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52-425: Programmed to air between the host segments of Saturday Night Live , TV Funhouse parodied such genres as 1950s educational films, Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera / Filmation cartoons of the 1970s and 1980s, and the 1960s stop motion holiday specials of Rankin/Bass . Any episode of Saturday Night Live that has TV Funhouse in it would be listed by the announcer as "A cartoon by Robert Smigel". The animation

104-511: A rap music number in the forest. Also in the sketch are moments involving some of Disney's darker issues, as well as some pornographic humor. On April 15, 2006, Robert Smigel again parodied Disney's home video moratorium policy , as well as Walt Disney 's alleged racism and anti-Semitism . When two kids are brought to the Disney Vault by Mickey Mouse , they find Walt's frozen head, several controversial things that were never released,

156-831: A ventriloquial figure – was named Oogie. His on-air interaction with off-camera staff and sidekicks is somewhat in the style of what Howard Stern and Chelsea Handler would later do. Local bands such as The Smithereens , The Shades, and R. Stevie Moore , along with such well-known performers as The Ramones , Tiny Tim , Benny Bell , Bon Jovi , Jan and Dean , Peter Tork , Squeeze , David Johansen , Blue Öyster Cult , Joe Jackson , and Cyndi Lauper also appeared on Vivino's program. The show made its debut on UA-Columbia Cable TV of New Jersey, now part of Cablevision , on January 29, 1974. Beginning in November 1974 it aired on UHF-TV station WBTB-TV , Newark , broadcasting on channels 68 and 60, which later became WTVG, then WWHT, as

208-464: A fan of Vivino's television show, recorded the song "Slip Away" on his 2002 album, Heathen , as a tribute. The lyrics mention Uncle Floyd and his puppets "Oogie" and "Bones Boy". When asked how he had learned of the show, Bowie replied " John Lennon told me about it." He has also mentioned Iggy Pop regularly watching the show. While in Berlin in 2002 touring for his Heathen album, Bowie said "This

260-596: A musical revue starring the school's janitorial staff. Vivino began his live performance career working as a child tap dancer in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and began his broadcast career over a friend's pirate radio station while in high school. Vivino is the older brother of Jerry Vivino and Jimmy Vivino , who were members of the Basic Cable Band , formerly known as the Max Weinberg 7 . Vivino

312-469: A panda. The set was struck by detonating a puppet panda (full of innards for realism) on the set, splattering everywhere. Staged as a satirical accident, Doug replied with the word "Cut". Eventually, the Anipals reunite with an injured Doug. John Ritter guest stars as a speaker for Claredelon, the cosmetic company doing the animal testing. Saturday morning cartoons " Saturday-morning cartoon "

364-556: A second weekly Garage Sale Music program began airing and streaming on Sundays 9:00-Noon over WFDU 89.1 FM in Teaneck, New Jersey . The WVOX program ended in September 2018, returning to The Italian-American Serenade format. In January 2013, Vivino began the internet-based radio program The Uncle Floyd Radio Show which can be streamed twice a week from the show's website and through various SHOUTcast mobile apps and links. Vivino

416-590: A sketch featuring Bozo and a speaking outhouse , voiced by Stephen Colbert . In 2002, Smigel said of Fox declining to show the pilot: "I know this thing is all about 'Fuck the networks! They're idiots! But I don't know...This show has a disturbing element." In June 2009, Just for Laughs sponsored an event at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago to present the pilot, “I wanted to do the Bozo parody as close to

468-560: A spin-off show entitled "The Eleventh Hour". The show was written and produced in the same vein as The Uncle Floyd Show . It was broadcast live from studios in Nutley, New Jersey on the statewide CTN cable network, and on two Northern New Jersey public access channels, Cablevision of Oakland and Suburban Cablevision of New Jersey in East Orange (later acquired by Comcast Corporation). In 1998, production of The Uncle Floyd Show began in

520-556: A tequila worm and a Puerto Rican Mexican-food delivery guy. The Anipals compare New Year's resolutions: Hojo wants to learn to play the saxophone, Chickie hangs out with his brother with Tourette syndrome , and Fogey must resist eating his own poop . Meanwhile, Doug dresses as a caveman and builds a dinosaur skeleton out of baby back ribs, and Rocky the Fish takes a group of kids to visit a cookie factory. Part 1 of 2. The Anipals travel to Atlantic City to visit Fogey's old friend, Triumph

572-510: Is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks . The genre was a tradition from broadly the mid-1960s to mid-2010s; over time its popularity declined, in the face of changing cultural norms, increased competition from formats available at all times, and heavier media regulations. In

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624-584: Is also the uncle of musical theater actress Donna Vivino . The Uncle Floyd Show aired in New Jersey and New York from 1974 to 1998. It can be read as a children's show or a parody of a children's show. Much of the humor has a twist aimed at adults, in the style of shows by predecessor Soupy Sales (1950s-1970s), and later Pee-wee Herman (1980s). The show featured character comedy, puppetry, some audience participation, musical guests, and Vivino's piano playing. One of Vivino's puppet sidekicks – actually

676-470: Is another new song. It's about a television hero in America from '70s that myself, and Lennon and Iggy Pop used to watch in the afternoons. Crazy guy, and we were very addled and used to love fooling around watching this guy Uncle Floyd. And his song is called "Slip Away". This story is also told in the 2024 documentary Flipside , which features Uncle Floyd. The song "Work for Food" by Dramarama , on

728-594: Is licking itself named Furball; and a three-piece TV Funhouse Band, fronted by Floyd Vivino . Some of the segments featured include: Prozo leading the studio audience in song: "If you're Jewish and you know it, clap your hands!" a sketch in which the clowns reenact the Camp David Accords between Bill Clinton , Yasir Arafat , and Benjamin Netanyahu with a trolly full of pies, and an episode of The Ambiguously Gay Duo , among others. A deleted scene showed

780-646: The Cablevision studio in Oakland, New Jersey . One hundred shows were produced and aired on Cablevision systems throughout the region. Musical guests included Marky Ramone and The Misfits . Although viewer response was enthusiastic, the show was canceled by Cablevision management after the first cycle of episodes. Vivino has appeared on several television shows filmed in New York City including Law & Order , 100 Centre Street , and Cosby , and

832-594: The "very original version" of Song of the South that Walt only screened at parties, and Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog bound and gagged in a chair, Mickey Mouse breaks down and quotes "He wouldn't sell! He wouldn't sell...!" (a reference to a broken deal between The Jim Henson Company and The Walt Disney Company c.  1990 following Henson's death; Disney bought the Muppets franchise in 2004, 2 years prior to

884-465: The 1960s and 1970s as performed by alternative rock artists. The Netflix animated series Saturday Morning All Star Hits! parodies the mid-1980s to early 1990s era of Saturday-morning animation, such as Thundercats , Care Bears , ProStars , and Denver, the Last Dinosaur . The science fiction animated series Futurama also spoofed 1970s and 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons in

936-663: The 1970s, these groups exercised enough influence, especially with the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission , that the television networks felt compelled to impose more stringent content rules for the animation houses. In 1978, the Federal Trade Commission was openly considering a ban on all advertising during television programming targeting preschoolers, and severe restrictions on other children's program advertising, both of which would have effectively killed off

988-504: The 1990s. Such examples included Disney's Disney Afternoon in syndication, Fox 's Fox Kids , UPN 's UPN Kids , CBS 's CBS Saturday , The WB 's Kids' WB , and Amazin' Adventures (later Bohbot Kids Network) in syndication. From 1992 however, the "Big Three" traditional major networks and their affiliates began replacing their Saturday-morning animated programming with weekend editions of their morning magazines . and live-action teen-oriented series. Multiple factors contributed to

1040-666: The 1994 album Hi-Fi Sci-Fi features the Uncle Floyd Show in the lyrics. Footage of Vivino as Cowboy Charlie also appears in the video for the song. The members of Dramarama were from Wayne, New Jersey and made their first television appearance on The Uncle Floyd Show . The Ramones also recognized The Uncle Floyd Show in their song "It's Not My Place (In the Nine to Five World)", as well as in various live appearances. Also, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone could often be seen wearing an Uncle Floyd Show T-shirt in pictures of

1092-489: The Fish have a luau all by themselves while the Anipals help Chickie rescue his 95th son, Jason, from a cult. The Anipals tap Doug's spine to extract his Christmas cheer. After one of Chickie's sons helps to turn the cheer into powder, the Anipals become addicts. The Anipals appear on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show to help Dave, an endangered lizard, to get laid, leaving Doug to celebrate Mexican Day with

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1144-576: The Insult Comic Dog , where Chickie falls in love with a chimp-stitute. Robert Goulet guest stars. Part 2 of 2. Still in Atlantic City, the Anipals attempt to "unstick" Triumph before his big show. Meanwhile, Doug tries to achieve weightlessness while dressed as an astronaut. The Anipals ditch the Funhouse to enter the lucrative, glamorous world of laboratory animal testing, as Doug celebrates Chinese New Year's Day and makes fireworks with

1196-744: The Masters of the Universe and continuing with such series as The Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . These were heavily criticized by ACT, but were nevertheless successful. As well, several more lighthearted series appeared, popularized by Hanna-Barbera’s The Smurfs and Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies . These included series based on popular video games , such as Saturday Supercade . Despite increased competition from cable television networks (such as Nickelodeon , Cartoon Network , and Disney Channel ), Saturday-morning and weekday cartoon blocks continued to remain popular in

1248-487: The United States, The CW continued to air non-E/I cartoons as late as 2014; among the "Big Three" traditional major networks, the final non-E/I cartoon to date ( Kim Possible ) was last aired in 2006. This era continues to be satirized and/or spoofed in popular culture. The tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits was released in 1995, featuring covers of Saturday-morning cartoon themes from

1300-453: The change, among them the introduction of people meters that children found difficult to operate in the mid-1980s, an increasingly competitive market fueled by the multi-channel transition , a boom in first-run syndicated content and the introduction of home video and video games , increasing restrictions on advertising and educational content mandates , and broader cultural changes stemming from an increase in no-fault divorces and

1352-503: The day. The theme song describes this show as the "last cartoon show of the day". This show didn't show any cartoons from The Ambiguously Gay Duo , The Michael Jackson Show , and/or The X-Presidents despite some of its characters appearing in the theme song. The Comedy Central version of TV Funhouse premiered in December 2000 and was not picked up for a second season. Interviews with Smigel indicate that Comedy Central believed in

1404-417: The end of the post-World War II baby boom . Attempting to pair the newscasts with the remaining cartoons was largely unsuccessful because the two program formats drew widely different audiences that did not lend themselves to leading in and out of each other , leading to viewership oddities (such as NBC's children's block having an average viewership age of over 40 years old); by the late 2010s, all of

1456-629: The episode " Saturday Morning Fun Pit ". Floyd Vivino Floyd Vivino (born October 19, 1951), known professionally as Uncle Floyd , is an American television, film, and stage performer primarily known for his comedy/variety TV show The Uncle Floyd Show (1974–1998). Vivino was born in Paterson, New Jersey to Jerry Vivino Sr., a jazz trumpeter, and Emily Vivino. He grew up in Paterson, Point Pleasant , Island Heights , and Glen Rock . He attended Glen Rock High School where he produced

1508-477: The format; the commission ultimately dropped the proposal. The networks were encouraged to create educational spots that endeavored to use animation and/or live-action for enriching content, including the Schoolhouse Rock! series on ABC which became a fondly-remembered television classic. With the 1970s came a wave of animated versions of popular live-action prime time series as well, mainly with

1560-516: The generally accepted times for these and other children's programs to air on Saturday mornings were from 8:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone . Until the late 1970s, American networks also had a schedule of children's programming on Sunday mornings, though most programs at this time were repeats of Saturday-morning shows that were already out of production. In some markets, some shows were pre-empted in favor of syndicated or other types of local programming . Beginning in

1612-478: The internet at StageIt.com/SGE-Inc every Tuesday night at 8:00PM Eastern time. The first band to refer to The Uncle Floyd Show in a song was the Johnny Gork Band from Flemington, New Jersey in the early 1980s, released on a 45 rpm single. Johnny and the band appeared on the show, during which Uncle Floyd said he was honored and humbled to have a band produce a record about the show. David Bowie ,

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1664-564: The largest collection of Italian records in the world. The program was revived on sister station WVOX 1460 AM in September 2018. In 1999, Vivino set a world record for non-stop piano playing, having played for 24 hours and 15 minutes in a charity event to raise money for a sick child. In more than 40 years in show business, Vivino has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for various charities and causes. In April 2013, Uncle Floyd's Garage Sale Music began on WVOX 1460 in New Rochelle,

1716-409: The last years of the genre's existence, Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were primarily created and aired on major networks to meet "educational and informational" (E/I) requirements . Minor television networks, in addition to the non-commercial PBS in some markets, continued to air animated programming on Saturday and Sunday while partially meeting those mandates. In the United States,

1768-490: The major American networks had shifted to live-action documentary programming, ostensibly targeted at teenagers to meet the educational mandates but less likely to cause a clash with the newscasts. This documentary programming also benefited from having less restrictive rules for advertising compared to programming targeted to children. Saturday-morning and Sunday-morning cartoons were largely discontinued in Canada by 2002. In

1820-479: The mid-1960s, the Saturday-morning timeslot would feature a great deal of series appropriate for children, although most of these were reruns of animated series originally broadcast in prime time and adventure series made in the 1950s, as well as telecasts of older cartoons made for movie theaters . Later in the decade, the slot would be dominated by superhero and action cartoon series, influenced by

1872-545: The movies Good Morning, Vietnam , Crazy People and Mr. Wonderful . He also shot a scene for One-Trick Pony which was deleted. In 2000, Vivino played the bit part of an announcer in the Insane Clown Posse movie, Big Money Hustlas . From 1987 to 2013, Vivino broadcast on WVIP-FM 93.5 radio from New Rochelle, New York , where he played a wide range of Italian music on his Sunday afternoon program, The Italian-American Serenade . He claims to have

1924-544: The real thing ( Bob Bell ) as possible,” Smigel said in the Q&;A after, “I didn’t want to do the angry clown thing.” The spinoff series was somewhat of a twisted Pee-Wee's Playhouse -style children's TV show, hosted by Doug Dale and his "Anipals" puppet friends. Every episode had a different theme to it (e.g., "Hawaiian Day" or "Astronaut Day") and saw the Anipals usually getting into some sort of trouble, not wanting to do whatever their happy-go-lucky host had in mind for

1976-472: The show, but was disappointed in how it went over budget every episode. Smigel has also expressed how difficult the show was and how tedious the puppet-live animal segments were to shoot. The show was released on DVD July 22, 2008, under the title Comedy Central's TV Funhouse . Doug must wrangle up his own fun when the Anipals ditch him to head for high times south of the border in Tijuana . Doug and Rocky

2028-403: The show. The pilot began with an episode of "Fun With Real Audio." Next in the studio, a character named "Ringmaster Ted" introduces the show and its characters as he stands in front of the audience filled with children and parents. Prozo, “most people’s favorite clown,” played by Smigel; his “kooky pal Looky,” played by Doug Dale; “the mysterious Wizzy,” played by Stamatopoulos; a cat puppet that

2080-601: The sister station to his former radio outlet, WVIP. This show features an eclectic variety of records from Vivino's large personal collection, most of which he found in thrift shops, yard sales and curbside garbage piles. The program also features discussion between Vivino and co-host Scott Gordon about the music and artists whose recordings are heard on the show, many of whom Vivino worked with personally during his long career. There are also segments featuring written comments and questions submitted by listeners. Beginning in June 2014,

2132-442: The sketch). On April 29, 2006, NBC aired a full-length, 90-minute SNL "best of" special for TV Funhouse . The special was hosted by The Ambiguously Gay Duo interacting with the current SNL cast with a cameo from Jimmy Fallon . The special was released on DVD October 24, 2006. In 1998, Fox commissioned a pilot from Smigel and Stamatopoulos. An earlier version of what would become Comedy Central's show, "Saturday TV Funhouse"

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2184-497: The station's ownership changed. The show's first cast members in 1974 included Pat Cupo, Bob D. Caterino – known for his Groucho Marx skits, and Marc Nathan, the cameraman. Later members were Scott Gordon, Craig "Mugsy" Calam, Richard "Netto" Cornetto, Jim Monaco, Art "Looney Skip" Rooney, Charlie Stoddard, David "Artie Delmar" Burd, and Clark the Wonder Dog. A phonograph album based on the show, The Uncle Floyd Show Album ,

2236-491: The success of Space Ghost . These were heavily criticized by parents for their violence. By 1972, most action programming had been removed from the Saturday-morning slot, following pressure from parents' lobbying groups such as the Action for Children's Television (ACT). These groups voiced concerns about the presentation of commercialism , violence, anti-social attitudes and stereotypes in Saturday-morning cartoons. By

2288-402: The voices of the original casts, as well as imitations of the highly successful Scooby-Doo combining teen characters and talking animals with supernatural mystery stories. By 1982, under President Ronald Reagan , the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had loosened programming and advertising regulations, leading to the era of "half-hour toy commercials", starting with He-Man and

2340-472: Was a dark parody of Bozo , with Smigel playing Prozo, a half-drunk clown. While living in Chicago , Smigel became fascinated with WGN-TV 's Bozo’s Circus . He researched old television shows, and with the help of Doug Dale , who played fellow clown Looky, found footage of 1970s children shows such as Gigglesnort Hotel and The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show . After that they started coming up with ideas for

2392-583: Was a regular on the Sirius Satellite Radio program The Wiseguys Show on Raw Dog Comedy (channel 104) hosted by former The Sopranos cast member Vincent Pastore . Vivino performed the jingle of, as well as appeared in the TV commercial for, the frontier-themed amusement park "Wild West City", located in Netcong, New Jersey , a jingle that is still used today by the park. He has also had parts in

2444-472: Was involved with Disney "making it up" to Lewis by placing him in various Disney animated movies . Lewis would be shown fleeing the scene of Disney character death scenes, frequently uttering "I didn't see nothin'!" "Bambi 2002," a poke at Disney's penchant for direct-to video sequels at the time, imagines a sequel to the original movie where Bambi's mother turns up alive. The title character fights stylized terrorist types, meets Jared Fogle , and performs

2496-500: Was produced by J.J. Sedelmaier Productions for its first three seasons until Wachtenheim/Marianetti Animation took over primary animation production duties. The February 10, 2001, episode, "Ray of Light," parodies the controversy over Ray Lewis 's involvement in an Atlanta homicide. Although Lewis went on to become the Super Bowl XXXV MVP , he was unable to utter the famous line " I'm going to Disney World! " The skit

2548-805: Was released on Mercury Records , and a number of 45 rpm singles on the Bioya label were released around 1979–83. Vivino has also released a few CDs as a solo artist. In 1982, The Uncle Floyd Show went into a small syndication circuit which included 17 markets, among them WNBC-TV channel 4 in New York, then WTAF-TV channel 29 in Philadelphia , WPWR-TV Channel 60 in Chicago , WSBK-TV Channel 38 in Boston and WHCT-TV Channel 18 in Hartford. It aired right after SCTV on WNBC. The national syndication deal

2600-493: Was seen as a huge step forward for the show, which up until that point could only be viewed in and around New Jersey and New York City on a single UHF channel and, at times, local cable. From 1983 to 1986, The Uncle Floyd Show ran on the statewide PBS network, NJN New Jersey Network , which consisted of 4 channels: WNJS (Channel 23, Camden), WNJN (Channel 50, Montclair), WNJB (Channel 58, New Brunswick) and WNJT (Channel 52, Trenton). Starting in late 1986, The Uncle Floyd Show

2652-645: Was selected to be the vocalist on Vince Giordano's 2020 recording of Ain't Misbehavin' but was replaced by Loudon Wainwright III due to a conflicting appearance commitment. Vivino hosted and starred in The Last Authentic American Traveling Burlesque Show , a tribute to the lost entertainment style of burlesque . Starting in November 2020, Vivino, along with long-time collaborator, Scott Gordon, began live-streaming old episodes and segments from Gordon's archive of 700 hours of video. These can be seen on StageIt on

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2704-549: Was then seen on statewide cable channel CTN ("The Cable Television Network Of New Jersey"). During this time, the show went through various incarnations with Vivino sometimes hosting a music-only show, showcasing local bands. Vivino also hosted a show called Uncle Floyd's New Jersey , in which he would visit various towns and businesses in the state. First-run production of The Uncle Floyd Show ended in 1992, with CTN showing repeats until that channel's demise in 1999. From 1992 until 1996, cast member Mugsy produced and appeared in

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