Captain Video and His Video Rangers

 

“Captain Video! Electronic wizard! Master of time and space! Guardian of the safety of the world! Fighting for law and order, Captain Video operates from a mountain retreat with secret agents at all points of the globe. Possessing scientific secrets and scientific weapons, Captain Video asks no quarter and gives none to the forces of evil. Stand by for Captain Video and his Video Rangers!”

These are the words that viewers heard at the start of each episode of Captain Video and His Video Rangers, the first science fiction space adventure series on TV.  Captain Video ran 5-6 days a week at 7pm on the now-defunct Dumont Network from 1949 to 1955, and was extremely popular with both children and adults.  Set in the distant future on a secret mountain-top retreat, the series followed the adventures of Captain Video, leader of the Video Rangers, a group of fighters for truth and justice, as they battled evil scientists and other nefarious villains throughout the solar system.

Programmed as a continuing serial, Captain Video employed many of the early staples of children's programming, like the inclusion of inexpensive film clips and pointed moral lessons, but it also capitalized on the growing public fascination with science and space. The show was live and technically demanding, using the new technology of television, like dissolves, superimpositions, and other crude effects to place Captain Video in fantasy surroundings and allow him to travel through space and time.

Besides fighting for truth and justice, Captain Video was a technological genius who invented a variety of communications devices, like the Opticon Scillometer, a long-range, X-ray machine used to see through walls; the Discatron, a portable television screen which served as an intercom; and the Radio Scillograph, a palm-sized, two-way radio. Captain Video's weapons were also futuristic inventions that were not designed to kill but to capture his opponents, like the Cosmic Ray Vibrator, a static beam of electricity that temporarily paralyzed its target, and the Electronic Strait Jacket, which placed captives in invisible restraints.  Captain Video's pro-social uses of science and technology contrasted with the evil purposes to which science was put by such villains as Dr. Pauli, a genius inventor who dressed in gangster-like pinstripe suits and spoke with a Nazi or Soviet-accented snarl.

Without the luxury of video tape and editing, the show’s scripts included a lot of exposition to set up short action scenes.  To pick up the pace and allow time for the crew to change sets and prepare special effects, at some point each episode would have Captain Video or a Video Ranger communications officer at Ranger Headaquarters show short action-filled clips from cowboy movies, described as the adventures of Captain Video’s undercover agents on earth. In addition to commercials for Post Cereal, the series' sponsor, other breaks between scenes were filled with Ranger Messages, which dealt with such global issues as freedom, the Golden Rule, and nondiscrimination, or ads for Video Ranger merchandise, like space helmets, secret code guns, flying saucer rings, decoder badges, and Viking rockets complete with launchers.

 

In the early days of the series, critics derided the show for its awkward scripts and acting.  But after the show became a popular hit, such major science fiction writers as Damon Knight, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Sheckley, and Isaac Asimov wrote more intelligent and imaginative scripts for the show. 

Unfortunately, the Dumont Network couldn’t compete successfully as other new networks began to attract more viewers and more sponsors.  Captain Video left the air on April 1, 1955, and DuMont folded later that same year.  Because of a fire that destroyed most of Dumont’s film archive in the 1970’s, only five half-hour episodes of Captain Video and His Video Rangers are available to the public today.  You can see two of them in the video clip above.  

Other remaining episodes of Captain Video can be seen on DVD in Captain Video and His Video Rangers.  Captain Video is also included in Fantastic Television: A Pictorial History of Sci-Fi, the Unusual and Fantastic from Captain Video to the Star Trek Phenomenon and Beyond (Hardcover). 

Winky Dink and You

   An interactive TV show in the 1950’s?!?  That’s right, Winky Dink and You, which aired Saturday mornings on CBS from 1953 to 1957, employed a simple but brilliant marketing gimmick that actually allowed kids to “interact” with the TV. The show featured host Jack Barry and his sidekick, the aptly-named Mr. Bungle, who showed clips of the animated adventures of a crudely-drawn star-headed, big-eyed little boy named Winky Dink and his dog Woofer.  

What made the show unique was the use of a “magic drawing screen” and set of special crayons that came in a kit that children could buy in order to interact with the cartoon.  The screen was actually a large TV-shaped piece of see-through vinyl that stuck to the TV screen by static electricity.  At a climactic point in every Winky Dink cartoon, Winky would encounter some obstacle or danger, along with a connect-the-dots picture included in the scene.  Winky Dink would then ask the children at home to help him out by connecting the dots on the screen with their crayons, and the resulting drawing would turn out to be a rope, ladder, bridge, or whatever Winky needed to solve his problem. 

The interactive screen was also used to send secret messages to the audience. A message would appear on the screen, but only the vertical lines of the letters in the message were visible.   Viewers at home would quickly trace these lines onto their magic screen. Then a second screen would appear showing only the horizontal lines, and when viewers also traced these onto their magic screens, the full message would appear.

Another way the magic screen was used was to have the viewers create the outline of a character with whom host Jack Barry would have a conversation. The scene appeared meaningless to viewers without the magic screen and the drawing.

Because of the ingenious magic screen, Winky Dink and You became a big hit in the 1950’s.  And the producers profited handsomely from sales of the screen and crayon kits, which every child had to have.  Of course, you can guess what happened in the homes of kids whose parents wouldn’t buy them the kits.  Some of them simply got out their own crayons and drew right on their TV screens, which couldn’t have been good for their parents’ expensive shiny new Philco or RCA set.   

Winky Dink and You was revived in syndication as a five-minute stand-alone cartoon from 1969-1973, but production was halted because of parents’ concerns about the possibility of radiation emanating from TV sets and about kids’ harming their eyesight by watching the TV screen from so close-up.  The continuing problem of kids drawing directly on the TV screen probably didn’t help matters either.

In an ironic footnote to the show’s history, host Jack Barry went on to fame and notoriety when he later became the host of Twenty-One, a popular prime-time quiz show that he also co-produced.  In 1958, it was revealed that Twenty-One’s top-prize winner Charles Van Doren had secretly been given the answers to some of the questions he correctly answered on the show.  Twenty-One was taken off the air, and Barry’s career was over. 

 

You can see the original version of Winky Dink and You on DVD in Kids' TV of the 50's or the later syndicated version ("magic screen" and special crayons included) in Winky Dink and You! Vol. 1-3.     

Soupy Sales

   

The Soupy Sales show was a unique kids’ show with lots of adult appeal that made us all feel like little hipsters.   Soupy, a multi- talented performer, hosted several local, national, and syndicated children’s shows from the 1950’s through the 1970’s, with broadcasts originating from Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York.   He reached the height of his popularity with the syndicated show produced in New York City beginning in 1964. 

Soupy’s show was a kind of ironic twist on the standard conventions of earlier kids’ TV shows, combining vaudeville antics (primarily in the form of frequent pies in the face, which became Soupy’s trademark), puppets, Laugh-In-style comedy sketches, musical numbers that made use of Soupy’s extensive jazz record collection, and guest appearances by major stars of the day, like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and singing groups like the Shangri-Las and the Supremes.  Much of the show was ad-libbed, which gave it a loose and slightly dangerous feeling – you knew that anything could happen on the show, and it often did.

The puppets on the show were pretty strange.  White Fang, billed as “The Biggest and Meanest Dog in the USA,” appeared only as a giant white shaggy paw at the edge of the TV screen.  Fang spoke only in grunts and growls, which Soupy hilariously translated for the viewers.  Fang threw pies at Soupy when Soupy’s jokes bombed.   There was also Black Tooth, “The Biggest and Sweetest Dog in the USA,” who  appeared as a giant furry black paw and spoke with similarly unintelligible but somewhat more feminine doggy sounds, and would pull Soupy off-camera to give him loud wet kisses.

Pookie the Lion was a little hand-puppet who appeared on a puppet stage behind Soupy.  Despite his cuddly appearance, Pookie was a hipster who engaged in rapid-fire repartee with Soupy.  He often greeted Soupy with, “Hey bubby, want a kiss?”  Pookie would mouth the words to jazz, soul, or pop recordings while he and Soupy bopped around to the music. 

 

Soupy’s show also featured a number of live characters, including Peaches, Soupy’s girlfriend, played by Soupy in drag; Philo Kvetch, a private detective played by Soupy; The Mask, Philo’s evil nemesis, also played by Soupy and later revealed to be deposed USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev; and Onions Oregano, The Mask’s henchman, played by actor Frank Nastasi, who was always eating onions.  Every time he breathed in Philo’s direction, Philo would choke and make faces, spray air freshener around, and exclaim, “Get those onions out of here!”

 

There are a couple of notorious incidents that took place on the show that illustrate how unpredictable and edgy the live show could be.   One occurred on New Year’s Day in 1965, when Soupy was apparently annoyed about having to do the show on a holiday.  At the end of the broadcast, Soupy urged his young viewers to tiptoe into their still-sleeping parents’ bedrooms and remove the “funny green pieces of paper with pictures of US presidents” from their parents’ wallets.  Soupy told the kids to put the bills in an envelope and mail them to him, promising to send them back a postcard from Puerto Rico.  Then he got hit in the face by a pie. 

When Soupy began receiving envelopes with cash in the mail, he was forced to explain on his show that he had only been kidding and would donate the unreturnable money to charity.  But complaints by parents poured into WNEW, the New York City station that produced Soupy’s show, and the station’s management suspended Soupy’s show for two weeks to try to appease the public.  Of course, this only generated a backlash by Soupy’s outraged fans, and even led to children picketing the station’s offices.  When Soupy returned to the air, he was more popular than ever. 

Another time, Soupy’s studio crew played a joke on Soupy on his birthday.  The show supposedly took place in Soupy’s living room, and a continuing skit involved someone knocking on Soupy’s door and Soupy opening the door to find a guest celebrity or an off-screen character that the home audience couldn’t see, that Soupy would comically interact with.  On Soupy’s birthday, Soupy opened the door to encounter an off-screen stripper who proceeded to perform her act to the tune of “The Stripper,” a popular musical number at the time.  Though the home viewers only saw the beach ball that the “stripper” used strategically as part of her act, Soupy saw the entire number and thought that the home audience could see her, too.   Soupy and the crew cracked up, but Soupy seemed a little worried about audience complaints.  Sure enough, though nothing explicit was broadcast, controversy ensued, which only enhanced the delight that Soupy’s outlaw behavior generated among his young fans. 

You can see Soupy for yourself in several DVD collections, including Soupy Sales Collection (Volume 1),  Soupy Sales Collection (Volume 2),  Soupy Sales Collection: The Whole Gang is Here!, and Soupy Sales: In Living Black and White.   You can read more about Soupy in his autobiography Soupy Sez!: My Zany Life and Times (paperback) and in From Soupy to Nuts: A History of Detroit Television (paperback).  Soupy fans might also want to buy Stop Me if You Heard It!  Soupy Sales Favorite Jokes (paperback). 

Shari Lewis

Shari Lewis and her puppets Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy, and Charlie Horse, entertained and delighted several generations of children during the five decades that they appeared on television.  Unlike other kids’ show hosts who worked with puppets, Shari Lewis was a talented ventriloquist who manipulated and provided the voices for her puppets as she interacted with them on the air. 

Though many of us were first introduced to Shari and her puppets on the nationally telecast Shari Lewis Show, which ran on NBC from 1960-1963, Shari Lewis had previously hosted two local kids’ shows in New York in the 1950’s, The Kartoon Club and Shari and Her Friends.  On The Kartoon Club, Shari played the role of the Mayoress of the mythical kingdom of Kartoonia.  The show featured a live studio audience, whom Shari entertained with cartoons, games, songs, stories, arts and crafts, magic tricks, informational segments, and skits with puppet characters Taffy Twinkle, Randy Rocket, and Pip Squeak.

The national Shari Lewis Show debuted in 1960, when it replaced The Howdy Doody Show on NBC.  Starring the effervescent and multitalented Ms. Lewis with her flaming red hair, the show also featured a set of hand-puppets that Shari brought to hilarious life.  Lamb Chop was essentially a sock puppet whose character was that of a shy, soft-spoken, but mischievous and wise-cracking 6-year-old little lamb, who seemed to serve as a sassy alter-ego for Shari. Hush Puppy was a sweet 7-year-old country bumpkin, and Charlie Horse was a cocky, buck-toothed 10-year-old.  In addition to her skits with the puppets, Shari also exhibited her song and dance talents on the show, often teaching moral lessons through her performances. 

 

Some 15 years later, Shari starred in a new version of The Shari Lewis Show that aired on NBC and in syndication from 1975-1977.  This show focused on pro-social storylines and featured a cast of twenty-five animal puppets including Lamb Chop and a kangaroo named Captain Person, who worked for Bearly Broadcasting Studios (BBS).

In the 1990s, Shari Lewis hosted Lamb Chop’s Play-Along on PBS, a half-hour interactive show that encouraged children to participate by acting out stories, songs, stunts, games and activities. She also starred in another hit PBS series The Charlie Horse Music Pizza show, which was one of her last projects before her death in 1998.  

 

Though Shari Lewis modernized and adapted her shows to suit the pace and sophistication of each successive generation of young viewers, she never deviated from her essential philosophy and format of actively engaging and educating her audience as she entertained them.  With her vivacious personality and childlike excitement, she often seemed like a kid herself rather than a teacher or mother-figure.  Together with the wonderful hand-puppets she created, I think that’s what made her show so special.

 

You can watch Shari Lewis and her puppets on these DVD's:  A Shari Lewis Christmas (1960), Lambchop's Chanukah and Passover Surprise (1997), and The Shari Show - Featuring Shari Lewis and Lambchop.     

Watch Mr. Wizard

One of my favorite shows when I was growing up was Watch Mr. Wizard.  This was one of commercial television’s earliest educational efforts for grade-school and pre-teen children.  Conceived and hosted by the affable Don Herbert, it made science exciting and understandable for kids without any glitz or special effects and without dumbing the science down.   The 30-minute show premiered on the NBC station in Chicago in 1951 and moved to the NBC network in New York in 1955, where it ran for another decade, with a brief revival in 1971-1972. 

Herbert played the role of Mr. Wizard, a friendly scientist that the neighborhood kids loved to drop in on at his home, where he would have them assist him in carrying out simple but fascinating scientific experiments.  The style of the show was very low-key, with Mr. Wizard and his assistant seeming to ad-lib all their dialogue.

 

What I loved about this show was that Mr. Wizard treated his child assistant with respect and dignity, never talking down to him or her. And each assistant seemed to be smart and capable.   I also loved the fact that his assistant was often a girl, despite the fact that in those days, girls weren’t expected to be interested in or good at science.  The experiments demonstrated on the show were fascinating and magical, but not so complicated that you couldn’t recreate many of them at home on your own.

Watch Mr. Wizard was quite a TV sensation for a while and generated an interest in science for many children.  There were Mr. Wizard science clubs all across the country with a combined membership of over 100,000.  There were Mr. Wizard science kits for purchase, and Herbert also created a very successful business supplying science films and other educational materials to schools.

 

Sadly, the simple format and gentle pace of the show seemed outdated by the time NBC finally cancelled it in 1972.  In 1983, Herbert developed a faster-paced science show called Mr. Wizard’s World, which ran on Nickelodeon until 1990, with reruns broadcast until 2000. 

You can still "Watch Mr. Wizard" on these DVD's:  Kids' TV of the 50's, Watch Mr. Wizard, Watch Mr. Wizard - Electricity and More, and Watch Mr. Wizard - Everyday Illusions and More.  Several paperback books written by Don Herbert are still available, including Mr. Wizard's Experiments for Young Scientists, Mr. Wizard's Supermarket Science,  and Mr. Wizard's 400 Experiments in Science.

Bozo the Clown

There probably isn’t an adult in the US today who hasn’t watched some version of Bozo the Clown when they were growing up.  In one form or another, Bozo was one of the longest-running kids’ shows in TV history.  The earliest version of the Bozo show began airing in 1949 in Los Angeles, and the show continued to air around the country until 2001.  Like Romper Room before it, Bozo’s show was both syndicated and franchised, which means that many local TV stations produced their own version of the show.  Each show was hosted by an actor made up as Bozo the Clown, a circus clown with typical white-face make-up, red clown nose, and brightly-colored clown suit with a large frilly collar.  What made Bozo special was his hair – a huge bright red-orange mass that stuck out and up about a foot from the sides of his white bald head. 

Like many children’s shows in the early days of TV, the show at first had a fairly simple format in which the host just introduced and transitioned among a series of cartoon segments, including a cartoon that featured an animated Bozo.  Later, the Bozo the Clown show (sometimes called Bozo’s Circus or Bozo’s Big Top) took on more of a circus or vaudeville format, with many of the local shows seeming to take place inside a circus tent, with a live studio audience of children (sometimes mixed with parents), and offering a variety of circus acts, comedy routines, cartoons, and segments that featured other recurring characters and often local children engaging in games and contests.

The most successful and probably best-known local version of the Bozo franchise was the show produced in Chicago by WGN-TV, which featured Bob Bell as Bozo.  It evolved into Bozo’s Circus, a live hour-long show with a 13-piece orchestra, 200-member live studio audience, and multiple cast of characters, including Ringmaster Ned, Oliver O. Oliver, Sandy the Clown, Mr. Bob the Bandleader, and Cooky the Cook .  At one point, there was a ten-year wait for tickets to be part of the show’s studio audience.  The Chicago show was also syndicated to stations around the country which didn’t or couldn’t produce their own version of the show.

The Boston version of the Bozo the Clown show was also very popular locally and syndicated nationwide for several years.  Hosted by Bob Avruch as Bozo, the show at one time featured actor/puppeteer Caroll Spinney as “Mr. Lion” and “Kookie the Boxing Kangaroo.”  Spinney later went on to portray Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street. 

In New York, WPIX was the first station to produce a local version of the Bozo the Clown show in 1959, starring Bill Britten as Bozo.  In 1964, WOR created and produced its own Bozo Show, featuring singer/actor Gordon Ramsey as Bozo, together with a cast of characters that included Grandma Nelly, Professor Tweetiefoofer, Slimjim, Snappy Pappy, and the Circus Boss.  

Before he became the TODAY Show’s weatherman, Willard Scott starred as Bozo in the Washington D.C. version of the Bozo show.   Scott went on to portray the Bozo-inspired “Ronald McDonald” clown character in McDonald’s commercials.

Over the years, stories have circulated about children on the Bozo show who used profanity or said something nasty to Bozo on the air, or about Bozo himself saying something nasty back to one of the kids when he didn’t think the microphone was on.   Though it’s clear that Bozo was the inspiration for the curmudgeonly Krusty the Klown character on the Simpsons, I guess we’ll never know if any of these stories about bad behavior on the Bozo show are actually true.   

You can watch Bozo the Clown in several DVD collections:  Bozo: The World's Most Famous Clown, Vol. 1 and Vol.2, Volume 1 - Best of Bozo, Larry Harmon's Bozo: Shows 4-6, or Hiya Kids! A 50's Saturday Morning Box.   

Romper Room

During its five decades on the air, Romper Room gave millions of young children their first exposure to a preschool/kindergarten environment.  The show featured a hostess who would lead a group of 7-8 children in various educational and play activities.  The children were about 4-5 years old, and were rotated every couple of months.  Running from 1953-1994, Romper Room was originally filmed in Baltimore, later moved to Chicago, and then returned to Baltimore in 1981.  The show was franchised and syndicated, which means that local stations could opt to produce their own versions of the show instead of airing a national telecast.   So if you watched the show when you were little, chances are that you saw a different hostess and different kids on the set than viewers in other parts of the country did. 

Just like real schoolrooms in those days, each show would begin with the hostess leading the kids in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  Then the hostess would read books to the kids, teach them the alphabet, and direct them in playing games, doing exercises, singing songs, and learning moral lessons and polite behavior, all accompanied by background music.   

Consistent with the show's schoolroom ethos, many of the Romper Room hostesses were former kindergarten teachers who knew how to deal with young children, and they were always addressed as “Miss” by the children on the show, as real teachers were addressed by their students in those days.   When Romper Room debuted in Baltimore, its first hostess was Nancy Claster (“Miss Nancy”), who helped produce the series together with her husband.  She was later replaced by her daughter, “Miss Sally.”  In New York City, Romper Room was hosted by “Miss Louise,” followed by “Miss Mary Ann” and then “Miss Nancy” (Nancy Terrell).

The show also featured Do-Bee, a recurring character in a bumblebee costume, whose role on the show was to teach the children manners and proper behavior.   He would always start his sentences with “Do Bee…” and then add a statement about how children should behave (e.g., “Do Bee polite to your parents!”).   

One of the show’s features that I remember well would come at the end of the show, when the hostess would hold a “magic mirror” up to her face (actually just an open hand mirror frame, minus the mirror) and look through it to see all the viewers out in “televisionland.”  She would then recite this rhyme:  “Romper, bomper, stomper, boo!  Tell me, tell me, tell me do.  Magic Mirror, tell me today, have all my friends had fun at play?”  Then she would start naming some of the children that she could “see” watching at home:  “I can see Scotty and Kimberly and Julie and Jimmy and Kelly and all of you boys and girls out there!”  Parents would mail in their kids’ names, so that they would be read out loud on the show.   Of course it was quite a thrill if you heard your name called out (and if you had a fairly common name, chances were good that you would hear it at some point)! 

Nancy Claster, the original hostess of Romper Room, wrote several books that are still available, including The Romper Room do bee book of manners and Romper Room Exercise Book: Physical Fitness for Boys and Girls . 

Captain Kangaroo

A lot of us can probably remember Captain Kangaroo, which was one of the longest running network children's shows of all time, airing continuously on CBS from 1955 until 1984 and then in re-runs on PBS from 1986 to 1993. The show starred Bob Keeshan as the Captain, named for the huge pouch-like pockets on his jacket.  Keeshan had previously played the clown Clarabell on the Howdy Doody Show. 

The show took place in the Captain’s Treasure House, where the Captain read stories, met guests, showed cartoons, and interacted with a regular cast of both humans and puppets, including the Captain’s sidekick Mr. Green Jeans, and puppet characters Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit.  Bunny Rabbit usually tricked the Captain into giving him carrots.  Mr. Moose would pepper the Captain with riddles and knock-knock jokes, which always culminated with hundreds of ping-pong balls raining down on the Captain’s head. 

Other regular characters included Mr. Baxter, who exuded a sense of calm when things got a little too silly, and Slim Goodbody, a character who wore a bodystocking painted with the body’s internal organs on it.  And there was also the Banana Man, a clown who would constantly pull a seemingly endless supply of bananas (and also watermelons) from within his coat.  The Banana Man didn’t speak but he hummed continuously in a high-pitched falsetto as he performed, and would occasionally exclaim “Wow!” in the same falsetto voice. 

Among the well-known personalities who appeared on the show over the years were Bill Cosby, who did educational segments, and puppeteer/performer Kevin Clash, who later became the puppeteer and voice of Elmo on Sesame Street.

There were several cartoon segments that were shown regularly.  Probably the best-known was Tom Terrific, which aired on the show in the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Tom Terrific consisted of 3-5 minute segments drawn in simple stick-figure-like black-and-white animation.   Tom was a little boy who could change into any shape he wanted, usually to save his not-too-bright sidekick, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, from the villain Crabby Appleton and other bad guys.

Other cartoon segments included Lariat Sam, Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings, Ludwig, The Most Important Person, The Toothbrush Family, Crystal Tipps, and The Wombles. 

The show often featured simple black light theater segments with cardboard cutouts that cavorted on the screen while a recording of a popular song, like Over the Rainbow, would play.  Sometimes, hand puppets would perform instead of the cardboard cutouts. 

Keeshan conceived of Captain Kangaroo as a warm, grandfatherly character, and the show had a gentle feeling and gentle pace.  It was a full 60-minutes long for most of the years that it aired, which allowed it to include a rich and diverse range of segments and characters without seeming frenetic or too busy.  As portrayed by Keeshan, the Captain became a beloved and iconic figure who still represents the best of what television can offer its youngest viewers. 

Keeshan wrote about his life as Captain Kangaroo in Good Morning Captain: 50 Wonderful Years with Bob Keeshan, TV's Captain Kangaroo and Growing Up Happy: Captain Kangaroo Tells Yesterday's Children How to Nuture Their Own . 

Miss Frances' Ding Dong School

Like other “graduates” of Ding Dong School, just thinking about the show and its motherly host, Miss Frances, gives me a warm and safe feeling.  Airing nationally from 1952 to 1956 and in syndication until 1965, Ding Dong School set the standard for TV shows aimed at preschoolers and was a clear influence on Mr. Rogers and other shows that followed in its footsteps.

The show was simplicity itself.  Its only host/character/performer was Dr. Frances Rappaport Horwich (“Miss Frances”), head of the education department at Chicago’s Roosevelt College.   With her ease in front of the camera and lack of self-consciousness, Dr. Horwich was a natural on TV.  She talked directly to the camera, addressing the home viewers as if they were there in the room with her, even asking questions and waiting for the response.  I know that I felt that she was talking directly to me.  She had a wonderfully calm, gentle, yet lively way of speaking, and just exuded maternal warmth and caring.  Like Mr. Rogers after her, she didn’t talk down to her young viewers but always addressed them with respect and dignity. 

Like any good preschool, the show presented a mix of education and play. Miss Frances talked about some of the new experiences and challenges that preschoolers would be facing, like going to the dentist, and told them what to expect.   She showed them how to play games or do various arts and crafts activities.  

One of the most wonderful things about Ding Dong School came at the end of the show, when Miss Frances asked her young viewers to go get whichever adult was at home with them and bring them to the TV (of course most moms did not work outside the home in those days).  Miss Frances would then tell the children to go and play, so that she could talk privately to Mom.  Miss Frances would tell Mom about what she and the children had talked about and done during the show, so that Mom would be prepared for any follow-up questions her child might have or requests to play the games or do the activities that were covered during that day’s show.  But she would also talk more broadly to parents about preschoolers' educational, social, and developmental needs and interests, and give them suggestions and pointers about how to address these needs.  So Ding Dong School was designed as an educational show for parents as much as kids.  

Though Miss Frances didn't seem to mind selling Kix on the air, she later quit her job as head of children's programming at NBC over her discomfort with the increasing commercialism and decreasing educational focus of children's TV.  

Seeing videos of the show today, one has to marvel at its slow and gentle pace.  Would today’s toddlers sit through three minutes of Miss Frances blowing bubbles with a bubble pipe?  I sure hope they would. 

You can read more about Ding Dong School in The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television. 

Andy's Gang

If Salvador Dali had decided to create a kids' TV show, it would have been Andy’s Gang, probably the strangest and scariest show I remember watching as a very young child.  There was something surreal and creepy about the show, which was sponsored by Buster Brown shoes and started with a shot of the inside of a shoe with the Buster Brown logo, which featured a live little boy with long blond hair and hat (presumably Buster himself) and his dog.  The show was not broadcast live but was one of the first kids’ shows filmed in Hollywood.  Using the "magic" of film, the show employed a variety of cheesy special effects, allowing characters and objects to suddenly appear or disappear or change form.

I didn’t see the original version of the show, which was hosted by Smilin’ Ed McConnell and was based on his popular radio show.  When McConnell died of a heart attack in 1954, he was replaced as host by the folksy character actor Andy Devine, and the show was renamed “Andy’s Gang”.  It ran on the New York City NBC affiliate until 1960, with a brief network run on NBC in 1957-58.

The show seemed to be taking place in a theater, with Andy and the other characters (mostly puppets and some live animals) on a stage, and an audience of kids sitting in the theater seats.  However, the reaction shots of the audience laughing and shrieking had been filmed separately and were edited into the show (they were always the same shots).  The show began with Andy sitting in a big easy chair reading from a book, Andy's Stories, which were illustrated by film clips.   During the show there were also filmed segments about an Indian boy named Gunga and his friend Rama, who were often shown out in the jungle dealing with wild elephants or other threats to their village.    

The main character on the show was Froggy, a rubbery frog hand puppet that lived in a grandfather clock and would magically appear when Andy Devine said the words, “Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!”   There would be a twanging sound and Froggy would suddenly appear, saying “Hiya kids! Hiya!  Hiya!” in a weird voice that scared me. He was a rascal who usually misbehaved while Andy wasn’t looking.  Froggy had some kind of magical power over people, since he could get them to smash cream pies into their own faces or do other silly or bizarre things. Froggy would engage in increasingly wilder shenanigans as the studio audience shrieked and howled louder and louder, until finally Froggy would begin to vibrate and then suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke. 

Other regular characters were Midnight the Cat and Squeaky the Mouse. Midnight, who looked like a real big black cat but was probably a puppet, would sometimes operate an organ grinder.  If she liked something, she would say “Nice” in a simpering meow-like voice.  Midnight also scared me.  There was something creepy and menacing about her lifelike appearance. 

Does anyone else remember watching this show as a child?  Were you as creeped out by it as I was? 

To see more of Andy's Gang on DVD, try Andy's Gang or  Hiya Kids!  A 50's Saturday Morning Box .