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The Howdy Doody Show - Scuttlebutt & Other Episodes

The Howdy Doody Show - Scuttlebutt & Other Episodes

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Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Black & White


Description:

Buckskin-clad Buffalo Bob Smith, the freckle-faced marionette Howdy Doody, and other characters from Doodyville appear in four episodes of this classic children's television program, which aired in the spring and summer of 1958. The "Scuttlebutt" episode is fairly typical, as it involves Buffalo Bob enthusiastically telling a story to the children assembled in the Peanut Gallery, and it also includes the picking of contest winners (who each receive a snazzy new Schwinn bicycle) and some requisite pitching for Hostess Twinkies. After setting up the story, Buffalo Bob and others, including Clarabell the clown (who communicates by honking horns), act it out, and the children learn how the marionette Captain Scuttlebutt brought his tugboat to Doodyville. In another episode Buffalo Bob shows his skill at adlibbing through a minor disaster on live TV when a chimp known as Kokomo Junior starts to eat pieces of a board game they're supposed to be playing. These programs were broadcast in black and white, and their modest budget is obvious. There's nothing remotely close to a special effect, and the millions who tuned in used their imaginations and didn't mind at all if they happened to see the strings on the puppets. These programs are a charming look at a more innocent time when everyone welcomed an escape to Doodyville. --Robert J. McNamara
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