Say Hooray! The 2013 "Uncle Al Show" Thread (Columbus: neighborhood, theater)

[goyguy]

Everybody "of a certain age" who grew up in the OKI Tri-State remembers what they watched on TV as kids during weekday mornings. "Romper Room" and "Captain Kangaroo" were the nationally syndicated shows. And there were also two local products, one being "The Skipper Ryle Show" hosted by its namesake. Of course the other was "The Uncle Al Show."

"The Skipper Ryle Show" was probably the most "out there" of them all. There were never any outside guests. Most of the programs were taken up by skits involving Glenn Ryle and puppets. My favorite puppets were supposed to represent worms although they had shaggy "fur," lol...the brown one, seen a good bit more often, was Wilma and the white one was called Willard - emphasis on the second syllable. Wilma's trademark greeting was, "Hi, hun-ny" and that of Willard was a dopey "Eeee, eeee, eeee." The "worms" and other puppets would either tell bad jokes or provide life lessons through anecdotal illustration. During the societal earthquake of the late '60s "Skipper" Ryle once addressed an issue on everyone's mind by having Willard and Wilma join him on a song called "We're All Brothers and Sisters." And that's the one and only specific episode I remember about "The Skipper Ryle Show." In these Tea Party days there would probably be bloggers galore going into high dudgeon over a "liberal" message like that being broadcast to our children.

Farther down the line chronologically was the brilliant parody of these, and other child-directed morning TV programs, known as "Pee Wee's Playhouse." I LOVED ME SOME PEE WEE HERMAN!!!

But the focus of this thread's meant to be on the premier children's show in Cincinnati during that bygone era, "The Uncle Al Show." "Uncle" Al Lewis and his wife Wanda ("Captain Wendy") arguably drew the lion's share of the 8-and-under demographic during their long run on Channel 9. They accomplished this in no small part by having every episode include young-un's who had probably harangued their parents until the folks agreed to try and get them on. While a few lucky girls and boys mostly stood around during the taping of the highly structured and rarely script-deviating production, thousands more were glued to the tube at home. Eons before the term "product placement" had been coined, Captain Wendy (whose arrival by "personal flight" opened every episode) and Uncle Al were showing the world how it's done. Between commercials they'd openly shill for their program sponsors by leading sing-alongs of ad jingles and displaying the product. There were also a few puppets who could be counted on for regular cameo appearances, such as a simian who'd join Mr Lewis in a daily rendition of a song about bananas. The herding of the studio guests onto a cheesy merry-go-round always signaled the end of the show.

Uncorroborated rumors abounded about the Lewis' supposed dislike of kids (they had four of their own.) Sharp eyes would sometimes catch children being directed and cajoled around the set like cattle. I've only met one individual who got to be part of a taping. ("Oh yeah, I had on my patent leather Mary Janes and my best party dress!") She reported that everybody mainly stayed in one place while the hosts ran through their much-repeated paces. On that particular day, at least, "Nobody got pushed around or yelled at or slapped, I think those accusations are total nonsense." It hardly seems possible that the "Captain" and the "Uncle" could not have at least tolerated groups of people yet to see age 10, maybe 12, for as many years as they did. There were probably plenty of days when they ground their teeth making the long commute from Hillsboro and taking the stage for the umpteenth time in the same clothes (not to mention Al Lewis' having to shoulder an accordion, those suckas are heavy.) Without a bow tie and straw hat "Uncle Al" could probably go anyplace and not be recognized. Ditto for "Captain Wendy" with her glittery dress accessorized with a short billowing cape (her "wings.")

A key portion of the regimented tapings entailed leading the children in several group shouts during the course of the half-hour. Al Lewis would command, "Say 'hooray'!" and the guests would dutifully comply. I've had some fun with that. And it works well as a subject title, eh?

People never tire of talking about "The Uncle Al Show" although it can't have been on the air since sometime in the '80s if not prior. Several C-D threads have gone over the subject in depth. But none have been any more recent than two years or so ago. Having woken up this morning in an "up" mood and thinking about saying hooray and humming the tune of the Rubel's Rye Bread jingle I decided to start one again.

Were you ever a guest on "The Uncle Al Show?" What songs do you wrack your brains wishing you could recall? Are there any details this self-proclaimed minutiae maven missed?

[kjbrill]

The wife took our two older kids to the Uncle Al Show several times. She never commented seeing anything but two people who knew where their bread was buttered. The kids always seemed happy which is why they kept going back. Along with Skipper Ryle great memories of some shows which defined TV in Cincinnati.

In addition to the childrens programs, what sticks out in my mind was the influence of Crosley Broadcasting in the local TV market. They had their own little network, with WLW-T Cincinnati, WLW-D Dayton, WLW-C Columbus, and WLW-I Indianapolis. And of course Ruth Lyons was the dynamo driving it. Since there was no cable, the air broadcast signal had a limited range. Outside of the immediate City of origin, you needed a high-gain antenna to try and get a clear picture. How many remember the snow and the ghosts? I always had a motor driven directional antenna so I could aim the antenna directly at the station.

The other local stations were no slouches. Uncle Al on WCPO-TV, Skipper Ryle on WKRC-TV, Dottie Mack on WCPO-TV, there was a gal I was smitten with.

But back to Uncle Al. The show aired from 1950 through 1985 or 35 years. According to WCPO it was the longest running kids show in the country. When you think of shows like Captain Kangaroo and Mister Rogers Neighborhood, that is quite an accomplishment.

[SoFresh99]

I remember being on Uncle Al as a kid. I was TERRIFIED. Totally traumatic, I think I was 4 or 5, it was black and white I was so young. I remember wondering when we were all going to turn gray before the show started.

[WILWRadio]

Most major TV markets had at least one of these kind of kids shows.

Pee Wee Herman certainly gave a lot of exposure of his program while in public during the mid 1980's.

[TKNYC]

My niece and nephew (same age, they are cousins) were on the show; if it ended in 1985 they must have been three or four years old? Niece appeared to have had fun - she can't remember it but my brother-in-law got it on video. Nephew had a tantrum and refused to go where he was told.

I remember watching in the early 70s - wasn't her name Captain "Windy"? Because of the whole flying thing.

[natininja]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Pee Wee Herman certainly gave a lot of exposure

I see what you did there.

[Ohiogirl81]

Originally Posted by WILWRadio

Pee Wee Herman certainly gave a lot of exposure of his program while in public during the mid 1980's.

Heh.

My hometown had a show in the 50s and 60s called Pappy. He wore glasses, but there were no lenses in them and he'd scratch his eyes through his glasses. I thought that was the most hilarious thing. Kids. LOL

[t45209]

I was a dutiful watcher of Uncle Al, but I was more of a fan of Larry Smith and Rudy and Teaser on WXIX...Batty Hattie from Cincinnati, Nasty Ol' Thing the Snake, and all of them.

The only show I was ever on was Romper Room, and I remember seeing through all the trickery that lady used with that stupid magic mirror.

[DaveGl]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

....In addition to the childrens programs, what sticks out in my mind was the influence of Crosley Broadcasting in the local TV market. They had their own little network, with WLW-T Cincinnati, WLW-D Dayton, WLW-C Columbus, and WLW-I Indianapolis. And of course Ruth Lyons was the dynamo driving it. Since there was no cable, the air broadcast signal had a limited range. Outside of the immediate City of origin, you needed a high-gain antenna to try and get a clear picture. How many remember the snow and the ghosts? I always had a motor driven directional antenna so I could aim the antenna directly at the station.....

Ah, yes. I grew up in an area that primarily fell within WLW-C Columbus and WLW-D Dayton. The local shows gave TV some local cultural flavor which I really miss today. Ruth Lyons and the 50/50 Club was a staple of the local ladies and I remember it playing in the background as we kids did what kids do.

For Columbus, though, WBNS - Channel 10 was very popular with it's local shows. Maybe more so than WLW-C. In the Morning, it was "Lucy's Toy Shop" and in the late afternoon if was "Flippo The Clown." I really enjoyed Flippo since he had a humorous "edge" and would play to the adults, as well as the kids, with his skits during breaks in whatever movie was being shown that day. Flippo could have easily served as an inspiration for The Simpsons "Crusty the Clown."

Friday nights on WBNS brought forth "Chiller Theater" which eventually was hosted by the venerable "Fritz The Night Owl." I remember many a night of fiddling around with the motor driven antenna, to fine tune the channel. It was always a thrill to get a station as far away as Toledo! Those were the days.

[WILWRadio]

Originally Posted by natininja

I see what you did there.

My grammar is off a bit because I wrote it immediately upon waking up this morning. Takes me a few hours to be a bit sharper when it comes to writing good Inglish. :-)