Puppet Playhouse

Back when Howdy Doody was aired at least you had characters that were not done up in costumes that disguise what the actors looked like as they are today.

I grew up during the early stages of children's programming on TV and watched Howdy Doody (Bob Smith), Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) and The Merry Mailman (Ray Heatherton). Now your children are watching Barney (a supposed stuffed toy who comes to life to play with the children). Does anyone know the actors name or know what he looks like?. You also are letting your children watch Bear in the Big Blue House (again, any idea who that is?). Our children, and in my case grandchildren, are watching Jim Henson-like characters in full body costumes and not seeing realistic characters who imparted the same moral standards (if not more so) on a daily basis!! I feel sorry for the person who thought that the characters on Howdy Doody were grotesque yet lets his children watch the Power Rangers and other shows that depict violence in every episode. At least those grotesque characters never threw lightning bolts, had to kick 15 ninja style characters into oblivion or otherwise teach children that violence is the only way to overcome evil.

Let me go back to the days when a children's TV host was seen as him/herself. I would be much more satisfied seeing the grandchildren learning lessons from a person rather than a purple dinosaur!!

Howdy Doody" was the first television show I ever remember watching as a very young kid. I hadn't seen it in about 55 years so, at first, it was kind of shocking to view a few episodes just the other day. A new DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment came out last last year (2008) and contains a number of episodes from 1949-1952 and all of them with pretty good transfers.

The show is not something I could enjoy now as a 60-plus-year-old man, but it was interesting to see the principal characters again. I viewed three of the episodes and, frankly, that was enough. It was fascinating to look back, though. I can't believe how the plugs they did for their sponsors, like Halo Shampoo or Three Muskateeres candy bar, were worked into an audience-participation thing. It's so different from what we've known the last 40 years. Instead of cutting away to a commercial, they plugged the products as part of the show.

Speaking of participation, I had also forgotten exactly how young the audience - the famous "Peanut Gallery" - was, the kids all looking about five years old. This was definitely a show for very young kids. The only part that I still enjoyed was the old silent film comedies. In each half-hour Howdy Doody episode, they showed a silent-film comedy with Buffalo Bob explaining some of the things going on. The old slapstick films are still funny, of course.

It also looked like the show did a lot to promote the American Indian. Yeah, they might have been white men dressed up as Native Americans, but there were a number of characters in this show and they were not portrayed negatively. They were live humans and puppets.

The other "live" people included a star of the show: "Clarabell" The Clown. Clarabell was like Harpo Marx, a silent pantomime figure who honked instead of spoke and made a lot of faces, many of them sad. He was first played by Bob Keeshan, who went on to big fame as "Captain Kangaroo."

The only thing that baffled me was seeing "Princess Summerfallwinterspring," whom I always remembered as a beautiful young women. Here, she's a puppet. I did some research, though, and found out she started out as a puppet on this show and then became a real-life human, played by Judy Tyler. By the way, Tyler played opposite Elvis Presley in the 1957 film, "Jailhouse Rock." Tragically, the woman and her husband were killed later that year in a car crash. Elvis said he could never watch that movie again, because seeing Judy would be too much to bear.

All in all, I still can't have anything but the fondest thoughts for this show, which first brought me the joys of television entertainment. Buffalo Bob Smith will always be a folk-hero of sorts to me, and millions of other Baby Boomers.

I watched this show everyday when I was a child in the '50s. I was even on the show once as a member of the 'Peanut Gallery'. Kids need more of this type of programming today and less of the pseudo violence and political programming that is labeled as 'kids TV' today. This stirs imagination, which in turn stirs creativity in children. The actors were wholesome people. Bob Keeshan who played 'Clarabell the Clown' for several years, later became successful as 'Captain Kangaroo'. Bob Smith who was also known as 'Buffalo Bob' did a lot of touring and public appearances. He was kind to children, I remember the day that I got to be in the 'Peanut Gallery', I was 8, Buffalo Bob was kind and not at all flustered by a bunch of young children. He seemed to really like kids.

MIGOSH! WHERE DO we begin? It's truly incredible to think of how much we really do recall about a series of so long ago. It is even more unbelievable when one considers that when we viewed much of this, the age was about 4 or 5 years old!

IT WAS AN important part of the afternoon routine at the Ryan household of 1950 (when we got our first TV set) to 1952 (we moved into our won house) and beyond. Because of this early and elementary introduction, the show and its characters had a very profound effect on our development.

ODDLY ENOUGH, DUE to our family's explanation of things, we understood that all we saw on the show was make believe. Our Mom and Dad, as well as older Sister Joanne, clued us in as to the fact that the people we saw were Actors, who portrayed the participants of the festivities on the show.

AND WHAT A GRAND cast of characters it truly was! In addition to the marionette main character, Howdy Doody, himself, there were a number of other supporting puppets. The action was provided by: Mr. Phineas T. Bluster (Howdy's elderly nemesis), Flubadub (a crazy-quilt of an animal*), Dilly Dally (a lackadaisical boy), Captain Scuttlebutt (Dilly Dally's uncle and Tugboat Operator) and others.

LIVE ACTION REAL actors who were featured mainly consisted of some whom portrayed multiple roles. For example, we have: Judy Tyler** as Indian Princess Summerfall Winterspring, Robert Keeshin (Future Captain Kangaroo) as the original Clarabelle the Clown and Chief Featherman of the Tinka-Tonka tribe (the Princess'father), with Bill Le Cornec taking the versatility honors with a triple assignment of renegade Chief Thunderthud (of the Ooragnak tribe & often ally of Mr. Bluster), Dr. Singasong (visiting 'trubador' and look alike for Mandrake the Magician) as well as Oil Well Willie (old coot of a Prospector).

THERE ARE CERTAIN incidents that we well remember, without benefit of any refresher. There was a continuity called "The Search for the Golden Goat" (a treasure hunt).

THE SHOW'S MOVING from the original Howdy Doody Circus setting to "Doodyville" was particularly memorable, if mean spirited. In it, Howdy said that Mr. Bluster could have the Circus for his own. But as that day's show was closing, a wrecking crew was "tearing down" the set! Can you say "CRUELTY?"

THE CREATOR, ONE 'Buffalo Bob' Smith served as host and did have some time off for recuperation from a heart attack (when he was temporarily replaced with one 'Bison Bill') Although Bob (born Robert Schmidt) sported a costume that was patterned after a buckskin outfit, he was not truly a man of the Old West. He derived the name from having been born and raised in Buffalo, NY!

THE ENTERPRISING AND versatile Mr. Smith also provided the voice for the wooden-headed Howdy!

NOTE: * The "Flubadub" was a combination of many animals; having the ears of a cocker spaniel, flippers of a turtle, etc. It was sort of like a fictional version of a Platypus!

NOTE ** Judy Tyler was killed in a car accident in 1957. At age 24 she was just embarking on a promising career; having just co-starred with Elvis in JAILHOUSE ROCK!

Howdy Doody went off the air fourteen years before I was born. Until today, I had never seen a single episode. Oh yes, I had seen the clip of Clarabell crying on the last episode, but it was not until today--at age 31--that I saw the show for the first time with my five year-old son.

I can't say that I have ever seen such a quality children's program. Maybe this is because Bob Smith & Co. were trained in radio and live television back in the 1940's, but there was something authentic about their performances. Their diction, their facial expressions, their chemistry, and their interaction with the kids... And then the story lines were not bad either. Plus, after seeing the live commercials, I was expecting my son to ask for Wonder bread.

All you have to do is compare their work product against any children's show today and you will see what I mean. They had a connection with the audience--something the Power Rangers don't have. Frankly, I feel sad for my son's generation, because there is nothing so real on television for him today. Instead of finding role models like Buffalo Bob on TV, all he has are impersonal cartoons; and if, God forbid, he should ever change the channel from these shows, he might find Jerry Springer and Maury Povich.