We had Captain Kangaroo on Saturdays. A chubby fellow with grey hair done in a salad bowl cut. Then we had Boomtown. Boomtown was in a Western town and had kids, mostly boys on it that played different roles in the town: Marshall, Jailer, Horse thieves to capture and put in the jail, etc. In between scenes of the kids playing their parts there were cartoons to watch: Popeye & Olive Oil and others. Popeye always ate his spinach and so did I so that I could be strong like Popeye. That was easy since I like spinach anyway. From Wikipaedia: Boomtown was a children's show on WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts that ran Saturday and Sunday mornings from 1956 through 1974, and was hosted by singing cowboy Rex Trailer. Boomtown Rare footage from the Boomtown show is included in Bavaro's documentary. © 2005 TrailMixx Pictures Starring Rex Trailer Country of origin United States Production Production location Boston, Massachusetts Original release Network WBZ-TV Release 1956 – 1974 Trailer was hosting a children's series in Philadelphia for Westinghouse; when the series lapsed in 1956, Trailer was given a choice of two other Westinghouse stations: Cleveland or Boston. He chose Boston and signed a short-term contract to finish out his Westinghouse commitment, but the show ended up running for almost two decades. WBZ launched Boomtown (as Rex Trailer's Boomtown) on April 28, 1956, as a two-and-a-quarter-hour Saturday morning series (7:45 to 10 a.m.). As originally conceived, the show was strictly a showcase for Trailer, who demonstrated trick riding and roping, sang cowboy tunes, and told western stories.
I didn't like Howdy Doody and Mickey Mouse. I liked Fractured Fairytales !! Boris Dadenoff and Natasha, Bullwinkle and Rocky, Mr. Peabody (the Beagle) and his boy Sherman with the "Wayback" machine and on Sundays Hercules!! Hero of song and story !! Hercules hero of ancient glory Fighting for the right Fighting with his might With the strength of ten Ordinary men. Hercules !!
Apart from Sesame Street we also had Top Cat. The bbc used to list that as "Boss Cat" as there was a catfood called Top Cat and they considered that advertising
When I was a toddler, (late 70s), we had Uncle Sargam in the puppet show called Kaliya (meaning flower buds) - We didn't learn anything like counting or the alphabets. As it was completely slapstick, where Uncle Sargam (meaning uncle of melody) would always be trying a hair braided business scheme with is equally hopeless sidekicks. While failing at it miserably, week after week. Resulting in endless laughter for everyone. As that show even adults watched! Lesson of the show was that life is fun when you have friends to sing and dance with. Otherwise end up like Uncle Sargam, who is always tumbling through life. And often ending up being the laughing stock. Here in this clip Uncle Sargam steals a duck of his sidekick, and is trying to sell it. But gets exposed. But being the fast talker, he sells the duck to a young lady this time. However the duck bits her and returns back home. While Uncle Sargam made 10 Rupees! Which he now splits with his sidekick, (the original owner of the duck). In between the neighborhood Dog also comes, and asks Uncle Sargam if he could eat the duck. But he is told that you are a Dog, and have no money. So first become human, then think about buying a duck. The English puppet show I saw was Fraggle Rock. Which I thought was the beat! But by that time I could already count and knew the alphabet. Besides Fraggle Rock too was a drama for kids, not educational. Sesame Street I didn't get to see until the late 80s. And I found it pretty stupid. Although the Count Count was often funny. I guess I was too old for puppet shows by that time... Mister Roger's Neighborhood, I glanced at in the early 90s, (during my teens). So immediately when the internet became available in the mid 90s - I was the first one from my country, to join the online community of Mister Roger's haters.
