Kids' TV: The First Twenty-Five Years

by Stuart Fischer

Overview

In a freshly revisited and important text, Stuart Fischer summarizes the golden age of Kids' TV with entries for every important children's television program which aired between 1947 and 1972. It's a nostalgic journey that highlights the programs of imagination and creativity which influenced the baby boom generation and their children, listing important factual information for everything from "Howdy Doody" to "Sealab 2020."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781497633902
Publisher:	Open Road Media
Publication date:	06/10/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stuart Fischer is the author of Kid's TV and is an expert in the history of television cartoons after years working with Hanna-Barbera and others in the industry. He currently lives in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

Kids' TV

The First 25 Years

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By Stuart Fischer

OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA

Copyright © 2004 Stuart Fischer
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4976-3390-2

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CHAPTER 1

1946 – 1947 Season

Birthday Party

Thursday, 7:30-8:00pm; Dumont

Debut: 5/15/47; Cancellation; 6/23/49

Producer: George Schreck

Hosts: Ted Brown, Bill Slater (1947); Aunt Grace (1948)

This show offered weekly birthday parties for visiting youngsters from the audience. All the necessary ingredients were here: ice cream and cookies; games and performances by talented youngsters. And of course, a cake.

The simple stories told on the show were tailored to preschool children. Ted Brown frequently dressed as King Cole, and the show was known informally as "King Cole's Birthday Party" for that reason. Children sent in photos and information about themselves in the hope that George Schreck would pick them from the hundreds of applicants.

Surprise guests included the Mayor of New York, Vincent Impelliteri. The show evolved into the much different "Star Time". The spin-off originally aired on NBC and later went to Dumont.

George Schreck, who also produced "Star Time", was responsible for two variety series; "Doorway to Fame" and "Boardwalk". Schreck is now an artists' manager and has been involved in the careers of such people as Connie Francis, Bernadette Peters (then known as LaZare), Barry Gordon and Leslie Uggams. All had at one time appeared on "Birthday Party".

Juvenile Jury

Thursday, 8:00-8:30pm; NBC; CBS

Debut: 4/3/47; Cancellation; 10/3/53 (NBC)

Return: 10/11/53; Cancellation; 9/14/54 (CBS)

Return: 1/2/55; Cancellation; 3/27/55 (NBC)

Producers: Jack Barry, Dan Enright

Host/Announcer: Jack Barry

This children's game show featured a panel of five youngsters who were asked to give opinions on how to solve a given problem. These problems would be suggested to the panel either by the studio audience or by viewers.

Jack Barry and co-producer Dan Enright developed the concept at New York radio station WOR. Barry had been active in radio, having worked for a number of stations in Chicago and Trenton, New Jersey. "Juvenile Jury" originated as a radio series in 1946 and was broadcast by the Mutual Broadcasting System. It transferred to network television in 1947 as a 16-week summer series and subsequently went on to become a prime-time success. This game show has the distinction of being the first commercially sponsored network series, with General Foods as the sponsor. It left prime-time in 1954 but continued on Sunday afternoons until 1955.

"Juvenile Jury" served as the launching pad for Barry's and Enright's television careers. They went on to create "Winky Dink and You" (1953-54) again hosted by Jack Barry. Their company, Barry & Enright Productions, has produced many successful game shows, including "Tic Tac Dough", "The Joker's Wild" and "Twenty One". Barry and Enright recently entered motion pictures with the successful "Private Lessons".

Small Fry Club

Tuesday, 7:00-8:00pm; Dumont

Debut: 3/11/47; Cancellation; 6/15/51

Producer: Bob and Kay Emery

Host: Bob Emery

In 1947 Big Brother Bob Emery moved into television from a successful radio programming career. The Dumont Network, headed by Alan B. Dumont, competed fiercely with other networks for a young audience, one that would maintain an allegiance to the fourth network as it grew to maturity.

"Movies For Small Fry" presented film classics, narrated by Emery. With the move to a daily schedule for the show's format was altered to that of a "club", participated in by a young studio audience. The program offered a diversity of entertainment, including cartoons, sketches, songs and after 1949, puppet shows. Every character or situation contributed to the upright moral stance adopted by Bob and his wife Kay. Segments dealt with manners, self-discipline, health and nutrition.

The show enjoyed widespread popularity. It was difficult to obtain spectator tickets. At the close of its network run, Emery returned to station WBZ in Boston, where he hosted "The Big Brother bob Emery Show".

Prior to joining Dumont, emery had created and hosted a radio show, "Triple B Ranch", which introduced Buffalo Bob Smith, to television. Smith went on to host the highly successful "Howdy Doody" (1947/48). Emery also hosted a local New York television show called "The Rainbow Club". This "amateur hour" introduced, among others, Vic Damone and Beverly Sills.

CHAPTER 2

1947 – 1948 Season

Howdy Doody

Saturday, 5:00-6:00pm, NBC

Debut: 12/27/47; Cancellation; 9/24/60

Executive Producers: Roger Muir; Martin Stone

Narrator: Dayton Allen (for the film segment)

Puppeteers: Rhoda Mann, Lee Carney

Voices: Bob Smith (Howdy Doody), Dayton Allen (Phineas T. Bluster), Allen Swift, Herb Vigran

Cast:

Buffalo Bob Smith: Bob Smith

Clarabell Hornblow: Bob Keeshan

Bob Nicholson

Lou Anderson

The Story Princess: Alene Dalton

Tim Tremble: Don Knotts

Chief Thunderthud: Bill Lecornec

Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring: Judy Tyler

Lowell Thomas, Jr.: Himself

Additional characters: Doctor Sing-A-Song, Grandpa Doody Puppet, Dr. Jose Bluster, Double Doody, Heidi Doody, Ugly Sam, Lanky Lou, Trigger Happy, Spin Platter, The Flubadub, Inspector John, Captain Scuttlebut, The Bloop, Dilly Dally, Sandy McTavish, Andy Handy, Doc Ditto, Sandra, the witch

Question: "Say kids, What time is it?"

Answer: "It's How-w-w-wdy Doody Time!"

Came the cheerful response each week, heralding another episode of what many consider to be the most popular children's series in the history of broadcasting.

Set in the colorful town of "Doodyville", the series revolved around the antics of a circus troupe led by Buffalo Bob Smith, who dressed in a pioneer outfit and resembled the legendary Buffalo Bill. His marionette, Howdy Doody, a freckle-faced, puffy-cheeked little boy with a wide grin, was always at Buffalo Bob's side. Their comic nemesis was Phineas T. Bluster, a grumpy old man who objected to people having fun.

Doodyville was populated by a colorful assortment of puppets and people who made brief appearances, as in a circus. Each episode was comprised of a silent film short, one or two songs, and a story involving the characters of Doodyville. An audience of children watched each episode from the bleachers, otherwise referred to as "The Peanut Gallery".

The series first aired as "Puppet Playhouse Presents", a title amended to "Howdy Doody" after only one week. It initially ran on NBC for one hour every Saturday, but the show's popularity grew swiftly, and the network began programming it twice and later three times a week.

Finally, "Howdy Doody" became a daily show, airing Mondays through Fridays for 30 minutes. This schedule began in March/April, 1948, less than a year after the program's debut, making it the first daytime "strip" show in TV history. It continued to run five days a week until 1956, when the network shifted it to Saturday mornings, where it remained until its demise in 1960. The move was dictated not because of a decline in popularity, but because the program was taking up too much time on NBC's schedule. The network needed greater variety in the line-up, as did their advertisers.

Among those responsible for the creation of "Howdy Doody" were Roger Muir and his superior at NBC, Warner Wade. They had met in the army, where Muir, a photographer by training, worked on military films. In 1946, he joined NBC in part at the invitation of Wade. Muir assisted in the establishment of the NBC News department and produced and directed many early shows, including the World Series telecasts.

Muir discovered Bob Smith on an NBC Saturday Morning radio show titled "Triple B Ranch". Smith, singer and co-host of the program, had created a character called Elmer, whose opening words for each show were—"How-w-w-wdy Doody". Here was Muir's acorn. Recruiting Smith and establishing the character Howdy Doody, they went into production in the RCA Building in New York.

The original "Howdy Doody" puppet was designed by Frank Paris. After Paris left the show, the dummy was redesigned by three artists formerly employed by Walt Disney Studios: Norman Blackburn, Mel Shaw and Velma Dawson. Among the actors on the legendary show (most of whom have faded from memory), is Bob Keeshan, better known as "Captain Kangeroo". Keeshan was one of three actors who at various times played "Clarabell, the clown". The other two were Bob Nicholson and Lou Anderson. Keeshan left "Howdy Doody" in 1953 to launch his own now-famous show on CBS. Martin Stone, listed as an executive producer of the show, was in reality Bob Smith's agent. Sensing the potential for "Howdy Doody" tie-in merchandise, he established the Kagren Company to exsploit these lucrative rights. The result was a deluge of licenses for dolls, records, toys and all manner of items that carried the name and likeness of the freckle-faced, blue-eyed six-year-old boy.

Of the many characters who made their debut on the "Howdy Doody" show, none is so memorable as "Gumby". This little green clay figure, the brainchild of Art Clokey, went on to his own series in 1956 and starred in a stop-motion animated film.

In it's 13-year run, "Howdy Doody" played 2,343 television performances. It was also featured on radio, where it ran on Saturday Mornings from 1952 to 1958. In all, the show played more than 3,000 times. It was sponsored by such prominent advertisers as Marx Toys, Kellogg's, Mars, Ideal Toys, General Foods and many others. In 1976, a new syndicated version of the show, hosted as before by Bob Smith, failed to capture the magic of its predecessor and was short-lived. Smith moved to Florida and continued to exploit his famous creation at conventions and book signings, helping to keep the cute little six-year-old boy alive and well for future generations to get to know and love.

Tragedy struck in the late 1990s when Buffalo Bob Smith passed away.

Little could anybody ever believe what a classic "Howdy Doody" would become and would remain as respected as it is today by so many.

"Howdy Doody" merchandise still continues to appear on the market and the show is still fondly remembered by those who grew up with "Howdy Doody" who helped shape so many lives.

Lucky Pup

Monday – Friday, 6:30-6:45pm; CBS

Debut: 8/23/48; Cancellation; 6/23/51

Producers: Hope and Morey Bunin; Lloyd Gross; Clarence Schimmel

Puppeteers: Hope and Morey Bunin

Hostess: Doris Brown

This much-loved puppet show revolved around the misadventures of the "Kindness Club". The series was hosted by Doris Brown, the only human member of the show.

"Lucky Pup" was a cute dog/puppet, who inherited $5 million from the estate of a circus queen. The setting was a circus. Lucky Pup was accompanied by such characters as "Jolo", the resident clown, and "Foodini", the villain and wicked magician who devised innumerable schemes to separate Lucky from his inheritance. Foodini was assisted by Pinhead, a dim but loyal accomplice.

As the series progressed the empathy of viewers shifted from Pup to Foodini and Pinhead and they eventually became the focus of the series. Pup was too "goody-two-shoes". "Lucky Pup" was originally programmed for two weeks in the 8:00-9:00p.m. evening schedule, to enable an adult audience to review the show's honorable intentions. The series was then shifted to the daily schedule. "Lucky Pup" went off the air when hostess Doris Brown was married. Morey and Hope Bunin returned to the small screen the following season with a spin-off , titled "Foodini, the Great" (1949-50), starring the two "ne'er do wells" of the earlier show.

The Bunins first appeared on television in 1944, on an experimental station in Boston. From there, they moved to New York with their puppets. They guest-starred on numerous shows, in addition to making appearances at Radio City Music Hall. Morey and Hope have toured overseas and have entertained at various USO shows, clubs, and summer camps. Their theatre appearances have brought them an enthusiastic and loyal audience.

Scrapbook Jr. Edition

Sunday, 6:00-6:30p.m., CBS

Debut: 6/27/48; Cancellation; 11/14/48

Hosts: Jini Boyd O'Connor, Scotty MacGregor

Producer: Gil Fates

This was a fairly sophisticated general-knowledge quiz show. Audiences participated by supplying examples of their hobbies. That hobby was the subject of the competition. There was also a puzzle-tune segment, in which contestants were obliged to maintain complete concentration to identify songs.

More often than not the prizes were lavish, ranging from bicycles to pets. "Scrapbook Jr. Edition" began life as a local New York show in October, 1947 and subsequently moved to the CBS network. The show moved from Sunday evenings to Sunday afternoons, where it remained until May, 1949.

Winchell and Mahoney

Saturday, 30 Minutes; Dumont

Debut: 6/47; Cancellation; 9/47

Host: Paul Winchell

The year 1947 marked the birth of children's programming on television and the initial appearance of ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his puppet Jerry Mahoney, one of the most popular acts in the history of television. This series, which ran for 13 weeks over the Dumont network (no longer in existence), was filmed and transmitted from makeshift studios in the Wanamaker department store in lower Manhattan. These were television's pioneer days and not many people yet owned a home "video set", as they were then called. Servel Refrigerators sponsored the program and insisted that their product be prominently displayed. Consequently, Winchell performed comedy routines centering on a Servel refrigerator, using a variety of appealing foods as props.

Winchell had become a ventriloquist at the age of 14, after answering an advertisement for "the secrets of ventriloquism—for only a dime". In 1935, while a student at New York's School of Industrial Arts, he built himself a partner in the form of Jerry Mahoney. Jerry measured 42 inches in height and weighed close to 20 pounds. They were inseparable artistically, of course, and together they enjoyed a long career that began in radio. They had made their debut in that medium in 1936 on "Major Bowes Original Amateur Hour", hosted by Edward E. Bowes. Following his TV debut, Winchell appeared on various variety programs performing his routine with "Jerry" on "The Milton Berle Show" and Ed Sullivan's "Toast of The Town", among many others. Although his first series had only a limited run, it was followed by many longer running series including: "Dunninger and Winchell" (1948); "The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Spiedel Show"(1950); "Jerry MNahoney's Club House" (1954); "Toyland Express" (1955); "Circus Time" (1956); "The Paul Winchell Show" (1957); "Cartoonsville" (1963) and "Runaround" (1972).

During Winchell's early performances with Mahoney, the puppet would frequently refer to an unseen friend of his, "Knucklehead Smith". In 1951, Winchell finally brought "Knucklehead Smith" into being, introducing him on "The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Spiedel Show". Younger than Jerry, Knucklehead was about the same height and weight. After many references to "my friend", the public's curiosity had to be satisfied.

The host of many popular shows dating back to television's infancy, Winchell has also made many commercials and provided the voices for hundreds of television cartoon characters. During the 1981-82 season, Winchell was heard as the voice of "Gargamel" in Hanna-Barbera's Saturday Morning cartoon, "The Smurfs". "The Smurfs" in which Winchel did indeed portray a major character in a show that would become an icon in and of itself, became an immediate hit and remained on the NBC Saturday Morning schedule for quite a few years and would continue in the lucrative world of television syndication and on cable long aftger it left the NBC Saturday Morning schedule, thus adding even more exposure to Paul Winchell as a performer, even without his side-kicks, Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith and proving even further, his versatility as a performer.

In January, 1980, Winchell presented Jerry Mahoney to the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution, and in July, 1982, Knucklehead Smith joined him there. The puppets represent a pioneering era in television programming for children.

In addition to being a performer, Winchell is a prolific inventor who has contributed significantly to medical science. He became interested in medicine while performing at various camp and hospital shows. In the 1950s, Winchell worked at local hospitals while studying at Columbia University. He eventually earned a D.S. degree in the field of biomedical engineering. In 1963, he designed and patented a mechanical heart while participating in the artificial heart program at the University of Utah's Medical School. As of 1982, the Food and Drug Administration has given permission for his artificial heart to be used in humans. Winchell has also designed a surgical suit to reduce body temperature of patients during surgery, and a blood plasma defroster.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Kids' TV by Stuart Fischer. Copyright © 2004 Stuart Fischer. Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

1946 – 1947 Season,
1947 – 1948 Season,
1948 – 1949 Season,
1949 – 1950 Season,
1950 – 1951 Season,
1951 – 1952 Season,
1952 – 1953 Season,
1953 – 1954 Season,
1954 – 1955 Season,
1955 – 1956 Season,
1956 – 1957 Season,
1957 – 1958 Season,
1958 – 1959 Season,
1959 – 1960 Season,
1960 – 1961 Season,
1961 – 1962 Season,
1962 – 1963 Season,
1963 – 1964 Season,
1964 – 1965 Season,
1965 – 1966 Season,
1966 – 1967 Season,
1967 – 1968 Season,
1968 – 1969 Season,
1969 – 1970 Season,
1970 – 1971 Season,
1971 – 1972 Season,
1972 – 1973 Season,