Old Houston Children's TV Program?

[JGM]

In the 1960's, I was under 10 years old living in Houston.  My parents arranged for me to be on a children's show.  It was not KiTiRiK.  From what I remember, I was in the audience and was called onto the stage to compete with several other children.  I think the contest was each of us was given a balloon and raced against the clock to blow up the balloon until it popped.  Not sure but I thought the host was a clown - I may be completely wrong here.  I searched Bozo the Clown but didn't see any mention of the show being in Houston.  Searched all sorts of combinations plus read many comments from this site to see if anything jogged my memory to the name of the show.  The show was probably a 30 minute show.  This portion may have been part of a children's variety show or just had a main host character.

 

Any ideas?  I appreciate your efforts to help.

[JGM]

Today, I watched a short mix of old Houston shows and the clip showed Kitty KiTiRiK with a short clip of her and a clown.  Was there a clown on the show?  Would her show or this clown do any type of contest where kids compete against each other?

 

Sure wish my memory was better.

[FilioScotia]

There was a clown on Kitirik's kid show. He was Nod the Clown, and he and Kitirik played games with the kids. 

[JGM]

Thanks!  I remember being on a children's show in Houston.  I was selected to participate in a contest with a clown as MC.  The contest was 3-4 children were given a balloon and when the clown had us start, we would race the clock by trying to blow up the balloon until it popped in our face.  LOL - pretty sadistic in a funny way.  Anyway, I just can't recall any details and no family members can help.  Not sure if KiTiRiK would have had this type of contest on her show.  It sounded more like a Bozo the Clown type of event but I can't find anything about whether there was a Bozo show in Houston during the mid to late 60's.

 

Cheers for the help.

[Blue Dogs]

22 hours ago, FilioScotia said:

There was a clown on Kitirik's kid show. He was Nod the Clown, and he and Kitirik played games with the kids. 

They should upload archived videos of that show on YouTube!

[JGM]

I have found some videos of KiTiRiK on YouTube  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=KiTiRiK  but from the videos I watched, I get the feeling KiTiRiK wasn't the show that I was on.  Based on my memory of the particular contest, the show seemed to be more edgy.  My original guess was possibly Bozo because I watched the show on television but if local in Houston, I can't find a running series based in Houston.  Maybe the show travelled to Houston briefly and somehow I was able to be selected then.  Have no clue.  But I appreciate people helping. It may be an impossible task.

[FilioScotia]

There was another afternoon kid show on Houston TV at the same time Kitirik's show was on KTRK in the mid and late 50s. Looney Town was on KPRC and the host was "Uncle Bert" Lynn. His show was just like Kitirik's - nutty fun and games with kids and Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoons. Lynn owned a music and musical instrument store in southeast Houston and he was a skilled steel guitar player.

 

He used that talent in his show playing his "talking" steel guitar he named "Stringy". He talked to the guitar and made it respond to him with funny sounding steel guitar riffs. Another gimmick was letting kid viewers be members of 'Looney Town" by writing him a letter and asking for a membership card. Ahem. I was a card-carrying citizen of Looney Town.

 

Lynn wasn't a young man at the time, so Looney Town went off the air in the late 50s, probably because the high energy it demanded got to be too much for him. Kitirik's show outlasted it by many years.  

 

I don't remember a clown on his show. but it's probable that he had one.  A live kid show like that is extremely hard for just one person to do. The host needs a foil like a clown to help entertain the kids and keep the show moving. 

Edited May 17, 2017 by FilioScotia

[JGM]

Thanks for the information     I asked some of my elder relatives if they remembered but so far, no luck.  I have a couple more to ask when I drive down for a visit in the future.  If anyone remembers from my family, I'll post here the answer to my quest.

 

Found these sites too in case someone wants to peruse:

 

https://bill37mccurdy.com/2010/08/21/early-houston-tv-programs-personalities/

 

http://wateringholdclubhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/uncle-bert-lynn-host-of-looney-town-on.html

Edited May 17, 2017 by JGM

[readam]

On 5/17/2017 at 8:21 AM, FilioScotia said:

There was another afternoon kid show on Houston TV at the same time Kitirik's show was on KTRK in the mid and late 50s. Looney Town was on KPRC and the host was "Uncle Bert" Lynn. His show was just like Kitirik's - nutty fun and games with kids and Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoons. Lynn owned a music and musical instrument store in southeast Houston and he was a skilled steel guitar player.

 

He used that talent in his show playing his "talking" steel guitar he named "Stringy". He talked to the guitar and made it respond to him with funny sounding steel guitar riffs. Another gimmick was letting kid viewers be members of 'Looney Town" by writing him a letter and asking for a membership card. Ahem. I was a card-carrying citizen of Looney Town.

 

Lynn wasn't a young man at the time, so Looney Town went off the air in the late 50s, probably because the high energy it demanded got to be too much for him. Kitirik's show outlasted it by many years.  

 

I don't remember a clown on his show. but it's probable that he had one.  A live kid show like that is extremely hard for just one person to do. The host needs a foil like a clown to help entertain the kids and keep the show moving. 

Bobby Lahr(sp) was Bert Lynn's assistant and he went on to work for Truth or Consequences out in LA.  We had Mr. Caboose on Channel 11 in the mornings in the early 60s, Milk Drop Moe in the afternoons, I don't remember the channel, Saturday mornings there was an auction program  MCed by Dick Gotlieb I think sponsored by a Dairy company

[JGM]

Thanks for your reply.  I wish my memory was better or my family remembered    I am pretty sure the time frame was 1966-1970 which would put me 5-9 years old. So Uncle Bert would have been before this time.  And with the comments to my original post, I am wondering if I have the clown part wrong.

 

What I do remember is the contest - 3 children given a balloon and had to blow them up so much they burst in our faces before this large clock reached a certain time - 30 seconds maybe.  It was a sadistic type of contest.  I was competitive at the time but I also remember being scared.  I also remember the host vaguely - just his expression.  He seemed to give off the impression that he was enjoying watching in a mean sort of way.

 

Oh well.  Maybe one of these days a relative will recall something. If I ever find out, I'll post here and most likely the show will be much different than the little kid in me remembers.  Thanks for the comments! 

[brucesw]

Hi JGM - Here's a research project for you.  This is Radio Discussions Retro TV Schedules board.  There are people who collect/obsess about these things.  I have posted either on this board or one of it's predecessors about Houston TV schedules.  Mostly the schedules come from TV Guides, which means they will list all TV stations in the market.

 

I tried the search feature (Advanced Search: Houston:Post titles only) and kept getting database errors.  You might try, otherwise you're just going to have to scroll the pages (there are only 315 of them!!!) looking for Houston schedules.  Maybe at least you can identify the station and the name of the show.

 

You might also try Googling for Houston Retro TV schedules with your date range, or some similar phraseology.

 

Do you remember if it was a weekday afternoon show or a Saturday morning show?

[Blue Dogs]

I do NOT see those kids TV Shows coming back anytime soon.

[JGM]

Thanks for the help    I will put the Retro TV Schedules on my list for further research.  I did try to do a search for tv schedules in the Houston area but nothing jogged my memory.  I'm pretty sure it was a Saturday morning show but I may have some faint memories meshed together.  Thank you for the Retro link.  I am currently trying some other family members but memories are hard to come by as time takes its toll.

 

I had a relative suggest Bozo the Clown.  I have read that individual stations were putting on their own Bozo the Clown shows but as of tonight, I haven't found if Houston had the show.  Iif Houston did have the show, I'm not sure whether it is the answer.  More digging needed.

 

I found this site that lists a "partial" list of Bozo shows:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozo_the_Clown

 

and found this listing of shows for Houston but none ring a bell right now:

 

Houston/Galveston[edit]

• Cadet Don (with Al Eisenmann)
• Happy Hollow (with Mary Jane Vandiver)
• Kiddie Troopers (with Don Mahoney and Jeanna Clare)
• Kitirik (with Bunny Orsak) (1954–71)
• Mary Jane's Magic Castle (with Mary Jane Vandiver)
• No-No the Clown^{[citation needed]}

I have another relative to ask later this month.

[Mark Stone]

in the 60s in Houston there were  4 live afternoon shows for kids on the air:

Kitirik on KTRK channel 13

Mary Jane's Magic Castle in KPRC channel 2

then later

Bozo the Clown on KXXX(?) channel 39

Nono the Clown on KRIV channel 16

 

I believe Bozo was syndicated out of Chicago, while the other 3 were local programs. Until around  '67 or '68 we only had VHF so could only watch 2,8,11 and 13. Then we got a TV(black and white) that had UHF so we could get 16 and 39. WOW. 6 CHANNELS! Had to go to my uncle's house to watch in color. Good times. 

 

 

 

[Springtime Ln]

In or around 1970 my best friend celebrated his birthday on the Bozo The Clown Show at what I remember being Channel 39 Studios/Houston.  We were in a birthday group of 6 or so kiddos, but I was too afraid to go into the studio, so my mom held me up so I could peer through a little window in the main door. YES, there was a Bozo show in Houston!

[Kirby Hill]

When I was a kid in Needville, which is close to Houston, Bozo the Clown came to our town.  It is just not possible that it was the Bozo from Chicago.  I got the impression he was more a local character, but he did have professional photos of himself as Bozo the Clown, so I think he was part of the cranchise.  After his performance I wanted to meet him and he gave me his picture (which I no longer have).  This would have been around 1965 or 66.  This is fairly close to the time frame you are asking about.  

[David Boehmer]

It was BOZO THE CLOWN. Old Channel 39 KHTV on Westpark road and Hillcroft in 1968. I was on the show also in October 1968.

[SRK]

I was also on the Bozo the Clown show in Houston. I was 5 so it was likely 1971. I went with my friend from across the street and one of his siblings. I remember it was in a studio with lots of lights.

I played one of the games where there were a couple of teams of two. There were two pieces of paper on the floor. One child stood on the paper with one foot on each piece. The other child would move the pieces of paper. The trick was the standing child would pick up their foot and the second child would move the paper forward. The standing child would step on the moved paper and pick up their other foot. The second child would move the paper forward for the next step. There was a finish line not far away. I remember my team didn't win and I was the child moving the paper "steps". I also remember sitting on a pine board "bleacher" with the other kids. 

After it was over, we all received a paper bag of candy and toys after we left the studio. I remember it was dark outside when we arrived home. 

I also remember watched the show as it aired later and in the 30 second opening sequence for the show, it would show quick snippets from my show. I saw myself in the game I played.

I only lived in that house in Houston for about 6 months so I'm pretty sure it was 1971 in the summer.

It has been a few years so my memory may be a little off but this is how I remember it. I had thought that maybe my show was the first and that is why scenes from it were used in subsequent shows. But it seems it had been going on beyond visit. Maybe my show was the first a new season. Oh well.