January 27, 2010

• Yes, I was a Romper Room Do-Bee, although I was sorely tempted by the naughtiness of the Don't-Bees. But growing up in L.A., the highlight of my TV experience was having Sheriff John sing his Birthday Cake song, addressed to me and 50-100 other names he read every weekday. Of course, there was also Engineer Bill, leading us in the "Red Light Green Light" milk drinking game (which I later learned was very popular on college campuses where they used something other than milk), and Walker Edmiston's elaborate puppets, including a top-hat-wearing buzzard named R. Crag Ravenswood who did not make me feel any better about having the given name Craig... Aarrgghh... Antibiotic Resistant Nostalgia!!!
• Not the Romper Room. But similar. I won a set of Book of Knowlege Encyclopedias for winging (sic) an art contest on Uncle Buck's Playhouse. That was in Wisconsin.
• Uncle Buck's Club house, rather, if memory serves...
• Uncle Buck? *shudders*
• I spent my childhood watching a giant talk to a rooster in a sack. In later years he became quite belligerent.
• Wait, me? This goofy was in your wayback machine? Hope I looked like Diana Ross in her heyday. Due to a beatnik (and broke) dad, I didn't see much children's tv. Sounds like a good source for LSD flashbacks.
• Wow - there was a UK version of Romper Room, too, following the formula exactly (on ITV of course, not the BBC). Apparently Miss Rosalind used to get fan mail from lots of British convicts, because in those days they were only allowed to watch TV up to 6 pm, and she was the nearest thing to glamour they could watch.
• The Wikipedia entry on this show is pretty fascinating. F'rinstance: "In 1962, the hostess of the Phoenix franchise of Romper Room linked her own name with that of the ongoing controversies over abortion. Sherri Finkbine, known to television viewers as "Miss Sherri", sought hospital approval for abortion on the ground that she had been taking thalidomide and believed her child would be born deformed. Being a community-minded woman, Finkbine made a public announcement about the dangers of thalidomide. The hospital refused to allow an abortion, apparently because of her announcement and its own fear of publicity. Finkbine traveled to Sweden for the abortion. Upon completion, it was confirmed that the fetus had no legs and only one arm. The incident became a made-for-TV movie in 1992, A Private Matter, with Sissy Spacek as Finkbine."
• Kids were encouraged to mail in their names, which would be read on the air. Miss Nancy was amazing. She said my name, and I never even mailed it to her. I had to google to see if Finkbine was MY Romper Room teacher, but no, mine was the *original* Miss Nancy. I AM NOT OLD. YOU TAKE THAT BACK! From the Trivia Library site: [After the abortion] the controversy gradually died. Sherri returned to the U.S. and faded from the public eye. And Today: After losing her TV job, having two more children, and shedding her husband in a 1973 divorce, Sherri moved to La Jolla, Calif., where she worked in a women's center counseling people on abortion issues and other problems. Mind you, though her name remains synonymous with abortion, she has no shortage of children. Now married to a La Jolla physician, she has at times had 12 children at home--6 from her first marriage plus her 6 stepchildren.
• Hoser Bluenoser, must confess I LOLd when the giant slammed the rooster's head in the book. Was that wrong of me? Quite the line-up of kiddy shows: # Mr. Dressup - A man who had ... costumes inside his "Tickle Trunk." # The Elephant Show - ...a series of wacky adventures accompanied by a group of children and their elephant friend. The elephant (appropriately named "Elephant") was a person inside an elephant suit who never spoke... # Polka Dot Door - ... adults and children. They told stories, sang songs, and played with (and talked to) stuffed animals. The stuffed animals did not talk, but everyone pretended they did, holding them up to their ears and asking them to repeat themselves. # Camp Cariboo - A fictional camp where the two hosts/camp counselors wore hats with giant antlers and eyes. # Under the Umbrella Tree - The story of a woman (Holly) who lived (under an umbrella Tree)... Holly may or may not have been the mother of the three puppets. # Fred Penner's Place - The story of a man who crawled through a hollow log during his daily hike. Once through the log he would enter a clearing where he would spend his day singing and doing crafts. # Rocket Robin Hood - ... basically told the story of Robin Hood, except it was in the future. Many characters wore rocket packs. No wonder all you Canuks are so weird.
• Miz Horse, you're making my presbyopia worse by the day.
• Fish, anytime I can convert someone to my religion, I'm a happy pagan.