When it comes to Michigan sports celebrities, it’s not likely names like Marion Ladewig and Eddie Lubanski will ring a bell, although Don Carter or Aleta Sills might be a bit more familiar – at least to bowling fans.

For most people in Metro Detroit, local bowling memories are far more likely to raise the name of Bob Allison, the affable host of Detroit’s iconic 1970s TV show, Bowling for Dollars. The Bloomfield Hills resident and longtime radio personality owned TV bowling airwaves from 1973 to 1979, where his version of the nationally syndicated show received a 50 share of television viewers.

Today, Allison, 78, matter-of-factly says that half of all Detroit-area TVs were tuned to his show on Channel 4 — first at 5:30 p.m., then later at 7 p.m. — glued to each 30-minute bowling showdown.  What first debuted as a local lead-in to the 6 p.m. news soon became its own vehicle, with its own time slot.  And Detroit owned it five nights a week.

“When it debuted, Los Angeles had the  No. 1 version, but within a few weeks, we had 2 to 3  million people who were supporting the show and we took over as No. 1,” Allison said.

The show idea was created by the brains behind Romper Room, Bert Claster. It began in Baltimore with 17 markets, but Allison’s trip there to explore the concept resulted in his admission that he didn’t like the format.

“I am an independent soul,” he said. “The Claster method struck me as a dead-end idea. So, I did it my own way, and eventually, they came around to agree my ideas worked.”

Behind the Scenes: Grueling Friday Tapings

Before it went the way of the finned auto, Bowling for Dollars grew to involve 25 markets.

Shows were taped back-to-back, from noon to 5 p.m. each Friday, before a live audience at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park. Allison had to change clothes five times, as well as prep and warm up each audience prior to taping.

“By each third show, it was getting stale trying to come up with original material, and adlibbing got tougher,” he said. “Viewers were supposed to think each show was fresh, but it got exhausting trying to come up with ideas with one-day taping.”

Seemingly, his ship had come in, and Allison admits: “The best part of the gig was being Detroit’s best-known broadcaster. But, the worst part was realizing when it was Friday that I almost wanted to throw up.”

Bowling for Dollars' non-glamorous show set, which Allison says left something to be desired, was all worked by hand — and sometimes that didn’t always go right. Add that to a tight taping schedule to get all guests and commercials into the allotted time slot, and it was a challenging job.

Later, his biggest angst was that producers insisted he wear his hair long, reflecting the era’s fashion.

“But, I was getting married and did not want to look at those wedding photos years later with that awful haircut,” he said. “So one day, I just got it cut the way I wanted. The wedding happened, and they never said another word about it.”

Bowling for Dollars spurred two huge mailbags per week, filled with thousands of letters and the hopes of many to-be contestants. Only seven names per show were chosen, and winners received one dollar for each pin they downed. Later, area businesses lent their sponsorships, and prizes were added to the mix. The big show jackpot grew $20 with each unclaimed win, and two strikes from a skillful bowler would deliver that jackpot.

“At times, it reached into the hundreds of dollars,” said Allison. “For five strikes, the bowler would get a Corvette.”

It was the best vehicle to root for friends and neighbors, watch them earn a few bucks — or totally tank — and occasionally, see a pro bowl. Allison says some well-known people — like radio and TV personalities — showed up at times, too.

$1 an Hour for First Radio Job

Allison began as a native of La Porte, IN, by way of Los Angeles. His journey included two marriages, a stint in the U.S. Army, and having three sons and three stepchildren.

“I got my first radio job in 1950,” he said.  “At 17, I walked into a La Porte radio station, WLOI, about 70 miles from Chicago, and told them they should hire me. They were amused, but I told them I was already better than their best guy. So, they tried me out, and they agreed. I was a very good reader, and got hired for $1 an hour.”

He stayed for a year, and refers to that time with an acronym close to the station’s call letters: Well Low On Income.

Soon, he entered Indiana University in Bloomington on an academic scholarship, where he studied philosophy and humanities for two and a half years, and worked in radio during the summer.

“I was a serious kid, and my dream was to attend St. John’s in New York and study all the great books,” he said. “But, scholarships were hard to come by.”

His first marriage followed, then radio work in Brisbie, AZ, with a renewed goal: to work in Chicago. But first he took his self-taught musical talents into the U.S. Army band, playing in an officers’ club. Jazz piano was his specialty — and they had him try something new: the glockenspiel.

“I thought it was a German beer,” he said. “So I used the Columbus system of coping — I discovered and landed.”

After the army, radio wasn’t hiring. By then, he was headed to Los Angeles to tour through a friend’s band and there was a baby Allison on the horizon. Continuous delays meant no income, so he sent his wife home to Indiana, because, “there was no point in two of us starving.”

A New City, A New Name

Several starts and stops later, Detroit’s WWJ-AM beckoned. That’s when he discovered that his given name, Allesee, needed to be changed, he says. Radio powers-that-be decided the Danish name sounded “too foreign.”

Allison settled in permanently, because by then, he had school-aged children. He debuted the still-popular Ask Your Neighbor radio show, modeled after a similar show at Milwaukee’s WTMJ. He stayed for 17 years, until 1978, when the station assumed an all-news format. That’s when he moved the show to more fertile ground.

Today broadcast from Southfield on WNZK (690-AM) from 9-11 a.m., Monday through Friday, “AYN” has its regular callers and dedicated listeners who share everything from recipes to free advice.

“It’s like asking your neighbor over the back fence — only electronic,” Allison said. “It’s Detroit’s longest-running radio show.”

Allison also heads Bob Allison Enterprises Inc., and works the “AYN” show, in its 50th year, with his 53-year-old son, Rob Allesee, and sidekick, Al O’Neal.

He belongs to the Rotary Club and bowls on the Oakland Hills Country Club, where he’s topped out with a 180 average. He uses his left hand, due to some hip pain, and also bowls with Detroit Athletic Club.

He is an avid bowler, having been on teams at Oakland Hills Country Club, where he topped out with a 180 average, Detroit Rotary and the Detroit Athletic Club, where he still competes. He now uses his left hand, however, due to some hip pain.

Bob and his second wife, Maggie are oft-recognized philanthropic community members and grandparents of 11. They give unselfishly to many organizations and causes, and there is even a Maggie Allesee Department of Dance and Bob Allesee “Allison” endowed chair in Media at Maggie’s alma mater, Wayne State University.

As a 35-year member of Oakland Hills, he has also served as a major media representative for tournaments such as the U.S. Open, PGA Championships, Ryder Cup matches, U.S. Senior Open and amateur events.

And, of course, we can attest to what he gave to us in the way of bowling memories, including his guest stint on Beat the Champions — but that’s a whole ‘nuther ball game.