Watch: Pie Fight From The Original Bozo the Clown’s Last Show Thirty years ago, on April 4, 1984, Bob Bell retired as Bozo from “Bozo’s Circus.” He played the iconic clown for 24 years. Commercials for the fast-food chain McDonald's featuring the clown Ronald McDonald and his friends. [4][14] Magician Marshall Brodien, who had been making semi-regular guest appearances in which he frequently interacted with the clowns, also began appearing as a wizard character in an Arabian Nights-inspired costume in 1968 and by the early 1970s evolved into "Wizzo the Wizard. "[4][13] Sandburg left the show in January 1969 and Bell returned in March. Add the first question. Sommers has hosted the show since 2004, inheriting it from his father, Dale “Truckin’ Bozo” Sommers, when he retired. The WGN-TV website has a Bozo timeline and great archival photos and video. 30 live-action ½ hour full color episodes. Bozo, Clown, Chicago, 80s, WGN I was lucky enough to be in the audience for a taping of Chicago's Bozo Show in 1989. WGN-TV - 2501 W. Bradley Pl., North Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Ed Whittaker was a staff announcer at WKTV when the station purchased the syndicated rights to the BOZO character and cartoons. Mr. Ned? Bozo? They had a terrific band and funny skits with ... 16 of 16 people found this review helpful. By November 1961, another eventual Chicago television legend joined the show's cast, actor Ray Rayner, as "Oliver O. Oliver," a country bumpkin from Puff Bluff, Kentucky. [28], sfn error: no target: CITEREFOkuda_and_Mulqueen2004 (, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, "Get to know…three-time Emmy winner Ron Weiner", "Broadcasters looking to share their knowledge", "Remembering a Chicago Classic:Frazier Thomas", "Cooky The Clown Bids Reluctant Farewell To 24 Years Of 'Bozo' Fans", Fall Void Means It's Shuffle Time At Channel 2, "There's A Clowning Achievement All Set For New 'Bozo' Show", "Clowning Around Ends With Taping of Final Bozo Show", "Tower Ticker: Bozo to warn of digital TV switch", "Don Sandburg, last surviving original cast member of 'Bozo's Circus,' dead at 87", History (fan website) of WGN-TV Chicago's Bozo show, Various shorts clips and original commercial breaks from airings of, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bozo_Show&oldid=1004090104, 1960s American children's television series, 1970s American children's television series, 1980s American children's television series, 1990s American children's television series, American television shows featuring puppetry, Local children's television programming in the United States, Television series by Tribune Entertainment, American television shows based on children's books, 2000s American children's television series, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2011, Articles with dead external links from June 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 February 2021, at 01:03. Title: As the storyline went, Gar "bought" Bozo's Circus from the retiring Ringmaster Ned and appointed "Prime Minister" Thomas as the new Circus Manager. WGN reacquired the tape and put together a new special entitled Bozo's Circus: The Lost Tape, which aired in December 2012.[32]. You could win stuff just sitting in your front room! I wasn't picked for any of the games, but I am seen in the audience a lot. By 1963, the show welcomed its 100,000th visitor and reached the 250,000 mark in 1966. Remarkable. Children would go home from school at noon to have lunch and watch the show! There were no lessons to be learned, no messages, no pop quizzes. Hiles continued to make periodic guest appearances on the show into the mid-1960s. Undoubtedly, the most famous person to ever be Bozo was Willard Scott, popular member of the "Today" show for years. They are all on the site. Bozo was created as a character by Alan W. Livingston, who produced a children's storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book set, the first of its kind, titled Bozo at the Circus for Capitol Records and released in October 1946. ", where those at home could play a video game by phone.[16]. "[4] The Grand Prize Game became so popular, Larry Harmon, who purchased the rights to the Bozo the Clown character, later adapted it for other Bozo shows (as "Bozo Buckets" to some and "Bucket Bonanza" to others) and also licensed home and coin-operated versions. They loved him and had him back many times. Children would go home from school at noon to have lunch and watch the show! In addition, the audience was entertained by stand alone circus acts from time to time. Rayner left the show in 1971 because he wanted more time for other projects. Check out this amazing exhibit at the Museum of Broadcast Communications featuring cool artifacts from the legendary WGN TV Bozo show. Children would go home from school at noon to have lunch and watch the show! After star Valerie Harper left the series, her role was filled by Sandy Duncan as the boys' aunt. [11][19] After a nationwide search, Bell was replaced by actor Joey D'Auria, who would play the role of Bozo for the next 17 years. By 1980, Chicago's public schools stopped allowing students to go home for lunch and Ray Rayner announced his imminent retirement from his morning show and Chicago television. Bozo returned to television on December 24, 2005 in a two-hour retrospective titled Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics. View production, box office, & company info, An iconic children's show on Chicago's WGN television station. An enthusiastic singing lady and her puppet animal friends go on a variety of adventures. They had a terrific band and funny skits with several clowns. Show was decent but the best part was the part where you toss the balls in the cups to win prizes. His front man, Frazier Thomas would translate whatever any of the hand puppets "... See full summary », A WGN channel 9 Chicago show that the whole family can watch. [31] Since then, Bozo continues to appear annually in Chicago's biggest parades. It eventually changed formats and performers, but the original still stands out as one of the greatest and best loved kid's shows of all time. The biggest change occurred in 1984 with the retirement of Bob Bell, with the show still the most-watched in its timeslot and a ten-year wait for studio audience reservations. The Bozo Super Sunday Show is the final version of WGN-TV's 40+ year-old Bozo series, which aired on Sunday mornings for seven seasons. Pinto Colvig portrayed the character on this and subsequent Bozo read-along records. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Well I suppose a local station got permission to do Bozo. The show was a noon-time staple for any kid in Chicago in the 60's and 70's. An iconic children's show on Chicago's WGN television station. Bozo the Clown, sometimes billed as "Bozo, The World's Most Famous Clown," is a clown character created for children's entertainment, widely popular in the second half of the 20th century. The Bozo Show had it's beginnings in a children's book in 1946. [4][16] The show had its 500,000th visitor in the same year. The end-all was the famed Bucket #6. Nope, he didn’t try the old trick of drilling a peep hole in the wall. [28][29] Reruns of The Bozo Super Sunday Show aired until August 26, 2001. The children played not only for themselves, but also for a boy and girl at home. Meanwhile, Sandburg resolved to leave the show for the West Coast but stayed longer while Bell recuperated. "[25] In 1996, Shenkelberg was dropped and the show suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of educational children's programs per week. On January 26, 1981, The Bozo Show replaced Ray Rayner and His Friends at 7:00 a.m. As the distance increased, so did the prizes in each bucket. When Chicago's Bozo began life in 1960, most every TV station in the country had its own kids show, featuring a cowboy, a schoolteacher or, most often, a clown who was probably named Bozo. Cookie? Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection website archive list by Rick Klein of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television, containing material from two 1971 episodes. Marshall Brodien (July 10, 1934 – March 8, 2019) was a professional magician who played Wizzo the Wizard, a wizard clown character which appeared on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus and The Bozo Show from 1968-1994. [16][17][18] In 1978 when WGN-TV became a national superstation on cable and satellite through what is now WGN America, the show gained more of a national following. Later that year, WGN management decided to get out of the weekday children's television business and buried The Bozo Show in an early Sunday timeslot as The Bozo Super Sunday Show on September 11, 1994; WGN's decision to relegate the program to Sundays coincided with the launch of the WGN Morning News (which debuted five days earlier), a … Originally broadcast on Friday evenings with ... See full summary ». Actor Adrian Zmed (best known from ABC-TV's T.J. Hooker), who was a childhood fan of Bozo's Circus and former Grand Prize Game contestant, also appeared on the special and portrayed himself as a "Rookie Clown" for the following two weeks. The Bozo Show was a locally produced children's television program that aired on WGN-TV in Chicago and nationally on what is now WGN America. They had a terrific band and funny skits with several clowns. Silver dollars and a new bike were most often the top prizes awaiting you in the last bucket. [11][20], In 1985, Frazier Thomas died and Hurley filled in as host for the final six shows that season, stepping into a semi-authority character. This resulted in major cutbacks to children's show production budgets. It was based on the children's record book series, Bozo the Clown by Capitol Records. "The Dick Tracy Show" ended in 1966, and Rayner moved to "Rocket to Adventure," another children's show, which lasted two years. The primetime premiere was #1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed live online annually during the holiday season. They had a terrific band and funny skits with several clowns. Bozo's Circus on WGN in Chicago was one of the most successful children's shows in television history. Each features a 5-minute cartoon! Whittaker was a trained actor and the perfect choice as BOZO. The children tossed a golf ball into each of six buckets in front of them. In 1975, Bob Trendler retired from television and his Big Top Band was reduced to a three-piece band led by Tom Fitzsimmons. By 1965, Rayner's clown character, along with "Sandy", played by Don Sandburg, were added to Larry Harmon's Bozo coloring books. Bozo was played by WGN-TV staff member George Pappas. In 1998, Michele Gregory left the cast following more budget cuts. BTW Willard Scot was Bozo at one point. Anyone from Chicago will remember this great children's show that aired on WGN for nearly 40 years. [4][12], In October 1968, Bell was hospitalized for a brain aneurysm and was absent from the show for several months. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Daily children's program hosted by Captain Kangaroo (Robert Keeshan). Even today, 40 years later, with no Bozo show being broadcast, there is a sizable amount of Bozo the Clown merchandise available. So many children were terrible at that game lol. We are now trying to locate a copy. [4] The show was so popular locally, that seven hours after the Chicago Blizzard of 1967 began, there were 193 people standing in line, waiting to use their Bozo show tickets; it was one of the few times the live show was canceled and the tape of an older show was run instead. Me on the Bozo show when I was in Cub Scouts and I was about 10 years old In addition, the audience was entertained by stand alone circus acts from time to time. Use the HTML below. [4][9] WGN musical director Bob Trendler led the WGN Orchestra, dubbed the "Big Top Band."[4][10]. This was Washington's second Bozo (aside for those on Capital Hill). In addition to cartoons and sketches performed by the resident clowns, there were live guest performers and the always exciting "Grand Prize Game" in which a boy and girl in the studio audience were chosen by the 'magic arrows' superimposed on the screen. If they made the winning toss into the sixth bucket, they (and an "at-home player") received a cash prize, a bike and, in later years, a trip. Harmon did not have his way regarding the costume's color in Chicago until after Don Sandburg, who was also the show's producer, left for California. He was also the very first Ronald McDonald. Rayner was hosting WGN-TV's Dick Tracy Show (which also premiered the same day as Bozo's Circus) and later replaced Dick Coughlan as host of Breakfast with Bugs Bunny, later retitled Ray Rayner and His Friends. [11] In 1983, Pat Hurley from ABC-TV's Kids Are People Too joined the cast as himself, interviewing kids in the studio audience and periodically participating in sketches. Online, stream-only, nonsublicenseable access has been granted by Scripps. Recognized as the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television,[3] it only aired under this title for 14 of its 40+ years: other titles were Bozo, Bozo's Circus, and The Bozo Super Sunday Show. My family and I were featured on the Bozo show when we were very small children, but the only copy we had of the episode was lost. They threw ping pong balls in buckets and the grand prize was a Schwinn, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Jimmy Aleck/Raymond Smullyan. Roy Brown began suffering heart-related problems and was absent from the show for an extended period during the 1991–92 season. Contains a special interview with Larry Bozo the Clown Harmon. The show stopped issuing tickets; the wait to be part of the audience was eight years long. Games on the show included the "Grand Prize Game" created by Sandburg, wherein a boy and girl were selected from the studio audience by the Magic Arrows,[4] and later the Bozoputer (a random number generator),[11] to toss a ping-pong ball into a series of successively numbered buckets until they missed. The Bozo Show (later known as The Bozo Super Sunday Show) was an hour-long live kids show that aired on WGN-TV 9 in Chicago and its' superstation feed, WGN America (back when it actually carried WGN programming) from 1960 until 2001. Sandy? WMAR_BOZO_1214_003_DIG Productioncompany Abell Communications Rights All rights are held by the E.W. On October 6, 2018, Don Sandburg, Bozo's Circus producer, writer and the last surviving original cast member, died at the age of 87. [citation needed] He also appeared in a 2008 public service announcement alerting WGN-TV analog viewers about the upcoming switch to digital television. The albums were very popular and the character became a mascot for the record … Upon the birth of a child a request would be sent in hopes of the child attending a show in later years. In 1987, Hurley was dropped and the show's timeslot returned to 60 minutes. In 2012, a vintage tape was located on the Walter J. Rayner periodically returned to guest-host as himself in his morning show's jumpsuit as "Mr. Ray" when Ned Locke was absent. [4] The live show featured Bell as Bozo (although he did not perform on the first telecast), host Ned Locke as "Ringmaster Ned," a 13-piece orchestra, comedy sketches, circus acts, cartoons, games and prizes before a 200+ member studio audience. Last seen in the 1960’s. The Bozo Show was a locally produced children's television program that aired on WGN-TV in Chicago and nationally on what is now WGN America. It was based on the children's record book series, Bozo the Clown by Capitol Records. This is the complete episode with commercials and cartoons. Final incarnation of WGN-TV's popular children's program, which featured songs, skits, games, educational segments and other activities featuring Bozo the Clown as host. In addition, the audience was entertained by stand alone circus acts from time to time. [26], In 2001, station management controversially ended production citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels. "[4] From the beginning of the show until 1970, Bozo appeared in a red costume; Larry Harmon, owner of the character's license, insisted Bozo wear blue. Premiered on September 14, 1962. (1961–1995). Scripps Company. [4] To pick up the slack, WGN-TV floor manager Richard Shiloh Lubbers appeared as "Monty Melvin," named after a schoolmate of Sandburg's, while WGN Garfield Goose and Friends and Ray Rayner and His Friends puppeteer Roy Brown created a new character, "Cooky the Cook. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Immel was replaced by Robin Eurich as "Rusty the Handyman," Michele Gregory as "Tunia" and Cathy Shenkelberg as "Pepper. [27] The special featured Joey D'Auria as Bozo, Robin Eurich as Rusty, Andy Mitran as Professor Andy, Marshall Brodien as Wizzo and Don Sandburg as Sandy. A group of teenage friends and their Great Dane (Scooby-Doo) travel in a bright green van solving strange and hilarious mysteries, while returning from or going to a regular teenage function. Children would go home from school at noon to have lunch and watch the show! He was introduced in the United States in 1946, and to television in 1949, later appearing in franchised television programs of which he was the host, where he was portrayed by numerous local performers. The only ones that I know of are the ones they showed on WGN. Marshall first appeared on the show as Marshall Brodien the magician. Beginning a summer hiatus and airing taped shows the next year pushed the wait back to ten years. Check out the most anticipated movies and TV to stream in March, including Zack Snyder's Justice League, Godzilla vs. Kong, and more. With Herbert L. Becker, Leah Stanko Mangum, Frazier Thomas, Bob Bell. Thompson has appeared on A&E's Criss Angel Mindfreak.) [30], Bozo also returned to Chicago's parade scene and the WGN-TV float in 2008 as the station celebrated its 60th anniversary. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. In 1987, a synthesizer, played by "Professor Andy" (actor Andy Mitran), replaced the three-piece Big Top Band.[11]. [22][23] Later that year, WGN management decided to get out of the weekday children's television business and buried The Bozo Show in an early Sunday timeslot as The Bozo Super Sunday Show on September 11, 1994; WGN's decision to relegate the program to Sundays coincided with the launch of the WGN Morning News (which debuted five days earlier),[24] a weekday morning newscast that originally launched as an hour-long program (the move of Bozo effectively resulted in the cancellation of the station's then 2-year-old Sunday morning newscast, whose 8 a.m. timeslot Bozo took over). They threw ping pong balls in buckets and the grand prize was a Schwinn It was so popular that tickets were requested YEARS in advance. The first was Willard Scott who played the role several years earlier on WRC. Get that and prizes galore were showered upon you. On June 10, 1972, I was hired to replace Tony on the Bozo Circus. Here's the end of an era in more ways than one - the very last edition of The Bozo Show in which the iconic clown was played by Bob Bell; also featured are Cooky the Cook (Roy Brown), Pat Hurley and his friends, the Bozo Show Band, and ringmaster Frazier Thomas. The series is a local version of the internationally franchised Bozo the Clown format and is also the longest-running in the franchise. It was the Halloween episode from either 1987 or 1988. The final taping, a 90-minute primetime special titled Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!, was taped on June 12, 2001, and aired July 14, 2001. One of my favorite parts of WGN-TV’s Bozo the Clown show was when Bob Bell, aka.Bozo the Clown, would do the Bozo Grand Prize Game. In October 1961, Don Sandburg joined the show as producer and principal sketch writer, and also appeared as the mute clown "Sandy the Tramp," a character partly inspired by Harpo Marx. Garfield Goose was the self proclaimed "King of the United States." Can anyone help? [citation needed], Few episodes from the show’s first two decades survive; although some were recorded to videotape for delayed broadcasts, the tapes were reused and eventually discarded. That same year, the National Association of Broadcasters issued an edict forbidding the practice of children's TV show hosts doubling as pitchmen for products. After that, he occasionally appeared on the show as Oliver and filled in for Ned Locke as "Mr. Ray" when needed. By 1973, WGN gave up on Thompson,[16] and increased Brodien's appearances as Wizzo. View the comic strip for Bozo by cartoonist Foxo Reardon created March 01, 2021 available on GoComics.com [4][5][6] After a short hiatus to facilitate WGN-TV's move from Tribune Tower in downtown Chicago to the city’s northwest side, the show was relaunched in an expanded one-hour format as Bozo's Circus, which premiered at noon on September 11, 1961. [11] On August 11, 1980, Bozo’s Circus was renamed The Bozo Show and moved to weekdays at 8:00 a.m., on tape, immediately following Ray Rayner and His Friends. [16] In 1979, Bozo's Circus added "TV Powww! Our bozo was a wannabe Peeping Tom, so he staked out the women’s locker room at the local gym. [14][21] This coincided with the show's 30th anniversary and a reunion special that included Don Sandburg as Sandy, who also filled in for Cooky for the first two weeks that season. In 1971, Tony also took on the role of Bozo the Clown. [15], A prime-time version titled Big Top was seen September through January on Wednesday nights in 1965 through 1967. My favorite television game was "The Grand Prize Game", where children in the audience were chosen to play by camera arrows. Bozo's Circus ^ Costume part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bozo's Circus collection. The Bozo the Clown show ran for 47 years on TV, making it one of the longest running shows ever! However you feel, there's no question that the long running children's show is a Chicago television treasure to the thousands of 1960s and 70s kids who raced home from school at lunch time to catch Bozo, Oliver O. Oliver, Sandy, and Ringmaster Ned. The program expanded to 90 minutes, the circus acts and Garfield Goose and Friends puppets were dropped, and Cuddly Dudley (a puppet on Ray Rayner and His Friends voiced and operated by Roy Brown) and more cartoons were added. The one I watched with my wife and two kids in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in the 1970's was the Bozo on the super station WGN-TV in Chicago, made available to us via cable TV. Written by A retro classic! Family Classics featured good wholesome movies. How great is that? WGN-TV's first incarnation of the show was a live half-hour cartoon showcase titled Bozo, hosted by character actor and staff announcer Bob Bell in the title role performing comedy bits between cartoons, weekdays at noon for six-and-a-half months beginning June 20, 1960.