Connections

Connections was Originally Posted on December 2, 2011 by lavarock

Follow this for some trivia.

When I was young, I used to watch a TV show called Howdy Doody. It starred marionettes and a few humans. Here is Bob Smith and Howdy.

One human was a clown, Clarabell, who was played by 3 different actors over the years.

The first actor soon got his own TV show, which he kept for decades. Bob Keeshan was known as Captain Kangaroo!

When I was young, One of the Clarabells changed clothes in my house, because my Dad was the parade chairman for a parade in NJ where Clarabell was to appear. The show was performed in nearby New York. It was early 1950’s. Keeshan left the show in 1952, so it may not have been him that stopped by the house. I was young at the time.

Now in Canada, they had a Howdy Doody show with somewhat similar characters. Buffalo Bob Smith’s character was changed to be Timber Tom and was played by a guy named James Doohan. Years later, James would become a regular on a tv show and in the movies, playing Scotty on Star Trek.

Occasionally filling in for James was another Canadian actor, who would later become James’ boss (so to speak). This guest was William Shatner, Star Treks Captain Kirk.

If that is not a surprise, there is one final fact that may amaze. I quote Wikipedia on this one.

Early in the run, there was a short-lived puppet character called Mr. X (no relation to a puppet of the same name who appeared on the American show) who traveled through time and space in his “Whatsis Box” teaching children about history. However, Mr. X was removed from the show due to parental complaints that he was too scary. It has been suggested that the Mr. X sequence may have inspired the creation of the long-running British science fiction series Doctor Who. In its earliest days, the series was likewise designed to teach children about history and, throughout the series, it has featured an alien known only as the Doctor who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, which is permanently in the shape of a police box. The series’ creator, Sydney Newman, oversaw the production of the Canadian version of Howdy Doody while working as head of programming for the CBC.

The US version of Howdy Doody had a phrase used every show which also became popular with surfers and Teenage Ninja Turtles, Kowabonga!

So there you go, a TV show in the states and one in Canada with some interesting connections.