We’ve been shooting stories in and around Pittsburgh since 2000 and we now have over 175 shoots in the books.  We’ve turned those shoots into 32 half hour shows and 4 one-hour specials plus other misc. things.  Now that we’ve been at this a while, we get this question quite a bit; What is the coolest thing that you’ve gotten to do?  So I’ve actually been thinking about this and came up with my top 10 list of favorite shoots.  I’m sure Dave H and Frank would have their own list and maybe we’ll see theirs soon, but here’s mine.

#10  Julie B’s house  3/11/03

As many of you know, Julie Bologna is a meterologist at Channel 11.  What many of you may not know and what we’ve been lucky to find out is, Julie B is one of the coolest, funniest, nicest - and plenty other good adjectives - people around.  We went to do a “cribs” episode with her and toured her old house and had a great couple hours going through her closets.   She is the best!

#9  Hot Air Ballooning  8/21/02

 This is one of the best shot stories we’ve ever done, too bad we weren’t in Hi-Def back then.  If you haven’t had a chance to go up in a hot air balloon, do it.  It’s kinda pricey but was really, really cool.  I’m not a huge fan of heights, but this felt totally safe and was not scary at all.

 #8  Day Spa with Eva Szabo   3/31/00

This was actually the 2nd story we ever did and this one is kind of a no-brainer when you have foreign women touching you all day long.  The marked the first (and last) time I’ve had a pedicure, the first (and last) time I’ve had a mud wrap, the first (and last) time I’ve had a facial, the first (and last) time I’ve had a manicure, and the first (and last) time I had a hand wrap.  But I was stunned how great I looked after this shoot!  If you see this show, it really is noticable.

 #7  Backyard Castle  6/26/08

This was part of our show Strange PA and this guy we met named Ron Hall took 30 years to dry-lay this huge castle in his backyard.  Not only was the castle cool, the yard was equally great with landscaping to complement the castle.  I would kill to have his backyard and we were all inspired by him to start constructing our own stone things.  Of course nothing we build will ever match this.  If you are ever in the northeast part of the state, find this place and check it out!

#6  The River Tunnel  5/16/08

We’re guys so any large machines that can dig a tunnel under a river is pretty cool to see.  So last spring we got a chance to literally walk underneath the Allegheny River to see the boring machine at work.  Now for the chance to say “I’ve walked under the Allegheny River” is enough, but seeing how this whole thing works was damn impressive.   Dave H put it best when he said to the guy in charge, “I can’t keep water out of my basement, yet you’re building a tunnel under a river!”

#5  Pierogi racing at PNC Park  9/16/05

Ok, let’s be honest.  The only reason to go to PNC Park right now is for the food, fireworks, bobblehead dolls and the pierogie race.  We were lucky enough to get invited to become a pierogie for one night and race.  Ok, I finished last and I had to be the girl pierogie, but it was a blast.  Of course, it was super hot and kinda clausterphobic inside those things too.

 #4  Penn State Tailgating  9/3/05

We shot this for our first state special Eat Pennsylvania.  I should say that Dave and I grew up Pitt fans which means Penn St. was the enemy.  No longer. We both fell in love with State College, the people in the parking lots were awesome and the numbers where overwhelming.  Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was electric unlike any other football game I’ve been at.  I’m now a Penn State fan, although they never play Pitt anymore so it’s kinda easy now.  We are….

#3  Driving Hummers at Nemacolin  2/5/03

Let’s face it, I work for a PBS station so I’m never going to own a H2 Hummer.  But I got to drive one through the woods as part of a program at the swanky Nemacolin resort.  And they put us up for a night.  And we didn’t just drive it through the woods, they had a course set up where we got to drive over trees, through creeks, up and down hills, awesome! 

#2  Inside Quantico & the FBI Academy Spring 2001

We got to spend a couple days at the FBI training academy in Quantico, Virginia courtesy of special agent Bill Crowley.  Going behind the scenes here and to see what these recruits do is amazing.  We also ran their famous obstacle course “yellow brick road,” drove skid cars while getting yelled at by a real DEA agent, checked out Hogan’s Alley, the firing range, and found out they had a Starbucks on the premises.  Now that is government efficiency!

#1  Super Bowl XL in Detroit  2/5/06

This one is not even close.  The coolest thing we have ever done and probably will ever do is going to the Super Bowl.  That alone is great.  But to spend a few days there prior to the game, get in the locker room after the Steelers victory, and get on the field after the game was about as good as it gets for huge Steeler fans that we are.  I called my Dad from the locker room after the game, then called just about everyone in my phone from the field after the game.  We got to talk to about 10 players, eat free food during the game, get cool swag like pins, seat cushions, etc.  My press pass for that game is still one of my most prized possessions from anything I’ve ever done.

The only complaint that I had was the weather was really crappy since they had the game in Detroit, and we couldn’t get into the Playboy or Maxim parties held the night before the game.  But to be a part of Steeler history like that is without a doubt my favorite thing that I’ve ever been a part of here at WQED.

Honorable Mention

There have been so many cool people and places during our time, I would like to throw a shout-out to a couple other places:  Nancy B’s cookies in Homestead.  She sends cookies over a couple times a year for us and she and her son really are the best.  It helps the cookies are about the size of a hubcap.  D’z Six Packs and Dogz in Regent Square.  When we were there back in January of 2002, it was just this little hole in the wall place with great hot dogs and fries plus root beer on tap to die for.  Now they’ve expanded and are so crowded, we have a hard time getting a table.   Rock & Bowl at the world famous Arsenal Lanes was a lot of fun and it was so nice to see so many young people (no they didn’t all leave Pittsburgh) enjoying themselves while drinking, bowling, and rocking.  Bingo at the Lithuanian Club on the South Side to this day remains our signature segment.  I got slapped by an old woman, we shaved 2 years off our lives because of the thick layer of cigarette smoke, and we learned what a dauber is.  That bingo segment was the funniest segment we ever shot.  And one last shout-out to North County Brewing in Slippery Rock.  This is one of those great places that everyone here needs to visit.  You know we’re never sure what a place is going to be like the first time we visit, but this place was light years better than anything we could have expected.  Plus the owners were tremendous.

Here’s to the next 175 stories!  -  Dave R

So there’s only a couple weeks left until Christmas and if you’re looking for the perfect gift, we’ve got it for you.

A lot of you have asked about getting a DVD copy of “Pittsburgh N’at,” but unfortunately, right now it is not available on DVD.  But, we do have a delicious program on DVD that is available called EAT PENNSYLVANIA.

We made this program a few years back where we travelled across the state in search of great places to eat.  Above you see us with the 50 pound hamburger in Clearfield.  We eat old-style hotdogs in Altoona at Texas Hot Dogs and sample a Phily specialy known as water ice at John’s.  We explore the Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, check out a Beaver County institution known as Jerry’s Curb Service.  We also visit Sara’s on Presque Isle, Pierogies Plus and the Triangle Bar in Pittsburgh, Sturgis Pretzel House in Lititz and an all cereal restaurant in Philly.

But if you know someone who went to Penn State, or anyone who travels to Penn State football games, this is the perfect gift for the nittany lion in your life.  The last part of the show we spend tailgating in Happy Valley and really soak up the flavor of a Saturday afternoon.  Plus, the DVD has 2 bonus segments, one of which is 15 extra minutes tailgating in Penn State.  Anyone who spent an afternoon in the parking lots outside Beaver Stadium would love this DVD.  I only wish there was something like this for my alma mater, but Ohio U didn’t exactly win a lot of games.

You can pick up the DVD at book stores like Borders or Barnes & Noble, or call 1-800-274-1307.  You can also email shop@wqed.org to get a copy.

And look for Eat Pennsylvania 2 coming to a TV set near you in the fall of 2009!      – Dave R

There are 2 questions that we get asked the most when we are out and about.

#1 When the hell are you two going to make some new shows?  We actually hear this question quite a bit from OffQ and Black Horizons host Chris Moore.  He’s our biggest fan..although that may have something to do with the fact he doesn’t have cable.  Anyway, to answer this one quickly, we got 4 new ones coming in February, so there!

#2  What’s the deal with the jerseys and why don’t you ever wear jerseys for Pittsburgh teams?!?

When we first started doing our show, we always wore Hawaiian shirts.  Dave H had a big collection of them and he thought we should have a “look” so for about 2 years, that’s what we would wear.  Then we were told by a member of upper management (who’s no longer here) that we need to lose the shirts.   Now, for some reason at that point we switched to sports jerseys.  I’m not sure how that is any different from Hawaiian shirts, but no one bothered us anymore. 

Now, Dave and I are like the Indiana Jones of sports jerseys.  We hunt them down in obscure places for rock-bottom prices, no matter what the team.  We do give bonus points for finding players who are awful or just plain jackasses.  I got a pot-smoking Ricky Williams jersey, a Chad Johnson Bengals jersey plus about 25 others that I found in varous places.

But Dave H gets the prize for most obscure/inane and just plain horrible jersey… Ryan Leaf.  True NFL fans know that Ryan Leaf was a quarterback who was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in 1998 as the #2 pick in the whole draft, right after Peyton Manning.  He then proceeded to be possibly the biggest flop in NFL history.  I don’t know where he found this jersey, but damn I’m jealous.  And I thought my Kordell Stewart jersey would never be trumped.

But while we wear a lot of jerseys, we do have and wear a lot of Pittsburgh jerseys.  I have 2 Steeler and 2 Penguin jerseys.  Dave H has a couple Steelers, a Penguins, a Pirates and a Pitt jersey.  So you will find no more die hard Pittsburgh sports fans then us, but we have a lot of jerseys so we got to wear them.

And if you know of any good places to find cheap jerseys, let us know!  I’m guessing a Plaxico jersey would look pretty good right about now.

-Dave R 

Hopefully, you have seen the little box on the left side of our webpages called “Frank’s Corner.”  These are the pearls of wisdom from our cameraman Frank, that until recently, only we got to hear.  Now, the world has access to his brain.

Frank has whole-heartily embraced his “box” and now provides quotes on an almost daily basis.  I never really gave much thought to the fact that “silence is a myth” but he may just have something there.

Anyhoo, I thought Frank alone had these flashes of deepness.  That is until I uncovered the Twitter page of former Pittsburgh Penguin winger/madman Gary Roberts.  Roberts plays for the Tampa Bay Lighting now but he remains in Penguins fan’s hearts because of his maniacal play while he was in Pittsburgh.  Here’s a sampling of wisdom from Gary Roberts.

“War does not determine who is right, only who is left.”

“To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence.  Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.”

“Nobody will ever win the battle of the sexes.  There’s too much fraternizing with the enemy.”

 I’m not sure who wins this wisdom throwdown, but maybe it’s time Gary Roberts gets his own box.   

-Dave R

Dave & Dave recently had the honor of sitting down with Pittsburgh’s favorite pizza sons, Dom (pictured with Dave & Dave) and John Mineo to discuss their family business.  Let’s be real, whenever anyone brings up the topic of Pittsburgh pizza only a few names pop up and topping the list is always Mineos.

Noticed how I said “topping” the list?  Not a bad pizza tie-in!  Anyway… back to the topic… Pizza!  Mineo’s is celebrating their 50th year and after five decades of success you have to wonder what they are doing to keep folks coming back.  And that’s why we dropped by.  Dave & I along with our trusty cameraman Frank stopped by the original Squirrel Hill location on an average weeknight to shoot a TV segment for an upcoming OnQ episode and we found everything from young first-timers to hordes of regulars who’ve been enjoying the pies all their lives.

So we put the Mineo brothers under the hot lights and pelted them with questions trying to figure out their secret recipes and business strategies and they wouldn’t crack.  Apparently the quality ingredients they use seem to have something to do with keeping things consistent and delicious for half a century! 

As usual we did have a moment to sample some pizza for ourselves and we HIGHLY recommend the sausage and pepperoni!  Let us know what you think about Mineo’s pizza and do tune in to OnQ on WQED, Tuesday, November 25th at 7:30pm to see the story! – Dave H

Okay so “Pittsburgh N’at has finally aired… and we want to know what you think.  This show was a bit of a departure for us.  Usually in our programs we show you things you might not know about, but this time around we decided to go the Pittsburgh history route and really celebrate this place we call home.  Of course we still did it in our own “Dave & Dave” style.  Is this something you’d like to see more of?  Well shortly you’ll get to see a little more!  Dave & Dave had so much left over from the edit that we’re crafting an additional half hour of “N’at” to air some time soon!!

But if you missed the big hour documentary, WQED has already scheduled a repeat for Monday night, December 29th at 10pm.

Here’s what Pittsburgh Post-Gazette TV critic Rob Owen had to say about our show!

Our pal Sally Wiggin also did a story on us that aired on WTAE News the night of our premiere.  You can check it out here on the WTAE Video page.  For the life of me I can’t get it to play, but you can give it a shot.  You may have to do a search for the video.  It is called “Sally Wiggin talks Pittsburgh n’at with Dave and Dave.”  Thanks Sally!  – Dave H.

An ambitious shoot day today for sure!  5 interviews!  Each one is taking about an hour so that doesn’t leave much time for driving around or lunch.  Fortunately Dave Rhodes has coordinated a finely tuned schedule and when it’s all said and done, we will have 13 celeb friends in the show.  13… just like WQED13… Coincidence?  Absolutely.

First stop is that gleaming gold building that towers over Greentree Hill and is also the home of the many Clear Channel radio stations in the ‘Burgh including WDVE.

While Jim, Randy, Val, Mike, and ace producer, Ryan Camuso put the finishing touches on today’s ‘DVE Morning Show, Dave, Frank & I set up in a cozy studio just down the hall so we could catch resident funnyman Jim Krenn right when he gets off the air.  Jim is another one of our real media friends in the show.  His legacy in Pittsburgh radio speaks for itself and it’s always been an honor for us to consider Jim a friend and mentor.  He was there when Dave & I started doing TV and welcomed us onto the WDVE airwaves for several years where we were really able to make a name for ourselves with the vast WDVE listenership and hone our comedic skills at the same time.  So we have a lot to thank him for and having him in the show will be a treat.  Some people are funny and some people are not.  Jim is funny.  ‘Nuff said.

After we extended Jim’s workday by an hour, his morning show partner, Randy Baumann made his way into the interview hot seat so we could mentally work him over for an hour.  While not a native Pittsburgher, Randy’s been in and around the ‘Burgh for most of his life and sitting at the controls every morning on WDVE puts him right at the epicenter of Pittsburgh nation.  Most of what I said about Jim, also applies to Randy.  He also really helped two guys named Dave become “Dave & Dave.”  We were hoping for lots of Randy’s trademark, lightning-quick wit and highly creative comedy, and he really let us have it!  When Frank laughs behind the camera Dave & I know that’s the good stuff!

Since we’re in Greentree, Frank insists on a late breakfast/early lunch at the Original Pancake House.  He and his family are regulars at the McIntyre Square location and h’s been wanting to visit their Greentree franchise for a few months.  We all got pancakes and as usual made fun of Dave R for the way he slices them all beforehand… and his little glass of chocolate milk too.

Okay, with bellies full of flapjacks, it’s off to the new home of Channel 11 to visit our meteorological friend, Julie Bologna. When we found out Julie B was coming back from Dallas, we were totally thrilled!  She’s another what-you-see-is-what-you-get celeb… Super nice, sweet, funny and now the mother of two cute sons.  Julie was so nice to us years ago when we did a series of “MTV Cribs” style shows, and she agreed to be our first one.  That was a huge leap of faith letting us into her home!!  Julie gave us a nice tour of WPXI’s new building and what a facility it is!  Very swank.  And during her interview she cleared up a few of our weather questions too.  We now know that partly cloudy is actually better than partly sunny.  There’s more sun.

Not letting us borrow chopper 11, we had to race our WQED van back down the parkway north to Oakland where our pal from MTV, Susie Meister was waiting for us.  Susie took Pittsburgh pride down under for the world to see on her season of “Road Rules,” which had her criss-crossing Australia reality show style.  Susie’s been on a few of those “Challenge” shows too where they pit people from “Road Rules” and “The Real World” into crazy inferno-like competitions.  But how will she do in our hot seat?  Turns out… just fine.  Susie’s been doing lotsa TV stuff for “OnQ” and other outlets and we’re happy to have her joining us in this show too.

Hot on the heels of Susie’s interview, we welcomed Anji Corley into the studio!  For those of you who do not know, Anji is Pittsburgh’s real slash.  Radio personality/TV personality/model/actress… and lots more slashes, but you get the idea.  Anji’s day job is the midday voice of WAMO-106.7 FM and we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to catch some of that ‘Anji style’ for our show.  Although Ms. Corley is originally from New York, she like Randy from ‘DVE has been baptized by the Pittsburgh population as one of their own.  Her energy is as big as her smile and she made our job super easy.

Now that I think about it… what a rough afternoon having to spend it with the likes of Julie Bologna, Susie Meister and Anji Corley.  Talk about dream jobs!! – Dave H.

Okay it’s a truly ugly Pittsburgh day, dreary, rainy and gray so what better thing to do than interview a batch of Pittsburgh media icons for our “Pittsburgh N’at” show!

First up, we drop into America’s original radio station, KDKA to chat with morning man Larry Richert.  Larry’s very well-known for his genuine nice-guy demeanor wrapped in a razor wit, and he did not disappoint.  Even though he just got back from Ireland and had to get up really early to do his show, he more than willingly gave us a nice chunk of his time for us to fire our “60 Minutes”-like questions at him.  He’s a native North Hills-ian by the way!  Bet you didn’t know that in addition to everything Larry does for KDKA Radio and TV, his voice does a lot of work for NFL Films.  Yeah that’s right… NFL Films!  How cool.  Frozen tundra cool.

After a quick stop for some breakfast/lunch (somebody should come up with a word to abbreviate that) in the Strip at Pamela’s diner (it was raining and that’s where we got a sweet parking spot), it was a hockey day in Pittsburgh!  The legendary voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins Mike Lange sat down with us just outside the Igloo Club West as soon as the boys of winter wrapped up their morning skate.  We talked to Mike for about an hour while for some reason Pens star center, Jordan Staal shot puck after puck after puck after puck…. all by himself the entire time!  ‘The Langer’ dazzled us with his trademark catch phrases, “Buy Sam A Drink And Get His Dog One Too,” etc. and revealed to us the reasons behind his fear of fireworks.  Exhilarating and cathartic all at the same time.  Let’s Go Pens!

Our last icon stop of the day took us to the other side of the Squirrel Hill Tunnels to the WTAE-Action-News-Is-Everywhere home of Pittsburgh’s (and also the readers of Pittsburgh magazine’s) favorite female newscaster, Sally Wiggin.  The consumate news pro, Sally not only answered everything we threw at her, but at one point even turned the cameras on us!  That’s probably because we found out Sally’s favorite thing about Kennywood Park isn’t the roller coasters, potato patch fries or any of the other rides, but their corn dogs!  Yes, you heard right, Sally loves corn dogs.  Breaking news worthy?  We think so.  While we were working with Sally in their slick news studio, weather team Steven Cropper, Erin Kienzle and Demetrius Ivory were all pow-wowing in the weather center and it kind of alarmed us.  Might there be a volcano coming or something else big?  We’ll have to watch the late news and see…

We’re thrilled icons the stature of Larry Richert, Mike Lange and Sally Wiggin would even give us the time of day… let alone be in our show.  Just another thing that makes Pittsburgh… Pittsburgh.  Sorry Rick Sebak, I think that’s actually the title of one of your shows… but I’m too lazy to change it so there you go. – Dave H.

Day one of shooting went so well with Cathy and Stan, we’re really looking forward to today’s interview sessions. We’ve got three of our media friends lined up and they all work with us here at WQED!

First up, Minette Seate in WQED’s studio B.  That’s the studio where they shoot “OnQ” every night.  Minnie goes waaaay back with Dave & I, and of all the “friends” in this show, she’s without a doubt our closest.  Minette does a lot of stuff here at WQED like producing “Black Horizons,” “OnQ” stories, and all kinds of shows, and we love working with her any chance we get.  I’ve also never met a person who knows more people then her.  We could be in a Mongolian restaurant in a suburb of Buffalo, and she’d know somebody at the next table!  Yeah she’s that cool.

Next up, we wind our way down to the edit room home of the one man who knows more about Pittsburgh than probably anybody else we know… Rick Sebak.  This is the man who brought us such classics as “Kennywood Memories,” “The Strip Show,” and dozens more of those great programs that really showcase this region and the people who call it home.  Dave & I have been lucky over the years to benefit from having a producer of Rick’s caliber just down the hall… and we’re lucky to have him in our show.

Our third and final interview of the day is our good pal Mr. McFeely (aka David Newell) from “Mister Rogers Neighborhood.” Pittsburgh is made up of a myriad of neighborhoods but the one thing they all have in common is “Mister Rogers Neighborhood!”  Dave & I grew up with him and I’m betting you did too.  Sadly Fred himself is no longer with us, but McFeely (that was Fred Rogers’ middle name), is and we’re glad to have him as part of the show.

Okay so three more interviews in the can… things are starting to feel like a show!  But lots more to come. – Dave H.

Okay for those of you from Pittsburgh, the title speaks for itself… but for everybody else, “N’at” is just Steel City shorthand for “and that”… and that is the title of our new show which will hit the air on Thursday, November 6th at 8pm on WQED.  What’s the show about you ask?  Well this one’s a bit different than what we normally do.  Instead of covering and uncovering all sorts of cool new things, this time we’re just celebrating the place we call home, Pittsburgh.  And we’re doing it with the help of a lot of our media friends.  Today was our first shoot for the TV special and in addition to shooting lots of hi-definition b-roll (really nice video footage for the show), we got down to business with two of our “friends!”

First up, was the mid-day host on 96.1 KISS-FM, Tall Cathy (aka Cathy Schodde).  What a treat!  It’s no wonder she was recently named the “best female radio DJ” by the readers of Pittsburgh magazine.  You know how some people have nicknames and you just can’t figure out why?  Well “Tall” Cathy isn’t one of those people.  But in her defense, she could also be easily labeled “Hot” Cathy, “Funny” Cathy, “Bright” Cathy or all of the above!  Also joining us in the KISS studio today was our other cameraman, Bob Lubomski… he’s even taller, and today was his birthday. (Frank was on another project today)  Not only was Cathy a great interview, but we also found out a lot about her and we’re happy to report that she’s a proud Pittsburgher through and through and we’re glad to have her as part of our show.  Do give her a listen on 96.1 KISS and check out her webpage

After leaving the gleaming gold Greentree home of the Clear Channel radio stations we pointed the QED van toward the North Shore in search of a Pittsburgh sports icon, Stan Savran.

Like Tall Cathy, Stan gave us a really great interview.  His director at FSN even fired up the lights in their swanky new studio so we could shoot right on their set.  And with the big window, it really felt like the Today Show…  And once Bob rolled tape, Stan showed us why so many people “Love the Show!”  We had the opportunity years ago to do a story on Stan & Guy and their iconic show “Sportsbeat,” and we’re happy to report that in addition to Stan’s FSN-TV duties, he’s also back on the radio with Guy Junker weekdays at 10am on ESPN Radio 1250.  But you’ll have to tune in to “Pittsburgh N’at With Dave & Dave and Friends” to find out what scares Stan Savran so much about Kennywood!  -  Dave H.