Childrens' television enjoyed a golden age during the Sixties and Seventies in the UK, as I'm sure it did everywhere. The austerity of the Fifties had waned and the dawn of colour seeped onto our screens.
There were so many great kids' TV shows its hard to know where to start. They graced our tellies every afternoon and certainly in the UK the prized slot during the week was just before the news at 5.40. The culmination was of course Saturday morning, when the world once more righted itself with our favourite cartoons. Not sure about Sunday, where there any kids' programmes on?
Anyhoo, with the worlds of Gerry Anderson regularly explored on Moonbase here is a breakfast bowl of some of my other favourite shows from back then, shows that have stayed with me ever since unlike any other decade's output. See if you remember them too!
[pics: you tube/ wiki]
Crystal Tips and Alistair: the Seventies in a nutshell! From the moving bits of paper school of animation!
Charlie Says: not strictly cartoons: these were safety films for us tearaways.
Again, wonderfully simple and jerky animation.
The classic trio from 'my' Blue Peter: John Noake's northern twang was unusual on the BBC at the time. Who will ever forget 'Get down Shep!'. I was saddened to learn that John now has Alzheimers.
Astronut: one of many brilliant Terrytoons. I adored this little guy's squeaky voice.
Marine Boy: Anime zero! I can still hear that Japanese kids chorus at the start. Now where's my oxygum!
Hectors House: a more relaxed show combined with a French lesson: one of the gems on at 5.40 before the adult stuff started.
Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop: I could have watched her and that sock all day long!
The Arabian Knights: part of the era-defining Banana Splits show and just one of countless Hanna-Barbera treasures. Just don't pull the donkey's tail!
The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: one of the saddest theme tunes ever!
Champion the Wonder Horse: one of the most uplifting theme tunes ever!
Tales from the Riverbank: who can forget Hammy Hamster and his gang or that beautiful opening theme.
Belle and Sebastian [not the band]: European kids TV par excellence about life in the mountains with a cherub-faced boy and a huge shaggy dog.
The TV test card: I've forgotten when this was on. Midnight? A moment in television history. I bet she put an X in the corner! Whatever happened to that Test Car girl?
What where your favourite kids shows back in the golden age of TV readers? Do you think every generation had it so golden?
Oh they were aplenty, from the East German classic Sandmännchen to a silly Italian claymation Mio Mao. We even had our own version of Romper Room with that Magic Mirror! So exciting each and every time to wait whether your name was called as you were "seen" through the mirror (and tv screen) - the first interactive childrens' tv show!
ReplyDeleteThe real classic of the 70's however was an English learning programme aimed for children called Hello, Hello, Hello. It starred two englishmen Stan Mitchell and Neil Hardwick as bobbies Stan and Dud, chasing an elusive Cat. "Where's the Cat?" Everyone in Finland knows the answer - "The Cat's in the Moon!"
You can see a clip here
http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2007/11/23/hello-hello-hello
Wow, that's 3 TV programs I've never heard of or seen Arto! Strange, as one of them sounds very English. Was Hello Hello Hello made in Finland or England?
ReplyDeleteHello, Hello, Hello was made in Finland but with brilliant British influence. One of the creators and the actor of Dud, Neil Hardwick, settled in Finland and went on to become one of our most successful comedy directors.
DeleteHello, Hello, Hello was very inventive in many respects, with enigmatic characters, a plot full of strange twists and the overall mood of a haunted house. The visuals mixed sets resembling drawings or cardboard cut-outs with thrilling special effects.
From time to time, the story was interrupted for English lessons by a young female teacher. In those sequences, the main characters Stan and Dud were reproduced as Punch & Judy puppets. An accompanying book was published with comics and excercises, made in the best tradition of pure psychedelia! Well, it was 1974 after all.
About Mio Mao, I believe the series (with most of the original episodes lost it seems) was recreated in 2005 and broadcast also in the U.K.
Found this original episode online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyOrVHbtgWU
Just about any Hanna-Barbera cartoon. We had Romper Room for really little tykes, 'Captain Kangaroo' for the somewhat older (Peabody & Sherman and the Wayback Machine was the cartoon highlight), but there was 'Circus Boy' (starring a very young Micky Dolenz of later Monkees fame), 'Super Circus, and the original 'Mickey Mouse Club'!!
ReplyDeleteYou know, both you and Arto have mentioned Romper Room Ed. I've never heard of Romper Room Ferry toy set at a car boot sale and subsequently selling it. Do you think that the show would have spawned plastic toys in the Seventies?
ReplyDeleteNo toys from that show Woodsy. As I recall it was little more than a televised classroom with essentially a kindergarten teacher reading and telling stories. At the end she would hold up a mirror (frame only, minus the mirror) and would look into it say sumthin' like, "and I see Billy, and Mary, and Bobby, and Joanne. And you be good now!" or whatever - it was a loooong time ago. I didn't realize Shari Lewis and Lamb Chops aired over there. That was another favorite (and Howdy Doody)
DeleteJust been reading bout Romper Room on Wiki. There were loads of presenters in the States and some controversy too! As for Shari Lewis, her and Lamb Chop had the most wonderful voices on telly. Pure magic. Don't recall Howdy Doody but have seen it a lot in my books on TV collectables. Did you ever see a show called Follyfoot Farm? The location isn't far from here. There was a Lightning Tree.
DeleteBritish kiddie TV wasn't very well represented over here Woodsy. No Follyfoot Farm in the Milwaukee market. Perhaps it showed elsewhere.
DeleteMy Missus saw it in Germany Ed so I thought it might have migrated. One show that I heard went Stateside was the Double Deckers about a bunch of kids living in a red London double decker bus. Sound familiar? Or Catweazle about a medieval wizard living in the modern day - he lived in an old water tower and called electricity electrickery and the phone the telling bone! ha ha. great fun. Shown in Germany too!
DeleteLoved Catweazle, a very poor wizard trying to escape the Normans cast a spell, and ended up in the 20th Century. His familiar was a toad named Touchwood. There were two seasons. Gerry Anderson from Stingray onwards. Shari Lewis, Lamb Chop, and Charlie Horse were wonderful. Disneyland, with the programmes introduced by Walt Disney himself. Surely it was just Follyfoot, rather than Follyfoot Farm ? About a home for rescued and retired horses, the lightning-blasted Lightning Tree I think featured in the theme song ? There were so many great cartoons - The Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear, and countless others. As NZ only had one TV channel until 1975, and no early morning TV in those days, the number of programmes was limited, so a lot of shows well known in Britain and America never made it to NZ. Lancelot Link - Secret Chimp was a James Bond/Get Smart spoof with real Chimpanzees, a bit like the PG Tips tea adverts.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgptten the name of Catweazle's toad Paul! Thanks. And yes, its just Follyfoot. Its about 15 miles from where I live, the farm. Just outside Leeds. I wonder of the tree is still there. As for Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop. I could have married her. Shari. Not Lamb!
DeleteMe too.
ReplyDelete