My mother is curious to know if anyone remembers this kids’ TV show from the 50s. As she recalls, it was set in a house, and Sparky was a puppet. The theme song was “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic.”
It may have been local to the Cincinnati area, or it may have been national; she’s not sure. Does anyone know this show, or what it was about?
First of all, it’s “Big Jon and Sparky”.
Second, while I know nothing of a TV run, it did air on ABC radio from 1950-1958, originating from Cincinnati, and cotinued on the air locally afterwards.
That’s the one.
We did our own googling and found many many references to the radio show, which my mother doesn’t really remember. We also found a couple of references to a 13-week run of a TV version. (“I knew it! I knew I wasn’t imagining it!”) She was surprised that the run was so short.
Are there any older Dopers out there who’ve seen or remember this show?
In Stephen King’s The Green Mile, Sparky was a nickname for the electric chair – as it is in real life, here in Florida.
While I know I never watched it on TV, I can remember listening to it on Saturday mornings on the radio. This would have been in the early to mid-70’s. It might have been the same radio program that was called, “No School Today”. I really liked it as a child, but haven’t thought of it in ages.
BTW, I grew up in the Bay Area.
Used to listen to them in Seattle in the early 50’s before TV. They played kids records and had little comic adventures, sort of a precursor to Rocky & Bullwinkle. Don’t remember much, (hell, I can’t even remember where I put my teeth), but I seem to recall a couple of characters McMorency Clutchrider and Ivan Cruisingspeed.