Hi There, Boys and Girls!: America's Local Children's TV Shows

by Tim Hollis

Book Overview

Hollis tracks down the story of every known local children's TV show from markets across the U.S. The book includes a capsule history of kids programming from its earliest days to the end of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578063965
• ISBN13: 9781578063963
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.4" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

Don't Touch that Dial

I cannot understand the sort of reviewers who rush to point out tiny omissions in otherwise exhaustive studies, particularly in the area of popular culture. Some of them apparently are actually paid to do so, and in my view they have watched too much Watergate and Sixty Minutes. For example, Ira Gallen dug up all the old commercials he showed on his retro New York TV show; contrary to the general view, advertisers didn't keep the reels after the commercials ran, and in compiling his collections, Gallen was plowing new territory. Relative to, say, dinosaurs, radio and TV have only been with us for a short while and it's all been about making it up as you go along. That TV broadcasting began as local programming, and then mostly in New York, is extremely significant but often overlooked by those looking backwards with modern lenses. Shows were owned by ad agencies and developed for sponsors, not networks. Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit and cliff-hangers like Col. Bleep and Clutch Cargo were the only early TV cartoons before the syndication of Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and Terrytoons and the entrance of William Hanna and Joe Barbera into TV 'toons with Ruff and Reddy. Early TV carried over from radio and the triple reel style of the moviehouse, which would generally show a cartoon or short and newsreel along with the featured films. Live hosts were expected to pitch and endorse the sponsor's product and, whether clown, cowboy or cosmic captain, to intersperse the performance and patter with cartoons. The demise of the live host came when the few bad apples began to hold the studios for ransom. Execs soon realized they could order cartoons by the foot to fill the programming blocks. Eventually the insatiable appetite for cartoons ballooned Hanna- Barbera into a behemoth cartoon factory with shows running on all three networks, with a bust following that boom and a decline in quality in the 'seventies and 'eighties, only to be regained after the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the cartoon renaissance of the 'nineties. TV now is like wallpaper that viewers can change at whim, and animation so ubiquitous, good, bad and ugly, viewed as it is as fodder for kids, or more recently, as an "extreme" way to jazz up overdone to death "adult" programming, that its freshness is nearly gone. The current audience expectation of endless entertainment served up in spoon-sized doses masks for instance, the amount of homework done by Paul Reubens in reviving for Pee-Wee's Playhouse the local feel of live host TV. Opening with a brief history, Hollis follows with a discussion of shows in every state of the union. Bits may be missing, but the hosts I remember from growing up in Seattle-- J. P. Patches and Stan Boreson-- were among those present. More fascinating is reading about the hosts I didn't see, which cartoons they had in common and the like. Travel back, then, to the days of its inception, when local TV was the only game in town, with live hosts who ca

great book-excellent information-very fun to read!!

This book was so much fun to read! I can't believe all the info Hollis was able to uncover. His passion for the subject of kids shows is obvious, as is his excellent and humorous writing style. The book is a must for every 'kid' over the age of 35 who grew up watching TV. All of us can find a pleasant memory or two here. It's fascinating to read about the origins of these shows, and sadly, their demise. There is something here for either the nostalgia or history buff.

First, You Visit Your Own Local Stations...

Tim has truly done a tremendous amount of homework putting together this walk down memory lane (three years' worth).Sure, not every station is mentioned; however, I am impressed by the histories, reviews and interviews he has amassed. You, the buying public have already read a couple of stories of some hometown TV personalities that went on to more fame.One sidekick, dressed as a clown, from my original hometown's affiliate, later went on to become a successful announcer on many game shows, including a short hosting job of two game shows. (Ah, ah, ah, you'll have to buy the book to find out who it is!)As the author wrote on this announcer/host, "Perhaps being a clown was good training for such a show."Well done, Tim! We hope you'll continue adding more information on more editions, as they become available. Most of today's youngsters really missed out on wonderful, quality childrens' programming, mentioned in this book, and were not videotaped...it is a part of our lives we shouldn't forget!

Remember growing up in front of the T.V.?

This is one great nostalgia book! It is incredible the flood of memories that this volume brings back. Remember the hundreds of hours that you spent watching the local kid's show on T.V.? Well, I can almost guarantee that this book will open the floodgates of long negected memories- so much in my own life was linked to the time I spent watching these shows. The author really did his research, there are obscure local shows that you never hear mentioned anywhere else. In my own case it was Roddy Mac in Rockford, and Captain Vern and his Cartoon Showboat in the Quad Cities. It seems that practically no documentation, let alone tape, remains of these local shows because they were just locally produced "time fillers." Then there is the mention of the old shorts and cartoons that you forgot about (remember Roger Ramjet, Funny Company, Space Angel, or Clutch Cargo?)