Northeast Ohio area and we hatched a plot to get Toby his own “cable-access” styled show for the fledgling mini-network. We envisioned tidbits of Toby in-between the “latest and greatest” music videos of the moment. Our “MTV-cred” got us fast-tracked in getting officially-released videos directly from the record companies—on the day of release—and our small studio in Ravenna, Ohio was quickly swamped with an eclectic mix of music videos delivered on bulky 3/4” tapes.
The proposed show was going to be called It’s Toby Time and we received “bonus tapes” along with many of the music videos featuring specially-shot footage of various artists identifying themselves and then exuberantly adding “. . . and you’re watching IT’S TOBY TIME!”
One of those artists was the immortal Donny Osmond, who was in the midst of a post-WHAM George Michael-inspired musical makeover. He had a Billboard Hot 100 #2 song “Soldier of Love,” followed by the top 20-hit “Sacred Emotion.” The former teen idol was out on tour again and really making hay while the sun shone once again. So Donny himself had to take time out of his day to stand in a studio and say, with his best toothy-smile, “I’m Donny Osmond . . . and you’re watching IT’S TOBY TIME!”
The show itself was never picked up . . . and I’m still kicking myself over the fact that we never saved that choice tidbit of Osmond video.
Anyhow, in this brief clip, Toby stands in front of a hastily-constructed, low-rent “set” and talks about his unique sense of style. A few more clips from the pilot will be forthcoming.
SEE ALSO: Donny Osmond—back in action!
