Gothamist: Ahh Memories...We're 4 New York

tom

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:51:42 -0500

It was great to turn on the tv and have this commercial air again.....It truly is a great song, and really lifts the spirtit.....Thanks for bringing it back. Nothing like a little nostalgia

Toby

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:00:49 -0500

Things like this usually air in the wee small hours of the morning when they can't sell the air time.

Gwin

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:55:11 -0500

Just wondering, when would they have shown a nearly four-minute "commercial"...? I guess I only caught the "short" version back in the day.

Jared

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 20:36:49 -0500

Did the agency get paid by the second for that spot? They hit what sounds like the climax at like 1:40, and you're thinking how can they possibly stretch another 2 minutes out of this?

doot-doot

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:38:28 -0500

But you never see Hasidic women used for the diversity quota??

Toby

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:17:21 -0500

I seem to recall they used this for about two or three years and I think this is the 1992-1993 version. As for the "obligatory Hasidic guys" it is to meet the diversity quota.

doot-doot

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:20:27 -0500

Mike, there must have been a radio version, because I definitely remember the soundtrack, though I didn't own a TV for the first couple of years I live here. And what's up with the "obligatory Hasidic guys" you see in every ad that has anything to do with New York? Just once I'd love to see their wives in the spotlight...or even just a Hasidic family.

jmchez

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:11:27 -0500

They can't redo this commercial until they fill up the hole at WTC. Maybe then they can fly over the Calatrava station and wahtever they call The Freedom Tower at the time.

Carla

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:09:48 -0500

Please don't bring back the shoulder pads on their suits!!

#7 Flushing

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:03:32 -0500

It's also shown on TV-ARK, along with the 2 short versions: http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/international/us_nbc_wnbc4.html The WPIX section has references to "Move Closer..."

Kojak

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 12:02:55 -0500

Thanks Gothamist for pouring salt on old wounds.

mrShoes

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:57:46 -0500

Wow the previous poster said it best, that really was draining. But the MC Hammer dancing girls, New Edition wannabes, and Michael Bolton clone really makes me think about those sad, sad days of the early nineties. I am sure if I looked more closely, I would have been able to pick out the cross colors apparel work by everyone. I'm 4 New Yawk!

Mike

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:29:17 -0500

I remember the song, but I don't remember the actual commercial. What year is this from?

tien

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:09:17 -0500

thanks for all the great info don. and yeah, action news in philly has always seemed strange to me. their set (not sure if it was updated) seemed like it was from the late 70s/early 80s.

Toby

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:04:16 -0500

I love "We're 4 New York" as it is so classicly bad it is good and I love the old logo with "New York" in it. It is what really got me to watch WNBC back then, since I hoped that I would see it again. It is classic. I seem to remember another version of it with different video and a slightly different orchestration. As for "Move Closer to Your World" I have dim memories of it on WPIX where I think they used it along with some Barry White song and slightly brighter ones of the theme on Channel 7 in Buffalo (seen in Toronto) where I was wondering as a kid why Channel 7 Eyewitness News had a weird theme and no Bill Beutel. I also have seen "Action News" in Philadelphia where they amazingly still use it (as of a few months ago when I saw it) on what is best described as a retro 1970s newscast spoof and not a serious newscast.

Drob

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:02:49 -0500

I loved this damn commercial.

Bored

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:57:01 -0500

Wow, how UNinteresting.

Don

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:53:51 -0500

Lauer is clutching Jane Hanson, his early AM news parter circa 1992-3.

Native

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:53:34 -0500

love it! but i want to see the shorter version as well that had an opera singer singing "im for new yoooooooooork" and it took him 30 seconds to say "york."

neil

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:52:30 -0500

is Lauer holding Katie? And whats with the Michael Bolton solos? Thanks Mao, I now have a headache.

Don

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:45:40 -0500

Also note that the video includes young Matt Lauer (about 33 years old here) holding a golf club as the wind blows his long hair.

bleh

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:44:07 -0500

jesus, that commercial is draining.

Jim O'Brien

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:42:59 -0500

Nothing beats Philadelphia's Action News song on channel 6. "Move closer to your world my friends, take a little bit of time..." If you're from the Illadelph you know.

don

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:41:32 -0500

Trivia: the female singer is Andrea McArdle (Broadway's first "Annie"). The song was written by her husband.