Memory is a funny thing. I know I watched certain shows as a young child, but I don’t remember much about them. Reading about them now on Wikipedia only slightly jogs my memory. There are six shows that I remember watching in my early childhood. I suspect that if any of you write about different shows, I will say “Oh right, there was that one too,” but here are my six.
Comparing children's TV of the '50s and the '90s, I think the '90s win.
Ding Dong School with Miss Frances was on from 1952-56, which for me is age 1-5. I remember that she rang a bell at the beginning, and that’s about it. Watching a clip from the show that I found on youtube was almost painful – the pace is so-o-o slow. Miss Frances asks a question, then stops to wait for an answer from the imaginary viewer, then says something like “how interesting” or “that’s wonderful” as if there had actually been an answer.
Howdy Doody was on from 1947-60, so before I was born until I was a sophisticated 9-year-old. My older sisters tried to get chosen for the Peanut Gallery, but I only know that because it is family lore; it was not something I cared about. I remember the theme song, “It’s Howdy Doody Time,” to the tune of “Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay.” Besides the fact that there were real kids in the Peanut Gallery (but not my sisters), the only other memories I have are of the host Buffalo Bob, Princess Summerfall Winterspring, and of course the marionette Howdy Doody himself.
Kukla, Fran and Ollie was on from 1947-57. I remember that Fran was a woman, and Kukla and Ollie were puppets, and that’s about it. This also reminds me of Shari Lewis and Lambchop, another woman and her puppets, who were on a few years later.
Winky Dink and You was on from 1953-57 on Saturday mornings at 10:30 am. I mainly remember the magic screen that you stuck on the TV screen to decode secret messages. And I remember the theme song “Winky Dink and you, Winky Dink and me, always have a lot of fun together….”
Captain Kangaroo was on from 1955-84. Apparently it was the longest running children’s show on commercial television, but I would have only watched it in the ’50s. Puffin Billy was the name of the theme song, which was an instrumental. I didn’t think I remembered how it went, but when I listened to it on youtube, it did bring back vague memories of the Captain and Mr. Greenjeans. Here’s the link, you can listen to it yourself.
Last, but certainly not least, is the Mickey Mouse Club. It premiered on the same day in 1955 as Captain Kangaroo and ran for only four years, til 1959. Of course I sang along with the theme song (M-I-C … See you real soon …). And who could forget those Mouseketeers, especially Annette! There was a serial called Spin and Marty that ran on the show, but I don’t remember anything about it except the names of the two boys. For some reason, when my college roommate and I were hitchhiking up the west coast, we called two guys we took a ride from Spin and Marty, and I have no idea why. (See Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for more about that hitchhiking trip.)
But what I really want to talk about is three amazing shows I watched with my children in the ’90s, all on PBS. I took a year of maternity leave when each of my children was born, and only worked part-time when I did go back to work. So I was at home with them quite a bit of the time. I never plopped them down in front of the television as a babysitting device, I always watched with them, so we only watched shows that were interesting to me too.
Reading Rainbow was a show we discovered because it came on right after Sesame Street. I was hesitant at first because it would mean two full hours of TV every weekday morning – Mr. Rogers was on at 8:30-9:00, Sesame Street 9:00-10:00, and Reading Rainbow 10:00-10:30, and I worried that the kids shouldn’t be watching so much TV. But the shows were all so good that I couldn’t see eliminating any of them, and Reading Rainbow was the best of the three. (The host, LeVar Burton, was from Sacramento, although we didn’t know that at the time. In June 2019 he came to town for the dedication of the newly re-named LeVar Burton Park.)
Each day on this show a different book was featured. It was read aloud, usually by a celebrity, while the pages of the book were shown. Sometimes the pages were animated and “came to life.” Then LeVar would visit a place that had some connection with the subject of the book, either showing us around, or interviewing someone there about their field of expertise. At the end of the program, there would be short reviews of three other books by children, who were introduced by LeVar saying “But you don’t have to take my word for it.” We learned about so many wonderful books from this show.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego was a half hour game show that ran from ’91 to ’95 in the late afternoon. I can’t remember how we discovered it. Each show involved a crime that had been committed by Carmen Sandiego and her henchmen, which was described at the beginning by the Chief of the detective agency. There were three contestants, all real middle school students from the New York area, who were called “gumshoes.” They competed to find the criminal by solving geographical clues, which were delivered via comedy sketches, songs, and general zaniness. At the end of the first round, the contestant with the lowest score was eliminated and the other two went on to the second round. The winner of that round went on to a bonus round where they had a giant map, either of the US or the world, and they had to identify seven different locations on the map in 45 seconds in order to win the grand prize, which was a trip to anywhere they chose in the US.
This show was more entertaining than any adult game show. The Chief was played by the wonderful actress Lynne Thigpen. There was a musical group called Rockapella, very much like Sha Na Na, that sang the opening and closing songs, and also sang some of the clues. Carmen and the criminals were all cartoon characters. There was a lot of humor in the clues, and the criminals all had punny names like Patty Larceny and Sarah Nade. Whenever the contestants solved a clue, the Chief would say “Good work, gumshoes!” That became a saying in my family that has lasted to this day. I also think the kids learned a lot of geography, which of course was the point of the show in the first place.
Ghostwriter was a show that ran for 3 seasons, from ’92 to ’95. Each story was a mystery that took four or five 30-minute episodes to solve. A group of diverse young actors played a circle of friends in Brooklyn who solved neighborhood crimes, such as who stole money from a classmate’s backpack, or who burned down the video store. They were aided by a helpful spirit who communicated with them by taking letters off of street signs or books or other written material and rearranging them into messages. They explained, “he’s a ghost…and he writes to us,” and that’s why they called him Ghostwriter. There was never any more explanation than that. It’s difficult to convey the excitement of this show, and how we waited breathlessly for each new episode. It was intended to encourage kids to read, and my kids were already great readers, but it still had an impact on them. (At least on the two older kids. Poor Molly, who wasn’t born until ’96, missed both Ghostwriter and Carmen Sandiego. At least she got to see Reading Rainbow, which was on forever.)
My conclusion? Looking at children’s TV as a child in the ’50s, and as a parent in the ’90s, I think the shows of the ’90s were much more interesting, creative, and educational! And I haven’t asked them, but I bet my kids remember them a lot more vividly than I remember the ’50s shows.
Suzy
I’m with you, Suzy. I only vaguely remember some of the TV shows from our youth (I do remember Shari Lewis and Lamp Chop – she was charming). and of course The Mickey Mouse Club. I gave up practicing piano for that one. My brother and I wouldn’t miss an episode. I had a crush (my first ever) on Bobby Burgess, who was often Annette’s partner. I found Howdy Doody vaguely creepy.
The PBS shows you cite, watched by our children, were, indeed wonderful. David loved “Reading Rainbow” and told us years later that he ran into LeVar Burton at brunch in NYC and “geeked” out over him. He got his autograph and said he was very nice. “Carmen Sandiego” was another great show and, of course, I loved Rockapella. We watched a lot of that. Never heard of “Ghostwriter.” Guess between these shows and “Sesame Street”, we had enough TV for the day.
Love that David geeked out over LeVar Burton. I bet he would have liked Ghostwriter too. I actually just found some episodes posted on youtube and started watching -still entertaining!
Brings back memories!
Mike Wallace
Thanks, Mike, great to see you here. Would love to read about your memories now that I’ve brought them back!
Suzy, thanx for reminding me of the shows our generation watched and for your view from both sides of the parent-child spectrum.
Your memories of watching Howdy Doody brought back memories of me running eagerly down the block to my friend Nancy’s house every day at 5:30 to watch the show. My folks didn’t have a TV yet. Now, could kids of the next generation get their heads around that!!!
Yes, hard to imagine not having a TV “yet.” I remember when my father brought home one of the first color TVs, but we ended up returning it because everything just looked red or green.
Yes, and. hard to believe we all started out with black & white TVs, and that the photos in the NYTimes were originally black & white.
My husband reminds me we didn’t get a color TV until 1976 when the Yanks were in the World Series and he didn’t want to watch that in black & white!
I remember all the shows of “our” childhood.
Spoiler alert: Ironic that you should mention Captain Kangaroo in light of today’s NYT crossword.
As to our children: mine were more creatures of the ’80’s, and the hands down best of all time, not just then but for all eras, was Jim Henson’s Fraggle Rock on HBO.
Now I have to look at the crossword. I know nothing about Fraggle Rock because I’ve never had cable TV, so have never seen anything on HBO. I find it hard to believe it was the best show of all time, but if it’s on youtube or somewhere accessible I will certainly check it out.
Suzy, I remember your top five very well. They were kind of boring and I never got what was so great about Kukla, Fran and Ollie. Mickey Mouse Club was the real deal. Everyone had a favorite Mouseketeer, usually Annette. I liked the cute little guys, Cubby and Karen. The list of PBS shows you watched with your kids were the ones I remember watching with mine. Note, we watched them together. A bit better than the shows I grew up watching. Although my kids were too old for Carmen Sandiego and Ghostwriter, I totally agree with your conclusion.
I wish I remembered the Mickey Mouse Club better, especially if it was the real deal. I mainly just remember the song, and how the Mouseketeers wore those hats with mouse ears, which seemed so unusual then, although now everyone can get them at Disneyland.
When you say “Note, we watched them together,” it seems like maybe you missed my point of saying I always watched with my kids too.
Thanks for the memory of Shari Lewis, Suzy. I loved her puppets. Never having watched 90s children’s TV, your descriptions give me a really good idea of what I missed. I agree that your kids’ TV was more educational and inspirational than ours.
Yes, Shari Lewis was such a good ventriloquist, and her puppets were adorable. Not only Lambchop but also Charlie Horse (of course I didn’t get the pun of that name back then). Nice to share the memory.
Thanx Suzy for the memory jolt! I actually had a connection to Shari Lewis. She lived with her parents and sister in my Bronx neighborhood and her mom had been a grade school teacher of mine. Her father was also an educator, but an amateur magician as well from whom Shari surely got her love for theatre arts and puppetry! I loved Lamb Chop and don’t think at the time I made the connection between sweet little lambs and the chops we eat with mint jelly!
Funny how our memories are so fickle, Suzy! I could swear I was in that peanut gallery on Howdy Doody, but it was filmed in NY and I was in L.A. so no way. We had Sheriff John and Engineer Bill (remember drinking milk while playing red light/green light?) so maybe it was one of those. I watched several of those shows you watched as well and don’t remember much of them either, except the woman on Romper Room had a magic mirror and she’d look into it and say “I can see…” and I always hoped she would “see” me but she never did. I also LOVED The Little Rascals and Betty Boop and remember much more about those, but those were reruns even back then.
I’ve never heard of Sheriff John or Engineer Bill, looks like they were on local LA shows. I grew up in New Jersey, so didn’t have them. I agree with you about loving reruns, my favorites were Topper, My Little Margie, and Our Miss Brooks, all of which were shown on Saturday mornings in the NY area.
Now we’re tripping down memory lane! And how about that stage name, Gale Storm (My Little Margie)?! Wonder who came up with that one!
Just looked her up. Her real name was Josephine Cottle. When she was 17, she won a talent contest called Gateway to Hollywood, and they gave her a movie contract and a new name.
I completely agree with your point that kids shows got better over time and the ones our kids got to see were much better, and more truly educational than the stuff we got.
That said, as kids we had nothing to compare our shows with and all TV was pretty magical at the time. And as you can tell from my story about the stuff my brother and I watched, he and I didn’t exactly have a discerning eye.
Anyhow, since you invited me to share my encyclopedic knowledge of this stuff, here are a few fun facts on the shows you mentioned (and, by the way, you absolutely nailed the most famous of those shows):
* As to Ding Dong School, I remember a joke we had in junior high school where you would brag that you had a “DDS degree.” When someone asked what that stood for, you’d say “Ding Dong School.” Incidentally, Miss Frances was no educational slouch herself. No DDS, but a BA from the University of Chicago, an MA from Columbia and a PhD from Northwestern.
* Bob Keeshan, who played Captain Kangaroo, was the original Clarabell the Clown on Howdy Doody. And Buffalo Bob got his nickname not from being a cowboy, but because he was born in Buffalo, NY.
* Spin and Marty was about a bunch of kids, notably Spin and Marty (duh), at a summer camp/ranch (i.e., lots of horses). Tim Considine, who played Spin, later was one of the sons in “My Three Sons.”
* And could I please get a show of hands from everyone (else) who got in trouble for drawing directly on the TV screen while watching Winky Dink after losing, or not bothering to attach, the “invisible screen.”
John, this is great, thanks for all those fun facts. And now you really do have to write another story, because it’s obvious you have a lot more you can share with us!
Suzy, thanks for bringing back great memories of those old shows. I have no recollection of Winky Dink but I definitely watched all the others. Big fan of Kukla, Fran, & Ollie and Shari Lewis after that. And let’s not forget Rocky, Bullwinkle, Peabody, Sherman, and Fractured Fairy Tales! We were undeniably the TV generation. It makes me wonder when I found the time to read voraciously, play baseball, or practice the piano! But I guess kids had more free time in those days.
Your fond description of the shows of the ’90s made me a little envious of the shows your kids had, however. No kids, so no kids’ TV. However, I remember in my college child development class, the professor, Jerome Kagan, brought in a group he was advising, who were developing a new show that was applying developmental psychology principles to kids’ TV. It had songs and human characters and puppets too. What was the name again? Oh right … Sesame Street!
I’m surprised you didn’t watch Winky Dink. Writing on the magic screen was so much fun. Or, according to John Shutkin, writing directly on the TV screen because you lost or forgot the magic screen – but I never did that!
How cool that you got to meet the group developing Sesame Street! Did it sound like a good idea to you, or did you think “oh, that will never work”?
Could Winky Dink have been a local NY show? As I said, among all the children’s TV I watched, I have no recollection of it.
I LOVED the idea of Sesame Street, especially the Muppets. Once it actually launched, Patti and I used to bore our friends by watching it on Saturday mornings. One of its secrets was to insert references and jokes aimed at adults, to induce parents to watch with their kids. We still quote each other lines from those early Sesame Street shows.
I have read a bunch of articles about Winky Dink, and none of them indicated that it was a local NY show. Laurie’s comment suggests that she remembers it, and she was in the midwest. Wikipedia says it was on CBS on Saturday mornings at 10:30 Eastern/9:30 Central. So I think you somehow just missed it. Maybe there was a show you liked on another channel at the same time.
It’s also possible my parents banned it, not wanting us to use magic markers directly on the TV screen. Did we even have magic markers back then?
They weren’t markers, they were “magic crayons” that you had to buy in a kit, with the screen, for fifty cents. I guess you sent away for it and it came in the mail.
Wow John, that’s wonderful. Did you all realize at the time how innovative and wonderful Sesame Street was? Bravo to your professor.
And I must ask you, as I often do when meeting new friends who don’t have kids – what do you do for aggravation?
Thanks, Dana. Yes, we all realized that Sesame Street was a game-changer. LOL at your comment. Alas, aggravation seems to lurk around every corner these days.
Glad someone mentioned Rocky and Bullwinkle here. It’s the only cartoon show I allowed my kids to watch! (And I won’t mention how old I was the first time I learned that there was a Boris Gudunov, dahlink!) What about the Pinky Lee Show? Anybody remember that one? A lot of pies were thrown, as I recall. And we watched all the Shirley Temple movies!
LOVED Rocky and Bullwinkle, as did my kids (for whom I bought the videos). THE BEST!
Never watched (or even heard of) the Pinky Lee Show. My only knowledge of Pinky Lee comes from the satirical song “The John Birch Society” sung by the Chad Mitchell Trio, which had the lyrics “We’re after Rosie Clooney, we’ve gotten Pinky Lee/And the day we get Red Skelton won’t that be a victory.”
It just dawned on me that I meant to mention Soupy Sales, not Pinky Lee. Many pies-in-the-face on his show..
I love how you compared the tv shows of your childhood to those of your children. Television was a much greater part of the lives of my kids then it was of mine. Our generation only had a few channels to choose from and my kids had cable and the shows were in color!
Thanks, Sara. My kids only had a few channels to choose from too, because I was adamantly opposed to cable, so we have never had it. They just had the networks and PBS, and really I only let them watch PBS for a very long time. But it WAS all in color.