Written By Bob Bassett

Not only was he a fine engineer, but Jack was a good friend and a devilish prankster. I admired his gift for creating laughter for so many of us who shared his occasional disdain for management. For some inexplicable reason, Jack reveled in tormenting Mann Reed, who in these two remembrances, was serving as Regional Sales Manager, having given up his earlier post as Program director. One late evening, Case was at the Master Control console when the phone rang. It was Reed calling from out of town with a client's renewal of their account and Mann wanted it to go on the air that very night. The phone call went as follows (as two other engineers can attest):

"I have a collect call for anyone from Mann Reed. Will you accept?"
Jack Case: "What that name, operator?"
"Mann Reed. Will you accept?"
"I still didn't get the name, operator."
"Reed. Mann Reed. Will you accept?"
"Never heard of him" said Jack and he slammed down the phone.

Needless to say, Reed was bullshit.

Mann had an ongoing romance with his attractive secretary which eventually culminated in marriage, but during their courtship, Reed had occasion to stop into Master Control, with his nemesis Jack Case one of the engineers on duty. The technicians had a fluid they used to clean the heads of the videotape and film reels, and it was also quite useful in removing spots and stains from clothing such as ties, shirts and trousers. ON this day, Reed arrived carrying a topcoat and asked Jack if he would remove some spots from the garment.

"I don't know if I can, Mann. They look like pecker tracks to me."
"They're not pecker tracks!" Reed shouted for all Master Control to hear.
"Well, leave it here, Mann, and I'll see what I can do, but they still look like pecker tracks to me."
"For the last time, THEY ARE NOT PECKER TRACKS!" Mann bellowed, and stomped out of Master Control.

About an hour later, he returned.
"Well, did you remove them?" he asked Case.
"No. I told you they were pecker tracks, and the fluid rejects pecker tracks."

After the new owners of WTEV came in years later, Jack and Mann both left WTEV. Case became prominent in the local cable industry, and Reed went on to manage a station in upstate New York, and he later joined Vance in Atlanta.