‘Eyes of Texas’ finds a home at Rice’s Fondren Library

KPRC-TV/Channel 2, which ran the series from 1969 until
the program went off the air 30 years later, will provide
Rice’s Fondren Library with 30 to 50 theme shows made
by incorporating material from the old videotapes.

The luncheon, which was hosted by Rice President Malcolm
Gillis, also honored former KPRC news director and series
creator Ray Miller, series producer Gary James and current
KPRC vice president and general manager Steve Wasserman.

“Rice is pleased to be the curator for the new compilations
of ‘The Eyes of Texas’ through our Fondren Library.
These programs will provide a rich source of Texas culture
— some of which is slipping away from us — for
libraries and schools across the state,” Gillis said.
The transfer of the tapes was the work of Hutchison, who
was once a reporter at KPRC. She recently contacted Don
Graham, president of The Washington Post holding company
that owns the station, to ask if they would turn the tapes
over to Rice as a repository.

“‘The Eyes of Texas’ — better than any
documentary that I’ve ever seen — really depicts
what makes Texas special,” said Hutchison during her
presentation at the luncheon. “It was just a wonderful
series.”

Hutchison thanked Gillis for “immediately responding
in the affirmative when we asked if we could put the series
here. I was so happy that it would be in a fine institution
like Rice where it will be available to many Texans and
will be a part of our heritage.”

“The Eyes of Texas,” a half-hour program about
the state, its people and its history, began airing on KPRC
in the summer of 1969. It became the longest-running regularly
scheduled television program in Houston history and, in
later years, was syndicated statewide and was required viewing
for many Texas history classes.

The idea of packaging the tapes into new shows and archiving
them was initiated by nationally syndicated columnist and
Fox News commentator Cal Thomas, another KPRC alumnus, who
contacted Hutchison and asked for her help.

“In an age when so many of us complain of bad television,
it is a joy and honor to resurrect this prize-winning program
for a new generation of Texas children,” Thomas said.

Miller noted that “The Eyes of Texas” was the
first television program “to be devoted entirely to
Texana” and said that when it was launched, he wouldn’t
have predicted its enduring appeal.

“It’s been my observation in my long career of
observing that most people fail to realize when they are
doing something that might be significant,” he said.
“So I did not give any thought at all at the beginning
of this series beyond just putting it on the air. But after
it had been on the air for a few years, I did begin to think
that it ought to be saved.”

Miller said it was his dream to have the series archived
at Rice. “It was my first and only choice,” he
said.

Today more than 500 of the shows are preserved in the archives
of KPRC, which will retain the copyright.