For Andy
Devine fans:
He appeared in the Wagon
Train episode, The Jesse MacAbbee StoryEmail for details. |
Froggy the Gremlin
Tidbits PLUNK YOUR MAGIC TWANGER, FROGGY!
Words to make
a Baby Boomer smile. The mischievous Froggy the Gremlin appeared in a puff go
smoke and was always interrupting the story!
Smilin' Ed McConnell
started the show with ""Hiya, kids" followed by the audience singing the
sponsor's song (Buster Brown Shoes) "I got shoes, you got shoes, everybody's
got to have shoes, but there's only one kind of shoe for me-good old Buster
Brown shoes!"
Then Ed said "Thank you buddies and sweethearts. Good old
Buster Brown shoes are on the air out here in Hollywood for another good old
Saturday hullabaloo."
At first the show was filmed in front of a live
audience but as McConnell's health deteriorated, they used prefilmed kiddie
reaction shots intercut with the studio performance. McConnell died of a heart
attack in 1955.
The show then went to the rough voiced, gentle giant,
Andy Devine. They feared real kids would be intimidated by Devine, so again the
used the studio reaction shots and Devine did his segments without a live
audience.
The show began with Andy sitting in a big easy chair reading
from a book, Andy's Stories. Remember Midnight the Cat and Squeeky the Mouse?
Grandie the Talking Piano?
How about Gunga Ram? In the filmed segments,
he was an Indian boy played by Nino Marcel. Gunga (Ghanga Rama during Smilin'
Ed's tenure) and his friend Rama (Vito Scotti) helped out the
Majarajah.
Andy had a lovely closing. " "Yes, sir, we're pals and pals
stick together. And now gang, don't forget church or Sunday school."
Passings Ed McConnell died in 1955 of a heart attack and Andy
Devine in 1977 from leukemia. |
TV
