Talk of the Town: It’s Captain Kangaroo time!

A friend’s granddaughter asked me recently what television shows I enjoyed when I was a little girl. I really had to venture back into my memory bank to think about that one.

Captain Kangaroo (in his bright red jacket) comes to mind. (The show was in black and white on our set. I never knew the jacket color until I saw a photo of him years later.) The show was named for the kangaroo-like pouches in the pockets of the coat he always wore.

The children’s show by the same name was the longest-running network children’s show of all time broadcasting from 1955 until 1984. During that time, the good Captain (Bob Keeshan) could be seen mornings on CBS. Hugh “Lumpy” Brannum played sidekick Mr. Green Jeans, joining Cosmo Allegretti’s hand-puppets Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit in the Captain’s Treasure House.

Before Keeshan was a captain, he was a clown, probably the most famous clown of the 1950s, playing Clarabell from the “Howdy Doody Show” starring Buffalo Bob Smith.

“Howdy Doody” first aired in December 1947 and is credited for selling more people on the future of television than any other single event. Millions of children tuned in to the daily live kid’s show, and Clarabell the clown was an important part of the ensemble, selling millions of Poll Parrot shoes, assorted toys, dolls and packaged cereals for the show’s sponsors.

Unfortunately, Buffalo Bob and Keeshan didn’t much care for each other. Keeshan was fired in 1950 and replaced by another performer. A flood of phone calls and mail from skeptical kids who could tell the difference in the clowns forced producers to re-hire him a few weeks later.

Keeshan was fired again (along with almost all of the rest of the supporting cast of “Howdy Doody”), when he led an uprising over more money minutes before going on the air live in December 1952.

Keeshan was only 28 in 1955 when he and producer Jack Miller created “Captain Kangaroo.”

Television was a relatively new addition to most American homes. There had never been a generation of kids exposed to home-video entertainment before, so the series was designed to give kids a gentle alternative to the frenetic nature of most children’s shows of the day (of which “Howdy Doody” was considered one of the worst offenders).

Watching an episode of Captain Kangaroo show from the early 1960s, one was taken in by the slow pace and overall gentle nature of the show. (I remember having nap time afterward.)

Regular features on Captain Kangaroo included visits from zoo animals and a torrent of falling pingpong balls brought on when Mr. Moose asked the Captain a knock-knock joke.

Tom Terrific was a cartoon segment created specifically for the Captain Kangaroo shows by designer/director Gene Deitch that aired from the 50s through the 60s.

“Tom Terrific” featured imaginative scripts and stylized designs that hid the fact that the animation necessary for kid’s TV budgets was so crude. The scripts were tongue-in-cheek and the music was minimal as well - mostly just an accordion. One guy, Lionel Wilson, did all of the voices.

In the stories, Tom had the ability to change into any shape he could imagine in order to save his lovable (and lazy) dog Mighty Manfred from the clutches of the villainous Crabby Appleton and other do-badders in three five-minute segments that made up each story arc.

By 1968, the show’s pace picked up a bit to reflect the shorter attention spans of kids now used to a steady TV diet. In the 1970s stars like Marlo Thomas and Carol Channing visited the show.

In 1980, Bill Cosby became a semi-regular and Slim Goodbody (John Burnstein) also joined the show — a man wearing a body stocking with the various organs of the body painted on it.

In 1981, CBS cut the running time of the show from one hour to a half-hour and moved the show from its 8 a.m. time slot to make way for the “CBS Morning News.”

A year later, the show left the weekday morning schedule altogether and began running for an hour on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

In 1984, CBS cancelled the Captain, and Keeshan brought the show to PBS where it ran for six more years. The show won six Emmy Awards, three Gabriels and three Peabodies.

Besides his work in television, Keeshan also sat on a number of boards of charitable foundations.

In the later years of his life, he starred in a number of commercials themed “No one takes better care of you than you!” These dealt with safety and health tips for young people.

“TV is a convenient baby sitter,” Keeshan commented in 1975, “and parents too often use it that way. By the time a child starts school, he has seen about 5,000 hours. That’s time taken away from peers and parents at a crucial period of development. The effect has to be negative.”

More Keeshan quotes:

“One of the big secrets of finding time is not to watch television.”

“Parents are the ultimate role models for children. Every word, movement and action has an effect. No other person or outside force has a greater influence on a child than the parent.”

“If you want more time in your life, don’t watch TV.”

He inspired thousands of children to become schoolteachers.

After years as a public speaker and children’s advocate, Keeshan passed away Jan. 23, 2004, at age 76.

Two groups of volunteers from the Country Fair White Elephant recently gave of their time and people skills to help with the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Telethon at KUAT TV on the University of Arizona campus.

“The four-hour afternoon shifts on Sunday, March 1, and Saturday, March 8, proved to be fun and rewarding for all involved by taking phone pledges from KUAT TV viewers to help maintain quality PBS programs,” said Erin Deely, spokesperson for the White Elephant group.

White Elephant volunteers keep giving and giving.

rford@gvnews.com | 547-9740