Misplaced Pages

#980019

93-608: The character of Deputy Dawg originated in 1959 as part of a projected series entitled Possible Possum , intended as a component of the Captain Kangaroo Show . Larz Bourne came up with the series concept and drew the first storyboards. Midway through production, the project was overhauled as a standalone series; Deputy Dawg became the star, and "Possible" was rechristened Muskie Muskrat, to avoid comparisons with Walt Kelly 's comic strip character Pogo Possum . A later, less Kelly-inspired Terrytoons character would eventually take

186-451: A "new, original, and ornamental design" for the puppet) and Velma Wayne Dawson to build and operate a visual character more handsome and appealing than Paris's original, which Bob Smith had called "the ugliest puppet imaginable". Since Paris did not provide the character's voice, Howdy's voice remained the same after his appearance changed. The puppet remembered as the "original" Howdy Doody replaced Paris's original. Howdy Doody himself

279-453: A few Captain Kangaroo songs herself) wrote a new theme, entitled "Here Comes Captain Kangaroo". The theme song for The All New Captain Kangaroo used the opening notes and part of the melody of the original theme as its introduction. Bob Keeshan also recorded music for both Columbia Records and Golden Records , aimed at introducing all kinds of music to children. While Captain Kangaroo

372-483: A foolish carpenter who was usually the butt of Bluster's plots, Flub-a-dub, a beast with a duck's head, cat's whiskers, and the parts of several other animals, Heidi Doody, Howdy's sister, and Howdy himself, of course, were retained from the U.S. production. But it had some major differences from its American cousin. Other puppets included Percival, a parrot, and Mr. X, who zipped through time and space in his "whatsis box," traits that British-based expatriate Sydney Newman

465-510: A forest ranger, played by Peter Mews. Mews later appeared in the films The Unforeseen , Folio and First Performance . He also appeared on television in the 1954 production of Delilah , and the 1974 mini-series The National Dream . One of his most notable works was as Matthew Cuthbert in the Charlottetown Festival’s production of Anne of Green Gables , which he played for over twenty years. Peter Mews died on November 24, 1984, at

558-461: A good day for..." then a song would list many different activities while short film clips of each corresponding activity are presented, then the song ended with the singers saying, "There's so much to do. These things are just a few." Then it would cut back to the Captain, who would sign off with, "So whatever you do, have a great day!" The first theme song for Captain Kangaroo titled "Puffin' Billy"

651-556: A major component. In many of the 1949–1954 episodes released on DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment in 2008, the children also can be heard singing jingles for commercial breaks, with Buffalo Bob or Howdy leading them and the lyrics appearing on screen. Colgate toothpaste, Halo Shampoo, 3 Musketeers candy bars, Tootsie Rolls and Poll Parrot Shoes are among the products advertised this way, as well as series-long sponsor Wonder Bread . The popularity of Howdy Doody and its Peanut Gallery led executives at United Features Syndicate to use

744-458: A new Photo Doody which Smith used in personal appearances until his death from cancer on July 30, 1998, at the age of 80. One of Semok's marionette duplicates appears on a 2005 cover of TV Guide magazine as part of a series recreating classic covers from the magazine's history. The cover featured Howdy with TV host Conan O'Brien dressed as Buffalo Bob Smith. Another of the Semok duplicates resides in

837-577: A popular song, such as Judy Garland 's Decca recording of " Over the Rainbow " (from The Wizard of Oz ), Mary Martin singing " Never Never Land " (from the original cast recording of the musical Peter Pan ), or Danny Kaye singing " Inchworm " (from the Decca recording of the songs from Hans Christian Andersen ) were heard while the cutouts played on the screen, animated by a concealed puppeteer . On other occasions, full-fledged hand puppets "performed" to

930-459: A regular part of the show, from "Captain Kangaroo" to many traditional tunes to popular songs interpreted by puppets. Carmino Ravosa was a songwriter on the show from 1975 to 1977. On the first show of every month, the Captain had a birthday cake for all of the children with birthdays that month. Keeshan also had a recurring role as the Town Clown, a pantomime piece that took place in and around

1023-407: A secret for long!!") Finally, in the show's closing moments, the surprise was disclosed through pantomime to Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody; as it turned out, Clarabell the mute clown actually could talk. Amazed, Bob frantically told Clarabell to prove it, as this was his last chance. An ominous drum roll began as Clarabell faced the camera as it came in for an extreme closeup . His lips quivered as

SECTION 10

#1732855412981

1116-428: A series of five-minute segments on the importance of careers and the work world. The cartoon series called The Toothbrush Family was based on an extended family of hygiene utensils, as the name suggests; they would embark on adventures based in the bathroom, like water skiing in the tub, or rescuing friends caught in the drain. Episodes were generally a few minutes each and basically revolved around teaching children

1209-680: A smaller transistor radio in one show. Also featured was a huge Colgate toothpaste box with a large windup or clockwork key on the side. Keeshan turned the key to play a jingle ("Colgate Fluoride M-F-P/Helps Prevent the Cavity/And it Tastes Great, Naturally!") for the show's sponsor, Colgate Toothpaste. At the end of each episode, the Captain always encouraged parents watching the show to spend some quality time with their children every day, and he often demonstrated various creative ways in which to do so. In later seasons, that changed to him saying, "Well, what would you like to do today? You know it could be

1302-475: A spot for the TV series National Velvet . The restored color videotape of the final broadcast is available commercially. Three Musketeers candy bars offered a promotion early in 1950 in which sending in 10 cents and one wrapper from a Three Musketeers bar obtained a Howdy Doody puppet. The show had two one-minute announcements about the promotion on consecutive weeks. The first announcement resulted in 80,000 requests;

1395-528: A wave of nostalgia interest in an idealized representation of the 1950s, and with it films such as American Graffiti and the TV show Happy Days . An episode of Happy Days was entitled "The Howdy Doody Show" (number 33 of the series; original airdate February 18, 1975) during the series' second season, having a Howdy Doody storyline featuring Smith as Buffalo Bob with actor Bob Brunner as Clarabell. Shortly thereafter, Nicholson-Muir Productions (owned by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir) acquired from NBC

1488-528: A year later, on September 1, 1986, Captain Kangaroo returned in reruns on PBS , with funding from public television stations, School Zone Publishing Company, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation . American Public Television , then known as the Interregional Program Service, distributed the show, along with Britder Associates (Keeshan's production company). The original director of

1581-563: Is believed to have loved so much as to inspire him to create such a character of his own in the UK, creating what has since become the Guinness World Record holder for the longest-running science-fiction television series: Doctor Who . The show had Howdy and Clarabell, but most of the human performers differed in the CBC version. There was no Buffalo Bob, for instance. The show's host was Timber Tom,

1674-571: Is still widely recognised by the postwar generation. It was later used in the Enid Blyton parody Five Go Mad in Dorset and in a number of British TV advertisements, including a Captain Sensible spot. The "Puffin' Billy" theme played as the opening of each episode, with the music continuing until the Captain hung his large ring of keys on a nail, which seemed to act as a switch to end the music abruptly. If

1767-517: Is the current owner of the series. Howdy Doody Howdy Doody is an American children's television program (with circus and Western frontier themes) that was created and produced by Victor F. Campbell and E. Roger Muir . It was broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States from December 27, 1947, until September 24, 1960. It was a pioneer of children's programming and set

1860-576: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , and first aired on November 15, 1954. The CBC built its own Doodyville in a Toronto studio, and the show was set in Canada’s north. It was more low-budget than its American counterpart, with less raucous plots and fewer villainous villains, as well as a more educational orientation. Most of the puppet characters, including Phineas T. Bluster, the cranky mayor and chief killjoy of Doodyville, Dilly Dally,

1953-515: The Federal Trade Commission 's Staff Report, Guidelines on Advertising to Children , recommended against Schwinn's on-air marketing practices using the show's host. In response, Schwinn and the show's writers altered the format in 1972. The Captain no longer insisted that his viewers purchase a Schwinn, but instead made regular on-air consultations of a new character, Mr. Schwinn Dealer. A 1973 internal company news article concluded that

SECTION 20

#1732855412981

2046-540: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for several years in the 1960s. From the late 1950s, the Schwinn Bicycle Company made use of children's television programming to expand its dominance of the child and youth bicycle markets. The company was an early sponsor (from 1958) of Captain Kangaroo . The Captain himself was enlisted to sell Schwinn-brand bicycles to the show's audience, typically six years old and under. At

2139-566: The Western United States and in Britain as well (e.g. " Here's a howdy-do " from The Mikado ). (The straightforward use of that expression was also in the theme song's lyrics.) Smith, who had gotten his start as a singing radio personality in Buffalo, frequently used music in the program. Cast members Lew Anderson and Robert "Nick" Nicholson were both experienced jazz musicians. As both

2232-514: The American Program Service (now American Public Television , Boston) integrated some newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing the newer version of the series to PBS and independent public stations until 1993. The show was conceived by Bob Keeshan , who also played the title character "Captain Kangaroo", and who based the show on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children". Keeshan had portrayed

2325-594: The Captain more than 9,000 times over the nearly 30-year run of the show. The May 17, 1971, episode had two major changes on the show: The Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place" and the Captain replaced his navy blue coat with a red coat. In September 1981, CBS shortened the hour-long show to a half-hour, briefly retitled it Wake Up with the Captain , and moved it to an earlier time slot; it was moved to weekends in September 1982, and returned to an hour-long format. CBS canceled Captain Kangaroo at

2418-480: The Captain was moved to an earlier time slot of 7:00 am and cut to 30 minutes, sporting the new title Wake Up with the Captain . The show was moved again in the spring of 1982 to 6:30 am, a time when few children (or adults) were awake. In the fall of 1982, it returned to an hour format, but was moved to Saturday mornings at 7:00 am ET and 6:00 am in other time zones. Reruns from the previous season were offered to CBS affiliates to run Sunday morning in place of

2511-404: The Captain would try to perform a particular activity three or four times, only to fail in a different way with each attempt. Familiar props included a mockup of a talking cathedral-style radio that Keeshan simply called Radio. Keeshan would turn the large knobs on Radio to get a conversation going. Reminiscent of the old Atwater Kent cathedrals, Radio had a rather interesting conversation with

2604-407: The Captain's keys ever slipped off the nail, the music plays again. In 1957, lyricist Mary Rogers penned lyrics to the tune, creating a newly titled Captain Kangaroo song. In 1974, a new theme song titled "Good Morning, Captain" was composed for Captain Kangaroo, written by Robert L. Brush. As the new theme used similar melodic elements from the original theme, Edward G. White's name was added to

2697-620: The International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts, the private museum owned by illusionist David Copperfield . After Bob Smith's death, a fierce legal and custody battle for the original Howdy Doody puppet erupted among his heirs, the Rufus Rose estate, and a museum to which the marionette had been bequeathed. Howdy was in the news once again, with his face and story making headline broadcast, wire, talk show and print news around

2790-633: The Kagran Corporation, the organization which produced the original Howdy Doody for NBC, started production on La Hora de Jaudi Dudi, a daily Spanish-language version of the program filmed in Mexico City. The program aired over Canal 2 in Mexico and, beginning on April 27, CMQ-TV in Havana, Cuba. According to Billboard , the series featured a freckleless Howdy puppet and a new puppet named Don Burro. While

2883-656: The Oscar-nominated Terrytoons shorts Sidney's Family Tree (1958) and The Juggler of Our Lady (1958). The Deputy Dawg musical accompaniment often features a distinctive bass harmonica . Deputy Dawg later appeared in episodes of the 1987 series Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures . Deputy Dawg also appeared in the 1999 pilot Curbside . Children's Video issued "Terrytoons Good Guys" compilation VHS tapes in 1985 which included one Deputy Dawg cartoon per tape. Video Treasures issued five "Deputy Dawg" VHS tapes in 1989. The tape catalogue numbers are listed below for

Deputy Dawg - Misplaced Pages Continue

2976-523: The Possible Possum name. The Deputy Dawg Show first ran weekly from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1964. Each episode has a Deputy Dawg cartoon, followed by Sidney the Elephant. The British television debut came on BBC Television on August 31, 1963. The cartoons are between four and six minutes long, and were packaged three at a time and shown as a half-hour program. The show was produced by CBS and

3069-643: The Sheriff and his wife Mrs. Deputy. A wilder addition to the cast was the "space varmint" Astronut, a mischievous alien visitor who was later given his own spin-off show . Deputy Dawg was voiced by Dayton Allen , a prolific voice actor who voiced many Terrytoons characters in television and theatrical shorts in the 1950s and 1960s. Much of the comedy in the cartoons is sight gag /action-based, with additional humor provided by comical dialects and stereotypical southern characteristics. Many storylines involve Deputy Dawg battling with peculiar locals and trying to please

3162-399: The Sheriff, as well as protecting his produce from Muskie and Vince. However, most of Muskie's and Vince's crimes are not taken very seriously, enabling Deputy Dawg to pal around with them when they are not causing trouble. The trio often engage in their favorite pastime, fishing for catfish . Musical direction was by Terrytoons standby Philip A. Scheib, who at the time had recently worked on

3255-554: The Treasure House keys on a nail, and the music ends. On rare occasions, the Captain could not get the keys to stay on the nail, and when they fell off, the theme song plays again. One never knew exactly what would happen from one episode to the next, although at certain times of the year, such as the Christmas season, paper cutout versions of such stories as The Littlest Snowman would be shown. Several cartoon shorts were featured over

3348-416: The Treasure House, later called the Captain's Place, where the Captain would interact with puppets, guests, and other members of the cast. Even the opening sequence changed. Each episode began with the theme music playing, then the Captain makes his entrance to the studio by unlocking and opening the doors of the Treasure House from the inside, where viewers would catch their first glimpse of him. Then he puts

3441-627: The aim was to produce a series to distribute to the entirety of Latin America, the company halted production after six months due to unforeseen production difficulties (at the time, Mexican television programming was scarce and often improvised, unlike the American-influenced Cuban market, apart from the fact that Mexican broadcasters weren't interested in foreign production) and market considerations (until 1960, most South American countries did not have television services or supermarkets ; by 1953,

3534-547: The air occasionally. "Double Doody", the Howdy stand-in, is in the entertainment collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History . Photo Doody is the near-stringless marionette that was used in personal appearances, photos, parades, and the famed NBC test pattern. He was sold by Leland's Sports Auction House in 1997 for more than $ 113,000 to a private art collector, TJ Fisher . Besides Howdy Doody,

3627-544: The block also featured reruns of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and Magic Adventures of Mumfie , as well a spin-off show, Mister Moose's Fun Time , which included cartoon segments from around the world, as well as clips from The Wiggles . When Disney bought Fox Family, the company shelved The All New Captain Kangaroo and Mister Moose's Fun Time , allegedly due to the fact the reboot advertised Busch Gardens & Seaworld, rivals of Walt Disney World . In 2011,

3720-451: The cartoon reruns offered before, but most declined. One-third of affiliates no longer ran the show at all after 1982, and it was again reduced to a half-hour in the fall of 1984. Angered over the reduction of his program for the second time, Keeshan chose to step down at the end of 1984, after his contract with CBS expired. After the show ended, Children's Television Workshop hired some of its staff to work on Sesame Street . Just over

3813-491: The cast members (particularly the witty Dayton Allen) and the puppet characters. Corny Cobb was played by Bobby "Nick" Nicholson in 1952, by puppeteer Rufus Rose in 1953 and 1954 while Nicholson assumed the role of Clarabell, and again by Nicholson from early 1955 until the end of the show. Clarabell was first played by Bob Keeshan (who also played The Featherman). Keeshan continued in that role until December 1952, when he, Dayton Allen, puppeteer Rhoda Mann, and Bill LeCornec left

Deputy Dawg - Misplaced Pages Continue

3906-570: The chain had restaurants in as many as 27 locations throughout New England before dissolving toward the end of the 1970s. A 1955 merchandise catalog had 24 pages showcasing the range of products licensed by the show. The extensive merchandising included the aforementioned puppet, toys and clothing, plus tie-ins with cereals and other food products. Dell published a comic book from 1950 to 1956 along with Little Golden Books and Tell-a-Tale books, many written by Doody head writer Edward Kean . In addition Dell scribe John Stanley contributed scripts for

3999-434: The character and TV program grew in popularity, demand for Howdy Doody-related merchandise began to surface. By 1948, toymakers and department stores had been approached with requests for Howdy Doody dolls and similar items. Macy's department store contacted Frank Paris to ask about rights for a Howdy Doody doll. However, while Paris had created the puppet, Bob Smith owned the rights to the character. An argument ensued between

4092-403: The comic book. Kean also did some scripting (along with Stan Lee ) of a Sunday-only Doody comic strip through United Feature Syndicate which ran from October 15, 1950, to June 21, 1953. Milt Neil and Chad Grothkopf were the initial art team through December 3, 1950, after which Grothkopf handled the art solo. UPA was hired to do an animated cartoon ( Howdy Doody and his Magic Hat ),

4185-525: The course of the series' run, including: A cartoon starring a funnel-capped shape-shifting boy named Tom Terrific was part of the show in the 1950s and 1960s. Tom had a sidekick named Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and a nemesis, Crabby Appleton ("I'm rotten to the core!"). Other cartoons included Lariat Sam , who (aided by his loyal horse Tippytoes ), confronted his nemesis Badlands Meanie and his sidekick Bushwhack. The Adventures of Lariat Sam

4278-574: The drumroll continued. When it stopped, Clarabell simply said softly, "Goodbye, kids." A tear could be seen in his right eye as the picture faded to black, and some children in the Peanut Gallery could faintly be heard sobbing immediately before the credits music played. The show quietly ended with a roll of credits over an empty, darkened set as " Auld Lang Syne " was played on a Celesta , followed by an announcement that The Shari Lewis Show would be seen in its place at that time next week followed by

4371-569: The end of 1984. An episode of the show in 1981 became professional skateboarder Tony Hawk's first appearance on television. Captain Kangaroo was the longest running children's television show until 1997 when it was surpassed by Mister Rogers' Neighborhood , which itself was surpassed by Sesame Street in 2003. Captain Kangaroo is still far and away the longest running children's TV series by episode count with 6,090. Second place holder Sesame Street , has aired 4,701 episodes, still 1,389 episodes short. The show takes place in and around

4464-495: The end of each live Schwinn marketing promotion, Bob Keeshan would intone, "Schwinn bikes—the quality bikes—are best!" and "Prices slightly higher in the South and in the West". The on-air marketing program was deemed successful by Schwinn, and the company increased its market share of child and youth bicycles throughout the 1960s. The marketing program continued through the 1971 season, when

4557-458: The explanation, show sponsors insisted they wanted Smith himself to hawk their products. In response, NBC set up a special studio at Smith's home so he could appear live "from Pioneer Village" to do commercials. During Smith's absence from the show, Howdy was voiced by Allen Swift . Swift continued to voice the character for the remainder of the show's run, even after Smith's return in September 1955. The final episode , "Clarabell's Big Surprise",

4650-451: The exposed wagon home of a tramp-like circus clown. Like the character Clarabelle that he played on Howdy Doody , the Town Clown never spoke. Favorite characters on the show were Grandfather Clock (voiced by Cosmo Allegretti), Bunny Rabbit, Rollo the Hippo, and Dancing Bear. Dancing Bear was mute and only appeared in short subject features. He often danced waltzes to background music. One of

4743-547: The final words of the final broadcast: "Goodbye, kids." Howdy Doody dolls and marionettes of Howdy Doody and Flub-a-dub were sold commercially. There were also two other marionettes, Don José and Hector Hamhock Bluster, brothers of Phineas T. In addition to the original vintage puppets, puppet maker Alan Semok (at the request of Bob Smith in the early 1990s) created several precise replicas of Howdy, including—thanks to improved materials and new molding techniques—a more exact marionette replica than had ever been produced, as well as

SECTION 50

#1732855412981

4836-473: The first directorial effort of Gene Deitch and long thought lost until a print turned up at the Library of Congress in 2010. On April 15 of that year, the film was posted online. On February 20, 2001, NBC Home Video licensed Image Entertainment to release four individual discs, each containing four episodes. These shows came from the latter part of the series run, from 1957 to 1960. One show from April 1, 1953,

4929-404: The historical American frontier character Buffalo Bill as well as to Smith's hometown of Buffalo, New York ). At first the set was supposed to be a circus tent, but it was soon changed to a western town. Smith wore cowboy garb, as did the puppet. The name of the puppet "star" was derived from the expression "howdy doody"/"howdy do," a commonplace corruption of the phrase "How do you do?" used in

5022-541: The importance of dental care. A silent cartoon in the 1970s named Crystal Tipps and Alistair featured the adventures of a young girl and her dog. Later reruns were narrated by the voice of Mr. Moose. Another British favorite, The Wombles , was also featured. The Red and the Blue shorts from Italy, as well as The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo , featuring a family of sea explorers, were also shown. Starting in 1974,

5115-489: The last years pre-recorded on color videotape. A distinctive feature was the Peanut Gallery , onstage bleachers seating about 40 children. Each show began with Buffalo Bob asking, "Say kids, what time is it?" and the kids yelling in unison, "It's Howdy Doody Time!" The kids then sang the show's theme song (to the tune of " Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay "): It was thus one of the first television shows with audience participation as

5208-463: The name Peanuts for syndication of Charles M. Schulz 's Li'l Folks comic strip, reportedly to the lifelong chagrin of Schulz. In September 1954, Bob Smith suffered a heart attack and was ordered to recuperate at home. NBC managed to keep the show going with guest hosts, including Gabby Hayes and New York disc jockey Ted Brown as Bison Bill, explaining to kids that Smith was vacationing at Pioneer Village. While kids generally were satisfied with

5301-503: The only ones in the region were located in Havana and Lima, Peru ). 96 half-hour episodes were filmed. Cuban television later launched its own local version, named Club Chirikin , which lasted through 1959 or early 1960 over CMQ. It was a Monday-Saturday show produced by Stone Associates, a company formed by former Kagran president Martin Stone. The Canadian Howdy Doody Show was produced by

5394-451: The original Clarabell the Clown on NBC 's The Howdy Doody Show during the network's early years. Captain Kangaroo had a loose structure, built around life in the "Treasure House" where the Captain (the name "kangaroo" came from the bigger pockets in his coat) would tell stories, meet guests, and indulge in silly stunts with regular characters, both humans and puppets. Keeshan performed as

5487-512: The original Howdy. Originally an hour on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (at 5 p.m. Eastern), the show moved to Monday - Friday, 5:30 to 6 p.m. EST in August 1948. During part of its run, it was preceded by the 15-minute The Gabby Hayes Show , hosted by veteran cowboy sidekick actor George "Gabby" Hayes . In June 1956, it began to be shown on Saturday mornings only (10-10:30 Eastern), continuing until its final broadcast on September 24, 1960, with

5580-584: The original show was operated with 11 strings: two heads, one mouth, one eye, two shoulders, one back, two hands and two knees. Three strings were added when the show returned—two elbows and one nose. The original marionette now resides at the Detroit Institute of Arts . There were duplicate Howdy Doody puppets, designed to be used expressly for off-the-air purposes (lighting rehearsals, personal appearances, etc.), although surviving kinescope recordings clearly show that these duplicate puppets were indeed used on

5673-587: The other characters in this show included: The show also featured animal puppets such as: There also were several human characters, most notably: The characters inhabited the fictional town of Doodyville. Several characters (including Ugly Sam, the world's worst wrestler, and Pierre the Chef) were played by comedian Dayton Allen , who would become a cast regular on NBC's prime time The Steve Allen Show . The Howdy show's non-televised rehearsals were renowned for including considerable double-entendre dialogue between

SECTION 60

#1732855412981

5766-534: The pattern for many similar shows. One of the first television series produced at NBC in Rockefeller Center , in Studio 3A, it pioneered color production in 1956 and NBC (then owned by RCA Television) used the show to promote color television sets in the late 1950s. Buffalo Bob Smith created Howdy Doody during his days as a radio announcer on WNBC . At that time, Howdy Doody was only a voice Smith performed on

5859-450: The program on weekday mornings, initially telecast live in the Eastern and Central time zones at 8:00 am (ET)/7:00 am (CT) for its first four years (it would eventually be scheduled for 8:00 am in all time zones). Same-day episodes would be broadcast on kinescope for Western audiences, as Keeshan would not perform the show live three times a day. For the first three months, Captain Kangaroo

5952-503: The program was Peter Birch, who helmed the program for its first 25 years. Producer Jimmy Hirschfeld took over as director following Birch's heart attack in 1980 and continued directing, as well as producing throughout the rest of the show's run, including the new segments inserted into the PBS reruns, until it went off the air in 1993. The cast of Captain Kangaroo also hosted the CBS coverage of

6045-417: The radio. When Smith made an appearance on NBC's television program Puppet Playhouse on December 27, 1947, the reception for the character was great enough to begin a demand for a visual character for television. Frank Paris, a puppeteer whose puppets appeared on the program, was asked to create a Howdy Doody puppet. Bob Smith, the show's host, was dubbed "Buffalo Bob" early in the show's run (a reference to

6138-658: The rights to produce the New Howdy Doody Show , an attempt by Buffalo Bob and most of the old cast to recreate their past fame. For this incarnation, which aired in first-run syndication , the Howdy Doody marionette had actual hair in a contemporary 1970s style and was operated by puppeteer Pady Blackwood. New cast members included: Crew members: It was staged before a larger Peanut Gallery of children and their parents originating from and taped in Florida. The revived series

6231-678: The second increased the total number of requests to 240,000. In the early 1960s, William Rosenberg founded a fast food chain, Howdy Beefburgers (later Howdy Beef n' Burger), in Massachusetts, locating many of its restaurants beside Dunkin' Donuts shops so they could share common parking lots to compete with larger chains such as McDonald's for retail space and customer draw. Howdy Beefburgers was inspired by The Howdy Doody Show that had run on television from 1947 to 1960, and even adopted Howdy Doody as its mascot. Serving such products as hamburgers, French fries, fish sandwiches and New England clam chowder,

6324-692: The series. John McDonough played the Captain on this version, which was shot in Tampa, Florida , and featured animal segments shot at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Seaworld in Orlando . Keeshan was invited to appear as a special guest called "The Admiral", but declined. Thirteen episodes were produced for syndication with an additional twenty-seven episodes serving as the centerpiece for a programming block on Fox , Fox Kids Network (later known as Fox Kids ), and The Family Channel (later known as Fox Family Channel) dubbed Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House , from 1997 to 2000;

6417-417: The show aired a full 60 minutes on weekday mornings until 1981. The audience of children could never compete in the ratings with such entertainment/news shows as NBC's Today , although Captain Kangaroo won Emmy Awards three times as Outstanding Children's entertainment series in 1978–1979, 1982–1983, and 1983–1984. In the fall of 1981, to make more room for the expansion of The CBS Morning News ,

6510-648: The show opened with different people wishing the Captain "good morning". Many of the openings featured noncelebrities, but some featured stars from TV shows, most of which broadcast over CBS. The montage of "good mornings" always ended with the Captain himself returning the greeting before the opening sequence. Other regular features included The Magic Drawing Board and the Captain's "Reading Stories" sessions, which introduced kids to stories such as Curious George , Make Way for Ducklings , Stone Soup , Caps for Sale , and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel . The Sweet Pickles books were also featured. Songs were

6603-493: The show over a salary dispute. The role of Clarabell was then taken by Nicholson, who played it for about 22 months. In January 1955, the role was turned over to Anderson, who kept it until the series ended and for all subsequent revivals and specials, while Nicholson took on the role of J. Cornelius "Corny" Cobb. Each of the cast members also played other roles as required. At the end of the final episode, telecast on September 24, 1960, Clarabell broke his series-long silence to say

6696-411: The show's child audience had difficulty separating Schwinn's sales pitch from the regular content of the show. In 1997–2000, a rebooted series titled The All New Captain Kangaroo was produced by Saban Entertainment in association with TLC Entertainment. Eric S. Rollman, who also served as President of Saban and Fox Family Productions, was executive producer. George Taweel and Rob Loos of TLC produced

6789-422: The show's long-running gags was the "Ping-Pong Ball Drop", instigated by the telling of a joke (usually a knock-knock joke) by Mr. Moose, in which the punchline included the words "ping-pong balls". At the mention of those three words, a shower of ping-pong balls was released from above on the Captain. The show often had simple black light theatre segments using paper or cardboard cutouts. A notable recording of

6882-452: The song being played (as in the case when a hand puppet dressed in Spanish clothing performed to a recording of tenor Allan Jones singing " The Donkey Serenade "). Also, about two or three times in an episode, short film clips on certain topics played over a song about that particular topic. Especially in later seasons, the show also featured a running gag in selected episodes during which

6975-435: The song credits. However, due to copyright issues, the song was re-recorded in 1979 without the portion of "Puffin' Billy" featured in the first version. During the brief Wake Up With the Captain era, a theme titled "Wake Up" was used, but was dropped after the program moved to weekends. For the show's later seasons from 1982 to 1984 and subsequent PBS run, Schoolhouse Rock mainstay Lynn Ahrens (who composed and performed

7068-522: The titles released. Overall season code Overall season code Overall season code Captain Kangaroo Captain Kangaroo is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. In 1986,

7161-584: The trademark for the Captain Kangaroo name was acquired by the Cashin Comedy Co. In a blog, the Captain is portrayed by Pat Cashin , an entertainer and professional clown. Cashin died in 2016 at the age of 48, leaving the rights to this version with his estate. Creative Artists Agency , the successor to Captain Kangaroo' s previous rights holders Marvin Josephson Associates and ICM Partners ,

7254-511: The two men, Paris claiming he felt he was being cheated out of any financial benefits. After one such disagreement, Paris took the puppet and angrily left the NBC studios about four hours before the show was to air live - leaving the program with no "star". It was not the first time this had happened. With Paris's past disappearances, impromptu excuses regarding the whereabouts of Howdy Doody had been hastily concocted. This time, an elaborate explanation

7347-427: The world. For a while during the tug-of-war fight, the puppet was held in a bank safe deposit box while the saga played out in the federal courts. During one day of deposition, puppet maker Semok (who had performed various maintenance and repainting of the original Howdy marionette beginning in 1989) was called upon to unseal a trap door on the back of the puppet's head; Velma Dawson , the puppet's original builder, who

7440-428: Was 88 at the time of the deposition, was present and given the opportunity to examine the inside of the head in an effort to verify that the puppet in question was the original she created. Despite 50 years of numerous repairs, repaints, and replaced body parts, Dawson eventually declared the head of the puppet to be the one she originally made in 1948. The Detroit Institute of Arts ultimately prevailed and has custody of

7533-422: Was a freckle-faced boy marionette with 48 freckles, one for each state of the union at the time of his creation (up until January 3, 1959, when Alaska became the 49th state), and originally was voiced by Smith. The Howdy Doody show's various marionettes were created and built by puppeteers Dawson, Scott Brinker (the show's prop man), and Rufus Rose throughout the show's run. The redheaded Howdy marionette on

7626-565: Was also included. On November 4, 2008, Mill Creek Entertainment (under license from NBCUniversal ) released Howdy Doody Show: 40 Episodes 1949–1954 on DVD in Region 1. The five-disc set features 40 of the best episodes from the series as selected by fans as well as the final color episode (also on the Image discs) and bonus features. Early episodes of Howdy Doody are available in the public domain and are online for audiences to view. The 1970s brought

7719-443: Was broadcast September 24, 1960. The hour-long episode was mostly a fond look back at highlights of the show's past. Meanwhile, in the midst of it all, Clarabell has what he calls a "big surprise." The rest of the cast attempts to find out what it is throughout the entire show, with only Mayor Phineas T. Bluster succeeding and promising to keep it a secret. ("But," he says upon leaving, "it's not gonna be easy to keep something like this

7812-456: Was developed by veteran game show announcer Gene Wood , then a show staffer (who also sang the cartoon's theme song). The British cartoon Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings appeared in the 1970s, featuring a child with magic chalk who could create all sorts of short-lived creations in short adventures (the original version featured a British narrator, Bernard Cribbins , but Keeshan's voice

7905-432: Was dubbed onto the cartoons for their U.S. airing). Another British-produced cartoon, Ludwig , about a magical egg-shaped robot, was also included around the same time as Simon . The cartoon's musical score consisted of selections from the works of Beethoven . Also appearing in the 1970s was The Most Important Person , a series of five-minute segments on the importance of life, and The Kingdom of Could Be You ,

7998-626: Was not as successful as its predecessor, lasting only 130 episodes; the show debuted at the start of August 1976 and was canceled six months later at the end of January 1977. Reruns of the show later aired on Sundays on Cozi TV . Recently, Amazon Prime began offering 20 episodes online. A decade later, the show celebrated its 40th anniversary with a two-hour syndicated TV special, It's Howdy Doody Time: A 40-Year Celebration , featuring Smith, Anderson, Nicholson and LeCornec, who reprised his former role of Chief Thunderthud. Late in life, Bob Smith befriended New York-based fan Jack Roth, who already

8091-489: Was offered—that Howdy was busy with elections on the campaign trail. NBC hurriedly constructed a map of the United States, which allowed viewers, with the help of Smith, to learn where Howdy was on the road. The explanation continued that while on the campaign trail, Howdy decided to improve his appearance with some plastic surgery . This made it possible for the network to hire Disney animator Mel Shaw and his business partner Bob Allen to design (refer to U.S. Patent D156687 for

8184-463: Was only seen on weekday mornings. From December 1955 until 1968, the show was also seen on Saturday mornings, except in the 1964–1965 season, when it was replaced by a Keeshan vehicle called Mr. Mayor . Except for pre-emption by news or special events, notably the four-day continuous coverage which followed the November 22, 1963, assassination of John F. Kennedy , and a few shows that were 45 minutes,

8277-439: Was quite familiar with Smith's gallery of puppet characters. Since Smith's death in 1998, Roth usually has provided the voice for Howdy in TV appearances and live venues. Actor-puppeteer Alan Semok, who was approached by Smith to re-create the Howdy marionette, also has voiced Howdy. Like the later Sesame Street , Canadian, Cuban, and Mexican spin-off shows were licensed using local casts and duplicate puppets. In March 1953,

8370-507: Was still in planning stages, CBS executives had the idea of hiring Al Lewis, who was hosting a very popular kids' show at WCPO-TV in Cincinnati , to host their program. But when station management refused to release Lewis from his contract, they selected Keeshan to host. Lewis' own program, The Uncle Al Show , ended its run in Cincinnati a year after Captain Kangaroo left CBS. CBS aired

8463-428: Was the professional animation debut of Ralph Bakshi (as animator) of adult animation fame. The cartoons originally featured Deputy Dawg, an anthropomorphic dog, as a deputy sheriff in Florida, although as the episodes progressed, the location changed to Mississippi, and later to Tennessee. The other main characters are the "varmints" Muskie Muskrat, Ty Coon, Vincent van Gopher, and Pig Newton, as well as Dawg's boss

8556-555: Was used from the show's debut in 1955 until 1974. It was an instrumental piece of light music , written by Edward G. White and recorded by the Melodi Light Orchestra. The track was from a British stock music production library known as the Chappell Recorded Music Library, which was sold through a New York agency called Emil Ascher. The tune's original title referred to a British steam locomotive . The tune

8649-625: Was used on various programs on both sides of the Atlantic and was already popular in the United Kingdom: for example, two years before Captain Kangaroo , it served as the wrap-up music for an episode of the radio program Rocky Fortune called "Murder Among the Statues". In the United Kingdom, it became famous as the theme to the weekly BBC radio program Children's Favourites from 1952 to 1966, and

#980019