# Major Mudd **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107 "2000-07-10T13:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/1 "2000-07-10T13:56:19Z")
I have this photo of myself as a child posing with a a man in a jump suit. A guy by the name of Major Mudd (or so I’m told) Apparently I was a big fan of his TV show as a kid, growing up in South Shore Massachusetts during the early 70’s. My parents differ in opinion on what became of him. Dad seems to remember that he killed himself, mom says he died of natural causes. I can remember nothing of him or his show, let alone his untimely demise. Does anyone remember him? I’ve tried in vain to find any web pages that make any sort of mention of him. ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/2 "2000-07-10T15:38:29Z")
Is or was he the IBBY guy? If yes, my older brothers worshiped him and might know what happened to him. ---
**Author:** ![jayron\_32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jayron\_32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayron_32)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/3 "2000-07-10T16:18:07Z")
found this while surfing to answer your question. It can be found at: [http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/tv7.html](http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/tv7.html) towards the bottom of a long page of articles about TV broadcast history. It is in the history of Channel 7 (WHDH-TV) in Boston. > [@](#): > > The most successful show in the half-century history of Boston’s channel 7 premiered in the fall of 1961: “The Major Mudd > Show”, hosted by Ed McDonnell in an astronaut costume (this was, remember, just as our nation’s space program was getting > off the ground). At first, McDonnell as Major Mudd introduced Three Stooges shorts and cartoons, but by 1963, the Stooges > and cartoons were cut back (though they still appeared), a studio-audience of children added, and comedy bits and games for > the young studio audience were added. “Major Mudd” would enjoy healthy ratings well into the 1970’s, and is fondly > remembered today by those who watched the show while they were youngsters. I did some cursory searching for biographical information on Ed McDonnell, but didn’t turn up much (surprising, I didn’t fidn anything on a minor TV personality from a Local boston TV show in the 1970’s) But now that you have his real name, you can possibly find more info yourself… ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/4 "2000-07-10T16:19:07Z")
I’m afraid I don’t know anything more about him than what I originally posted. So, yeah, I suppose he could very well be the “IBBY guy”… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/5 "2000-07-10T16:41:16Z")
Yup, that’s Major Mudd. He and Rex Trailer formed the core of Boston youth TV. ---
**Author:** ![seriousart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@seriousart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seriousart)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2000, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/6 "2000-07-10T20:29:12Z")
Wow, At last I have a little info. This has been plaguing me for years. My mother has had this picture of me and the guy in the space-suit hanging in their house for as long as I can remember. Spent my lunch hour trying to find out any more info about Ed Mc Donnell to no avail. I’m curious what became of him. Does anyone how he passed away, naturally or otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2000, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/7 "2000-07-11T00:43:25Z")
Still waiting for older bros. to reply - IBBY wasn’t the only expression (?) he coined was it? Wasn’t there one more, some other odd little “\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_” of his? ---
**Author:** ![Jois](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ea666f/32.png) [@Jois](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jois)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/8 "2000-07-13T06:39:48Z")
Try a search of Major Mudd on Google - there might even be video for sale! Jois ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2000, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/9 "2000-07-13T06:47:10Z")
I’ll still take Captain Noah, Sally Starr and Gene London from Philly. ---
**Author:** ![cantsayit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@cantsayit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantsayit)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/10 "2015-06-12T12:06:13Z")
I read in a few places on the internet that diabetes took Major Mudd’s life. One article saying it was kidney failure caused by diabetes. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/11 "2015-06-12T12:18:34Z")
**cantsayit** , thanks for your contribution. Just so you know, this thread discussion originally occurred almost 15 years ago so there’s little chance any of the participants will see what you posted. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/12 "2015-06-12T13:38:57Z")
Ed McDonnell died in 1979 of complications from diabetes. He was a native of Philadelphia, his first role on national television had been as the chauffeur Cheddar on the Ernie Kovacs Show. –From the _Boston Globe_ ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/13 "2015-06-12T14:40:38Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > **cantsayit** , thanks for your contribution. Just so you know, this thread discussion originally occurred almost 15 years ago so there’s little chance any of the participants will see what you posted. OP was last active back in August… well almost a year ago, but we are into a more stable time, in terms of ISP’s , email addresses, and relationship with the internet… Also, here’s where he is, unfortunately, in the mudd look. > **[Edward Thomas “Major Mudd” McDonnell (1926-1979)...](https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/115171169/edward-thomas-mcdonnell)** > > Beloved son of the late John Carroll McDonnell and Kathryn Helen Teehan. Edward Thomas McDonnell played Major Mudd, the beloved host of The Major Mudd Show, the long-running New England kids show (1961-1975) that featured cartoons and Three Stooges... ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/14 "2015-06-12T15:27:03Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > OP was last active back in August… ?? I read his last post as being 4/03/2005. No? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/15 "2015-06-12T15:32:18Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > ?? > I read his last post as being 4/03/2005. No? Last post was in 2005, but last “activity” (login) was in January 2014. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/16 "2026-01-21T09:57:30Z")
I am glad you brought this up because Major Mudd really was one of those uniquely local TV figures that stayed with people long after childhood. From what others have shared here he was Ed McDonnell hosting _The Major Mudd Show_ in Boston during the 1960s and 70s mostly introducing Three Stooges shorts and cartoons and it seems like his relaxed familiar style is what made the show memorable for so many kids. Back then those local programs felt like part of the rhythm of everyday life very different from todays media and they tend to stick in your mind in the same quiet way you remember ordinary details from later years like learning about things such as a Boston Logan car service when you first needed reliable airport transportation. It also helps to know that his passing was due to complications from diabetes which clears up some of the speculation. What do you personally remember most about watching Major Mudd the host himself the cartoons or just the routine of tuning in? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/17 "2026-01-21T12:02:00Z")
Hi. Welcome to the SDMB ! (In case you didn’t notice, this thread is 25 years old and the last post was 10 years ago ! Many of the contributors have not posted since, and at least one is known to have died.) ---
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/18 "2026-01-21T12:07:10Z")
…and Lieutenant Mudd was the dead man in Yossarian’s tent. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/19 "2026-01-21T12:57:28Z")
There’s mention of IBBY in the first few posts (25 years ago) - for those who don’t know that stands for “I’ll Be Blasting You”, his signoff catch phrase. > **[Major Mudd is still ‘Blasting You’ from a galaxy far away](https://www.thegardnernews.com/story/news/2006/07/27/major-mudd-is-still-blasting/11300731007/)** > > (Editor’s Note: This the fourth of a series concerning Boston TV personalities of yesteryear.) It was the early 1960s and television was ripe for a show about a spaceman. After all, the Russians had … [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5523330/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5523330/) ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-mudd/25107/20 "2026-01-22T00:48:23Z")
That article is about as complete a history of Major Mudd’s life and times as you’re likely to find. I can add that he did a lot of physical comedy on his hosting show, and often said “right in the labonza” whenever he was the target of flying objects.