Customer Reviews

The New Howdy Doody Show: Magic Contest

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I loved the New Howdy Doody Show as a child. I tuned in each day after school and had a wonderful time with Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob Smith, Lew Clarabell Anderson, and Bill LeCornec. They all returned to thrill a whole new generation who had never seen the original show. They were joined by comedic bandleader Jackie Davis and the delightful Happy Harmony who was pretty, charming, sang well, taught us to read, and was a ventriloquist too! We were also introduced to classic Howdy Doody characters like Phineas T. Bluster, Dilly Dally, and the weird and wonderful Flub-a-Dub. The episodes included on this DVD even feature guest appearences by Woodsy Owl and Smokey Bear. Children of the 70's had never had it so good!

The disappointment is not in the quality of these DVDs--the disappointment is that the "New Howdy Doody Show" is not nearly as much fun as the old original program. The new show was stiff, over-rehearsed and mechanical. Check at your local Walmart in their display of "dollar DVDs" where you might find a DVD in just a sleeve for a buck that has 6 of the old original shows from the 1950's. For a dollar you will have a lot more fun watching Bob break up laughing, getting confused, and blowing his lines several times on camera. You'll love the cheap set (that looks like it came from the Salvation Army) and the noisy peanut gallery and the drawing of postcards from a plastic swimming pool for prizes of bicycles. It's the kind of silly fun that made the show a hit in the first place. The days of live and poorly rehearsed TV were just more fun--and still more fun to watch today.