Other than the standard national stuff, here in S. Florida we had Popeye’s Playhouse, hosted by Chuck Zinc. I don’t remember most of the stuff from it, but I have some recollection of him reading Sunday comics on the air. His Wikipedia entry doesn’t mention that part though, so I might be confusing him with a different local show.
Romper Room
Sheriff John
Captain Kangaroo
and whatever soaps my grandmother would watch while my parents were at work.
I was in the perfect age bracket for Sesame Street. Premiered when I was a year or so old.
The original Bozo’s Circus.
Reruns of the original Mickey Mouse Club and Howdy Doody.
Hi there! 1970s far southern Chicago suburbs.
Zoom was great. I could never do that arm twisting swinging thing they taught, though.
(When I saw the trailer for The Flash this season that said “Zoom is coming”, I thought, is he coming from 02134?) That was Zoom’s zip code.
My favorite part of Joya’s Fun School was when the artist would draw a picture while telling a story, and when he finished the story, the picture was done and illustrated the story.
Also really liked The Magic Garden. My favorite part was the story box.
I had a common name too, but I don’t think I ever heard it on Romper Room.
One thing I fondly recall from my childhood in the late '80s and early '90s in San Diego was the mascots on the afternoon cartoon blocks on the local stations. They’d appear in bumps during commercial breaks or between shows, to promote whatever was coming up next, or do sweepstakes announcements. KUSI had Shotgun Tom Kelly, a middle-aged guy in a tux and fedora hat, who I got to have my picture taken with at the Del Mar Fair one year when I was 7 or 8 or so and I thought it was the most amazing thing to ever happen to me. (Sadly, that photograph has long since been lost.) XETV had Uncle Murph, a guy with a clown nose, a straw hat, and a Hawaiian shirt who wasn’t quite as charismatic, but was still funny. I think there may have been others, but I can’t remember them well enough to say.
OMG! I hated Miss France’s and Ding-Dong School ! I had to let my younger sister watch the damn stupid show . I like the show with the nasty frog always making the guy do stupid things and cartoons . I really liked all the cowboys shows too. Do you remeber the show called "Big Brother’? I heard he once was calling the kids brats not know he was on the air already.
Brakeman Bill and Crazy Donkey
Wanda Wanda
J.P. Patches
I didn’t know that. I sort of remember him as Uncle Pete, but I’m not sure.
Romper Room when I was preschool. Electric Company in elementary school. Capt Kangaroo occasionally. But it was always my least favorite show.
School house rock videos were fun and I learned a lot from them. One of the best educational tools ever broadcast. imho They taught kids a lot in those catchy song videos.
I don’t remember Big Brother, but in reading the thread I remembered
The Cisco Kid
Howdy Doody
Captain Kangaroo
Sky King
Bozo
Superman
Rocky and Bullwinkle
The Lone Ranger
And, of course, Lassie with Jeff.
It was “The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show”, and it was one of my favorite shows (we lived in Chicago until '75, when we moved to Green Bay). BJ was a guy named Bill Jackson.
The other Chicago-based kids’ shows from that era were mostly on WGN:
- The Ray Rayner Show (home of Cuddly Dudley, Chelveston the Duck, Warner Brothers cartoons, and truly inept arts-and-crafts projects)
- Garfield Goose and Friends (home of Clutch Cargo!)
- Bozo’s Circus (the Chicago version)
I never got to see him. We didn’t move to the area until 1969.
Way back in the '50s:
Kookla, Fran & Ollie
Howdy Doody
The original Mickey Mouse Club*
(I was a little too old for Romper Room.)
One year, for Halloween, I wore an “official” Clarabel the Clown (from Howdy Doody) costume. It rained, and I had the costume’s texture imprinted all over me. For the rest of the school year, my nickname was Clarabel.
*Decades later, I got to perform with Cubby O’Brien, who became a professional drummer.
Ding Dong School
Romper Room
Wonderama (with Sonny Fox, long before that upstart McAllister)
**Sandy’s Hour ** and Just for Fun with Sandy Becker
Captain Kangaroo
Terry Toon Circus with Claude Kershner and Clowny (Not Super Circus or those other variations)
Officer Joe Bolton running Three Stooges and old movie serials
The Chuck McCann Show
Crusader Rabbit
The Adventures of Hercules
Mighty Mouse
Lots of off-brand cartoons
Spunky and Tadpole
Ruff and Reddy, that Hannah-Barbera TV cartoon before Huckleberry Hound et al.
Clutch Cargo and Space Angel, those weird “cartoons” with the live-action mouths superimposed on still pictures (“Synchro-Vox”)
Commander Bleep – a cartoon with an alien commander as the hero! His sidekicks were Screech (a puppet) and Scratch (a Caveman)
Diver Dan!
Early on Saturday mornings, I caught the Test Pattern, followed by Sermonette (hopelessly melancholy sermon delivered in a sober voice while images of waves breaking on shore filled the TV screen), followed by The Modern Farmer – a collection of US DEpartment of Agriculture educational films on things like the use of Sorghum Silage, the use of regular testing of soil, crops, and animals, and the use of Rotary Conveyors for mechanizing feed operations. After half an hour of this, you were definitely ready for Crusader Rabbit.
Early 1970s.
Bozo the Clown
Captain Kangaroo
Sesame Street
I was aware of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, but rarely watched it.
Syndicated re-runs of shows from the 1950s:
The Mickey Mouse Club
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie
The Lone Ranger
Superman
Saturday mornings, it was Sid & Marty Kroft. I never heard of the Bugaloos, but I watched just about every other show they did.
Lots of Filmation shows.
Tarzan
The Lone Ranger
Zorro
Flash Gordon
The Sentinels
Lots of Hanna-Barberra sci-fi and fantasy, many of them re-runs from the 1960s:
Johnny Quest
The Herculoids
Space Ghost
Scooby-Doo
I watched just about all of the DC Comics shows, starting with “The Superman/Aquaman Adventure Hour” through various incarnations of the Super Friends. When Superman: the Move came out, I thought Christopher Reeve looked wrong for the role. (No doubt there were Kirk Alyn fans who said the same thing about George Reeves.)
I watched a lot of live-action shows:
The Kids from C.A.P.E.R.
The Monster Squad
The Ghost-Busters (the one with Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Bob Burns in a gorilla suit)
The Red Hand Gang
The Shazam/Isis Hour
Ark II
The Lost Saucer and Far Out Space Nuts
Space Academy and Jason of Star Command
I know eh. I figured it out myself when I was little though: “Waiiit a minute…it’s the dude in the Polkaroo suit.”
Late 70’s - Early 80’s:
Romper Room
Sesame Street
Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood
Captain Kangaroo
The Friendly Giant
Mr. Dressup
Banana Splits
The Flintstones (at lunch time)
The Bugs Bunny & Tweety Show (sometimes I had to ask my dad to explain a joke)
The Great Space Coaster (similar to The Muppets - anybody else remember this?)
The Muppet Show
The Smurfs
Strawberry Shortcake
Care Bears
I had academic parents who refused to have a television in the house, as they felt it was deleterious to children. Therefore, my exposure to kids tv was sporadic (overnights at friends houses or staying with the grandparents). I do remember Miss Frances and the Ding Dong School which I thought was silly and Romper Room which got the same rating. I liked Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans, but was petrified of the Banana Man - had to leave the room when he came on. I loved cartoons - Rocky and Bullwinkle was my favorite, but I also liked anything with Bugs Bunny or Yogi Bear.
I grew up with Nick Jr.'s Face who was the host of the block of preschool shows before the big kids stuff came on. I remember watching Gullah Gullah Island and Little Bear, but not much else. When I was around 7, Blue’s Clues came out and I loved it even though I thought I was too old for Nick Jr. At that age I loved dogs, everything blue (I still do), and Blue was a girl like me, so it was nice to watch. I didn’t like Arthur or Sesame Street, but I did watch Mr. Rogers, Magic School Bus, and anything with the Kratts. I don’t consider Rugrats a little kid show since it’s an original Nicktoon, but I loved it growing up.
Paul Tripp’s Birthday House.
I still remember all the kids singing to the boom microphone every day, “Hi, Mike! Hi, Mike! I like to say hi, Mike! Hi, Mike! Hi, Mike! I like you very much!”
Canadian kids TV shows back in the day were awesome.
Readalong
Today’s Special
KidsBeat (news show geared towards kids)
Hilarious House of Frightenstein
That show about Simon and his chalk drawings
Uncle Bobby
You Can’t Do That on Television (“Duuhh I heard that.”)
Rocket Robin Hood
Hercules
Fraggle Rock
Eureka! (learning physics, etc.)
Tales of the Wizard of Oz