Episode 311: Kukla, Fran and Ollie – As You Like It (November 3, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “As You Like It” was directed by Lewis Gomavitz aired on Thursday, November 3, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: Kukla reminds Fran that today is the production of As You Like It, which Beulah Witch was inspired to put on after seeing Katherine Hepburn perform in the same way. It’s okay, I didn’t know about it either. Fran and Kukla aren’t in it, but she needs to sing a “Shakespearean song.” Fran gives an intro to the production, doing a Colonel Crackle impression. She gets a notice that the role of Phoebe will not be performed, as Mercedes has fallen into the dishwasher, necessitating a “capsule form” of the play.

The real Colonel Crackle begins the narrative with a soliloquy as Orlando, a man of noble station upset at his brother. He refuses to cut his speech short, and as such is yanked off stage. The Colonel notes that there was a competition for the role of Rosalind which involved both Madame Oglepuss (whose first name we learn is “Ophelia”) and Beulah Witch wearing boys’ clothes to see who could better pull off the cross-dressing scenes. I would have liked to see that.

The two women take the stage, and get immediately mixed up in their expository conversation. Fran interrupts to tell them to get a move on. Fran reminds the audience of an event promoting the KFO record in Chicago, and sings a brief song. Cecil Bill is freaking out because the set for the wood of Arden isn’t complete yet. Madame O (we’re still not on a first-name basis) delivers an ad for the RCA Victor TV cabinet in her near-incomprehensible high society accent, including an appearance from a silent Linwood.

We finally get to see Beulah in boys’ clothing, and she makes sure to rub her victory in over Oglepuss. Ollie finally appears in an extremely fancy hat and gives his version of the famous “All the world’s a stage” speech, before getting mixed up with other famous soliloquys and settling on a nautical song instead. Fran arrives and cheerfully tells him that the play is going terribly.

I need to organize my living room like this.

Things are going so bad that Beulah decides that she’s quitting. Katharine Hepburn would never. This causes the others to throw in the towel as well. This leaves Kukla and Fran to take up the roles of Orlando and Rosalind, singing a love song to each other. Ollie applauds them before they sign off to another RCA Victor ad.

What I thought: “If I were a woman, I would kiss as many of you as had beards that pleased me, complexions that liked me, and breaths that I defied not. And I am sure as many as have good beards, or good faces, or sweet breaths will for my kind offer, when I make curtsy, bid me farewell.”

The curtain fell, then come back up for the bows, then fell again. Katharine Hepburn breathed a sigh of relief. No matter how many times she did the play, she was still certain that she would make a hash of it in every split-second before she took the stage.

Backstage, she found a bouquet of roses in her dressing room. When she turned around, her dear friend Laurence Olivier was standing there. Katharine embraced him. “Laurence! Why, you should have told me you were coming. I may have given a better performance.”

“No such thing would be possible, my dear,” said Laurence. “I just thought I would welcome you in person to the fraternity of us who have laboured for the Bard. He is a difficult master, but a rewarding one.”

“Yes, it has been a great change from Hollywood studios,” said Katharine. “It’s just…”

“And they had such beautiful outfits.”

Laurence raised a concerned eyebrow. “Something troubles you?”

“I was watching the television yesterday evening,” said Katharine. “And I saw a group of puppets performing the same comedy. And compared to them, I was but a child screaming his half-learned lines.”

“Oh Kate,” said Laurence. “We are but the Salieri to the Kuklapolitans’ Mozart. Every true actor must make their peace with the fact that, in this generation, the true thespians are all made of felt.”

Coming up next: We stay in Chicago for a wrestling show headlined by Gorgeous George.

Episode 309: Kukla, Fran and Ollie – Oliver Dragon, Interior Decorator (November 2, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Oliver Dragon, Interior Decorator” was directed by Lewis Gomavitz aired on Thursday, November 2, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: The show opens with a conversation between the show’s least comprehensible characters, Cecil Bill and Dolores. In the grand cartoon tradition, they naturally understand each other perfectly. Bill leaves, and Kukla comes up to ask what she’s doing. Kukla calls Fran in to hear what she has to say. Apparently she’s been learning “toolie talk” from Cecil. Kukla is jealous of her for being able to learn the language as a child.

Ollie pops in and pays tribute to director Lewis Gomavitz, or “Gommy”, who just turned 23. It was a lot easier to get into TV back in the day. On the topic of learning foreign languages, Ollie reveals that he sometimes thinks in “dragon language.” Um, according to my D&D books, it’s called Draconic.

They get on the subject of decorating the house. Fran and Ollie say they like to decorate their own houses, but Ollie objects, saying that they’re costing professional interior decorators their jobs. Ollie decides to take on this role, telling Kukla and Fran to take on the made-up roles of “Edgar” and “Lucille.” Ollie will be both husband George and the decorator.

The story begins at breakfast time, with “Edgar” and “George” getting upset at things not being ready. Husband and wife bicker about their annoying relatives. The subject of complaint turns towards all the furniture and appliances that need to be replaced. Edgar and Lucille browbeat George into asking for a raise. When George gets dispirited, Lucille sings a song about how much she loves him. This cheers up George enough to agree to hiring an interior decorator.

Fletcher Rabbit appears as the mailman, delivering an already-opened package of Kukla and Ollie ice cream spoons. This leads into the typical Sealtest plug. When we get back to the story, Fran has adopted a smart hat, while Kukla has made his voice even more shrill. Edgar and Lucille visit Mr. Dragon the decorator.

Mr. Dragon instructs Lucille to throw out her favourite picture, a statue they got for their wedding, and even the curtains of the stage. He brings out some fancy rugs to show them. Lucille blanches at the price of the redecoration, but decides that they can raise money by going back to their old standard of selling lemonade musically.

What I thought: This episode really highlights the diversity of Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. We open with a little bit of old-fashioned silent comedy razmatazz between Dolores and Cecil Bill, followed by a fairly lucid conversation about the value of learning a second language. We then get into the meat of the episode, which is a combination of domestic drama and a satire of consumer culture. All of this with musical numbers and ad breaks too.

The conversation about learning “toolie talk” and “dragon language” particularly hit home for me. As someone who has been hacking through learning basic Japanese off and on for my adult life, and occasionally adding Russian or Spanish to the rotation, I often wish I had picked up a second or third language when I was young. (Although childhood French classes didn’t make me fluent.) The same applies to physical sports or visual art or any number of things I brushed off as a kid when my neuroplasticity and time to study was at a lifetime high. I assume that this segment of KFO was born out of a similar adult thought or conversation, with perhaps sending a message to kids to take advantage of their growing brains while they have them.

The interior decorator is basically Ollie in as much of a button-up shirt as he can manage.

The little two-act play with Ollie as an interior decorator was also pretty interesting. We get a little domestic drama that paints household life as a bit of a nightmare. Husband and wife hate each others’ families, and the baby is a screeching goblin in the way only Kukla can be. It’s not exactly The Glass Menagerie, but it’s a lot darker than it probably needed to be.

The actual appearance of the decorator is a nice bit of satire that harkens back to “Lemonade”, one of the series’ best episodes. Both episodes draw on the way that things which were once a simple domestic duty have become professionalized industries, with personal taste being drowned out by collective fashion and commercial appeal. It does feel like they didn’t leave themselves enough time to fully explore the premise, but overall it’s a very fun bit of comedy.

Coming up next: The Lone Ranger investigates some funny money.

307: Kukla, Fran and Ollie – “What To Do For H. Allen Smith” (November 1, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Halloween” aired on Friday, October 31, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: We open with Beulah cleaning up from last night’s Halloween festivities, including passing off the still uncarved pumpkin to Jack and an old mask to Lynwood. Beulah sings a song inspired by her post-Halloween melancholy. Kukla pops up to explain to us how to give a backhanded compliment. That’s a crucial social skill to teach the children.

Fran visits Kukla, and tells him that they have a guest from near New York. Kukla makes some outlandish guesses, but of course it’s H. Allen Smith, noted “humourist.” Kukla is worried about being the butt of the joke, and swears to be nice to Allen. Ollie pops up and shamelessly flatters Fran. He hits his head looking for his mother’s brooch, and Kukla has to give him a cold compress. The Lone Ranger isn’t the only show with concussion risks.

Kukla wants to do something special for Allen, such as putting on a big show. He doesn’t really have any good ideas though, and at one point suggests doing “an Indian show.” Please, I just got done wagging my finger at Howdy Doody. They resolve to think on it. As Fran is preoccupied, Ollie interrogates him and urges him not to let Fran talk him out of their ideas.

We get a sidebar from Fletcher. Now that Halloween is over, he’s switching his focus from teaching how to carve a pumpkin to teaching how to carve a turkey. When Kukla shuts this down, he decides to instead lecture us on the 1951 Ford.

Ollie does have a great hat for the occasion, though.

Once the ad break is over, Fran presents Ollie and Kukla with their parts in a play, where she rejects their attempts at romance but keeps their gifts. The puppets find this script unacceptable and throws them away. They want to do a Western play called “Westward, Ho”, but there aren’t a lot of roles for women. Fletcher is back on about wanting to do “The Bohemian Girl” with his drum, but Kukla again shuts him down.

Jack eventually supplies them with a Western-themed number to do, “Them Dudes.” They perform it happily, but are still looking for a big enough show for Allen. Ollie promises us a big surprise at our local Ford dealers. Surprise: it’s the 1951 Ford, with Ford-o-matic drive. I’ve gotta get me one.

What I thought: H. Allen Smith is described on the Wikipedia search bar as an “American journalist, humourist, and chili fancier.” His humour books were tremendously popular during the 1940s, where they were passed around among WW2 soldiers. He claimed to have drank the first legal drink following Prohibition, and later competed in the first-ever chili cookoff. He sounds like a fascinating figure, but he’s not actually in this episode.

Instead, this is kind of a guest star episode without a guest star. The characters debate about what they should do to welcome Smith, and in true KFO fashion spend most of the time arguing about it. I’m not sure if this is leading up to an actual Allen Smith appearance, as the forthcoming episode titles don’t mention him, so maybe this was just for a dinner later in the night or something, but it makes for a fairly entertaining episode.

We also have a little bit more of the weird quasi-romantic relationship between the two main puppets in Fran. Kukla does a lot of flattery to the point of flirting with her, whereas Ollie seems to talk to him as a henpecked husband. There certainly wasn’t any real attempt to entertain the idea of romance, nor was there any such relationship between Fran Allison and Burr Tilstrom, but it seems to be a role that they occasionally slip into. With the size and species difference between Fran and the puppets, they could sometimes be mother and child, sometimes co-conspirators, sometimes adolescent boys and the older woman entertaining their flirting. But they always, in one sense or another, loved each other.

Coming up next: We go back to ringside to watch boxing champ Sandy Saddler in a tough fight.

Episode 306: Howdy Doody (November 1, 1950)

What I watched: A 1950 episode of children’s puppet show Howdy Doody., created by Roger Muir. The series starred “Buffalo” Bob Smith as the host and voice of the puppets and Bob Keeshan as Clarabell, with additional voices by Dayton Allen, Rhoda Mann and Bill LeCornec (although I’m not sure who played this episode’s guest character). This episode was directed by Bob Rippen and written by Ed Kean. It aired on November 1 at 5:30 PM on NBC and is available to view on the Internet Archive.

What happened: After the customary opening song, Howdy regales us with “the Howdy Doody Rumba”, including a couple of culturally questionable “ay carumba”s. We then launch into this week’s mystery, as “Chief Chickapaw” was drawing a picture of his “Indian Reservation” and inadvertently revealed something. This leads to a tableau of the chief being held hostage by Buffalo Bob and Clarabell. Bob thinks the Chief was drawing a map of the Howdy Doody Circus instead, and his suspicions are soon confirmed.

Bob can’t believe this script either.

The extremely European-sounding Chief says that he was drawing the picture as a gift, and only didn’t want to show it because it wasn’t ready. Bob seems to buy this completely. The Chief signs the picture with a “T” instead of a “C”, which gets Bob’s suspicions going again. Bob tries to relate him to the other Native American characters they’ve had on the show. This leads into another song on the piano, “The Friend Song.”

Chief says he needs a little more time to finish his work, which leads into today’s old time movie, which involves a couple of dudes trying to catch a horse while hanging from a harness. Chickapaw explains how his warpaint is very significant, which leads into Buffalo Bob encouraging kids to get the Howdy Doody colouring book, where kids can draw their own face on the last panel. Howdy appears with an unsettling-looking parrot puppet, and sings to encourage kids to get their parents to buy things.

The Chief is finished with his very simple drawing, and says that his tribe, the Chigoochies, were caught in a conflict between the Sigafoose and Tinka Tonka. Not sure these are historically accurate names. Apparently there’s also a princess with a magic necklace in there. Clarabell sprinkles water on the drawing to simulate the upcoming rainy season. The Chief ultimately decides he’s going to help “the Feather Man” and the Sigafooses, as it’s easier to attack downhill in the rain. He presents Bob and Howdy with a ceremonial necklace, but ends up giving it to Mr. Buster instead.

Bob goes over to the “Shoedoodle” to advertise an array of Poll-Parrot children’s shoes, including “really rugged he-man Oxford, like dad wears.” He reflects on the episode’s events, and finds it strange that the Chief gave beads to Mr. Buster. The camera pans down to find the Chief writing in his notebook, with Suspense organ music playing. What a gripping cliffhanger, a shame we’ll never see the ending.

What I thought: Look, I genuinely don’t go into these articles looking to condemn 73-year-old TV shows for being racially insensitive, because it’s a waste of time. But I don’t think you need to be a social justice warrior to be a little uncomfortable with the appearance of the nefarious “Chief Chickapaw” in Howdy Doody. The series seems to have created a whole cosmology of made-up “Indians”, rendering them as a kind of fantasy world. It makes The Lone Ranger look like Reservation Dogs.

The plot of the episode is that Chickenfoot is being suspicious but the credulous Bob and Howdy buy into everything he’s saying, believing he’s going to be friendly. This requires the Chief being shady in a way that will be detectable by small children, resulting in Howdy and Bob looking like total idiots. It’s an interesting tack, making the children’s show host an unreliable narrator, but it also has the effect of training kids to see Indigenous people as untrustworthy even if they seem to be benevolent.

This is like the map at the start of a fantasy book.

But, as always, the main purpose of Howdy Doody is to sell shit to kids. At this point the ads and merchandise have metastasized to take over a big portion of the show. Howdy is largely separated from the main action, sitting at his piano to play songs from the recent record, also featured on Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. Today’s main sponsor, Poll Pocket Shoes, now has its own puppet and set, blending into the larger action.

Obviously every show on traditional television depends on advertising. As a medium, it exists to sell shit. But there’s something especially uncomfortable when Buffalo Bob urges young kids to ask their parents to buy them a particular model of shoe. Together with the Native American stuff, all of this makes this episode of Howdy Doody a very weird and somewhat insidious watch.

Coming up next: Kukla, Fran, and Ollie plan to put on a show for a visiting humourist.

Episode 304: Kukla, Fran and Ollie – “Halloween” (October 31, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Halloween” aired on Friday, October 31, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

I guess Fran is in costume as an usher or something.

Ollie tries to spook the audience from behind a pumpkin, then sings a song about being happy Halloween is here. He sings that he’ll wear “his new tailor-made white sheet”, which could come off the wrong way. Beulah is unhappy, despite this being her night, and Ollie tries to cheer her up. Despite his efforts, she persists in saying “Halloween, humbug!” Ollie recalls past experiences of Beulah enthusiastically doing magic tricks on Halloween. She alludes to problems in her life but won’t elaborate.

Fran enters to try to help solve the mystery. Ollie leaves and is replaced by Kukla, who calls on Beulah to try to get to the bottom of things. Beulah is still not talkative, but says that the other witches aren’t coming, and that there was trouble at the recent witch convention in Chicago. Just wait until 1968, girl. It gradually comes out that the witches voted to move the convention, and put an inexperienced witch in charge.

Kukla and Ollie put on some rather grotesque-looking human masks and sing a song about trick or treating. The title trio make plans to make some ice cream, and disappear off stage. While they’re gone, Fletcher Rabbit comes in, eager to finally have time on the show with a pumpkin. Again, another statement that could be taken the wrong way. He starts giving a very dry lecture on how to carve a pumpkin. He’s about to start in with a hammer, but Kukla snatches the pumpkin away, leading Fletcher to conclude that it’s a waste of time.

Beulah finds that someone’s been playing with her test tubes, and gets good and angry. She pours all the contents of the tubes into a measuring cup, and is delighted when they fizz up. The now cheered-up Beulah sings “That Old Black Magic.” She pulls out her vacuum-powered broomstick and is ready to celebrate Halloween. The title trio celebrate their plan to cheer her up, and resolve to go out trick or treating.

What I thought: In my somewhat foolish attempts to impose an ongoing narrative onto Kukla, Fran and Ollie I’ve focused on a few previous episodes which seemed to be building up to a big Halloween episode with a convocation of Beulah’s witch coven. I wondered how the series would pay this off with its limited set-up. Would there be new puppets to represent the other witches? Human guests? In the end, KFO gets around the limitations by not doing a big Halloween episode at all, and having the non-event of Beulah’s gathering be the main plot of the episode.

I side with Fletcher’s frustration that this pumpkin is not carved.

Beulah’s friends standing her up never really feels like that much of a let-down for the viewers. We still get to see all of our favourites doing Halloween things, including some genuinely unsettling puppet masks, and we also get the kind of emotional narrative that Kukla, Fran, and Ollie is best at. Watching the crew try to cheer up Beulah could help kids understand how to deal with disappointments in their own lives. (And aren’t holidays usually disappointing in one way or another?)

In a sense, this episode isn’t a subversion of expectations at all. The most archetypical holiday narrative is about someone who doesn’t want to participate in the holiday, whose skepticism can be despondent or angry – think of the Grinch, Scrooge, Charlie Brown. Over the course of the narrative, the protagonist learns how to appreciate the holiday, despite its imperfections. And so, at the end of Halloween, Beulah is ready to get back to her witchy best.

Coming up next: A probably not Halloween-themed Cisco Kid.

Episode 302: Lights Out – “Martian Eyes” (October 30, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the horror anthology series “Lights Out”, created by Fred Coe and hosted by Frank Gallop. The episode starred Burgess Meredith, John Baragrey, and David Lewis, was written by Henry Kuttner and George Lefferts, and was directed by Laurence Schwab Jr. “The Martian Eyes” is available to watch on YouTube and aired at 9:00 PM on NBC on October 30, 1950.

What happened: We open with the too-close gaze of Frank Gallop, who welcomes us to this story of suspense. It sounds like it’s the same organ guy as Suspense, come to think of it. Our story proper begins in a New York bar, where bartender Frank is welcoming regular Mr. Lyman (Meredith). Lyman has a kind of fey attitude and apparently is in the habit of saying he’s talking to Martians. Lyman tells another man at the bar, Sorrel (Lewis) that he’s being followed by a Martian disguised as a man (Baragrey).

Lyman has apparently been following Sorrel for a while, saying that he noticed the new man as “sensitive.” The man, a photographer, is skeptical, citing the Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast. Lyman says that Martians have infiltrated the world, and even married humans, but are scared of some human things, such as bathtubs. He attributes all irrationality in the world to Martian hypnosis, from wars to his wife’s habits. Lyman also claims to have special infrared glasses that allow him to see the Martians’ telltale third eyes.

This bar conversation continues even after the act break. Lyman claims “my Martian knows you have a Martian”, claiming that every human has an alien following them around. Sorrel has started to believe, saying that he saw photographed someone with a third eye looking in his window with an infrared camera. He even has the photo. The man invites Lyman to come to his studio as soon as possible.

After another act break, we’re in the studio. Lyman calls, saying that he’s managed to shake the Martian that was following him as well as the suspicions of his wife. But the knock on Mr. Sorrel’s door isn’t from Lyman, but from the man who was following him. The unnamed stranger wants to see the infrared photography, and says he’s working for Lyman’s wife, who wants the evidence to have him be committed to an institution. He threatens Sorrel with his gloved hands.

The first half of the episode is basically just two men in a bar talking, which really puts a lot of faith in these two actors.

Sorrel calls the cops, but finds his phone line disconnected. He brings the man the negative, and shows him the technique used. But Lyman has snuck in, and stabs the other man in the head. The police do arrive, leading to the strange duo having to hide the body. Sorrel understandably freaks out about the situation.

He tries to give the cop the brush-off, but he insists on inspecting the apartment, apparently a fan of photography as well. Wracked with doubt, Sorrel decides to take a picture of the corpse with the infra-red lens. Lyman has retreated to the basement, and is working on a way to dispose of the bodies. When Sorrel examines the photograph, he finds there’s no third eye. Lyman has dug not just one but two graves, and emerges from the basement wearing a prop third eye on his forehead. DUN DUN! Frank Gallop is also wearing a third eye in the farewell intro. Very popular accessory these days.

What I thought: Lights Out was one of the first horror series on radio, created by NBC writer Wyllis Cooper in 1933. Willing to be openly gruesome as well as spooky, the series found an audience and aired in various incarnations for 13 years. It came to television very early, as a series of specials in 1946, as well as a regular series from 1949-50. This is the first episode we’re watching (although there may be earlier ones I’ll have to go in and full in later), but Lights Out was well in its stride by the time of “Martian Eyes.”

We can also see the emergence of the horror host through this series. Suspense was hosted by Rex Marshall, but he wasn’t a horror character – he just wanted you to get new spark plugs. Frank Gallop doesn’t have a particularly spooky name, but he introduces and concludes our tale as a spectral figure, a head without a body lit by a candle (an effect apparently achieved by simply wearing a black turtleneck). Gallop apparently struggled with the role, including running out of candles, but on screen he comes off as a natural, setting the stage for the Cryptkeepers and Elviras that were to come.

Horror hosts thrive on gimmicks like this.

As for the episode itself, “Martian Eyes” uses the familiar but always fun trope of a seemingly crazy person who might just turn out to be right about everything (the best-known example of this might be They Live.) In this case, the madness that Sorell is drawn into turns out to be insane after all, so I guess it’s more of a Bug. Still, this is a horror show, so the viewer can’t entirely dismiss the possibility that something alien or supernatural is possible up until the very end.

The story also reads distinctly as a queer allegory. Lyman says he’s been following Sorell based on his gait, approaches him in a bar saying that he’s “special”, and convinces him to take him back to his apartment, where he lives alone, and do something disgusting in the basement. Lyman has a wife, but she’s always off-screen, making her both a phantasm as well as a threat to the relationship between him and Sorell. Of course, in the end it turns out Lyman’s the real threat, so maybe this is a lavender scare narrative.

Part of why Lyman comes off so queer and unusual is his performance by Burgess Meredith, who invests a fey antsiness in the paranoid man. Meredith was already a veteran actor by the time of Lights Out, appearing in a number of films and theatrical productions, including the 1939 Of Mice and Men. However, he was blacklisted from film during the Red Scare for alleged communist ties. For television, however, Meredith was enough of a big name that would lend some prestige to a schlocky show like Lights Out, and he continued to have a long career in TV and theatre. He’s great here, and I look forward to seeing him again.

What else is on?: Against Lights Out, CBS offered up The Horace Heidt Show, with guest Georgeann Garner, and CBS featured game show The College Bowl, featuring Chico Marx. In New York, viewers could watch two different local wrestling shows on Dumont and WPIX. Lights Out would generally win the timeslot, finishing 19th in the year-end ratings, and lead into the even higher-rated Robert Montgomery Presents.

Coming up next: A longer and somewhat more prestigious anthology series, as Studio One makes its return.

Episode 301: Kukla, Fran and Ollie – “Angie” (October 30, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Angie” aired on Monday, October 30, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: Kukla begins by thanking the announcer Charles for emphasizing his name. He calls up Dolores, but she sneaks around behind his back to tease him. Kukla shows her a small walking bear as a gift. Fran also has a new hat to present, but it’s a big struggle to get her to actually wear it. This is very relatable to dealing with an actual toddler.

This gift-giving gets Kukla and Fran looking forward to Christmas, with Fran singing “Angie the Christmas Tree Angel”, apparently an original song. It clearly did not become part of the holiday songbook, but it’s a nice little tune. Fran invites Kukla to join her in the full song. Ollie pops up in a workman’s hat and proclaims that he’s doing “professional work” with the RCA service company. He’s helping them to put up with an antenna. Fran and Kukla are both concerned about Ollie hurting himself or others up on the roof, but he assures them he’s familiar with the “vertical frim-fram.”

Ollie has to have quite the hatstand by now.

For this week’s RCA Victor plug, Kukla says he’ll just put on the first album he touches, and it turns out to be “Howdy Doody’s Laughing Circus.” Ollie doesn’t know quite what’s going on, and is worried about adding another guest to the show. They listen to the first track while staring at the camera with eyebrows raised. (Mind you, Kukla’s eyebrows are always raised, but still.) A talking giraffe eventually makes Kukla start guffawing.

Fletcher is upset about the water being turned off in his shower, and Kukla insists he had nothing to do with it. Kukla and Fran remind us that Halloween is coming up – tomorrow, in fact. Ollie says something that momentarily breaks Fran, but she and Kukla end up singing “Sweet Angie” again. Ollie pops up asking for a wrench, and is apparently responsible for all the plumbing difficulties.

What I thought: I was expecting this day’s episode of Kukla, Fran, and Ollie to focus a bit more on building up to tomorrow’s Halloween episode. Instead, we get… Christmas! Fran has a song about a Christmas angel that gives the episode its title. Come on, even today the Christmas decorations don’t go up until November 1. I guess it shows me what I get for trying to predict what will happen on KFO.

The opening scene is a bit of classic behind-your-back physical comedy.

This week’s episode also deals with the distinct physicality of the technology of television. It can be hard to remember, watching all these episodes on YouTube, but you had to get pretty hands-on to get a television signal in 1950: turning the dial, fixing the bunny ears, aligning the antenna, and even then the picture might be blurry or out of focus. Ollie, of course, proves himself not very adept at making everything wrong, a plot which I could have used even more of.

This episode also highlights Kukla, Fran, and Ollie’s relationship to its sister show of sorts, Howdy Doody. The two shows crossed over at times, and both aired on NBC aimed at a young audience. Nevertheless, there was a major gulf between their sensibilities. Whereas Howdy Doody was hyperactive and pitched directly to a young audience, KFO was more erudite while being simultaneously gentle, appealing to a wider age range.

Hence we get the odd moment where Kukla and Ollie listen to a Howdy Doody record in almost silence. This is, on the face of it, simple cross-promotion, both between the two shows and the RCA Victor record player, but the puppets’ muted reaction suggests that they find the whole Howdy Doody thing kind of silly. Maybe I’m projecting too much onto felt characters, but it’s almost a Jim Halpert stare-at-the camera moment. Of course, as we’re also reminded with the Ollie subplot, KFO could be very silly in its own right – with the potential to become much sillier tomorrow for Halloween.

Coming up next: We get a glimpse of a new anthology series, with Lights Out.

Episode 297: Kukla, Fran, and Ollie – “Sweet William Gives His All” (October 27, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Sweet William Gives His All” also featured guest star Marlin Perkins and aired on Friday, October 27, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: We open once again to Kukla on the phone, calling a friend of his named Crawford. He’s looking for Beulah Witch, who hasn’t been seen all day. Next on the list is Robert, or Bobsie, who doesn’t know either. Ollie wants to call the cops, but Kukla dissuades him, citing Beulah’s history with the po-po. Fran comes in to try and brainstorm some ideas.

Beulah is apparently involved in the Halloween celebrations at the local zoo, which leads to Kukla referring to a story in the newspaper about an angry chimpanzee. The group decides to start practicing their parts for the Halloween show, including a surprisingly cheery song about the spooky holiday. Kukla pops in, speaking in a very Beulah-y voice, reporting on vapour trails in the sky. Hopefully he wasn’t watching YouTubes about chemtrails.

The witchy woman finally arrives, and explains that she was away performing in a show in New York. It was even for another network, since she has a non-exclusive contract. Kukla encourages her to stick to her obligations to KFO and to the zoo. Beulah panics a bit and flakes out offstage.

NGL, this is a pretty cool-looking radio.

In the meantime, Fran has been meeting with someone named Sweet William, a friend of Mr. Perkins and an eccentric fellow. Madame Oglepuss pops up, saying that she found a rat in her dressing room, which may or may not be Sweet William. Kukla was also disturbed by seeing his coat walk across the floor. Fletcher is similarly freaked out by what he describes as a large cat after him. Kukla calms him by transitioning into a RCA Victor ad spot.

This leads to the introduction of the real Mr. Perkins and his pet Sweet William, a skunk. Beulah manages to keep her nerve as Mr. Perkins explains that William is tame and de-stinkified. Sweet Will is here to represent the zoo committee, and clambers up onto the stage arch. He starts misbehaving, whipping his tail around, peeing on the stage, and possibly biting Perkins. I’m pretty sure this was unplanned.

Kukla blames Beulah’s feathered hat for scaring the skunk, and she briefly threatens to leave for New York again. He cleans the arch and notes that this was Margaret Truman’s favourite show, up until now. Fran comes back and is pretty transparently breaking about the goings-on. This leads us into the credits, and to Burr Tilstrom describing himself as “the janitor.” Even the announcer is breaking up.

What I thought: Normally this would be Fanfiction Friday an I would try to write some bespoke narrative based on today’s KFO episode, but what can one really add to a skunk peeing all over a puppet stage? This episode is a perfect example of the beauty of live television. No one would have planned for Sweet William’s appearance to go this way, but it adds a layer of comedy onto the already funny show, seeing Fran and Burr really react to the show going wrong.

For his part, Burr Tilstrom acquits himself pretty well, immediately working the accident into the story by having Kukla clean up the mess. It’s moments like this that show you how good of an improviser Tilstrom was. Fran gets a little bit more flustered, but she still keeps a positive energy, unable to stop laughing. I’m sure this was a memorable episode for those watching at home, but probably no one ended up disappointed or scandalized.

In addition to Sweet William, this episode features one of the first human guests we’ve had in a while in the form of Marlin Perkins, the beleaguered zoomaster. Perkins was himself a Chicago area TV star who hosted Zoo Parade, which stars the assorted animals of the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a perfect example of quaint 1950s programming, particularly from the Sunday-afternoon educational block: we’ve got some animals, let’s look at them.

The skunk invades the stage.

It’ll be a while before we get to any episode from the series, but it was already on its way to winning a Peabody Award. This also wouldn’t be the last time Marlin would be taken by surprise by the animals, as he would be bit by a rattle snake preparing for the show in 1951 and have to be taken to the hospital.

This episode also continues to build to Beulah Witch’s big Halloween celebration. Again, it’s not a very involved storyline like Howdy Doody or other series would do, but it helps to add a little bit of continuity and rewards for everyday viewers, as do little nods like the reference to Beulah’s run-in with the law. We’re coming up on Halloween, but we’ve still got one non-spooky KFO episode to do first.

Coming up next: We make a long-awaited return to the UK with the documentary The Debate Continues.

Episode 294: Kukla, Fran and Ollie “Ollie Swallows a Whistle” (October 26, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Ollie Swallows a Whistle” aired on Thursday, October 26, 1950 at 7:00 PM on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: Colonel Crackle welcomes us to another one of the Kuklapolitans’ periodic concerts. Starting us off is an encore performance from last season, as Madame Ophelia Oglepuss (was that always her first name?) steps up to sing an aria. However, it takes a while to get going, as she’s having a hard time getting someone off-stage to play a bird whistle whistle to accompany her at the right times. She also stops to give directions to the cameraman, having apparently skipped the TV rehearsal.

Colonel Crackle and the Cecil Bill try to talk Madame O into being less of a diva, but it’s a lost cause. There’s a bit of a physical altercation between Madame O and Cecil Bill, and she breaks the whistle, leading to her trying to do it herself. Once she finally finishes, Ollie and Fran pop up to have a chat, ad are quickly joined by Kukla, who carries with him the broken bird whistle. I think I know where this is going.

Don’tcha put it in your mouth.

Kukla practices playing on the whistle, with Ollie and Fran also trying. Ollie sees Fran playing the whistle with her mouth open and decides he wants to practice the same thing. Ollie heads offstage, and can be heard gulping it down. Kukla and Fran immediately recognize what’s happening, but Ollie tries to deny it for a while.

Ollie decides to make the most of his plight and sings “Ain’t She Nice”, with the squeaking whistle interspersed throughout. Kukla decides to survey the troupe about their favourite songs. Fletcher Rabbit tells a story about his voice changing late in high school (at Rabbit Prep, of course), and expresses his love of operettas and Schubert. Fran encourages him just a bit, and he launches into an impromptu ballad to Sealtest ice cream. This leads into a narrated explanation of how to get your Kukla and Ollie ice cream spoons.

When we’re back from the commercial music, Kukla sings about the girl he will marry. I never figured him for the romantic type. Dolores briefly pops up to give him a kiss on the cheek. That’ll complicate things with Ollie, I bet. Fran joins in the singing. Kukla gives his kiss to a new, nasally-voiced female Kuklapolitan (Linwood?), but she doesn’t return his affection, instead singing a very annoying rendition of Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Ollie returns, with the whistle apparently digesting much better. The title trio engage in a song that has their own names in it a lot. It sounds like it could be the theme song, but this is the first time I’ve heard it. The whistle returns a moment later just as they’re trying to get the final Sealtest plug in.

What I thought: They sure do love singing on this show, huh? No episode of Kukla, Fran, and Ollie is complete without at least a couple songs, and many, like today’s installment, are essentially miniature concerts. Songs were not only a staple of children’s entertainment then as now, but were also commonplace on the still very radio-influenced TV. One might here just as much music turning into a variety show an hour or two after KFO.

Still, it makes shows like this a little difficult to write about, especially for someone as musically illiterate as I am. This episodic at least shifts the format a bit by introducing a comedic subplot to the concert, with the eponymous swallowing of the whistle. It isn’t really so much a plot, though, as a brief gag that goes away. To be honest, if I had swallowed a whistle, I would probably be more worried about choking than musical hiccups, but I guess dragons’ esophagi are made of stronger stuff.

We also see the appearance of a new member of the Kuklapolitans in this episode – well, new to me anyway. The character is treated as if they’ve been introduced before, so it seems likely that they were introduced in one of the earlier episodes I haven’t reviewed yet. Her name is Linwood, and she seems to have something of an amorous but childish relationship to Kukla. When I searched for more information, my own blog posts are on the first page, so sadly it would appear that easily-distracted me is now one of the foremost experts on this show.

The mysterious Linwood.

Speaking of recurring bits that I am being exposed to for the first time, apparently there’s a custom song with Kukla, Fran, and Ollie’s names all in it. They’re actually showing a lot of restraint, using the song tonight for the first time in at least a month. Buffalo Bob would have had the kids singing it every episode.

Coming up next: The Lone Ranger has a long, tall drink of water.

Episode 293: Kukla, Fran and Ollie – “Ollie’s Would-Be Biography” (October 25, 1950)

What I watched: An episode of the early children’s show Kukla, Fran and Ollie. The series starred the titular Fran Allison, with all other roles being played by series creator and puppeteer Burr Tilstrom. “Ollie’s Would-Be Biography” aired on Monday, October 23, 1950 at 7:00 PM  on NBC. Video is available on the official KFO YouTube channel.

What happened: Ollie pops up with a sheaf of fanmail, including a drawing of him and poetry in his honour. The crew delivers him some more mail, and Ollie lips off to a tech named Linwood. Eventually he has to call Kukla up to help him with a difficult word, then sends him away so he can read more tribute poems under the guise of “Poetry Corner.” He invites the audience to send in their own poems.

All hyped up, Ollie decides that the troupe will now be called the “Olliepolitans” and put on plays about dragons. Fran comes in, having been also been reading fanmail. She sings a song about dreaming about someone all day. Ollie proposes a new format for the show: The Story of Oliver Dragon, as told by Oliver Dragon.

Fletcher would later appear in 1970s wrestling as the Grand Wizard.

Kukla and Fran hear out the idea but make fun of Ollie behind his back. They’re interrupted by Fletcher Rabbit in a very shiny hat, who plans to send his own photos to the people who have written in to Ollie. He then takes on the role of “Fletch, the friendly Ford dealer” to get in today’s commercial placement.

Next to check in is Beulah, who has a story about being punched by a chimpanzee. Kukla seems skeptical. Ollie is back in a wistful mode, and brings up a picture of Mama Dragon, which he says will be the start of his biography. Well, that’s where all biographies technically begin. Ollie sings a song about his mother in a very campy tone. He then gets a phone call from his actual Mom telling him to knock it off, and wait until he’s a little older to write his autobiography. After all, he’s no Dave Stieb.

What I thought: In my days as a grad student taking fancy-pants cultural studies classes, I learned that texts and narratives always created a “public” – that is, some ideal body of readers that the text was meant to address. One of the clearest examples of a public being formed is fan mail, which pops up in this episode of Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. I remember being slightly fascinated by the idea of fan mail when I was a kid, of having a direct dialogue with the people on TV, although it never really occurred to me that I could do it myself. (This kind of sums up my approach to social interaction in general.)

Through fan mail, a series helps to establish that you are not alone watching on your TV set: you re in fact part of a group, a fandom. For KFO, fan mail had a more prosaic purpose. Reading and answering fan letters was an easy way to fill time with content that someone else had come up with. Howdy Doody used fan mail and its live “peanut gallery” for a similar function. And there’s a lot to show off in the mail. There’s a genuine cleverness to some of the poetry read on air, and the artistic gifts are well-made. I enjoyed seeing and hearing all of it.

Here, the mail leads directly into the day’s story, about Ollie becoming even more conceited than usual and deciding to write his autobiography. To be honest, I wanted a bit more of this story. There’s a lot of potential here, from revisiting Ollie’s childhood days at Dragon Prep to trying to get his friends to weigh in on his life and writing. We do get a good gag with Mama Dragon, but a lot of episode is taken up with the business of plugging forward and answering letters.

The Mama Dragon portrait is always a good laugh.

Also: what was up with Beulah’s story about the chimpanzee? I wonder if this was an inside joke, or a cultural reference I didn’t catch. Of course, it could just be some improvised humour. Maybe the monkey will pop up in the Halloween celebration next week. Who knows.

Coming up next: I’ll be doing another back-fill first, but the next numbered entry will be right back with KFO as Ollie gets into even more trouble.