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79-614: Captain Kangaroo is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. In 1986, the American Program Service (now American Public Television , Boston) integrated some newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing

158-402: A helicopter rotor blade when he needed to get somewhere fast. He was constantly watched by a human birdwatcher (voiced by Jon Glover ) who had a deerstalker and large binoculars . This character was both the viewer's point of view and narrator, as no other character talked. Many of the musical phrases are the excerpts from Beethoven’s famous Septet. At the end of every episode Ludwig played

237-480: A block on Animax , known as "Nick Time") and Cartoon Network (Cartoon Network's age demographic is moving towards older viewers with shows such as Hello Kitty , Regular Show and Adventure Time ) One of the most well-known children's TV programmes comes from Iceland, LazyTown , was created by Magnus Scheving , European Gymnastics Champion and CEO of Lazytown Entertainment . The show has aired in over 180 countries, been dubbed into more than 32 languages and

316-560: A cable, satellite, streaming, or internet subscription to view them on first airing." In the United States, there are three major commercial cable networks dedicated to children's television. All three also operate secondary services with specialized scopes drawing upon their respective libraries, such as a focus on specific demographics, or a focus upon classic programming that fall within their scope and demographics; all three have also extensively franchised their brands outside

395-400: A few Captain Kangaroo songs herself) wrote a new theme, entitled "Here Comes Captain Kangaroo". The theme song for The All New Captain Kangaroo used the opening notes and part of the melody of the original theme as its introduction. Bob Keeshan also recorded music for both Columbia Records and Golden Records , aimed at introducing all kinds of music to children. While Captain Kangaroo

474-724: A few exceptions, perhaps the best-known being the Power Rangers franchise). Typically, programs are either 'for boys' or 'for girls'. The teen demographic targets viewers 12 to 18 years of age. Live-action series that target this demographic are more dramatic and developed, including teen dramas and teen sitcoms . In some cases, they may contain more mature content that is usually not permissible on shows targeting younger viewers, and can include some profanity or suggestive dialogue. Educational programming targeted at this demographic has historically been rare, other than on NASA TV 's education block. However, some programming aimed at

553-466: A good day for..." then a song would list many different activities while short film clips of each corresponding activity are presented, then the song ended with the singers saying, "There's so much to do. These things are just a few." Then it would cut back to the Captain, who would sign off with, "So whatever you do, have a great day!" The first theme song for Captain Kangaroo titled "Puffin' Billy"

632-401: A loose structure, built around life in the "Treasure House" where the Captain (the name "kangaroo" came from the bigger pockets in his coat) would tell stories, meet guests, and indulge in silly stunts with regular characters, both humans and puppets. Keeshan performed as the Captain more than 9,000 times over the nearly 30-year run of the show. The May 17, 1971, episode had two major changes on

711-454: A number of children's channels under the Pop and Tiny Pop brands. British versions of Cartoon Network and its sister channels Boomerang and Cartoonito also operate in the country, some 25 years after the initial launch. Ireland has one dedicated children's TV service RTÉjr . Since 1998 RTÉ2 has provided children's programming from 07:00 to 17:30 each weekday, originally titled The Den ,

790-586: A popular song, such as Judy Garland 's Decca recording of " Over the Rainbow " (from The Wizard of Oz ), Mary Martin singing " Never Never Land " (from the original cast recording of the musical Peter Pan ), or Danny Kaye singing " Inchworm " (from the Decca recording of the songs from Hans Christian Andersen ) were heard while the cutouts played on the screen, animated by a concealed puppeteer . On other occasions, full-fledged hand puppets "performed" to

869-464: A regular part of the show, from "Captain Kangaroo" to many traditional tunes to popular songs interpreted by puppets. Carmino Ravosa was a songwriter on the show from 1975 to 1977. On the first show of every month, the Captain had a birthday cake for all of the children with birthdays that month. Keeshan also had a recurring role as the Town Clown, a pantomime piece that took place in and around

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948-427: A series of five-minute segments on the importance of careers and the work world. The cartoon series called The Toothbrush Family was based on an extended family of hygiene utensils, as the name suggests; they would embark on adventures based in the bathroom, like water skiing in the tub, or rescuing friends caught in the drain. Episodes were generally a few minutes each and basically revolved around teaching children

1027-686: A smaller transistor radio in one show. Also featured was a huge Colgate toothpaste box with a large windup or clockwork key on the side. Keeshan turned the key to play a jingle ("Colgate Fluoride M-F-P/Helps Prevent the Cavity/And it Tastes Great, Naturally!") for the show's sponsor, Colgate Toothpaste. At the end of each episode, the Captain always encouraged parents watching the show to spend some quality time with their children every day, and he often demonstrated various creative ways in which to do so. In later seasons, that changed to him saying, "Well, what would you like to do today? You know it could be

1106-557: A wind-up Bolex camera. Filming took place in their spare bedroom at their flat in Buckland Crescent, Swiss Cottage in London. The episodes were written by Jane Tann, Susan Kodicek , and Michael Cole . The music was arranged and played by Paul Reade . Jon Glover provided the voice of the birdwatcher. The Langs shared the animation. Peter went on to animate Pigeon Street . The title music and opening theme of Ludwig

1185-544: A year later, on September 1, 1986, Captain Kangaroo returned in reruns on PBS , with funding from public television stations, School Zone Publishing Company, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation . American Public Television , then known as the Interregional Program Service, distributed the show, along with Britder Associates (Keeshan's production company). The original director of

1264-414: Is generally more overtly educational. In a number of cases, such shows are produced in consultation with educators and child psychologists in an effort to teach age-appropriate lessons (the series Sesame Street pioneered this approach when it debuted in 1969). A format that has increased in popularity since the 1990s is the " pseudo-interactive " program, in which the action of the show stops and breaks

1343-485: Is just 16 seconds long, and features first, a theme from the symphony No.5 , followed by a small section of Beethoven's symphony No.1 . It ends with the programme's narrator Jon Glover saying 'Ah, Ludwig' in an interested, well spoken manner. In the United States, Ludwig was one of the cartoons featured in Captain Kangaroo . In 2011 Charlie Brooker showed a short spoof of Ludwig , called Orlov , in

1422-586: Is still widely recognised by the postwar generation. It was later used in the Enid Blyton parody Five Go Mad in Dorset and in a number of British TV advertisements, including a Captain Sensible spot. The "Puffin' Billy" theme played as the opening of each episode, with the music continuing until the Captain hung his large ring of keys on a nail, which seemed to act as a switch to end the music abruptly. If

1501-416: Is the current owner of the series. Children%27s television series The purpose of these shows, aside from profit, is mainly to entertain or educate children, with each series targeting a certain age of child: some are aimed at infants and toddlers, some are aimed at those aged 6 to 11 years old, and others are aimed at all children. Children's television is nearly as old as television itself. In

1580-635: Is the most expensive children's show of all time. In 1995, Cartoon Network became the first children's channel to be launched in India. Subsequently, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon arrived. Hungama TV (2004) was the first children's channel that had local content. Pogo and BabyTV came later in 2006. By 2018, 23 channels have aired in India. Nickelodeon was the first children's channel in Romania, launched in December 1998. Afterwards, Minimax became

1659-513: The Cartoon Network , Disney Channel , Disney Junior , Disney XD , and Nickelodeon brands. WildBrain operates Family Channel , as well as the spin-off services WildBrainTV and Family Jr. it has been majority owned and operated by British Columbia's public broadcaster Knowledge Network . In French, Corus operates Télétoon and La chaîne Disney , WildBrain operates Télémagino (a French version of Family Jr.), TVA Group operates

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1738-614: The FCC mandates. (The rule for digital subchannels was repealed in July 2019; in practice, most still carry educational programs anyway.) In 2017, there was a programming block that aired on syndication called KidsClick ; it was notable as a concerted effort to program children's shows on television without regard to their educational content, one of the first such efforts since the E/I rule took effect. The transition to digital television has allowed for

1817-524: The Federal Trade Commission 's Staff Report, Guidelines on Advertising to Children , recommended against Schwinn's on-air marketing practices using the show's host. In response, Schwinn and the show's writers altered the format in 1972. The Captain no longer insisted that his viewers purchase a Schwinn, but instead made regular on-air consultations of a new character, Mr. Schwinn Dealer. A 1973 internal company news article concluded that

1896-553: The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for several years in the 1960s. From the late 1950s, the Schwinn Bicycle Company made use of children's television programming to expand its dominance of the child and youth bicycle markets. The company was an early sponsor (from 1958) of Captain Kangaroo . The Captain himself was enlisted to sell Schwinn-brand bicycles to the show's audience, typically six years old and under. At

1975-405: The fourth wall to give a young viewer the opportunity to answer a question or dilemma put forth on the show, with the action continuing as if the viewer answered correctly. Shows that target the demographic of persons 6 to 11 years old focus primarily on entertainment and can range from comedic cartoons to action series. Most children's television series targeting this age range are animated (with

2054-689: The 1990s, more children's television series such as Barney & Friends , Blue's Clues , SpongeBob SquarePants , Bear in the Big Blue House , and The Big Comfy Couch were created. A voluminous range of children's television programming now exists in the 2020s. Notable successes outside the US include shows like Play School , Noggin the Nog , Clangers , Bagpuss , Teletubbies , Thunderbirds , Danger Mouse , Count Duckula , Mr. Men and Thomas & Friends originating from

2133-453: The BBC runs CBBC as well as the preschool-oriented CBeebies , while ITV runs CITV as well as the preschool-oriented LittleBe , as a programming block on ITVBe . Both channels were spun off from children's television strands on their respective flagship channels ( BBC One , BBC Two , and ITV ). The BBC and ITV have largely phased out children's programming from their main channels to focus on

2212-480: The Captain was moved to an earlier time slot of 7:00 am and cut to 30 minutes, sporting the new title Wake Up with the Captain . The show was moved again in the spring of 1982 to 6:30 am, a time when few children (or adults) were awake. In the fall of 1982, it returned to an hour format, but was moved to Saturday mornings at 7:00 am ET and 6:00 am in other time zones. Reruns from the previous season were offered to CBS affiliates to run Sunday morning in place of

2291-404: The Captain would try to perform a particular activity three or four times, only to fail in a different way with each attempt. Familiar props included a mockup of a talking cathedral-style radio that Keeshan simply called Radio. Keeshan would turn the large knobs on Radio to get a conversation going. Reminiscent of the old Atwater Kent cathedrals, Radio had a rather interesting conversation with

2370-406: The Captain's keys ever slipped off the nail, the music plays again. In 1957, lyricist Mary Rogers penned lyrics to the tune, creating a newly titled Captain Kangaroo song. In 1974, a new theme song titled "Good Morning, Captain" was composed for Captain Kangaroo, written by Robert L. Brush. As the new theme used similar melodic elements from the original theme, Edward G. White's name was added to

2449-566: The Treasure House keys on a nail, and the music ends. On rare occasions, the Captain could not get the keys to stay on the nail, and when they fell off, the theme song plays again. One never knew exactly what would happen from one episode to the next, although at certain times of the year, such as the Christmas season, paper cutout versions of such stories as The Littlest Snowman would be shown. Several cartoon shorts were featured over

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2528-416: The Treasure House, later called the Captain's Place, where the Captain would interact with puppets, guests, and other members of the cast. Even the opening sequence changed. Each episode began with the theme music playing, then the Captain makes his entrance to the studio by unlocking and opening the doors of the Treasure House from the inside, where viewers would catch their first glimpse of him. Then he puts

2607-455: The UK, Paw Patrol from Canada, Le Manege Enchantè from France, The Singing Ringing Tree from Germany, and Marine Boy and Pokémon from Japan. Canadian studio Nelvana is a particularly prolific producer of children's programming. Much of Nelvana's product is broadcast worldwide, especially in the US, where the similarities in dialect do not require any dubbing or localization. In

2686-682: The United Kingdom, the BBC 's For the Children was first broadcast in 1946, and in English-speaking circles, is generally credited with being the first TV programme specifically for children. Some authors posit television for children tended to originate from similar programs on radio. For example, the BBC's Children's Hour was launched as a radio broadcast in 1922, with BBC School Radio commencing live broadcasts in 1924. In

2765-445: The United States, early children's television was often co-opted as a platform to market products and it rarely contained any educational elements (for instance, The Magic Clown , a popular early children's program, was primarily an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish taffy .) In the early years of television, advertising to children posed a dilemma as most children have no disposable income of their own. As such, children's television

2844-458: The United States. Under current mandates, all broadcast television stations in the United States must show a minimum of three hours per week of educational children's programming , regardless of format. Until 2019, this rule also applied to digital subchannels ; as a result, digital multicast networks whose formats should not fit children's programming, such as Live Well Network and TheCoolTV , were required to carry educational programs to fit

2923-467: The Universe , the 1980s saw a dramatic rise in television programs featuring characters of whom toy characters were being sold to retail consumers in bricks and mortar stores, underscoring the value potential of manufacturing merchandise for fans of children's programs. This practice remains firmly embedded in the broadcast sector's business case broadly in the 2020s. Commercial-free children television

3002-548: The block also featured reruns of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends and Magic Adventures of Mumfie , as well a spin-off show, Mister Moose's Fun Time , which included cartoon segments from around the world, as well as clips from The Wiggles . When Disney bought Fox Family, the company shelved The All New Captain Kangaroo and Mister Moose's Fun Time , allegedly due to the fact the reboot advertised Busch Gardens & Seaworld, rivals of Walt Disney World . In 2011,

3081-456: The camera and simulate small talk with the viewing audience at home, demonstrating basic skills for the camera. This practice lives on in contemporary children's broadcasting as a genre in of itself, with Australia's ongoing program Play School one example. At one time, a program called Winky Dink and You took a more interactive approach, prompting its viewers to affix a clear vinyl sheet to their television and draw pictures to match what

3160-448: The cartoon reruns offered before, but most declined. One-third of affiliates no longer ran the show at all after 1982, and it was again reduced to a half-hour in the fall of 1984. Angered over the reduction of his program for the second time, Keeshan chose to step down at the end of 1984, after his contract with CBS expired. After the show ended, Children's Television Workshop hired some of its staff to work on Sesame Street . Just over

3239-531: The course of the series' run, including: A cartoon starring a funnel-capped shape-shifting boy named Tom Terrific was part of the show in the 1950s and 1960s. Tom had a sidekick named Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog, and a nemesis, Crabby Appleton ("I'm rotten to the core!"). Other cartoons included Lariat Sam , who (aided by his loyal horse Tippytoes ), confronted his nemesis Badlands Meanie and his sidekick Bushwhack. The Adventures of Lariat Sam

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3318-572: The cultural similarities between Canada and the US, along with film credits and subsidies available from the Canadian government, a large number of animated children's series have been made in Canada with the intention of exporting them to the United States. Such programs carry a prominent Government of Canada wordmark in their closing credits. The BBC and ITV plc both operate children's oriented television networks on digital terrestrial television:

3397-498: The debut of whole subchannels that air children's programming 24/7; examples include BabyFirst , PBS Kids , Smile , and Universal Kids . The country's only directly nationally operated TV service for public consumption, NASA TV , also includes educational programs in its schedule for use in schools. English-language children's specialty channels in Canada are primarily owned by Corus Entertainment and WildBrain . Corus operates YTV and Treehouse , as well as localized versions of

3476-633: The dedicated services; in 2012, as part of the "Delivering Quality First" initiative, the BBC announced that it would end the broadcast of CBBC programmes on BBC One following the completion of the transition to digital terrestrial television, citing low viewership in comparison to broadcasts of the programmes on the CBBC channel. Channel 5 also broadcasts a preschool-oriented block known as Milkshake! , while its owner, Paramount Networks International , also runs versions of Nickelodeon and its sister networks Nicktoons and Nick Jr. Narrative Capital operate

3555-534: The demographic has had some tangential educational value in regard to social issues, such as the now-defunct TNBC block of sitcoms, which often tackled issues such as underage drinking or drug use. According to at least one journalist, for years, Broadcast Standards and Practices departments of networks, Parental Guidelines , and campaigns by social conservatives limited "efforts to make kids animation more inclusive." One former executive of Disney, David Levine, said that "a lot of conservative opinion" drove what

3634-408: The early 1930s, radio adventure serials such as Little Orphan Annie began to emerge in the United States and became a staple of children's afternoon radio listening. Early children's shows included Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947), Howdy Doody , and Captain Kangaroo . Another show, Ding Dong School , aired from 1952 to 1965. Its creator and host, Frances Horwich , would sit in front of

3713-567: The end of 1984. An episode of the show in 1981 became professional skateboarder Tony Hawk's first appearance on television. Captain Kangaroo was the longest running children's television show until 1997 when it was surpassed by Mister Rogers' Neighborhood , which itself was surpassed by Sesame Street in 2003. Captain Kangaroo is still far and away the longest running children's TV series by episode count with 6,090. Second place holder Sesame Street , has aired 4,701 episodes, still 1,389 episodes short. The show takes place in and around

3792-502: The end of each live Schwinn marketing promotion, Bob Keeshan would intone, "Schwinn bikes—the quality bikes—are best!" and "Prices slightly higher in the South and in the West". The on-air marketing program was deemed successful by Schwinn, and the company increased its market share of child and youth bicycles throughout the 1960s. The marketing program continued through the 1971 season, when

3871-455: The exposed wagon home of a tramp-like circus clown. Like the character Clarabelle that he played on Howdy Doody , the Town Clown never spoke. Favorite characters on the show were Grandfather Clock (voiced by Cosmo Allegretti), Bunny Rabbit, Rollo the Hippo, and Dancing Bear. Dancing Bear was mute and only appeared in short subject features. He often danced waltzes to background music. One of

3950-715: The final movement of Beethoven's first symphony through the credits. The programme was produced by father and son team, Mirek and Peter Lang. The Langs were immigrants from Czechoslovakia ; they left the country in 1968 in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia , as Mirek's films criticized the Czechoslovak regime . After unsuccessful attempts to find work in British current affairs broadcasting, Mirek moved into animation work. Collaborating with his son Peter, they produced Ludwig , shooting it on 16 mm film on

4029-498: The first Romanian children's channel to air locally produced content, launched on Children's Day in 2001. Since then, channels like BabyTV and Disney Channel have arrived. Children's channels that exist in Turkey are Cartoon Network , TRT Çocuk , MinikaÇOCUK , Minika GO and Zarok TV . Ludwig (cartoon) Ludwig is a surreal 1977 British-made children's animated television series featuring cutout animation . It

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4108-986: The highest number of LGBTQ characters they ever recorded up to that point. In 2017, some said that LGBTQ+ characters in animated television were somewhat rare, despite the fact that GLAAD praised the number of characters in broadcast and primetime television. From 2017 to 2019, Insider noted that there was a "more than 200% spike in queer and gender-minority characters in children's animated TV shows." In 2018 and 2019, GLAAD stated that Amazon , Hulu , and Netflix, had increased LGBTQ representation in "daytime kids and family television." In their January 2021 report, GLAAD praised LGBTQ representation in episodes of DuckTales , The Owl House and Adventure Time: Distant Lands . Despite this, some industry practitioners state that more than 90% of LGBTQ characters in kid's animated shows within Insider 's database of characters in children's animated television shows "require either

4187-548: The importance of dental care. A silent cartoon in the 1970s named Crystal Tipps and Alistair featured the adventures of a young girl and her dog. Later reruns were narrated by the voice of Mr. Moose. Another British favorite, The Wombles , was also featured. The Red and the Blue shorts from Italy, as well as The Undersea Adventures of Captain Nemo , featuring a family of sea explorers, were also shown. Starting in 1974,

4266-513: The networks turned to affiliated cable cartoon channels or outside programmers for their blocks. On September 27, 2014, the last traditional Saturday network morning cartoon block, Vortexx , ended and was replaced the following week by the syndicated One Magnificent Morning on The CW . Children's television series can target a wide variety of key demographics based on age and gender. Few television networks target infants and toddlers under two years of age. Preschool-oriented programming

4345-472: The newer version of the series to PBS and independent public stations until 1993. The show was conceived by Bob Keeshan , who also played the title character "Captain Kangaroo", and who based the show on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children". Keeshan had portrayed the original Clarabell the Clown on NBC 's The Howdy Doody Show during the network's early years. Captain Kangaroo had

4424-700: The preschool-oriented Yoopa , and Bell Media runs the teen-oriented Vrak . Via its majority-owned subsidiary Telelatino , Corus also operates two children and family-oriented networks in Spanish and Italian, TeleNiños and Telebimbi respectively. On broadcast television and satellite to cable undertakings, children's television content is relegated to the country's public and designated provincial educational broadcasters, including CBC Television and Ici Radio-Canada Télé , as well as City Saskatchewan , CTV Two Alberta (formerly Access), Knowledge Network , Télé-Québec , TFO , and TVOntario ( TVOKids ). Aided by

4503-455: The program on weekday mornings, initially telecast live in the Eastern and Central time zones at 8:00 am (ET)/7:00 am (CT) for its first four years (it would eventually be scheduled for 8:00 am in all time zones). Same-day episodes would be broadcast on kinescope for Western audiences, as Keeshan would not perform the show live three times a day. For the first three months, Captain Kangaroo

4582-509: The program was Peter Birch, who helmed the program for its first 25 years. Producer Jimmy Hirschfeld took over as director following Birch's heart attack in 1980 and continued directing, as well as producing throughout the rest of the show's run, including the new segments inserted into the PBS reruns, until it went off the air in 1993. The cast of Captain Kangaroo also hosted the CBS coverage of

4661-701: The series. John McDonough played the Captain on this version, which was shot in Tampa, Florida , and featured animal segments shot at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and Seaworld in Orlando . Keeshan was invited to appear as a special guest called "The Admiral", but declined. Thirteen episodes were produced for syndication with an additional twenty-seven episodes serving as the centerpiece for a programming block on Fox , Fox Kids Network (later known as Fox Kids ), and The Family Channel (later known as Fox Family Channel) dubbed Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House , from 1997 to 2000;

4740-762: The service was renamed TRTÉ and RTÉjr in 2010. Irish-language service TG4 provide two strands of children's programming Cúla 4 Na nÓg and Cúla 4 during the day. Commercial broadcaster TV3 broadcast a children's strand called Gimme 3 from 1998 to 1999. And then broadcast a new strand called 3Kids . Children's channels that exist in Australia are ABC Family , ABC Kids , and its spin-off CBeebies , Nickelodeon and its spin-off Nick Jr. , and Cartoon Network and its spin-off Boomerang . Children's channels that exist in Japan are NHK Educational TV , Kids Station , Disney Channel , Disney XD , Nickelodeon (also under

4819-417: The show aired a full 60 minutes on weekday mornings until 1981. The audience of children could never compete in the ratings with such entertainment/news shows as NBC's Today , although Captain Kangaroo won Emmy Awards three times as Outstanding Children's entertainment series in 1978–1979, 1982–1983, and 1983–1984. In the fall of 1981, to make more room for the expansion of The CBS Morning News ,

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4898-647: The show opened with different people wishing the Captain "good morning". Many of the openings featured noncelebrities, but some featured stars from TV shows, most of which broadcast over CBS. The montage of "good mornings" always ended with the Captain himself returning the greeting before the opening sequence. Other regular features included The Magic Drawing Board and the Captain's "Reading Stories" sessions, which introduced kids to stories such as Curious George , Make Way for Ducklings , Stone Soup , Caps for Sale , and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel . The Sweet Pickles books were also featured. Songs were

4977-410: The show's child audience had difficulty separating Schwinn's sales pitch from the regular content of the show. In 1997–2000, a rebooted series titled The All New Captain Kangaroo was produced by Saban Entertainment in association with TLC Entertainment. Eric S. Rollman, who also served as President of Saban and Fox Family Productions, was executive producer. George Taweel and Rob Loos of TLC produced

5056-422: The show's long-running gags was the "Ping-Pong Ball Drop", instigated by the telling of a joke (usually a knock-knock joke) by Mr. Moose, in which the punchline included the words "ping-pong balls". At the mention of those three words, a shower of ping-pong balls was released from above on the Captain. The show often had simple black light theatre segments using paper or cardboard cutouts. A notable recording of

5135-469: The show: The Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place" and the Captain replaced his navy blue coat with a red coat. In September 1981, CBS shortened the hour-long show to a half-hour, briefly retitled it Wake Up with the Captain , and moved it to an earlier time slot; it was moved to weekends in September 1982, and returned to an hour-long format. CBS canceled Captain Kangaroo at

5214-402: The song being played (as in the case when a hand puppet dressed in Spanish clothing performed to a recording of tenor Allan Jones singing " The Donkey Serenade "). Also, about two or three times in an episode, short film clips on certain topics played over a song about that particular topic. Especially in later seasons, the show also featured a running gag in selected episodes during which

5293-434: The song credits. However, due to copyright issues, the song was re-recorded in 1979 without the portion of "Puffin' Billy" featured in the first version. During the brief Wake Up With the Captain era, a theme titled "Wake Up" was used, but was dropped after the program moved to weekends. For the show's later seasons from 1982 to 1984 and subsequent PBS run, Schoolhouse Rock mainstay Lynn Ahrens (who composed and performed

5372-606: The trademark for the Captain Kangaroo name was acquired by the Cashin Comedy Co. In a blog, the Captain is portrayed by Pat Cashin , an entertainer and professional clown. Cashin died in 2016 at the age of 48, leaving the rights to this version with his estate. Creative Artists Agency , the successor to Captain Kangaroo' s previous rights holders Marvin Josephson Associates and ICM Partners ,

5451-435: Was about a magical egg-shaped gemstone who lived in a forest . 25 five-minute episodes were made. The character's name came from Ludwig van Beethoven , whose music is played in the background. The series consisted of 25 five-minute episodes, in each of which something would happen to the animals of the forest and Ludwig would come to the rescue. His "body" facets would open up and out would pop arms, legs, gadgets or even

5530-420: Was depicted on Cartoon Network , Disney Channel , and other alike channels. Some argued that cable television, which began to pick up in the 1990s, "opened the door for more representation" even though various levels of approvals remained. Through the 2000s', advocacy group GLAAD repeatedly highlighted the lack of LGBT representation in children's programming in particular. Two years later, they recorded

5609-459: Was developed by veteran game show announcer Gene Wood , then a show staffer (who also sang the cartoon's theme song). The British cartoon Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings appeared in the 1970s, featuring a child with magic chalk who could create all sorts of short-lived creations in short adventures (the original version featured a British narrator, Bernard Cribbins , but Keeshan's voice

5688-431: Was dubbed onto the cartoons for their U.S. airing). Another British-produced cartoon, Ludwig , about a magical egg-shaped robot, was also included around the same time as Simon . The cartoon's musical score consisted of selections from the works of Beethoven . Also appearing in the 1970s was The Most Important Person , a series of five-minute segments on the importance of life, and The Kingdom of Could Be You ,

5767-486: Was first introduced with Sesame Street on PBS in November 1969. It was produced by what is now known as Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop, known as CTW). In the United States, Saturday mornings were generally scheduled with cartoons from the 1960s to 1980s. In 1992, teen comedies and a "Today" show weekend edition were first to displace the cartoon blocks on NBC. Starting in September 2002,

5846-586: Was going on on-screen. This format did not persist, nor was it replicated, due to a number of factors unrelated to its popularity: children whose parents did not buy them the vinyl sheet would draw with crayons directly on the television screen itself, potentially causing expensive damage; there were also concerns that having children within arm's length of a television screen of the era could expose them to harmful radiation. Later and more recognisably modern shows for young children include Sesame Street , The Electric Company and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . In

5925-603: Was not a particularly high priority for the networks. This practice continued in a toned-down manner through the 1980s in the United States after the Federal Communications Commission prohibited tie-in advertising on broadcast television. These regulations did not apply to cable, which remains out of the reach of the FCC's content regulations. Due in part to the success of He-Man and the Masters of

6004-412: Was only seen on weekday mornings. From December 1955 until 1968, the show was also seen on Saturday mornings, except in the 1964–1965 season, when it was replaced by a Keeshan vehicle called Mr. Mayor . Except for pre-emption by news or special events, notably the four-day continuous coverage which followed the November 22, 1963, assassination of John F. Kennedy , and a few shows that were 45 minutes,

6083-519: Was still in planning stages, CBS executives had the idea of hiring Al Lewis, who was hosting a very popular kids' show at WCPO-TV in Cincinnati , to host their program. But when station management refused to release Lewis from his contract, they selected Keeshan to host. Lewis' own program, The Uncle Al Show , ended its run in Cincinnati a year after Captain Kangaroo left CBS. CBS aired

6162-578: Was used from the show's debut in 1955 until 1974. It was an instrumental piece of light music , written by Edward G. White and recorded by the Melodi Light Orchestra. The track was from a British stock music production library known as the Chappell Recorded Music Library, which was sold through a New York agency called Emil Ascher. The tune's original title referred to a British steam locomotive . The tune

6241-585: Was used on various programs on both sides of the Atlantic and was already popular in the United Kingdom: for example, two years before Captain Kangaroo , it served as the wrap-up music for an episode of the radio program Rocky Fortune called "Murder Among the Statues". In the United Kingdom, it became famous as the theme to the weekly BBC radio program Children's Favourites from 1952 to 1966, and

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