Elder Gays - What Was Your Favorite Local Kid's Show Growing Up?

Mr. Knozit, WIS Columbia, SC

Was Square One local to NY?

R2 Kids seemed smarter back then than they do now.

Denver also had Blinky's Fun Club, with this creepy guy dressed as a clown. I never really liked Blinky, but a lot of my school friends went on his show on their birthdays.

The New Zoo Review, of course. I think it was Canadian which was local to us in Detroit.

Captain Noah, Gene London, wee Willie Weber…

The Gene Carroll Show, featuring Cleveland’s least talented people.

The Banana Splits, filmed in the DFW area. I think it was made by the Krofft guys.

For R5.

"Buckskin Bill" Black. Both a morning show AND an afternoon show. All live, of course. The 9 a.m. show was "Buckskin Bill's Storytime Cabin," and the 4 p.m. show was "The Buckskin Bill Show."

Five days a week. Ohhhh, what good memories my family and community have of watching 'Skin Bill (as a little girl we babysat called him). He spoke to us kids like he really understood us... and liked us, anyway. That is so important for a child.

We all loved BB's now-politically incorrect recurring character, Señor Puppet. And Goofy the Dog playing "Moonlight Sonata;" then Story Time, where BB would read a short story (accompanied by the most haunting music I've ever heard in my life--and that I've been looking for since I grew up); then play Little Rascals or WB cartoons.

And woven throughout all the segments, BB just...talked. Sometimes it would be a news story he thought we should hear, or a fable of some kind, or explaining how differences are OK, or how parents and kids often miscommunicate--but we should try to love each other always. Or how meanness, violence, cheating were not OK.

He even organized the local kids in a drive to purchase the first elephant for the Baton Rouge Zoo. Every Thursday (iirc) on his afternoon show they would play "The Elephant Walk," while kids would parade past the studio live cams, smiling and waving as we put our penny in the till.

At the same time, Bill Black was a journalism professor at LSU for decades.

He had two trademark mottos I still (try to) live by today:

[quote]"What you wear doesn't change who you are."

And his most famous line:

[quote]"Remember, you're never completely dressed until you put on a smile."

His "Monday Morning Walk" is legendary. I still fire it up when I'm really feeling down.

(@link, FF to 00:40)

Growing up on Phoenix my husband loved Wallace and Ladmo. I was in the Bay Area, so I was all about Charlie and Humphrey and Captain Cosmic (“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a chicken hawk!).

In 1970s Louisville kids came home after school and tuned into Funsville, the kids show produced by the new independent TV station. Funsville was hosted by Presto the Magic Clown, who performed the same dozen magic tricks on repeat for a decade. There were puppets and skits and guest and birthday wishes interspersed with Hanna Barbera cartoons. Presto was as much a part of a Louisville kid's universe as Santa or Mickey Mouse.

I once nagged my mother into taking me into one of Presto's personal appearances, mostly because they advertised free hot dogs (a fat whore even then). It was an early lesson in television vs reality, as Presto had little charisma in person, and the hot dogs were tepid and served without condiments.

In Chicago, Garfield Goose and Friends.

Kukla, Fran and Ollie, also in Chicago.

The Magic Window with Betty Lou (and Gregory Lion and Katrina Crocodile).

R12 Presto the Magic Clown is freaky as fuck.

💕 Miss Louise on Romper Room 💕

NYC also had Officer Joe Bolton who showed the Little Rascal, Captain Jack McCarthy who showed Popeye and Wonderama with Bob McAllister.

I don't know if he was only in my city, but there was a "Zeezo the Clown" show in Denver when I grew up. He used to do promotions around the city, and one time, he came to our local Safeway grocery store. He drove this little old-fashioned car, and he would take kids on rides around the parking lot in it.

My brother and I begged our mom to take us to see him, since the Safeway was just down the street, so she did, and we got to ride with Zeezo. I remember him holding me really tightly next to him on the trip around the parking lot, like he was afraid I'd fall out, even though the car only went about 5 miles per hour.

Looking back on it, I think Zeezo may have been a pervy pedo.

Cookie and the Captain on KMOX-TV in St. Louis, when KMOX was still a jewel in BIll Paley's CBS empire crown, the "voice of St. Louis and the midwest" and before it became the neo-fascist, right-wing house organ that it is today.

Where’s Floppy?

In South Florida, we had the Skipper Chuck Show. I had no idea until I looked him up that he had been on the air since 1958. I watched him in the late '70s.

The Magic Garden. It was shown in the New York City metropolitan area but also made its way into suburban Philadelphia homes.

Whizzo the Clown- a big deal in the Kansas City market in the 60's/70's

NYC also had Joya’s Fun School / Time For Joya. Hosted by jazz singer Joya Sherrill with a regular on-screen cartoonist Mr BB and pianist The Professor it had a pretty sophisticated vibe for a kids show.

Happy the Clown, Chief Halftown, and of course Sally Starr, all out of Philly in the early ‘60’s.

Skipper Dick!

R26 That was a kid's show and and not a porn movie?

R10 here. Sorry l left out city and station.

WAFB, Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA.

Cowboy Eddie’s TV Circus. Hosted by Howie Olson. I was a regular on the show because my oldest brother was a camera man. Mr. Olson & Cowboy Eddie are characters in a recent novel set in my hometown.

“Augie File was the sports department for years in the early days. Dick Millier did “Good Morning Mississippi” and then was back in the afternoon as “Skipper Dick” with a live children’s cartoon show complete with ice cream for all.“

Portland had Ramblin' Rod, probably on the local station--channel 12

Wow - I guess I have been a TV Glutton my entire life!! I grew up in Los Angeles - Tom Hatten drawing Popeye on channel 5. Dusty’s Treehouse on CBS ch 2, Skip & Woofie and Hobo Kelly on KCOP Ch 13 …. Bob McCallister in Wonderama - KTTV ch 11 …….. New Zoo Revue, Romper Room with Miss Mary Ann ….Captain Kangaroo, Rocky & Bullwinkle, zoom, Mr Rogers, Sesame Street

Dammit! @R10 I posted

[quote]The 9 a.m. show was "Buckskin Bill's Storytime Cabin,"

The actual show title was "Buckskin Bill's Storyland Cabin."

Sheriff John - Los Angeles. His show ran from 1952 to 1970.

The highlight of the show was the birthday segment where he'd read off kids' names who were celebrating a birthday, then sing the Birthday Party Polka song ("Put Another Candle on My Birthday Cake").

He wasn't much to look at, but he had BDF. Easygoing, mellow style. He often talked about things like safety, courtesy, and MANNERS!

Wow, OP she got way dykey toward the end there. I was a 60s Denver kid and used to watch her before going to Edison Elementary for 3rd grade. My brother and I sent in drawings once hoping she'd show them on TV but she never did. My cousin Denise was on Blinky's for her 6th birthday and we went over my uncle's house to watch. He picked her up to blow out the birthday candle.

Roddy Mac from a station in Rockford, IL..... where/when I was introduced to Clutch Cargo.

The show was "Daphne's Magic Castle," but everyone just called it Witch Daphne or Baby Daphne.

On every episode Daphne would call for "Makeup!" and a giant powder puff would swing down from the ceiling, covering her in powder and almost knocking her down. This joke never, ever, ever got old to a kid.

She also would demonstrate manners, the right and wrong way to perform them. For instance, you hold the door open for a stranger. Then she would demonstrate the opposite: "Move it lady, I'm comin' through!" Of course the kids lapped up the bad manners and ignored the goody-goody stuff.

Captain Honolulu!

The Ramblin' Rod show in Portland.

I went on in the 70s as a kid

R5 We got New Zoo Revue in NJ too, but it definitely felt local.

R21, for Miami, it was definitely Skipper Chuck Zink for years. But we also had the wonderful Charlie Baxter who played M.T. Graves for the Saturday Horror Movie.

Ray Rayner Bozo the Clown

Not from Chicago but WGN was local

r6/r25 Hello to some fellow Philadelphians. Thanks so much for posting those shows, it's begun a trip down 'Memory Lane' for me. How about if I add a few to the list:

Pixanne. Chanteuse Jane Norman would "fly in" dressed like Peter Pan, show cartoons and tell stories.

Bertie the Bunyip. Used to run home from 9:00AM Sunday mass to catch this show with Bertie and other puppet characters, among them Sir Guy deGuy, Fussy and Gussy and Nixie the Pixie. Australian Lee Dexter, along with his sister, were the unseen puppeteers.

Rivets the Robot. Primitive kid's entertainment(think cardboard boxes and aluminum foil)

Al Alberts. Only because he hosted a talent show for young people.

Uncle Pete Boyle. He was the father of Peter Boyle(the dad on "Everybody Loves Raymond) He'd draw pictures for us, and show endless "Our Gang" one-reelers.

Willy the Worm. Hosted by Gene Crane(father of 'Friends' creator/writer David Crane) Sock puppet. Literally.

I remember cartoons for kids entitled 'Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse,' also 'Crusader Rabbit.'

And Pixanne R43...WHET to her?

She's trans now -- Dixanne.

In Boston there was Boomtown starring Rex Trailer and his horse Goldrush.

I sent my drawing to that show too OP, but that fag Claude Daigle won instead. He got what was coming to him.

We had Rocketship 7 in Buffalo through the 1960s and most of the 70s. Promo the Robot was Dave’s friend. I can’t remember if they showed cartoons but much of it was offering kids encouragement.

Dave’s son is the actor David Boreanaz.

Then later in the day was Commander Tom.

Wonderama with Sonny Fox on WNEW in NY.

Professor Proton

r44 Alas, Miss Norman is no longer with us, but firmly entrenched in the memory of many a Philadelphian who grew up with her charming children's program.

r48 Dave Thomas eventually became a weather guy here in Philly, on the local ABC station, IIRC.

ZOOM - Z Double-O M, Box 3-5-O, Boston, Mass. O-2-1-3-4

Send it to Zoom!

Hatchy Milatchy, Scranton, PA.

Wonderama! Which I appeared on. Bob McAllister was also my neighbor and gave a Halloween party for the kids every year.

Hoho the Clown in Oklahoma City.

Hobo Kelly, the magical Irish tramp who could fly, albeit drunkenly. She hung out in a railway junction and made super-cool toys out of train yard junk fed to a terrifying clown machine with a huge, gaping mouth. Los Angeles, early ‘70s, KCOP-13.

Boomtown’s Rex Trailer and his sidekick Pablo.

The Dallas area had Mr. Peppermint, who was the father of Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers.

Houston: Kitty Kitirik!

My brother and sister were on her show (I remember a carousel onstage but I may be conflating a Houston/Bellaire restaurant that had one) and the emcee asked my sister what her dog’s name was and she said, “Mr. Twigs.” He got it wrong and said, “Mr. Tricks!“ And baby me got very frustrated offstage that he got our dog’s name wrong.

But Kitty was so glamorous!

I lived in Athens, OH in the mid-Sixties, and there was only one television station there. The kid's show on WOUB was Merlin the Magician that was telecast 3 days a week.

Major Mudd (rocket-themed) and Big Brother Bob Emery (pervy old man) in Boston as well, R46

Another vote for Wallace and Ladmo in Phoenix. They had a third character who was sort of a mean gay wearing a Little Lord Fauntleroy outfit - can't remember his name.

Blinky also did another show as Cap'n Doolittle. r4/OP. I'm a Denver elder, so I remember Fred and Fae...

R64 my dad was a musician back in the 50s in Denver and knew Fred and Fae. That was before I was born but I remember him mentioning it.

r65 - There was like a four page kid's newsletter, I think it was called Hi Gang! You could pick one up at McDonalds. There was a coloring page and you'd send yours to Fred and Fae and they'd pick one out of the box and if it was yours you'd win a sparkle paint by numbers kit that looked really cool.

r50, so happy you mentioned Wonderama's Sonny Fox, whose name I was trying to remember!

He was a hot daddy with that cleft chin and you just knew he had a wonderfully furry chest underneath his well-fitted dress shirt.

ZOOM, which was probably nationwide but I'm from Boston where it was taped so it felt local.

A woman named Miss Jean was the local Romper Room lady.

Time is cruel, r67...

Boomtown!

R67 Sonny actually made it to 95 before dying from Covid.

Fundle Bundle

Scranton, PA

"Kiddie A Go Go" — I didn't grow up with this insanely fucked-up Chicago weekday staple, but I wish I had. Unenthusiastic preteens go-go dancing to the latest sounds while a drunken-sounding lesbian harlequin keeps the action moving.

Miss Trudy and Edward R. Meow

Captain Ernie’s Cartoon Showboat, produced in the 1960’s by WOC, Davenport, Iowa. They broadcast old Looney Tunes cartoons and the Captain supposedly captain a paddle wheeler on the Mississippi. I went in the show when I was a Cub Scout.

Rex Trailer's Boomtown

R63

R35 A fellow Denverite! Yeah, Noell looked super dykey at the end. I was kind of surprised to read she was married and had kids. She always looked like a P.E. teacher to me.

If Blinky picked you up to blow out the birthday candle, it meant you were the most photogenic of the group that day. Your cousin must have een a cute little girl.

R37 Baby Daphne seemed so campy! A young gayling's role model!

I remember when I was in Westbury’s on 13TH & Spruce in Philly’s Gayborhood. I sat at the bar next to a friend of Sally Starr’s. She had just passed away and he regaled me with tales about her and how gay-friendly she was. Her money was no goodwill in any gay bar she went into — people were always treating her. She even wore her costume one night.

R48 Damn, Dave was cute! I'd have tuned in every single day.

R64 I seem to remember Fred and Fay ended up doing a radio show in Denver in the 60s, but I may be wrong.

This thread really makes me miss TV's fledgling days, when local stations would create these crazy, campy low budget productions.

We had New Zoo Review and Friendly Giant on NYC television. One of my prized childhood possessions was an Oliver J. Dragon puppet made by my mother.

I have a vague recollection that we had Pixanne as well. As for Magic Garden ... the show featured a (male) pink squirrel and giggling flowers, doesn't get much more hallucinogenic!

Does anyone from the NYC area remember a local kid show host named Sandy Becker? All I can remember is that he kinda turned me on as a 6 year old.

She was an absolute doll, r80.

I loved Sandy Becker, too, r85. Here's his theme music, Bert Kaempfert's "That Happy Feeling." My other favorites were Terrytoons with Sonny Fox and Junior Frolics with Uncle Fred Sayles.

I was aging out of kids' stuff by the time he came around, but I also remember Soupy Sales. Was he New York local or national?

Soupy Sales may have started out local, but I recall him being on game shows later.

I vaguely remember singer Charity Bailey on Ch 13 as a kid.

R73 Oh, my God, it's like the inspiration for John Waters' "Hairspray."

My hometown had two before school personalities, Captain Billy on one channel and Uncle Roy on another. My cubscout troop got to be the audience on Uncle Roy, and it was a big deal. Captain Billy was gay and was shot and killed right in the studio parking lot by a guy who thought his wife was cheating with Captain Billy. Idiot didn't know he was gay. This was in Albuquerque NM.

^^^That was so crazy, I had to look it up. Poor Captain Billy survived nearly two months in a hospital before finally dying. The shooter was declared insane and never served a day in prison.

R62 I'll be blasting you.

New Orleans in the 70s: Popeye and Pals.

Kids sat in little stands eating Popeye's 2 piece fried chicken meals watching old Popeye the Sailor Man cartoons. And there was a deaf police officer named Deputy Suzy that came on to talk to kids about how to be safe. Kids at school mercilessly made fun of the way she talked.

I wanted to be on Popeye and Pal's soooo badly as a kid, but the stands were always full of Boy Scout snd Girl Scout troops in uniform, and my parents wouldn't let me join the Boy Scouts. I had to join Campfire which was basically the Boy Scouts for hippies. Instead of learning to build fires (in an organization called Campfire!) we made macramé owls.

But freshman year, a friend in college who grew up in Chicago came walking back from the campus post office with this huge grin on his face. His mother had forwarded a piece of mail to him. He said he had gotten tickets to be in the audience of the Bozo the Clown show. He wrote in for them when he was 6. Got the tickets when he was 19.

Not a kid’s show, but Bobbie Wygant interviewing…anyone. Unintentionally hilarious.

Her husband founded the TV station in 1948 and she still works there!

R2 Maybe part of that is because they had shows like this that tapped into their creative sides and fueled their imaginations.

Wee Willie Weber would show these godawful cartoons like Prince Planet and Eighth Man, whose superpower was his cigarettes!

In Boston:

Boomtown, with Rex Trailer. Bozo The Clown, Miss Jean (Romper Room), The Uncle Gus Show (from Manchester, NH, Channel 9), The Major Mudd Show. Parlons Francais with Madame Slack.

Who was the one on Chicago 60's TV who was a raging alcoholic butch lesbian?

I've seen clips before and she was....truly something.

Okay now that I found it, maybe not so much butch lesbian or drunk, but she was a character.

Mulqueen's Kiddie-a-go-go

In Cincinnati, we had puppet character Hattie the Witch for the kids, and The Cool Ghoul hosting late night horror movies.

El Chapulín Colorado El Chavo del Ocho Cepillín Chabelo All on Mexican tv obvs.

Plus the PBS fare: Zoom, Reading Rainbow, Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers. Learned a lot of English that way.

The Mickey Mouse Club—the one with Lisa Welchel, Jill and them, that second generation.

I wasn't a kid any more, I was more like 20, and it wasn't local, but I used to like You Can't Do That On Television - it used to make me laugh.

The local children’s program when I was young was “Time for Uncle Paul” hosted by Uncle Paul Montgomery, a blind jazz musician in a top hat and tails.

He ended the show in 1981 when the FCC required more informational content in children’s shows saying that he thought young children needed to play as well as learn.

I couldn't stand Zoom for some reason.

Zoom really depended on the kids each season.

R73 had the same thoughts on Kiddie-A-GoGo, R99! :-)

R99 When she jumps out of the box, it sounds like she says, "Are you all ready to pussy show?"

I think she's saying "twist and shout," but it's hard to tell.

"Creature Features".

No, really!

From grade school on, I'd sneak out of bed to watch crappy old horror movies and Godzilla stomping Tokyo flat, that and books that were "too advanced" for me were my only escape from the stifling nightmare of suburban dysfunction, and into realms of the imagination.

No Bay Areans here? "Mayor Art" on KRON was a big one, and I was actually on that show once. And then there was Captain Satellite (on KTVU in Oakland.) And in Sacramento they had Captain Sacto. I'm sure there were others (beside Romper Room), but I can't remember.

I loved ZOOM!

When I lived for a while in LA, there was Beachcomber Bill. Showed my favorite cartoon, Lippy The Lion And Hardy Har Har.

In early 60s LA, Hobo Kelly was my one and only. I think 'he' was played by a woman

Thanks a lot, R107. Now whenever I play that clip, all I hear is "pussy show."

Captain Delta, which was taped at the KOVR studio in downtown Stockton, California. This was the late '60s-early '70s. The set was built like a paddlewheel boat on the San Joaquin/Sacramento River Delta, with a steering wheel in the center, in front of a beautifully painted backdrop of water, islands, and trees. Each kid was introduced with their picture in the center of the steering wheel (just like Gilligan's Island). On one side were small bleachers, where the guest children would sit in two rows of three. I remember a girl from my school got skip class, because she got on the show. She wasn't chosen as a "Pepsi kid," so she didn't get to pick from the giant treasure box at the end.

Another show was Miss Pat's Playroom. She was a credentialed teacher who did crafts for kids, read storied, and showed short films. She taped out of Fresno.

Hey R18 was that the Safeway at 34th & Downing?

R35 Actually, I think it was the Safeway on 38th in Wheat Ridge.

I had two favorites. The first was KTVT Channel 11's Slam Bang Theater, originally hosted by Bill Camden, aka 'Icky Twerp,' which aired weekday mornings at 6am. It offered an hour's worth of really eclectic cartoons, from Terrytoons, Fleischer Screen Songs, Harveytoons, Jay Ward cartoons, Casper the Ghost, and Mighty Mouse, to Bakshi's Mighty Heroes. It also aired Three Stooges shorts and uncensored Little Rascals. These were great to watch while having breakfast and getting ready for school.

The second one was Cartoon Carnival, airing at noon on the same channel, presenting 30 minutes of classic Warner cartoons from the mid-1930s up to 1950. Once I entered kindergarten, I could only watch this one during summer vacation.

Both shows perished when Channel 11 changed hands in the early 80s.

R116 I asked because I had a flashback when you mentioned Zeezo the Clown. We lived across the street from the Safeway on 34th & Downing in 1964 or so and I remember him showing up there.

[quote] She wasn't chosen as a "Pepsi kid,"

For reasons that are well known to her.

R118 It could've been the 34t & Downing store. Most of the Safeways looked alike back then.

Did you ever get to ride in Zeezo's car?

No, R120.

I watched Wonderama when Sonny Fox was the host. My parents gave in after I begged relentlessly to be on the show. It was a pretty exciting. There was a segment where Sonny had to solve riddles. Mine was "What must you take before you can give?" All the kids took home a bag of goodies. Also watched Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room.

[quote]Mine was "What must you take before you can give?"

Well, r122, what must you take before you can give?

R123: A photograph.

Cleveland had a bunch---the first Romper Room host was the prim "Miss Barbara" who also was the weekend weather "girl". When they revived it on another channel, they had "Miss Sally" who often seemed drunk and did things like get handsy with the visiting fireman.

Captain Penny had the 3 Stooges and Little Rascals---he committed suicide, his first wife did, too. Barnaby the "sprite" (I think) had Hercules cartoons and those cheap limited animation ones from Japan---he had a breakdown on air after his wife died. He was replaced by Woodrow the Woodsman for awhile--that guy also had his own show with Mighty Mouse. There also was Franz the Toymaker, with an Austrian accent--he was just off. We briefly had Soupy Sales before we went to New York. We also had Bozo for a short time--I don't know why he didn't last. Maybe it was a bad timeslot.

Paul Shannon's Adventure Time

Did any of yinz watch it?

We had the divine Leta Powell Drake as Kalamity Kate on Cartoon Corral on Channel 10 from Lincoln Nebraska!

She also did, well, EVERYTHING on that Channel...she hosted multiple shows and did all the celebrity interviews. There's tons of videos out there of her asking awkward questions of big stars of the 1970s.

Dammit! I found THIS after I posted the above:

Cincinnati had ‘The Uncle Al Show’ on WCPO. Al hosted with his wife Wanda, and it ran for 35 years, 1950-1985. My older sister always claimed he yelled at her offset when she was on the show. I never really believed her until I joined some nostalgia Cincinnati groups on Facebook where Uncle Al is a highly contentious topic, and many people say he was nasty to them as children. A real Uncle Dearest ! Other people claim he was a saint and can’t accept the negative, and the discussion threads descend into chaos. One of the groups bans his as a topic now.

Anyway, my favorite show was Wonderama hosted by Bob McAllister, Even as a child I could sense the cultural difference with Wonderama being hosted in New York. I knew I wanted to live somewhere else besides Cincinnati, and I did.

R128 Hair as high as heaven!

/R63

Gerald. He played a million characters and was really the workhorse of Wallace & Ladmo.

I never had one in my area but when I went to visit relatives in southeast Ohio they had a Mr. Cartoon guy who I think broadcast from West V in the late 70s or early 80s..

I just looked him up on YT & think this is him =

R130 WIG hair piled high as heaven. Leta had a lot of wigs!

Rocky & Bullwinkle

We watched the cute “Sailor Bob” while growing up in Richmond, VA . . . and I still love a man in uniform!

R136 He was cute!

R94 GTFOH Bobbie Wygant is STLL alive?

R138: Yep. She's 96!

Checkers & Pogo, a slight rip off of Wallace and Landmo but who knew that in grammar school. When I got older Pogo use to fill up his car at a gas station I worked it, I was star struck.