It would be another seven years before Neil Armstrong took that "giant leap for mankind" but the whole country was already space crazy in 1962. So David Boreanaz aka Dave Roberts aka Dave Thomas original host of the popular children's television series RocketShip 7, went to Cape Canaveral to see a real rocketship up close and in person.
But before Sputnik was even launched by the Ruskis the only blast off that David Boreanaz was focused on, was that of his broadcasting career. After attending Syracuse University he began his on air career via radio, in the "Salt City" before heading back to his hometown of Buffalo, NY in 1956.
His stint at WBUF-TV was short lived however as the young broadcaster wound up working with Uncle Sam for awhile. In 1958, he served in the U. S. Army as News Director for the Caribbean Forces Radio-TV Network in the Panama Canal Zone and also broadcast on Armed Forces Radio in New York City.
In 1961, he returned to the Queen City of the Lakes, and joined WKBW-TV to once again try his hand at working in front of a camera instead of a microphone. This time on a VHF channel that people actually watched, as a weatherman and the host of the children`s show Rocketship 7 and also co-hosting Dialing for Dollars.
Rocketship 7 had Dave in the role of an astronaut who along with his robot, "Promo" and puppet friend Mr. Beeper, would take off daily into orbit around the Earth. As an early weekday morning children's show, they would show cartoons such as "Ruff 'n Ready", "Tennessee Tuxedo", "Peter Potamus" and the claymation show "Davey and Goliath" among others. Between cartoons they would show children's drawings, announce birthdays, and have little skits or actions related to being in "orbit and on a rocketship".
The show premiered September 10, 1962 and ended in 1978 when Dave Thomas left WKBW to be the co-host for the morning television show AM Philadelphia. When he left, WKBW-TV cancelled "Rocketship 7".
He eventually became the meteorologist at WPVI until his retirement in 2009.
He's also had roles in the movie Blowout, All My Children, Doogie Howser, MD and Thirtysomething in addition to several uncredited appearances on his sons television series "Bones".
