CARTOON EXPRESS WITH ENGINEER BILL (1960 KHJ-TV LOS ANGELES) - A greatly admired show particularly for the frank niceness of Engineer Bill whose presence dominates the show between cartoons as well as while he hosts young viewers, reads fan letters, announces upcoming live appearances, plays games and pledges children to do moral things in their lives.
CHUCKO THE BIRTHDAY CLOWN (1950s KABC-TV LOS ANGELES) - A short excerpt from an interview this beloved character had with two L.A. helicopter firemen featuring an airborne water drop.
JOHNNY JUPITER - DUCKWEATHER AND THE PROFESSOR (10/25/53 ABC) - "Nerds" are not a new commodity as we see in the personage of Ernest P. Duckweather, a kid with a self-built tv that picks up Jupiter instead of the local yokel stations. The puppets Johnny Jupiter Major Domo communicate with Duckweather through his tv, and they even sent him a robot, B-12, to help him. In this episode, Duckweather tries to deliver up a radio show Professor to speak to a culture club & ends up impersonating him along the way.
THE ADVENTURES OF PATCHES (1951 NBC) - A quarter-hour early puppet tv show about a little orphan boy and his adventures through space with his best friend, Wacky Rabbit.
SHRIMPENSTEIN (1960s KHJ-TV LOS ANGELES) - Two half hour episodes of the unique 1965-1967 daily show starring Gene Moss as both Dr. Von Schtick and his puppet sidekick Shrimpenstein, filled with winning humor much in the Soupy Sales tradition.
THE EMMET KELLY SHOW (1963, B&W, 12:25)
As surpassing great as he was as a circus clown, this pilot makes it entertainingly clear that a sad clown is not the best vehicle for the presentation of cartoons to kids on TV, no matter how talented the presenter, no matter how rare the cartoons (in this case, rarely seen Warner Bros. stock).
A DAY WITH DOODLES (1965, COLOR, 4:55)
I like many of my schoolmates watched this show over a bowl of Campbell's chicken soup & sandwiches during our school day lunch break. It was hard for me or any of my friends at any one time to figure out what he was on about in his crazy skits until the end. It didn't matter, because at the end we'd see that great closing sequence!
MACK & MYER FOR HIRE (1963, B&W, 34:30)
Three episodes of the series by the baby boomer's answer to Laurel & Hardy, Joey Faye & Mickey Deems - "Dueling Fools", "Friendly Enemies" & "Finders, Weepers".
THE MAGIC CLOWN (1950, B&W, 28:50)
Two quarter hour episodes featuring what must have been the creepiest, sleaziest clowns every to premiere on television. Though there's a different clown in each of these episodes, the "evil eye" is in each of them as they attempt to mezmerize kids into buying Bonomo Turkish Taffy using every device they can think of. "This is the last time I'm going to make this offer" should so surely not be posed to children that it's surprising to have to point out - but it makes for entertaining viewing in our day into what was and what should never be again!
NOTE: Due to the age and condition of the source media, the picture quality falls below, sometimes far below, regularly accepted standards. It should nevertheless not prevent you from greatly enjoying these rare television treats. Enjoy!