CB BEARS

 

CB BEARS

(NBC, September 10-December 3, 1977)
 
Hanna-Barbera Productions

 

MAIN CAST:
Daws Butler – Hustler, Blast-Off Buzzard, Stick, Big Duke, Undercover Elephant
Chuck McCann – Boogie, Blubber
Henry Corden – Bump
Susan Davis – Charlie
Lennie Weinrib – King, Yuka Yuka, Rattle, various
Sheldon Allman – Big H
Don Messick – Clyde, various
Marvin Kaplan – Skids
Ginny McSwain – Sheena
Susan Silo – Zelda
William Woodson – Sheriff of Saddlesore
Paul Winchell – Shake
Joe E. Ross – Roll
Alan Oppenheimer – Sidney Merciless
Bob Hastings – Loudmouse
Michael Bell – Chief
Scatman Crothers – Segment Title Narrator
 

 

CB Bears was a Hanna-Barbera anthology series featuring six different segments: Blast-Off Buzzard; Heyyy, It’s the King!; Posse Impossible; Shake, Rattle & Roll; Undercover Elephant; and the titular CB Bears. Each one was directly inspired by other shows and movies popular at the time.

The CB Bears and the Perfume Wagon.

CB Bears was a spoof of the hit series Charlie’s Angels and infused with elements of the CB radio culture that had gained popularity during the decade. Three bears—Hustle (Daws Butler impersonating Phil Silvers), Boogie (Chuck McCann), and Bump (Henry Corden)—were detectives that disguised themselves as trash collectors. They received their missions from the unseen sultry-voiced Charlie (Susan Davis) through the CB radio in their beat-up garbage truck, the Perfume Wagon. While it may not have seemed like much, their truck was loaded with plenty of devices that could be called upon in a pinch. Each of the bears’ names were taken from a popular disco dance, and their character models were reminiscent of the crew from the earlier Help! …It’s the Hair Bear Bunch!; from which Butler recycled the same voice for Hustle that he used there. Early promotional art for the series had Charlie’s face seen on a TV screen before they decided to make her only a vocal presence like its inspiration.

Blast-Off Buzzard and Crazylegs.

Blast-Off Buzzard was Hanna-Barbera’s answer to Warner Bros.’ Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner series. Blast-Off Buzzard (vocal effects by Butler), who wore an aviator hat with goggles and a scarf, wanted nothing more than to catch Crazylegs, a speedy football helmet-wearing snake, in a desert setting. Blast-Off used a variety of schemes and devices in his attempt to nab the pesky snake, but was always thwarted by his plans backfiring or Crazylegs just outsmarting him. Crazylegs was originally pitched as being a rabbit, but NBC rejected the idea. Artist Jerry Eisneberg offered the solution of making him a snake, which the network approved.

King, Big H, Skids, Clyde, Sheena and Zelda.

Heyyy, It’s the King! was inspired by Happy Days; the title taking a cue from star Henry Winkler’s catchphrase as Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli. King (Lennie Weinrib) was the cool leather-jacket wearing lion leader of his motley crew that included Big H (Sheldon Allman), a hippo that was always hungry; Clyde (Don Messick), a dopey gorilla with questionable athletic ability and a large ego; Yuka-Yuka (Weinrib), a hyena who was a practical joker; Skids (Marvin Kaplan), a crocodile that drove a jalopy and wore a bucket on his head; and cheerleaders Sheena (Ginny McSwain), a puma, and Zelda (Susan Silo), an ostrich. Most stories centered King’s schemes at acquiring money and fame and his friends’ attempts to help. Originally the segment was meant to be set in the jungle with their usual hang out, a malt shop, being the only building, but was changed to them living in the city. While the series featured a 1950s aesthetic reminiscent of its inspiration, it still very much took place in the modern 1970s.

The Posse Impossible: the Sheriff, Stick, Blubber and Big Duke.

Posse Impossible stemmed from an idea first explored in the final episode of Hong Kong Phooey. The Sheriff of Saddlesore (William Woodson) set out to protect the west with his posse of bungling cowboys: Stick (Daws Butler, using a hillbilly voice), Big Duke (also Butler, impersonating John Wayne who was known as “The Duke”), and Blubber (Chuck McCann). They pursued the most notorious outlaws in the territory and managed to bring them in by out-bumbling them.

Shake (yellow), Rattle (purple) and Roll (blue) rocking out with ghost mouse and their poltercat.

Shake, Rattle & Roll, titled after the 1954 hit penned by Jesse Stone (as Charles Calhoun) and first recorded by Big Joe Turner, was set in the rundown Haunted Inn managed by three ghosts: Shake (Paul Winchell), Rattle (Weinrib), and Roll (Joe E. Ross). Along with the hijinks that followed dealing with their clientele of supernatural entities and creatures, they often had to deal with a pesky Ghost Mouse (with the aid of their Poltercat), a ghost exterminator named Sidney Merciless (Alan Oppenheimer), and hotel inspectors.

Undercover Elephant and Loudmouse picking out his next disguise.

Undercover Elephant starred the mystery-solving titular character (Butler) and his sidekick, Loudmouse (Bob Hastings). Working for Central Control, they would receive their instructions from the Chief (Michael Bell) via exploding messages (ala Mission: Impossible) that Undercover would fail to avoid. Another recurring gag was that Undercover regarded himself as a master of disguise, but his disguises tended to give him away (usually blamed by him on their being of the mail-order variety) as did Loudmouse, living up to the term that inspired his name: “loud mouth”.

Cooking up trouble.

CB Bears debuted on NBC on September 10, 1977. Each segment would feature its own brief intro leading to the episode’s title card with narration by Scatman Crothers. The series was written by Bill Ackerman, Haskell Barkin, Barry Blitzer, Tom Dagenais, Karl Geurs, Orville Hampton, Don Jurwich, Jon Kubichan, Joan Howard Maurer, Ray Parker, Howard Post, Dick Robbins and Jerry Winnick, with Parker serving as story editor. Bob Singer, Willie Ito and Marty Murphy handled the character designs. Hoyt Curtin was the musical director while Paul DeKorte was the musical supervisor. Bill Perez designed the opening titles.

On the case?

The series only lasted a single season of 13 episodes. Reruns of the CB Bears segment would be included on its own in the package program Go Go Globetrotters (which replaced it on the schedule) and with Undercover as part of the 1980s episodes of Captain Kangaroo. Undercover would also serve as one of the filler segments for the Disney Channel run of Jump, Rattle and Roll. When the series entered syndicated reruns, it was halved into two distinctive programs: CB Bears included the titular segment with Blast-Off and Posse, and Heyyy, It’s the King included that segment with Shake and Undercover. These half-hour versions would air on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the 1990s and early 2000s before disappearing from the airwaves entirely.

Hanna-Barbera TV Stars #2.

CB Bears, Undercover, and Shake all had featured stories in Marvel Comics’ short-lived Hanna-Barbera TV Stars comic anthology series, which were reprinted in Australia by KG. Murray. King, while appearing on two covers, never had a story inside. That segment did get its own coloring book, published in 1978 by Rand McNally and featuring artwork by Alex Toth. Interestingly enough, it featured a lot of the early concepts for King such as the gang living in the jungle and Clyde having his original intended name, “Square”. Rand McNally would produce two other coloring books featuring the CB Bears paired up with either Blast-Off Buzzard or Undercover Elephant. The bears were on their own for a lunch box and a Mexican coloring book published in 1983 by Fernandez Editores, and King received two puzzles by Hestair. All of the characters were also featured in The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera Stamp Album.

The complete Posse Impossible series.

Only Posse received a complete release onto VHS in 1988, while three Shake, Rattle and Roll episodes were included on the 1990 compilation tape Scooby-Doo & Friends: Mostly Ghostly; both from Hanna-Barbera Home Video. The rest remained largely forgotten until fan uploads began making their way to the internet in 2022. However, Warner Archive did include King on a poll deciding their next releases in 2012 (obviously it didn’t win).

King and his gang in Jellystone!

Undercover the character would make appearances in two episodes of Yogi’s Treasure Hunt and a cameo in the “Agent Penny” episode of the Super Secret Secret Squirrel segment of 2 Stupid Dogs. Blast-Off and Crazylegs would receive two more shorts as part of the final season of Tom & Jerry Kids, this time with voices provided by Lewis Arquette and Charlie Adler, respectively. The Bears, Undercover (Dana Snyder) and King characters would appear in Jellystone! Skids and Big H were reimagined as girls, and King’s (Bernardo de Paula) gang were depicted as more villainous, while Zelda (Nicole Thurman) was depicted as an actress. One-off King antagonist Cool Cat (Frank Welker) also made an appearance in the episode “Disco Fever”, voiced by Snyder.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Missing Mansion Mystery / Buzzard, You’re a Turkey / The Blue Kangaroo / Big Duke and Li’l Lil / Guess What’s Coming to Dinner / The Sneaky Sheik” (9/10/77) – The Bears discover a lost mansion in the middle of an alligator-infested lagoon. / Blast-Off tries multiple schemes to catch Crazylegs. / King and his friends must protect a Blue Kangaroo being pursued by a hunter. / Duke’s fancy footwork helps save dance hall girl Li’l Lil. / Shake and Rattle come across a baby creature that keeps growing whenever it eats. / Undercover and Loudmouse go after a jewel thief posing as a sheik.

 

“The Doomsday Mine / Hard Headed Hard Hat / The First King on Mars / Trouble at Ghostarado / The Ghostly Ghoul is a Ghastly Guest / Baron Von Rippemoff” (9/17/77) – The Bears head out to Arizona to investigate strange lights and people changing color from a deserted mine. / Blast-Off invites Crazylegs to work on a construction site as a ploy to trap him. / King and his friends’ plan to get to Mars lands them on the set of a Martian movie. / The Posse goes after a thief that’s turning Mother Lode’s silverware into silver to sell. / The trio try to remove a guest that keeps scaring off the others from the inn. / Undercover and Loudmouse are sent to North Africa to retrieve a stolen experimental aircraft.

 

“Follow that Mountain / Hearts and Flowers, Buzzards and Snakes / The Riverbed 5000 / The Not So Great Train Robbery / There’s No Pest Like a Singing Guest / The Moanin’ Lisa” (9/24/77) – Investigating vanishing mountains leads the Bears to being chased underground by giant gophers. / Blast-Off builds a female robot snake to lure in Crazylegs. / King and his friends enter a race to win prize money and a kiss from actress Raquel Wrench. / The Posse go after Tiny Tex and the Toe Dance Kid for robbing the same train 47 times. / The trio must figure out how to get rid of the Phantom of the Opera as his singing is disturbing the other guests. / Undercover and Loudmouse must retrieve a famous painting from a notorious art thief.

 

“Valley of No Return / The Egg & Aye Aye Aye / Surf’s Up / The Alabama Brahma Bull / Shake, the Lion-Hearted / Pain in the Brain” (10/1/77) – The Bears investigate what’s driving animals out of a valley. / Blast-Off must protect an egg he found from Crazylegs. / Big H uses Skids’ customized surfboard to enter a competition at the beach. / The Posse attempt to arrest a couple of bull thieves—if Big Ben Cartwheel’s other bull will let them. / Rattle and Roll create a potion to cure Shake of his fear, but it ends up turning him into a fearless bully. / Undercover and Loudmouse must protect a scientist from being abducted by his rival.

 

“The Fright Farm / Testing 1-2-3 / King and His Jokers / The Crunch Bunch Crashout / The Real Cool Ghoul / The Great Hospital Hassle” (10/8/77) – The Bears track an old man who’s been stealing animals from the zoo to populate his huge ark. / / King and his friends form their own band to compete with Cool Cat’s after they’ve stolen the attention of all the girls in town. / The Posse set after capturing a gang of escaped stagecoach robbers. / A heatwave sends the Abominable Snow Ghost to the inn and he threatens to freeze out all of the other guests. / Undercover disguises himself as a patient to capture a thief robbing wealthy patients at a hospital.

 

“Drackenstein’s Revenge / Ho, Ho, Ho, It’s the Buzzard’s Birthday / Hot Gold Fever / One of Our Rivers is Missing / Spooking is Hazardous to Your Health / Latin Losers” (10/15/77) – While investigating why a town is fast asleep, the Bears discover its valuables are all missing. / It may be Blast-Off’s birthday, but he wants to give Crazylegs the surprise. / King and his friends’ camping trip becomes a treasure hunt when they find a map. / The Posse investigates Saddlesore’s water shortage. / An inspector threatens to shut down the inn if the trio don’t bring it up to code. / Undercover must rescue a famous detective after he’s kidnapped.

 

“Water, Water…Nowhere / Wheelin’ and Reelin’ / The Carnival Caper / Sneakiest Rustler in the West / Spooking the Spooks / Dr. Doom’s Gloom” (10/22/77) – The Bears try to save the world’s water supply from an ex-sea captain seeking to turn it all into sand with his device. / / King and his friends must free Yuka Yuka’s cousin Elmo from imprisonment at a carnival. / The Posse tries to catch an elusive cow rustler. / Sidney employs a robot to get rid of all the ghosts at the inn. / Undercover and Loudmouth must stop Dr. Doom’s evil plans.

 

“Wild, Wild Wilderness / Buzzard, Clean Up Your Act / The Unhappy Heavy Hippo / Bad Medicine / From Scream to Screen / Chicken Flickin’ Capon Caper” (10/29/77) – Charlie warns the Bears to be on the lookout for strange creatures as Boogie is taken by a giant vine. / / Needing to lose weight, Big H is put on a diet and rigorous exercise program. / Crooks secretly rob the town under the guise of selling medicine. / The trio try to scare off the movie crew attempting to film at their inn. /

 

“Island of Terror / Backyard Buzzards / King for Prez / Busting Boomerino / Gloom and Doom-De-Doom / Undercover Around the World” (11/5/77) – The Bears must deal with a giant octopus to get to a sinking island. / / King runs for student body president against an unscrupulous rival. / The Posse guards the bank to try and keep it from being robbed 20 years in a row when the circus comes to town. / Shake and Roll attempt to cheer up Rattle with a picnic and cruise that ends up being constantly interrupted. / Undercover’s disguises constantly failing causes him and Loudmouse to have to chase spies around the world.

 

“Go North, Young Bears / Spy in the Sky / Snowbound Safari / Roger the Dodger / Polt R Geist / Irate Pirates” (11/12/77) – The Bears head to the North Pole to investigate mysterious floods. / / King and his friends go hunting for Bigfoot in order to cash in on the reward for him. / The Posse must re-apprehend a sneaky bandit. / The trio eagerly await a hotel critic to rate their inn, but he ends up being frightened by its inhabitants. / Undercover seeks to challenge himself by capturing a gang of pirates.

 

“The Invasion of the Blobs / First Class Buzzard / Great Billionaire Chase Case / Riverboat Sam the Gambling Man / Too Many Kooks / Perilous Pigskin” (11/19/77) – The Bears investigate giant monsters swallowing up the town of Fool’s Gold. / / King decides to get an interview with the world’s most reclusive eccentric millionaire. / The Posse goes after a cheating riverboat gambler. / The trio hire a temporary cook to deal with the ravenous appetites of the Abominable Monsters Association. / Undercover and Loudmouse must apprehend Microfilm Freddie.

 

“Disaster from the Skies / Freezin’ and Sneezin’ / Boat Fever / The Invisible Kid / A Scary Face from Outer Space / Swami Whammy” (11/26/77) – The Bears investigate the source of mysterious destructive rays threatening a city. / / King and his friends try to raise money to buy a boat. / The Posse attempts to capture an invisible bandit. / Aliens come to Earth looking for humans to abduct and end up landing at the inn as it hosts a costume ball. / Undercover and Loudmouse must stop Swami Salami from hypnotizing people into his slaves.

 

“Disappearing Satellites / Cousin Snakey is a Groove / Go for It, King / Calamity John / Health Spa Spooks / The Disappearing Duchess” (12/3/77) – The Bears follow a spacecraft below a lake to discover a giant underground space station. / / King attempts to set a new world record. / The Posse must arrest a bandit that causes bad luck wherever he goes. / The trio hire a physical education teacher to try and bring new life to their inn. / Undercover and Loudmouse head to London to protect the Duchess from an evil scheme.

65TH & 70TH ANNIVERSARIES

 It's the Golden Age of television, and these shows are turning 65 and 70 this year!

TODAY IN SEPTEMBER 1962

   It's September, so that means new television season! These are the Saturday Morning schedules that debuted today in 1962.

TODAY IN SEPTEMBER 1982

   It's September, so that means new television season! These are the Saturday Morning schedules that debuted today in 1982 (ABC's actually debuted the following week).

65TH ANNIVERSARIES

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

CAPTAIN KANGAROO

(CBS, October 3, 1955-December 8, 1984)

Keeshan-Miller Enterprises, Robert Keeshan Associates, CBS Television Network

MAIN CAST:

Bob Keeshan – Captain Kangaroo, Mr. Pennywhistle, Mr. Doodle, Wally, Town Clown

Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum – Mr. Green Jeans, the New Old Folk Singer, Percy, Uncle Backwards, Mr. McGregor, Mr. Bainter the Painter

Cosmo Allegretti – Mr. Bunny Rabbit, Mr. Moose, Dennis the Apprentice, Willy, Miss Frog, Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock, Uncle Ralph, TV Fred

Sam Levine (1955-74) – The Banana Man

Bill McCutcheon (1965-68) – Mr. Homan

Jane Connell (1965-68) – Mrs. Homan

James Wall – Mr. Baxter (1968-78)

Debbie Weems (1973-78) – Debbie, Baby Duck

John Burstein (1978-81) – Slim Goodbody

Bill Cosby (1980-84) – Himself

Kevin Clash (1980-84) – Artie, various

Carolyn Mignini (1981-83) – Kathy, various

          Conceived by star Bob Keeshan based on the “warm relationship between grandparents and children”, Captain Kangaroo became the longest-running national network children’s show (and the longest-running overall until it was passed by Sesame Street in 1999, where many people who worked on Kangaroo went to work following its conclusion).

The Captain.

            Keeshan, along with long-time friend and director Jack Miller, had taken notice of the success of The Uncle Al Show—a local children’s show out of Cincinnati, Ohio—and approached the network they were currently working for, ABC, with the idea to produce one of their own. However, the network had previously attempted and failed at doing so before and passed on the idea. Pitching it again a year later, they were given the weekend to have the show ready for a pilot on Monday morning. Working with the station’s crew, they created a set and a costume, Keeshan dyed his hair gray after being unable to get a wig done, and used music from the station’s library to come up with Tinker’s Workshop. Debuting on November 15, 1954, the series centered on kindly toymaker Tinker (Keeshan) in his toyshop somewhere in a Swiss village, where he would use kids’ love of toys and play to impart important values, skills and other lessons to their audience in between reruns of old theatrical shorts.

Keeshan as the Tinker.

         CBS was on the constant lookout for innovative approaches to children’s television programming at this time. In the summer of 1955, they approached Keeshan and Miller about coming up with a similar show to Tinker for them. They decided to try and create a better format with a kindly old tour guide and captain of the guard of a children’s museum called “The Treasure House.” Keeshan got out of his contract with ABC and the network bought out the rights to Tinker, leaving Keeshan and Miller free to develop the new show for CBS. The result was Captain Kangarro.

Mr. Green Jeans and Dancing Bear prepare a cake for the Captain.

            Captain Kangaroo debuted on CBS on October 3, 1955. Keeshan played the title character The Captain, who was given the nickname “kangaroo” due to the large pockets on his trademark jacket (originally blue, but later red). Initially, CBS wanted Al Lewis to host, but he wouldn’t be released from his contractual obligations to host The Uncle Al Show.  The show didn’t have a strict format; the only constant was that the entirety of the action took place in or around The Captain’s house, known initially as The Treasure House and later The Captain’s Place. However, there were recurring segments and bits, such as “Reading Stories” sessions where The Captain would read a book to his audience, The Magic Drawing Board where he would interact with animated characters, and a running gag of his getting ping pong balls dumped on him. For the show’s introduction, The Captain would enter the House/Place and hang his keys on the hook, which would then cause the theme song to stop playing. However, sometimes The Captain would miss the hook or drop the keys, and the song would continue playing until they were finally hung. The Captain would end each the show encouraging parents to spend some time with their children, first directly to them and later more subtlety via a song listing activities to do outside instead of watching television. The first show of each month was also when The Captain would wish a happy birthday to every kid who celebrated that month.

The Captain with Mr. Green Jeans, Dancing Bear, Mr. Moose and Mr. Bunny.

The Captain would interact with a variety of characters. On the human side was farmer Mr. Green Jeans (Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum), the mute Town Clown (also Keeshan) and Sam Levine as The Banana Man. There were animals like the silent Dancing Bear, living appliances like the rhyming Grandfather Clock, and puppets like Mr. Bunny and Mr. Moose (all Cosmo Allegretti, who was the primary puppeteer for the show). Levine had purchased the props and gimmicks from musical comedian Adolf Proper’s estate and resurrected The Banana Man for the show. His gimmicks included communication through sounds and instruments, quick costume changes, and pulling an impossible number of props from his coat pockets. He played the role until his death in 1974.

The Captain and Mr. Green Jeans with Mr. Baxter, Debbie and Dennis the Apprentice.

             As the show went on, more cast and characters came and left. In 1965, Bill McCutcheon and Jane Connell joined as friends Mr. and Mrs. Homan. Stage manager James E. Wall talked his way into the audition to play Mr. Baxter in 1968, turning Captain Kangaroo into one of the first integrated children’s shows on television. Debbie Weems appeared as Debbie and provided the voice for the puppet character Baby Duck. A decade later, John Burstein joined as Slim Goodbody, who wore a suit displaying the parts of the human body and offered tips on nutrition and exercise (in compliance with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare’s push for more educational content on television). Puppeteer Kevin Clash would not only control the puppet character Artie, but would appear as himself in many sketches. Carolyn Mignini was the last new cast member added, playing Kathy and a variety of other female roles.

             In 1978, local Pittsburg children’s show Picture Pages was integrated into Captain Kangaroo. Created by Julius Oleinick in 1974, the show interacted with its audience via puzzle booklets given away at local supermarkets. The Captain would conduct a series of lessons on basic arithmetic, geometry and drawing on his magic drawing board. In 1980, Bill Cosby was brought on to take over the segment and drew with the aid of his character-topped magic marker named Mortimer Ichabod Marker, or M.I. for short. When Captain Kangaroo ended, the segment was adopted as part of Nickelodeon’s Pinwheel until that series was cancelled in 1989.

             Celebrities and fellow children’s show stars often made a habit of stopping by to visit The Captain; particularly beginning in 1974 when the show began with people (including non-celebrities) wishing The Captain a “good morning”. Among their number was Dr. Joyce Brothers, Shari Lewis, Dudley Moore, Carol Channing, Lorne Greene, Eli Wallach, Dolly Parton, Walter Cronkite, Marlo Thomas, Carrie Fisher, Danny Aiello, Anita Gillette, Andy Griffith, Doc Severinsen, Mae Questel, Emmett Kelly, Hank Aaron, Marty Brill, Stubby Kaye, Bob Denver, John Ritter, Jean Stapleton, Frank Gifford, Fred Rogers, Big Bird (Caroll Spinney), and William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy (in character as Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, respectively).

Mr. Rogers stops by The Treasure House.

             Along with the live-action routines, there were a number of cartoon shorts shown throughout the program. While two were created specifically for Captain Kangaroo, the majority of them were imported from other countries. They included:

             Tom Terrific, running from 1957-59 and rerun for years after. Created by Gene Deitch under the CBS-owned Terrytoons studio, the series focused on a boy hero who lived in a treehouse and could transform himself into anything via his magic “thinking cap”. Along with his lazy sidekick, Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, he battled the evil forces of Crabby Appleton, Mr. Instant the Instant Thing King, Captain Kidney Bean, Sweet Tooth Sam the Candy Bandit and Isotope Feeney the Meany. The show was done in a simple style reminiscent of children’s drawings, and every character was voiced by Lionel Wilson. 26 episodes were produced and were aired in five parts across each episode of a given week. For the Saturday broadcast, the episodes were edited into a two-part adventure with all of the daily cliffhangers and recaps removed.

             Alternating with Tom Terrific every other week was The Adventures of Lariat Sam. Created by notable game show announcer Gene Wood, the cartoon was a western comedy centering on sheriff Sam, who protected the tiny town of Bent Saddle with his poetry-reading horse, Tippytoes. Their primary foe was the outlaw Badlands Meeney and his stooge, J. Skulking Bushwack. Sam often defeated them, as the title implied, by using his lasso and manipulating it in various physics-defying ways. Dayton Allen provided all the character voices, and Wood sang the theme song himself. Like Tom Terrific, the series was animated by Terrytoons.

            The Most Important Person was a mixed animated and live-action series of 60 shorts produced by Sutherland Learning Associates. They helped translate everyday things in the life of children so that they could be better understood and allow them to develop a strong sense of self-awareness and self-importance. A spin-off series, The Kingdom of Could Be You, explored various occupations and gave children an idea of what they could become when they grew up. Both series were made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Child Development, and were later syndicated individually or as part of other children’s programs.

         Produced for the BBC between 1971 and 1974, Crystal Tipps and Alistair followed the adventures of a young girl and her dog in a fanciful world. The 5-minute shorts were created by Hilary Hayton and Graham McCallum, who drew the artwork using felt markers and an airbrush. The series was produced and animated by Q3 of London, which was formed by former BBC executive Michael Grafton-Robinson specifically for these shorts and another series, Fingerbobs, instead of expanding the BBC’s Children’s Department of Graphics Unit into a full-blown animation studio. The shorts were silent except for the music accompaniment by Paul Reade. However, when aired on Captain Kangaroo, Allegretti added voice-over narration in his Mr. Moose voice.

             The Wombles was a stop-motion British cartoon made from 1973-75 by FilmFair Productions. It was based on a series of children’s novels created by Elisabeth Beresford about fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures that lived in burrows and helped the environment by collecting and creatively recycling trash. Two seasons of 30 five-minute episodes were produced, with Bernard Cribbins supplying all of the voices and Barry Leith crafting all the sets and models.

             Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings was another British animated series from 1974 created by Edward McLachlan and produced by FilmFair. Young Simon had a magic chalkboard on which things he drew came to life in the Land of Chalk Drawings that Simon could enter by climbing over a fence near his home. The 5-minute episodes dealt with the unintended consequences Simon’s drawings had over the Land. Originally narrated by Cribbins, Keeshan dubbed over it with a new narration when it aired on his show.

             Ludwig was another British import about a magical egg-shaped gemstone that lived in a forest and often came to the rescue of the animals that dwelled there. Ludwig possessed facets that could open up to reveal arms, legs, or various gadgets whenever he needed them. A human birdwatcher (Jon Glover) constantly watched Ludwig and served as the viewer’s point of view and narrator. The 25 five-minute episodes were produced by Mirek and Peter Lang, who wrote them with Jane Tann and also animated them. The music was arranged and played by Reade and was comprised of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, for whom the central character was named. The series would begin an end with a small section of Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 1”.

          Coming from Australia in 1974 was The Toothbrush Family, which centered on a group of anthropomorphic toiletry items conceived by Marcia Hatfield as a way to get kids to focus on their hygiene when her son refused to brush his teeth. The main characters were father Tom, mother Tess, kids Tina and Toby, and Gramps, along with toothpaste Flash Fluoride, electric toothbrush Hot Rod Harry, hairbrush Bert Brush, Cecily Comb, Nev Nailbrush, Susie Sponge, Shaggy Dog, Callie Conditioner and Sally Shampoo, who all came to life at night in the light of the moon. Hatfield wrote the episodes with Al Guest and Jean Mathieson providing the screenplays, which were then produced by Rainbow Animation. Len Carlson and Billie Mae Richards provided all of the character voices. A revival was made in 1998 focusing on some new characters.

             The Red and the Blue was another stop-motion series, this time hailing from Italy’s Misseri Studios and created by Francesco Misseri. It centered on two Claymation shapeshifting characters—one red, one blue—on a white plane in which they interacted. They often try to outdo each other by assuming various forms that would one-up the other. For instance, if Blue became a boat, Red would become an island.

             Another Rainbow Animation production from Canada, The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo was a reimagining of the Jules Verne book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Guest and Mathieson. The show followed ocean researcher Captain Mark Nemo (Carlson) and his kid assistants, Christine and Robbie (both Richards), as they went on adventures in their nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus. The 5-minute episodes attempted to teach children about oceanography and marine biology.

CB Bears and Undercover Elephant coloring book.

            During the 1980s, two segments from the Hanna-Barbera series CB Bears would be integrated into Captain Kangaroo’s line-up. The titular CB Bears segment followed a trio of crime-solving bears posing as garbage men in a pastiche of Charlie’s Angels. Undercover Elephant was a send-up of the spy genre where the titular elephant (Daws Butler) received exploding assignments from his Chief (Michael Bell) and used poor disguises during his missions (largely because, well, he was an elephant). 

The Captain chatting with Grandfather Clock.

             Captain Kangaroo was initially broadcast live daily on weekday mornings. For the first four years, it was performed twice a day for the Eastern and Central time zones, and recorded on kinescope for the Western as Keeshan refused to perform three times a day. Eventually, it would be scheduled for the same time in all time zones. It was also given a 6^th Saturday morning broadcast until 1968; replaced briefly in the 1964-65 season by Keeshan’s other short-lived show, Mr. Mayor. The Mayor character was Kangaroo in everything but name and look. It was a gambit by Keeshan to show he was willing to abandon The Captain if he couldn’t acquire the full rights from the unwanted partner he was saddled with due to The Captain’s evolution out of the Tinker character from their previous series. The gambit paid off, and the Mayor was retired for The Captain full time.

             When many shows began broadcasting in color, CBS wouldn’t adopt a color format for Captain Kangaroo until late 1966. Throughout the show’s run, it was nominated for several Emmy Awards, winning three. It also won two Peabody Awards and a Young Artist Award. Although extremely popular, Captain Kangaroo’s ratings rarely eclipsed its network competition’s. In 1981, CBS moved the show early to 7:00 AM and cut it down to 30 minutes, retitling it Wake Up with The Captain, to make more room for the expanded CBS Morning News. In 1982, it was moved further back to 6:30 AM when very few people would be awake to see it. It was restored to an hour format that year, but remained in poor time slots in various time zones. Many CBS affiliates had also stopped carrying the show and declined a rerun package for Sunday mornings. When CBS decided to cut the show back down to a half hour again in 1984, Keeshan angrily decided to let the show end when his contract with the network expired. However, Keeshan would return to the network the following year to host CBS Storybreak, which was essentially inspired by his “Reading Stories” segment. A fond farewell to The Captain was given with the primetime special Captain Kangaroo and His Friends that same year.

             The original Captain Kangaroo theme song, “Puffin’ Billy” (about a steam locomotive), was used from 1955 until 1974. Written by Edward G. White and recorded by the Melodi Light Orchestra, it was from the Chappell Recorded Music Library; a British stock music production library. Mary Rodgers wrote lyrics for the song in 1957, making it the official Captain Kangaroo theme. In 1974, Robert L. Brush composed the new theme, “Good Morning, Captain”. Originally, it featured elements of “Puffin’ Billy”, resulting in White receiving credit on the song, but copyright issues caused the song to be rerecorded in 1979 with those elements removed. When the show was retitled, a new theme called “Wake Up” was used until the title, format and second theme were reinstated. Lynn Ahrens wrote a final theme, “Here Comes Captain Kangaroo”, which would be used from 1982-84 and subsequent reruns.

             On September 1, 1986, Captain Kangaroo returned in reruns on PBS with funding from public television stations, School Zone Publishing Company, and the John D. Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. New segments were filmed and inserted into the reruns, which ran until 1993. In 1997, Saban Entertainment produced a short-lived reboot called The All New Captain Kangaroo, with John McDonough as The Captain. Keeshan declined an invitation to appear as “The Admiral.” It ran for only one syndicated season, but produced a spin-off called Mister Moose’s Fun Time which was at the center of a programming block called Captain Kangaroo’s Treasure House that ran from 1997-2000. In 2011, professional clown Pat Cashin acquired The Captain Kangaroo trademark and began portraying The Captain. Cashin died in 2016, leaving the rights to his estate. In 2018, actor Mark Wahlberg announced his (as yet unrealized) desire to bring back The Captain as a scientist so that his own children would develop an interest in science, technology and engineering.

One of The Captain's albums.

             Keeshan’s estate owns the rights to all of Captain Kangaroo’s footage, and they have yet to put the show on DVD or make it available for streaming. There have been a number of VHS collections containing various episodes and related bits from the show’s run. A wide assortment of merchandise was released throughout the show’s 29-year career. These included coloring and activity books, story books, a card game featuring Mr. Green Jeans, frame tray puzzles, a mix and match pet building set, lunch boxes, various handheld games and more. A number of albums recorded by the cast and featuring the music of the show were produced; partly as an attempt to introduce children to various types of music. Captain Kangaroo and friends were featured in three issues of Dell Comics’ Four-Color Comics between 1956 and 1958. Beginning in 1957, Pines Comics published a 6-issue series based on Tom Terrific, who also appeared in a Wonder Book.

Keeshan's memoirs.

             Keeshan spent the remainder of his life in the service of children as an author and a speaker. He founded Corporate Family Solutions with Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander to provide day-care programs to businesses. In 1993, he participated in the congressional hearings against video game violence. In 1995, he published his memoirs, titled Good Morning, Captain, through Fairview Press. He also considered a revival of The Captain as an answer to increasingly violent cartoons on TV, but was unable to obtain permission from ICM, who held the rights to The Captain at the time. Ultimately, Keeshan died in 2004 before getting to bring The Captain back one last time.

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