It's Howdy Doody Time!

I love that this week's challenge is favorite TV shows - I have been a TV-aholic since I was 3 or 4. I know I watched Howdy Doody regularly and loved Clarabelle, but I don't think it was the first show I was entranced by. I am pretty sure that honor goes to Ding Dong School with Miss Frances. My grandmother used to tell me stories of how much I loved her - so much so, that at that young age, I was imitating the way she spoke and drew pictures upside down because that was the way Miss Frances did it - well, at least that is the way it looked to me as she did draw them that way to show children how the picture looked as it was being created.

She was everybody's favorite teacher and was so personable. The show was nominated three times for an Emmy. It didn't win, but did pick up a Peabody award. The show ran from 1952-1956. One of the few surviving clips is here http://youtu.be/PuavktC6lm0

Captain Kangaroo picked up where Miss Francis left off starting in 1955 and running for 30 years! I think he was the Mr. Rogers of our generation.

I loved him and all the characters shown here - Dancing Bear, Bunny Rabbit, Captain K., Grandfather Clock, Mr. Moose and Mr. Green Jeans. It was such a gentle show and took place inside the "treasure house". Most of the show was the Captain interacting with the regulars, but there was a cartoon in the early years called Tom Terrific. Tom had a sidekick called Manfred the Wonder Dog and a nemesis called  Crabby Appleton. You can enjoy a clip of the show here: http://youtu.be/__0nVHr4bjk

Kukla, Fran and Ollie was a puppet show that was supposedly for kids, but apparently a lot of parents watched it as well.

The star was Fran Allison, a comedienne and she was the only human on the show. It was entirely ad-libbed and when Ollie the dragon was upset, he would slam his head on the stage to show frustration or roll on his back to be endearing - here is an interesting clip:  http://youtu.be/kekg9g819Ks

Did any of you watch the Pinky Lee show? Pinky was a vaudeville comedian who put together a fast paced kind of crazy kids show - I loved him - it was a bit frenetic and adults thought it was dumb, but kids loved it. I found a great clip on youtube -I didn't think any of these existed! http://youtu.be/Wj2gq19hebs

Local TV shows were popular back then and my favorite was The Sandy Becker Show. I am pretty sure it was exclusive to the New York area. He had all these crazy characters that he did, the addled Big Professor, the incompetant mad scientist Dr. Gesundheit and the simple minded Norton Nork, but my favorite was Hambone who was a crazy double talking disc jockey. The only clip I could find was a rare color one, but it doesn't do him justice. He was way before his time I think.  

 My other childhood favorite was Soupy Sales - I think he also started out as a New York show (along with Chuck McCann's Bozo). Soupy was crazy! Most of his show was impromptu with his writers and crew egging him on. You could always hear them laughing in the background during the bizarre skits. He had a sweet lion puppet called Pookie and two strange puppets - which were only arms and hands called White Fang and Black Tooth. They did not speak, but only made strange noises. Soupy got in big trouble on January 1, 1965. He was miffed that he had to work on the holiday and told the kids to tiptoe into their still sleeping parent's rooms and remove those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of the U.S. Presidents from their pants and pocket books (purses) put them in an envelope, and mail them to me." Several days later, repentant after receiving real money and monopoly money in the mail,  he explained he had been joking and that all the money received would be donated to charity. Parents still complained and he was suspended for two weeks.  The uproar surrounding Sales' suspension increased his popularity!

There were so many other shows I loved as a child - maybe you remember some of these - Lassie, Fury, My Friend Flicka, Little Rascals, Davey and Goliath, Mr. Magoo, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Sky King, Davey Crockett, Father Knows Best, Patty Duke Show, F-Troop, McHale's Navy, Maverick, The Rifleman and so many others. I look back at some of them and wish our world was like it was back then, when children listened to their parents, shows had a moral world view and everything wasn't about pull you pants down humor and sexual inuendo. I must be getting old!

As  I got older, my tastes changed and I was an avid fan of the original Mickey Mouse Club. I tried watching the "new" one they made which spawned Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, to see if it would work for my kids, but it lacked the charm and gentleness of the original show - Besides the cartoons Jimmie, the host, introduced songs and skits by the Mouseketeers. There were also wonderful series included like Spin and Marty, The Hardy Boys, and Corky and White Shadow. All taught good morals and to lean on your parents for help and advice. There were the main Mouseketeers and others that appeared in the serials like Tim Considine, Kevin Corcoran (my beloved "Moochie") , Roberta Shore and Tommy Kirk. Each day had a theme - 

Monday -Fun with Music

Tuesday- Guest Star Day 

Wednesday -Anything Can Happen Day

Thursday- Circus Day

Friday -Talent Round Up

I loved everything about this show - from cute little Karen and Cubbie, to Bobby Burgess dancing, to Annette and Darlene Gillespie's series - I doubt I missed a day as a child. And I think everyone my age knows the song...