Say kids, what day is it? The 60th anniversary
of the debut of "Howdy Doody," originally called
"Puppet Television Playhouse," on NBC (December
27, 1947). I needn't go into the history or characters
on the show; I think we all know that. I will mention,
however, that the first telecast almost didn't get on
the air, thanks to a major winter storm in New York
that made getting to 30 Rock extremely difficult for
those involved. Steven Stark, in his book on the
60 most influential series or broadcasts titled "Glued
To The Tube," called "Howdy Doody" the show Milton
Berle would have created had he created a kids' show,
and also took exception to Buffalo Bob Smith's assertion
that the show tried to be educational and tolerant of
various ethnic characters, such as Princess
Summerfallwinterspring. Stark also believes that when,
in 1955, ABC slotted "The Mickey Mouse Club" against
"Howdy Doody," it was the future vs. the past, and the
future (in the form of Mickey) won hands down; after
all, he says, there is no Marionette Network or Howdy
Doody theme park.
But who cares? We know Howdy was one of television's
first big hits and is still an icon to baby boomers. So
I'm marking his debut as a red-letter day. And I'll take
him over most of what I see on Cartoon Network any day.
of the debut of "Howdy Doody," originally called
"Puppet Television Playhouse," on NBC (December
27, 1947). I needn't go into the history or characters
on the show; I think we all know that. I will mention,
however, that the first telecast almost didn't get on
the air, thanks to a major winter storm in New York
that made getting to 30 Rock extremely difficult for
those involved. Steven Stark, in his book on the
60 most influential series or broadcasts titled "Glued
To The Tube," called "Howdy Doody" the show Milton
Berle would have created had he created a kids' show,
and also took exception to Buffalo Bob Smith's assertion
that the show tried to be educational and tolerant of
various ethnic characters, such as Princess
Summerfallwinterspring. Stark also believes that when,
in 1955, ABC slotted "The Mickey Mouse Club" against
"Howdy Doody," it was the future vs. the past, and the
future (in the form of Mickey) won hands down; after
all, he says, there is no Marionette Network or Howdy
Doody theme park.
But who cares? We know Howdy was one of television's
first big hits and is still an icon to baby boomers. So
I'm marking his debut as a red-letter day. And I'll take
him over most of what I see on Cartoon Network any day.