Texas Country Reporter is a weekly syndicated television program, formerly hosted and produced by Bob Phillips and his wife, Kelli Phillips (their last program was released/aired in May 2024), which airs in all twenty-two Texas media markets, generally on weekends, and nationally on the satellite/cable channel RFD-TV.[1] As of November 2017, Bob Phillips had already taped more than two thousand episodes of the program.[2] TCR airs 26 new episodes each season, from September through May. In the 2021-2022 season, the show is celebrating its 50th anniversary on the air. It is the longest running independently produced program in the nation. The show has been honored many times for the quality of its work including more than 30 EMMY awards.
Texas Country Reporter showcases Texas people and places, with an emphasis on rural areas and in a style similar to that of Charles Kuralt's On the Road for CBS News, who was Phillips' mentor when he first began his career. Originally called 4 Country Reporter, it debuted in 1972 on Dallas television station KDFW, Channel 4 and was first hosted by John Mclean, then Jeff Rosser, Joe Miser and finally Bob Philips. Phillips was a photographer and producer when the show first began. In 1986, Phillips left KDFW and began selling the show in syndication under the name Texas Country Reporter. In the Dallas market, KDFW did not pick up the syndicated version, but rival station WFAA did and named the show 8 Country Reporter. About this time Dairy Queen became the show's main sponsor, a move which allowed Phillips to be the spokesman for the chain in its advertising for the company's Texas-based restaurants. Other sponsors of the show have included Southwest Airlines, Capital Farm Credit, Mueller, Inc., Texas Farm Bureau Insurance, Texas Ford Dealers and others.
The show is independently syndicated with Phillips retaining half of the advertisements for regional sponsors;[2] he appears in many of the regional ads, and the sponsors' logos adorn the back of his SUV. Each fall the program headlines a "Texas Country Reporter Festival" in Waxahachie south of Dallas, with some of the people who have been highlighted on the show in attendance.[3][4] The festival has grown to become the largest one-day festival in Texas and attracts more than 50,000 people each year.Texas Country Reporter posts selected segments to its YouTube page,[5] and some have been featured on local newscasts. Phillips has authored several books and video series over the years including two cook books, two Texas guide books and, in 2016, "The Texas Country Reporter Collection," a video series that includes more than 22 hours of stories from the program. A three-DVD highlights set, Go! Stay! Eat!, was released September 17, 2005. Two comprehensive video series have been released by Phillips' company including "Best of Volume 1" and "Best of Volume 2". "The Best of TCR Volume 3" is set to be released in 2018.
In 2021, Texas Country Reporter production company Phillips Productions was acquired by Texas Monthly.[6]
Bob and Kelli Phillips will step down from the program effective September 2024. The series will resume with a new young host, J. B. Sauceda.
John Chadwell, a collector in Wichita Falls, is preserving artifacts from the former Wichita Falls Transportation Company, an independent truck production firm owned by Joseph A. Kemp, which was in business from 1911 to 1932.[8]
Terry Gouley, ice sculptor in Midland, used a chain saw and chisels for his temporary creations popular for special occasions.[9]
Maurice Jackson, in his 45th year of business in 2012 in O'Donnell, operates one of the last remaining full-service gasoline stations in the state of Texas.[10]
Ryan Smith, law-school dropout at the age of twenty-five returned the drive-in theater to Lubbock; in 1948, his maternal grandfather, R. A. "Skeet" Noret, had opened a drive-in in Lubbock, also at the age of twenty-five. Noret also owned the Sky-Vue Drive-In in Lamesa, which closed in 2015 after a fire destroyed the concession stand.[11]
Bill Walter Worrell (born c. 1935), western artist and sculptor with studios in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and along the Llano River in Art, near Mason, Texas.[12] Worrell has erected a unique personal "cemetery" which he calls the "Garden of Thorns", where he "buries" with engraved white wooden crosses his "thorns in the flesh" as he encounters them, such as Fear, Blame, and Shame.[13]
Others
Big Country Athletic Hall of Fame, operated by veteran sports announcer Al Pickett in Abilene honors local and regional excellence at the high school and collegiate levels in football, baseball, basketball, and golf; featured on TCR the weekend of August 3, 2013.[14]
Bracken Cave near Natural Bridge Caverns north of San Antonio, home to one of two large bat colonies in Texas. Bats control the insect population, help to pollinate plants, and are a food source for other animals.[15]
George W. Bush Boyhood Home on West Ohio Street in Midland, the only house in the United States where two U.S. Presidents, a First Lady, and a governor of Florida once resided.
Central Texas Tool Company, a fourth-generation non-computerized operation of the Carpenter family at 1410 Walnut Street in Abilene, specializes in pipe threading and the repair of oilfield equipment.[16]
Ezell Aviation, operated by father and son Nelson and Chad Ezell in Breckenridge, restores abandoned old aircraft to flying status once again.[17]
Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, known for its holiday treats, particularly fruitcake, aired December 22, 2007[18]
Copano Bay Fishing Pier, north of Rockport, is a 24-hour fishing bank on the former Copano Causeway, which was constructed in 1930. The 11-mile long Copano bridge was replaced in 1966 by a modern structure and dedicated to then U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Well lit, the pier is popular twenty-four hours a day.[13][19]
Doc McGregor Collection, located within the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History, is a massive restoration project of some 300,000 community photographs of all kinds taken in Corpus Christi from the 1930s through the 1950s. Photographer Ron Randolf has since 1987 been sorting the photographs into an orderly collection.[20]
8 Track Museum, operated by Bucks Burnett at 2630 E Commerce Street in Dallas, has a collection of some three hundred 8-track tapes.[21]
Frontier Texas!, state-of-the-art western museum in Abilene, with focus on eight weather vanes in the shape of bison installed in 2013 in the courtyard.[22]
Gil's Broiler & Manske Bakery in San Marcos, known for its charbroil hamburgers and the Manske roll, a large cinnamon treat formerly sold nationally but returned to local-only production.[23]
Hotel El Capitan in downtown Van Horn, historic hotel underwent $2.5 million in renovations in 2013; episode depicts Van Horn as the center of a wheel from which spokes emanate to outlying historic sites and attractions in a remote desert area.[24]
Mi Tierra Café and Bakery in downtown San Antonio, founded in 1941, never closes. It was voted by TCR viewers in 2013 as having the best Mexican food in the state.[26]
Satin Strings, under its director, Todd Berridge, is known for the stirring emotional presentations it delivers at Permian High School in Odessa. The group has performed at presidential inaugurations and other national events.[29]
Texas Basketball Museum, located in tiny Carmine in Fayette County in southeastern Texas, is operated by coach Bob Springer, whose collection focuses on Texas players elevated into the professional ranks as well as high school teams with particular achievement.[30]
Texas Church Project, five photographers, Jeremy Moore, David Brown, Lee Carmichael, Mike Castles, and Matt Magruder, wander about Texas photographing historic churches.[31]
Lamesa is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,674 at the 2020 census, down from 9,952 at the 2000 census. Located south of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado, Lamesa was founded in 1903. Most of its economy is based on cotton farming. The Preston E. Smith prison unit, named for the former governor of Texas, is located just outside Lamesa.
Ennis is a city in eastern Ellis County, Texas, United States. The population is 20,159 according to the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 21,210 in 2021. Ennis is home to the annual National Polka Festival.
Waxahachie is the county seat of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020. The city was founded in 1850, and incorporated in 1871. Much of the employment is provided by a number of industries and by educational institutions, including primary and secondary schools, a community college and a private university. In the mid-80's it became a filming location for a number of movies and occasional episodes of television series.
Carmine is a city in Fayette County, Texas, United States. The population was 244 at the 2020 census.
Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones County, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 165,252 as of 2020. Abilene is home to three Christian universities: Abilene Christian University, McMurry University, and Hardin–Simmons University. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Dyess Air Force Base is located on the west side of the city.
Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a major center for American oil and natural gas production.
KDFW is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving as the Fox network outlet for the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station KDFI. The two stations share studios on North Griffin Street in downtown Dallas; KDFW's transmitter is located in Cedar Hill, Texas.
Permian High School is a public high school located in Odessa, Texas and is one of two high schools in the Ector County Independent School District. It was the subject of the book Friday Night Lights, which in turn inspired a movie and TV series of the same name.
KTXS-TV is a television station licensed to Sweetwater, Texas, United States, serving the Abilene area as an affiliate of ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside KTES-LD, broadcasting TBD, and KTXE-LD, which rebroadcasts KTXS-TV in the San Angelo area. The stations share studios on North Clack Street in Abilene; KTXS-TV's transmitter is located near Trent, Texas, and KTXE-LD is broadcast from a site on West 26th Street in San Angelo.
KTAB-TV is a television station in Abilene, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and Telemundo. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which provides certain services to NBC affiliate KRBC-TV under joint sales and shared services agreements (JSA/SSA) with Mission Broadcasting. The two stations share studios on South 14th Street in western Abilene; KTAB-TV's transmitter is located on Texas State Highway 36 in neighboring Callahan County.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin is the state botanical garden and arboretum of Texas. The center features more than 900 species of native Texas plants in both garden and natural settings and is home to a breadth of educational programs and events. The center is 284 acres and located 10 miles southwest of downtown Austin, Texas just inside the edge of the distinctive Texas Hill Country. It straddles both Edwards Plateau and Texas Blackland Prairies ecosystems.
KHXS is a radio station broadcasting a classic rock format. It serves the area of Abilene, Texas, United States. The station is under ownership of Cumulus Media.
KBEC is a commercial AM and FM radio station licensed to Waxahachie, Texas and serving Ellis County. It is owned by Jon and Alyssa Garrett and it carries a classic country/Texas country radio format with some talk and sports shows.
KFYO is a commercial AM radio station in Lubbock, Texas. It airs a news/talk format and is owned by Townsquare Media. Its studios are on 82nd Street in southwest Lubbock.
The Copano Bay Fishing Pier was a pier in Aransas County, Texas, United States used primarily for recreational fishing. The pier had two separate sections. One is 2,500 feet (760 m) long on the south side of the bay and the other is 6,190 feet (1,890 m) long on the north side. It was permanently closed in August 2017 following a collapse of one section and inspections which indicated severe deterioration of the over 80-year-old structure.
Robert Leon Phillips is an American television journalist best known for his long-running program Texas Country Reporter. In 2005, Phillips was inducted into the Silver Circle of the Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the association that gives the Emmy Awards; the honor is extended to professionals who have spent at least 25 years of their career in television in Texas and have made significant contributions to their industry and their communities.
Scott Myers is an American painter and sculptor who lives and works in Texas. He graduated Texas A&M University in 1984 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. He studied sculpture throughout Italy focusing on Florence, Venice and Rome. Sculpting in Tuscany, he cast his work in bronze at the prestigious Fonderia d'Arte Massimo Del Chiaro in Pietrasanta. In 1994, Myers became an elected member of the National Sculpture Society. On February 12, 2011, Myers was featured in the popular television show Texas Country Reporter. Myers was inducted in the inaugural class of the Haltom City High School Hall of Fame on March 10, 2011.
The Odessa Meteor Crater is a meteorite crater in the southwestern part of Ector County, southwest of the city of Odessa of West Texas, United States. It is accessible approximately 3 mi (5 km) south of Interstate 20 at Exit 108. This is one of three impact crater sites found in Texas, the others being the older and much larger Sierra Madera crater and the Marquez crater.
The Lone Star Football League (LSFL) was a regional professional indoor football minor league that played three seasons from 2012 to 2014. All of the LSFL's charter teams were based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern Indoor Football League, three from the Indoor Football League, plus one expansion team. The LSFL played three seasons to completion before merging with the Champions Professional Indoor Football League in August 2014 to form Champions Indoor Football.
The Texas Bucket List is a weekly, nationally-syndicated television program created, hosted and written by Shane McAuliffe and produced, shot, and edited by Donnie Laffoday. The show is filmed either on location somewhere in Texas or at The Texas Bucket List Store & Studio in College Station, TX.
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