The Set:
The Shout Factory has been releasing some great cult shows recently,
and they continue that tradition with Hiya Kids! A 50's Saturday
Morning. This four disc set contains 21 kid's shows from the
early days of television, and though my Saturday mornings glued in front
of the tube were in the 60's and early 70's, I found them marvelously entertaining.
The great thing about this set is that it gives you a taste of a myriad
of different shows, and often that's all you need. I'm a big advocate
of season sets and eschew 'best of' anthologies, but this set is the exception.
Getting to see an episode of Winky Dink and You (a program that
has to be seen to be believed) was great, but I wouldn't want a whole disc's
worth. The same goes for many of the shows included in this set.
Is there anyone besides a TV historian that would really want to see dozens
of episodes of Ding Dong School? I think not, but a single
helping is quite enjoyable.
This set contains the following shows:
Disc One:
Kukla,
Fran and Ollie: The Shout Factory started out the set with one
of the best episodes. Ad-libbed, slow, and awkward this early episode
is unintentionally hilarious. Kukla is reading in Life Magazine how
people's taste can be broken into 'low brow' and 'high brow'. He
has a conversation with Fran about the validity of segregating people based
on their tastes and cultural likes. (Really, I'm not making this
up.) Kukla decides to survey his friends to see if he can categorize
them. Asking such questions as who a character's favorite sculptor
is, he tries to discover a pattern, with little success.
As if the subject wasn't bizarre enough (how many kids in the 50's understood
cultural classifications much less cared about them) the sponsor was RCA
Victor who advertised a radio/record player combo during the show that
cost nearly $200! Did they really think kids would have that much
scratch or be able to influence their parents buying decision?
The show also wasn't scripted apparently, because there were several
awkward pauses when Fran or a puppet didn't know what to say. In
one instance Fran started to leave until Kukla called her back. "Oh,
yeah, I guess I'll stay here." She says. Filmed live, there weren't
any chances for retakes of course. Overall this was a peculiar and
hilarious episode that will surely appeal to people with an off kilter
sense of humor.
Howdy
Doody: One of the most famous and longest-lasting kids shows
from the era. Running from 1947 until 1960, the show featured a host,
creator Buffalo Bob Smith, puppet Howdy Doody, and Clarabelle the Clown.
In this installment, Buffalo and Howdy owe Mr. Bluster 9,950 marbles and
he gets tired of waiting for them. He insists on being paid 500 marbles
a day. Howdy convinces him that to make a deal however: if
the Doody gang can entertain Mr. Bluster, he'll accept that for today's
payment.
The iconic 50's puppet show, this sets the pattern for other kids shows
of the era. It's easy to see why it was so popular: there was
a good mix of comedy a little bit of continuity, and even a video clip
in the middle of the show. It's a fun show that's is still
fondly remembered 50 years later.
Lassie:
Another long-lasting program, this show comes from the earlier seasons
and features the original cast of Jeff Miller (Tommy Rettig), his mother
Ellen Miller (Jan Clayton) and Jeff's grandfather Gramps (George Cleveland).
In this episode, Jeff and a friend, Porky, become blood brothers and then
they build a tree house and decide to sleep there. In the middle
of the night the two boys get in a fight and Porky leaves. The next
day, Jeff discovers Porky near the tree house, which has been trashed.
Did Jeff's blood brother really wreck the tree house? It's up to
Lassie to discover the truth.
Annie Oakley: The famous western character comes to life
on the small screen staring Gail Davis as the sharp-shooting woman.
A nice western full of action and with a good plot, this story involves
a murdered telegraph operator and a cross-country bicycle race. While
it wasn't much different from the other kid's TV westerns of the day, even
though the lead was female, it's an entertaining show.
Flash
Gordon: Based on the popular comic strip, this show only lasted
a single season, which is a little surprising. Though the production
values were very low, they weren't significantly inferior to some of the
other shows in this set. Oddly enough, this was an international
co-production and was filmed in West Germany. In this episode, one
of the last in the series, Dale, Flash, and Dr. Zarkov have to travel back
in time 1250 years to 20th Century Earth. A bomb has been planted
in this time period that will destroy the Earth of the future if they don't
defuse it in 30 minutes. The bomb is traced to Berlin, and the trio
race through the city looking for the explosive. It was interesting
to see post-war Berlin as they traveled through the city. There were
still many bombed out buildings to be sene. The most humorous part
was seeing Berlin Policemen chasing Flash and the rest through Berlin in
an unmarked VW Bug. The show wasn't nearly as engaging as the serials,
but it had a certain charm.
Disc Two:
Ding
Dong School: This weekday show aimed at pre-school children is
hosted by the matronly Miss Frances (Dr. Frances R. Horwich) who was obviously
the inspiration for Fred Roger's show. She talks to the children
as real people, asks them questions, and gives them advice. In this
episode she plays with bubbles, reads some poems, and shows the children
how to make things with a handkerchief. If you don't have memories
of this show, it will probably prove a bit slow but I'm sure it entertained
many a child in the 50's.
Time
for Beany: One of the original live-action Beany and Cecil shows,
this puppet show doesn't have the same format as the other ones in this
set. Rather than having a live adult interact with the puppets in
a variety show fashion, this program tells a comedy/drama/adventure story.
In this episode, Beany, Cecil, and the Captain have traveled past Tim Buck's
Tooth, through Nothing Atoll, and have finally reached the 5th Corner of
the World. They're looking for a giant white ape, but the group gets
separated and Beany ends up in a native's pot over a fire.
I fondly remember the Beany and Cecil cartoon, and found this
show just as entertaining. It's funny, filled with groan-inducing
puns, and was held together by a decent story. Probably my favorite
episode in this collection, I could easily watch a season of this without
getting tired. I can't say the same thing for Super Circus or Ding
Dong School.
The
Paul Winchell Show: Before he was the voice of everyone's favorite
Tigger, Paul Winchell had a successful and diverse TV career. He
was a self-taught ventriloquist, creator of Jerry Mahoney and the dim-witted
Knucklehead Sniff. He first appeared on TV in 1948, hosting a variety
show, and would be on the air in one show or another until 1960, and sporadically
after that. He stared in one of the first Saturday morning kid's
shows in 1954, the Winchell and Mahoney Show. Oddly enough,
an episode from that show is not included. This show, hosted by Cheer
and Camay ("The soap of beautiful women"), was obviously not Saturday morning
fare, though it is entertaining. Paul is stuck watching a neighbor's
young girl, so he gets out Jerry Mahoney to entertain her. The girl
starts telling her version of "A Christmas Carol" and while she does, Paul
remembers, and imagines, various Christmas' in the past, present, and future.
The future version took place in the far off year of 2000, where Paul takes
a vacation on the moon. The banter between Paul and Jerry was much
more humorous that the jokes in the other shows, and he had a good sense
of humor and timing. A funny show.
The story ends with a sad note post script. In 1965 Paul started
in Winchell-Mahoney Time, a daily kid's show that ran for three
years and 288 episodes. In 1986, Winchell clashed with Metromedia
over the syndication rights to those shows. Most of his other programs
were shown live, and this series was the only lasting record of his talent.
Instead of coming to an agreement with the ventriloquist however, Metromedia
wiped all of the tapes, destroying the chance for future generations to
enjoy his work. Winchell sued and was awarded $17.8 million.
The
Roy Rogers Show: One of the most popular TV cowboys, Roy Rogers
was known as the "King of the Cowboys." Along with his real-life
wife Dale Evans, his horse Trigger, and Bullet the wonder dog, Roy would
keep the west safe from no-goodniks. In this episode a villain gets
the drop of Roy and kidnaps him. Not for ransom or to kill him, but
so that Roy could track down a missing horse. Luckily Roy was able
to leave a vague clue on a checker board, but that's all Bullet needed
to track down his master.
Honestly, the westerns in this set (there's one on every disc) started
to run together. They all had similar settings and problems for the
hero to overcome. This aspect that set this show apart is that they
weren't in the old west. Apparently it was a contemporary show because
Roy's side-kick drove a jeep. Why everyone chose to ride horses from
town to town (or to use them in a hold-up as this episode's antagonist
does) is beyond me.
Captain
Z-Ro: Like Flash Gordon, this was a very low budget Sci-Fi
show that I really enjoyed. Located in a hidden laboratory somewhere
on Earth, Captain Z-Ro (pronounced "Zero") performed experiments in time
and space. This episode is apparently atypical of the series, most
of which had a historical aspect to them. In this adventure Z-Ro invents
a robot and transports it to Mercury to investigate the planet since no
man can withstand the pressure on the surface. Unfortunately a lightning
strike right at the minute of transportation sends the robot to San Francisco
instead of Mercury and scrambles its electronic brain. Much of the
show is taken up watching the robot walk around SF and occasionally causing
trouble. Though the production values were very low (it looks like
it was filmed in someone's decorated garage) the show had a lot of spirit
and was fun to watch.
Disc Three:
Rootie
Kazootie: Another puppet show. This one imitated Howdy
Doody very heavily. With a similar stage including an all-children
audience who sing the opening song, Rootie Kazootie has a human host, Big
Todd Russell, and a police-clown Mr. Deetle Doodle who never spoke, much
like Clarabelle. In this episode the villain, Poison Sumac, has a
super-powerful magnet that can attract anything. He causes a lot
of trouble until Rootie comes up with a plan to get the magnet away from
Sumac. The show moved much quicker than Howdy Doody, zipping
from one skit or song to the next and had a lot of energy.
Winky
Dink And You: One of the most creative, but yet bad, ideas to
come out of early TV. Hosted by Jack Barry (who would later go on
to co-produce the game show Twenty-One which led to scandal and congressional
action when it was discovered that contestants were given the answers to
the questions) this was the first interactive TV show. Children could
send in 50 cents (a significant sum for a child in those days) for a "Magic
Winky Dink Kit" that allowed them to participate in the show. The
Kit contained a plastic sheet that kids were supposed to place on their
TV screen and then use the included crayons to draw on the plastic following
Jack's fingers which trace out shapes. I can only imagine how many
children who didn't have the magic kit decided to draw right on the picture
tube. Oddly enough, the host never warned the kids not to do that
(in this show at least).
Super Circus: Everyone loves the circus, so why not bring
it into people's homes? This show featured two circus acts, acrobats
and trapeze artists in this episode, with a clown act in the middle.
The clown show was pretty amusing, and the circus acts must have been pretty
exciting to kids in the 50's and is even entertaining today.
Andy's Gang: Sponsored by Buster Brown Shoes, this show
was hosted by Andy Devine who viewers will instantly recognize as "Cookie"
from the Roy Rogers westerns. The show featured serialized adventures
that Andy 'read' from a book. This episode features a Little Fox
story, about young Indian who is learning to be a Brave. Following
that, which takes up the lion's share of the show, Andy talks to his friend
Froggy the Gremlin who brings his cousin, an orangutan, to the show.
Everyone ends up dancing to the monkey's tunes. While the Little
Fox story was entertaining, the rest of the show was pretty lame, truth
be told.
The
Cisco Kid: At one time his popularity rivaled that of the Lone
Ranger, but today, the Cisco Kid is almost forgotten.
Like the Ranger, the Cisco Kid rode through the old west with his faithful
sidekick, Pancho, righting wrongs and protecting the innocent. Never
staying around after his job was finished; he'd ride off into the sunset
on his horse Diablo, off looking for more adventure. This time he
helps a woman he discovers in the desert survive a series of assassination
attempts as well as discover where her inheritance is hidden. This
program, broadcast in color, was just as entertaining as the other western
in this set.
Sky
King: Today, it's kind of hard to see the appeal of this show.
Basically Schuyler "Sky" King owned the Flying Crown Ranch. He wasn't
a great shot like Annie Oakley or a famous tracker like Roy Rogers.
He wasn't a wandering do-gooder like The Lone Ranger or The Cisco
Kid, and he wasn't even youthful like Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.
No, Sky's big selling point was this: he owned an airplane.
When a hiker was lost, or a seeing-eye dog chases a crook into the desert
(as happens in this episode), King takes to the air and looks from his
plane, the Songbird. I could maybe see it if they had given the plane
a more macho name, like the Razor Fist, but they didn't. The plane
wasn't even armed. In any case this story about a blind boy
whose dog runs off after a crook didn't have much suspense or excitement,
and even the supposedly suspenseful ending, where the dog might have gone
wild and have to be killed, lacked punch.
Disc Four:
The
Magic Clown: There are two episodes of this 15 minute
show, each one with a different Magic Clown. I enjoyed the first
one a bit more, but both were fun. In this program the Magic Clown
would sing the opening song, do a trick, hawk Bonamo's Turkish Taffy, and
then sign off. This was fun to watch and the tricks were okay for
a kids show. The high point in these two episodes was when the Clown
had three children pick a card that he can't see. When he went to
ask the second child what her card was, she couldn't remember it at all,
just shaking her head and staring blankly at the performer. The clown
says "What? Did you say the 8 of Clubs?" (the card she picked and
he hadn't seen) and then finishes the trick. An enjoyable entry.
Kids And Company: Okay, this
show was obviously aimed at turning the horrible tide of juvenile delinquency
that everyone was worried about in the 50's. Staring "The Kids of
America" this was a talent show for kids. Each show they'd spotlight
a child who saved someone's life or helped out a charity. In this
particular episode they crown the kid of the year. One interesting
thing about this program is that it was hosted by Johnny Olsen who would
go on to have a very successful career as a TV announcer.
Juvenile
Jury: Hosted by Jack Barry (see Winky Dinky and You) this
show was a precursor to Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darndest Things"
segment on House Party (this show started 3 years earlier.)
The premise was simple; five kids between the ages of 3 and 12 would be
presented with a dilemma, something simple like should someone's father
buy a new car, and give their opinions. It's quite hilarious hearing
at times and some Barry does a great job at putting the children at ease
and coaxing outrageous statements from them. I found myself laughing
to this more than any other show in the set.
The Pinky Lee Show: Pinky Lee started out in burlesque
and he brought a very kinetic and fast paced persona to the show.
Mugging it up with the kids and adults in the audience, things happen much
more quickly in this show than the other children's variety shows on at
the time. Pinky was a great performer and even adults will get a
laugh out of his antics. He does things that you couldn't get away
with on TV today, such as when he sits on a mother's lap and kisses her.
Nowadays he'd be fired quicker than you could say "sexual harrasement."
The show only ran two years, but it looks like it was quite a ride.
Sheena,
Queen of The Jungle: Okay, let us get this out of the way:
Sheena is HOT! Portrayed by model Irish McCalla, the tall,
thin, toned, blonde is a knock out. I'm sure that more than a few
fathers would wander into the television room to check on what the kids
were doing while Sheena was on.
In the show, Sheena was pretty much a female Tarzan; she speaks in broken
English, swings through the trees, and has a pet monkey. In this
episode some escaped convicts try to start a war between to friendly native
tribes and it's up to Sheena to foil their plans. While this show
wasn't terribly different from the westerns of the time, even though it
was set in Africa, it did have a strong female lead, something that was
rare at the time.
The DVD:
Audio: These shows are all
presented with their original mono soundtracks. None of these programs
have been restored, so hiss and pops are common place and some dropouts
and distortion (especially when the kids in the audience scream at the
beginnings of shows) is to be expected. With only one or two exceptions
however the show are easy to listen to. Juvenile Jury is one
show that has a lot of noise and distortion however, and sometimes it's
hard to hear what the children are saying.
Video: All of these shows
are presented in their original full screen glory and are black and white
(with one exception: The Cisco Kid is in color.) Like
the audio, there are a fair number of defects in the video presentations.
Just about all of the shows have dirt, scratches and other print defects.
the images are generally soft, and the black levels are nothing to write
home about. Detail ranges from average to not so great. Colors
on Cisco Kid were a bit faded and had a tendency to bleed too, but
it wasn't that bad. There were a couple of shows that looked good,
but there were also a couple that left a lot to be desired. Captain
Z-Ro was in pretty bad shape, and Kids and Company was so contrasty
that it was hard to watch. All the details were gone and the whites
bloomed and took over the image.
Extras: Unfortunately the
only extra is a 16-page booklet with some information about these shows.
Final Thoughts: I thought
I would like this set, but I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed it.
Sitting through a disc every night before bed, I had to force myself not
to pop in the next DVD. If I had I'd surely have stayed up another
couple of hours watching it all. While some of the shows weren't
that great, it was still enjoyable to see what choices kids of the 50's
had. For those of you who grew up during this era, the set is a no-brainer,
go out and pick it up.
My kids, however, weren't impressed by the episodes that they screened
with me, but this set isn't really aimed at them. Ever since they
could walk they've had 100 different cable channels and a DVR at their
finger tips. If you remember a time, not so long ago, when the only
chance to see children's programming was on Saturday morning however, this
set is for you. This is a wonderful collection of shows from a simpler
era that's well worth watching. Highly Recommended.
Buy: