Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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

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.

This book was so much fun to read! I can't believe all the info Hollis was able to uncover. His passion for the subject of kids shows is obvious, as is his excellent and humorous writing style. The book is a must for every 'kid' over the age of 35 who grew up watching TV. All of us can find a pleasant memory or two here. It's fascinating to read about the origins of these shows, and sadly, their demise. There is something here for either the nostalgia or history buff.

Tim has truly done a tremendous amount of homework putting together this walk down memory lane (three years' worth).Sure, not every station is mentioned; however, I am impressed by the histories, reviews and interviews he has amassed. You, the buying public have already read a couple of stories of some hometown TV personalities that went on to more fame.One sidekick, dressed as a clown, from my original hometown's affiliate, later went on to become a successful announcer on many game shows, including a short hosting job of two game shows. (Ah, ah, ah, you'll have to buy the book to find out who it is!)As the author wrote on this announcer/host, "Perhaps being a clown was good training for such a show."Well done, Tim! We hope you'll continue adding more information on more editions, as they become available. Most of today's youngsters really missed out on wonderful, quality childrens' programming, mentioned in this book, and were not videotaped...it is a part of our lives we shouldn't forget!

This is one great nostalgia book! It is incredible the flood of memories that this volume brings back. Remember the hundreds of hours that you spent watching the local kid's show on T.V.? Well, I can almost guarantee that this book will open the floodgates of long negected memories- so much in my own life was linked to the time I spent watching these shows. The author really did his research, there are obscure local shows that you never hear mentioned anywhere else. In my own case it was Roddy Mac in Rockford, and Captain Vern and his Cartoon Showboat in the Quad Cities. It seems that practically no documentation, let alone tape, remains of these local shows because they were just locally produced "time fillers." Then there is the mention of the old shorts and cartoons that you forgot about (remember Roger Ramjet, Funny Company, Space Angel, or Clutch Cargo?)

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

Very few tv history books have looked at Local Kids shows as an important part of the genre'.Until now,Birmingham,Al.based kids tv historian:Tim Hollis takes a look at this forgoten aspect of tv history.In his second book:"Hi There!:Boys & Girls!".He covers the history of the many children's programs that have entertained and informed young viewers on many tv stations all over this country.

The book looks at the humble beginngs of kids programs from the latter days of radio.To the period before and following
WWII,when tv broadcasts were limited to the early evening hours.
To the first kids shows that were broadcast during the mid to late 1940's and then into the vintage period of local kids shows:The 1950's into the 1960's.

The story continues into the 1970's.As Mr.Hollis looks at the decline of local kids tv(Which was caused by three factions:The introduction of reruns of cartoons and filmed puppet adventure shows from overseas.Which took over the local

live kids shows timeslots,the complaints from parential pressure
groups and from station execs about certain kids tv comedy performers.Who objected to the humor that these biased censors felt were unacceptable to the young viewers and forced the per-
formers off the air and finally.The ruling by Peggy Charren's ACT and other censor groups to force broadcasters to stop using
their local kids tv hosts/performers from promoting questionable
sponsors on their shows and to create,produce and air educational kids tv shows to the speifications of the tv censors).

Some tv stations were able to weather the storm caused by
Mrs.Charren's ACT and continue to create,produce and air fun kids tv shows:WNEW TV Ch.5 continued to present The Bob McCallister Version of"Wonderama"well into the late 1970's,Chief
Traynor Halftown hosted a Saturday morning version of his popular musical/variety kids show on WFIL TV Ch.6 in Philly,Pa. right up to the end of the 20th century and WGN TV Ch.9 Chicago,
Ill.'s"Bozo Show"remained on the air until the circus closed down for good in the summer of 2001.

The era attempted a comeback in the 1980's with the de-
regulation by The Regan admin.Which allowed Broadcasters to do their own tv shows without any interference from the US Government and from Mrs.Charren.

Some kid tv performers of the past:Chuck McCann,"Casey Jones"(Roger Awsumb) and "Cousin Cliff"Holman were able to make a successful comeback during this time.

While "Hi There!:Boys & Girls"doesn't recall all of the local kids tv shows of the past.It does look back at the programs that were popular with many young people from all over the USA and takes a look at the creation,development and the
successful rapport that these many talented,creative and caring
performers and personalities had with their loyal fans and
studio audiences.

The book also has a bibliography ,listing it's research sources(I was one of the contributors of info about The NYC Kids TV Shows)and a collection of rare photos from the many local kids tv shows of the past.

For anyone,who wants to know more about their favorite local kids tv shows and relive the memories of spending time with:"Happy Herb",Carol Corbett,Sally Starr,Johnny Ginger,Chuck McCann,Paul Tripp,Sandy Becker,Cllelan("Axel")Card,"Officer"/"Police Chief Joe"Bolton,Herb Sheldon,"Bozo","Johnny Jellybean"(Bill Britten And Keith Hefner),"Uncle Joe"Bova,"Uncle Al"Lewis,"Skipper Frank"Herman,"Pandora", "Woodrow The Woodsman"(The Late Clay Conroy),"Harlow Hickenlooper"(Hal Fryer),"Chucko The Clown"(Charlie Runyon)"Andy Starr"(Bob Bell),"Skipper Chuck"Zink,"Capt.Jet"(Stan Sawyer,Joe Silver And Dal McKennon),Sonny Fox,"Carmen The Nurse"(Mary Davies),"Captain Allen"Swift,"The Merry Mailman"(Ray Heatherton)"Cousin Cliff"Holman,Soupy Sales,"DJ Kat"and Ray Forrest?

This is the one book to have this Christmas/Hanakah!

Bravo Tim!

(...)

I just read some parts of this book regarding the Col. Chick show in Columbus Georgia when I was a kid. What memories! My two sisters and I got to be on the show and it was a wonderful experience. We also took piano lessons from John (Bozo the Clown's)Morins wife (who was also an outstanding singer) and were friends with their two daughters! Such wonderful times and wonderful people. I wish my grandkids could have that time. Thanks so much for the book! Wish I could have found it before dad passed away this last year. He would have gotten a real kick out of it. B Cooper.

This impressive, enjoyable volume represents an ambitious undertaking, as it chronicles the national history of the local kiddie shows that once thrived in every major American television market. Of course, an overview such as this has to cover a lot of ground within certain editorial limits, and various programs, individuals, and cities are dealt with summarily. Many of these subjects also deserve separate, in-depth book-length studies of their own, and perhaps other regional historians will tackle these specific topics in future volumes. However, you can't go wrong with HI THERE, BOYS AND GIRLS! -- the author does an expert, entertaining job of closely examining a form of local TV programming that has regrettably disappeared from the landscape.