Hi There, Boys and Girls! America’s Local Children’s TV Programs [Paperback]

Tim Hollis (Author)

Book Description

Whatever happened to Bozo the Clown, to Aunt Norma, to Solomon C. Whiskers, those television celebrities who hammed it up between cartoons and contests during local kids' shows?

In Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Children's TV Programs, Tim Hollis tracks down the story of every known local children's TV show from markets across the United States.

There have been many books about children's television on the networks, and such shows as Captain Kangaroo, Howdy Doody, and Sesame Street are legends in broadcasting.

However, the local branch of children's programming has received much less attention. For every performer on the scale of a Captain Kangaroo or a Buffalo Bob, there were five or six local personalities who were just as beloved by their viewers--and sometimes even more so--since these local stars could be counted on for appearances at stores, children's hospitals, and shopping centers, where kids could meet them face-to-face.

Anyone over the age of thirty who grew up with a TV set will remember at least one or two of these productions. Whether it was hosted by a cowboy character, a clown such as the one on the many-franchised Bozo shows, a policeman, a sea captain who showed Popeye cartoons, or one of the gentle and lovely ladies who presided over Romper Room, these hometown stars were some of the Baby Boomers' first friends. Although children loved them, these hard-working performers garnered less respect from the rest of the TV industry.

Hi There, Boys and Girls! includes a capsule history of this programming from the earliest days of radio to the early 1970s, when a combination of social changes and broadcast regulations sent most of the hosts into retirement.

Walt Disney once observed that while there is very little adult in a child, there is a lot of child in every adult. This book will bring back a flood of long-submerged memories for anyone who was a child during this golden era.

Tim Hollis lives in Birmingham, Alabama. His previous books include Dixie Before Disney: 100 Years of Roadside Fun (University Press of Mississippi) and Cousin Cliff: 40 Magical Years in Television.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From the earliest days of television until the mid-1970s, children's programming was a staple of local TV broadcasting in the United States. Here, Hollis (Dixie Before Disney) presents a comprehensive compendium of information about local children's TV shows, organized by state. Capsule descriptions are provided for individual programs and hosts in major TV markets within each state. Hollis cuts off the scope of his book at the 1970s, when, for a variety of reasons, most local children's TV programming in the United States simply ceased to exist. This valuable and unique reference book has only one drawback: some markets either could not or would not cooperate with the author to provide historical information on shows, so some entries are much shorter than others. Hollis's preface summarizes this often ignored area of broadcasting history, and an excellent bibliography concludes the book, offering a list of additional sources of information on children's TV. In addition, numerous vintage photographs of local TV personalities are sprinkled throughout. Highly recommended for broadcasting and media libraries, in addition to public libraries. David M. Lisa, Wayne P.L., NJ
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Local children's programming had its roots in radio, where it consisted mainly of storytelling by "uncle" hosts. When TV stations started broadcasting old Westerns and syndicated cartoons, the "host" pattern reemerged. Other genres arose: TV "school" settings, puppets, birthday parties. Romper Room and Bozo the Clown were strong franchised children's programs produced locally. Children's programs are not well researched, so this reference work is an initial effort in this area of popular culture.

The author sets the scene in his 20-page history, discussing local programming from its beginnings through the early 1970s. The remainder of the volume is arranged alphabetically by state, and within each state, by city. Each station's history of children's programming is related in a conversational style. The vast majority of content deals with the personalities of the program hosts, including the local beginnings of national figures such as Captain Kangaroo, Shari Lewis, and Mr. Rogers. The length of each city's entry ranges from a quarter page to more than a dozen pages (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York). About 20 percent of the pages include a black-and-white photo (sometimes a page away from the related text). An end-volume bibliography lists the interviews, print, video, and Internet sources Hollis used to gather his facts.

Partly because of a lack of adequate information, coverage is spotty. Spokane, Washington, is not covered well: no hosts (such as Cap'n Sid) identified, some stations that included children's programming (such as KXLY) not noted, no mention of Spokane's strong German-language programs for children (which also featured children), no mention of a popular children's talent show. Indeed, a major limitation of the work is the almost total lack of mention of children's talent variety shows.

This work is a good start on the topic but is limited in scope. For large collections that specialize in television or popular culture. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 361 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (October 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578063965
• ISBN-13: 978-1578063963
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kids Show Host Rates HI THERE BOYS & GIRLS, January 9, 2002

By 

"cfolds" (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hi There, Boys and Girls! America’s Local Children’s TV Programs (Paperback)

Long overdue, Tim Hollis has recaptured those golden moments of our childhood, when television was our babysitter (and much more productive than today's fare)and local kids show hosts were king!

Without question Amazon is the way to order the book. If, like me, you went to your local major chain bookstores, they had to order it and it ends up costing more than the discount you get online.

Hollis has done his homework, gathering gold mines of information from the children's show cobwebs of antiquity. How many times have we said, "I wonder what ever happened to..."

Hollis' book helps us relive a time long passed over by network executives who don't have a clue what people really want to watch and children's shows long catapulted into the great beyond (with many former hosts).

As Toby the Robot on the Miami Herald Sunday Funnies for more than 20 years, I can say that thousands of kids lives were enriched or at least entertained by the antics of my robot and co-host (first Charlie Baxter and then Wayne Chandler). We didn't do it for the money, that's for sure.

I heartily recommend HI THERE BOYS & GIRLS, it's a great table book and stirs up much greater conversation.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars At Last! Local Kids TV Has A Voice!, December 20, 2001

By 

Kevin S. Butler (Mamaroneck,New York,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hi There, Boys and Girls! America’s Local Children’s TV Programs (Paperback)

At last! Local Kids TV Has it's say about the development and postive influences on our kids in a new book.Birmingham,Al. kids tv historian and author:Tim Hollis has written the very first book that looks at the creation and development of the tv shows that many children grew up on many independent and network affilliated tv stations throughout the USA during the l940's,50's,60's 70's and even into the 80's and 90's.Using articles,videos,audio tracks,biographies(a certain number of them written by such well known kids tv hosts/performers as Sally Starr,Rex Trailer and David Dedtrich)and Personal interviews with the hosts/performers,friends,colleagues and by local kids tv historians:Myself included.This book looks at the early days of local kid tv.From their beginnings on radio,to the foundations before and following WWII.To Their peaks in the mid to late l960's and their declines during the l970's,80's, and 90's.Mr.Hollis also points out that there were many factors that caused the end of local kids tv.Although Mrs.Charren's ACT(Action For Children's Television)was one of the causes for the end of live kids tv.She was not the only reason for the changes in kids tv programming.The station's use of cartoon and filmed puppet shows from Japan and the need to create ,produce and present shows for adults.Forced the departure of many hosts/performers from thr airways.Some hosts/performers decided to find success in other ventures.Some shows simply were not meant for kids at all:E.G.Horror Show host/performer:John Zacherley:"The Cool Ghoul!" trying to MC WPIX TV Ch.ll NYC's"Mighty Hercules Show"and "Uncle Bill"Wright.A local Birmingham,Al.personality.Who was not known for having a great rapport with kids.While the manuscript doesnot have alot of photos to help illustrate the history of these shows(Mr.Hollis' Publisher The University Press Of Mississippi forced the author to cut his photo list from 275 to l50)and the book doesnot cover all of The USA's local kids tv series.The book does give detail about The shows that have become the most popularn with youngsters:KTLA TV Ch.5 L.A.,Cal's"Adventures Of Popeye"With "Skipper Tom"Hatten,WFIL TV Ch.6 Philly,Pa's"Popeye Theater!"With Sally Starr,"Capt.Noah & His Magical Ark","Chief Halftown!"(The longest running kids tv show in history on the air from l950 to l999),WGN TV Ch.9 Chicago's"Odeon Theater!","Lunchtime Little Theater!","The Ray Raynor Show","Noontime Comics"/"The Uncle Johnny Coons Show","The Bozo Show!",WXYZ TV Ch.7 Detroit,Mi's"Curtain Time Theater!"/"The Johnny Ginger Show!","Rickey The Clown!",WWJ TV's"Milky's Movie Party!",CKLW TV Ch.9's"Popeye Show"With Capt.Jolly"(Toby David)and "Poopdeck Paul"Allen ,WBZ TV Boston,Ma.'s"Capt.Bob"Cottle Show",WHDH/WCVB TV Ch.5's"Bozo Show",Pittsburgh,Pa's"Adventuretime!"With Paul Shannon,"Popeye & Knish"With Hank Stohl and his puppets and NYC's Most memorable Kids TV Shows:WABD/WNEW TV Ch.5's"Sandy Becker Show","The Chuck McCann Show","The Bob McCallister Show","Capt.Video & His Cartoon Rangers","Felix The Cat & Friends!"With "Uncle Fred" Scott,"Felix & The Wizard!"/"Hall In Fun!"With Fred Hall,And "Wonderama!"With Sandy Becker,Herb Sheldon,Bill Britten Sonny Fox and Bob McCallister.WPIX TV Ch.ll's"Kartoon Klub"/"Shari & Her Friends!"with Ted Steele and Shari Lewis,"The Clubhouse Gang!","The Three Stooges Funhouse!" and "Dick Tracy Show!"With "Officer"/"Police Chief Joe"Bolton,"The Popeye Shows!"With "Captains:"Allen",Swift,Ray Heatherton and Jack McCarthy,"The Beachcomber Bill Show"/"The Bill Biery Show!","Laurel & Hardy & Chuck","Let's Have Fun!"and "The First Chuck McCann Show"With Chuck McCann and "The Paul Ashley Puppets and"Bozo The Clown!"/"Bozo's Big Top Circus!"With Bill Britten.WOR TV Ch.9 NYC's"Merry Mailman"With Ray Heatherton,"Terrytunes Circus"/"Merry Toones Circus!"With Claude Kirchner and"Clownie!","Space Explorer's Club!"With Al Hodge,WJZ/WABC TV Ch.7's"Time For Fun!"/"The Johnny Jellybean show!","Uncle Lump's Cabin!","Chubby Jackson's Little Rascals!","Tinker's Workshop!","The Tommy Seven Show!","Buster's Buddies!"With Buster Crabbe and WNBC TV Ch.4's"Birthday House!"With Paul Tripp.Few tv history books have ever made an effort to give local kids tv..or any aspect of kids tv in general a good,fair chronicle of it's positive influence on our kids.This Book is the first step in showing another side of kids tv.Thank You for this giving us this book Tim.Kevin S.Butler

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Touch that Dial, January 22, 2007

By 

Gord Wilson "alivingdog.com" (Bellingham, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hi There, Boys and Girls! America’s Local Children’s TV Programs (Paperback)

I cannot understand the sort of reviewers who rush to point out tiny omissions in otherwise exhaustive studies, particularly in the area of popular culture. Some of them apparently are actually paid to do so, and in my view they have watched too much Watergate and Sixty Minutes. For example, Ira Gallen dug up all the old commercials he showed on his retro New York TV show; contrary to the general view, advertisers didn't keep the reels after the commercials ran, and in compiling his collections, Gallen was plowing new territory. Relative to, say, dinosaurs, radio and TV have only been with us for a short while and it's all been about making it up as you go along.

That TV broadcasting began as local programming, and then mostly in New York, is extremely significant but often overlooked by those looking backwards with modern lenses. Shows were owned by ad agencies and developed for sponsors, not networks. Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit and cliff-hangers like Col. Bleep and Clutch Cargo were the only early TV cartoons before the syndication of Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and Terrytoons and the entrance of William Hanna and Joe Barbera into TV 'toons with Ruff and Reddy.

Early TV carried over from radio and the triple reel style of the moviehouse, which would generally show a cartoon or short and newsreel along with the featured films. Live hosts were expected to pitch and endorse the sponsor's product and, whether clown, cowboy or cosmic captain, to intersperse the performance and patter with cartoons. The demise of the live host came when the few bad apples began to hold the studios for ransom. Execs soon realized they could order cartoons by the foot to fill the programming blocks. Eventually the insatiable appetite for cartoons ballooned Hanna- Barbera into a behemoth cartoon factory with shows running on all three networks, with a bust following that boom and a decline in quality in the 'seventies and 'eighties, only to be regained after the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the cartoon renaissance of the 'nineties.

TV now is like wallpaper that viewers can change at whim, and animation so ubiquitous, good, bad and ugly, viewed as it is as fodder for kids, or more recently, as an "extreme" way to jazz up overdone to death "adult" programming, that its freshness is nearly gone. The current audience expectation of endless entertainment served up in spoon-sized doses masks for instance, the amount of homework done by Paul Reubens in reviving for Pee-Wee's Playhouse the local feel of live host TV.

Opening with a brief history, Hollis follows with a discussion of shows in every state of the union. Bits may be missing, but the hosts I remember from growing up in Seattle-- J. P. Patches and Stan Boreson-- were among those present. More fascinating is reading about the hosts I didn't see, which cartoons they had in common and the like. Travel back, then, to the days of its inception, when local TV was the only game in town, with live hosts who cared about kids (and some who didn't) making it up as they went along.