Kukla, Fran and Ollie - The First Episodes: 1949-54

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/47168/kukla-fran-and-ollie-the-first-episodes-1949-54/

List Price: $14.95

The Show:

I really love early television. Back in the days when the medium was young, no one really knew what the public would want to watch or how to bring in viewers. As a cost cutting measure the shows were more often live than not, and that meant that the performers had to get it right the first time. One of the earliest shows was a children's puppet show created by Burr Tillstrom, Kukla, Fran, and Ollie. Consisting of a cast of puppets operated by Tillstrom with a live host, comedienne and singer Fran Allison, the program first aired in 1947. To give you an idea of how early that is, I Love Lucy and the first Honeymooners sketch wouldn't first appear until 1951, Mr. Television himself, Milton Berle, wouldn't host Texaco Star Theater until June of the following year and even Howdy Doody himself wasn't on the air until a couple of months after Tillstrom started his show. Running for just a few months shy of a decade in it's original incarnation, and then appearing in several new versions over the following decades, Tillstrom and his creation had a lasting impact on television. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1986.



FULL story at link.

[supernova]

1. Kukla, Fran, and Ollie introduced me to foreign films

:D

They used to show children's films from all over the world. Sometimes dubbed, sometimes subtitled.

Gave me a life long passion for independent and international films.

:loveya: K, F, and O

[pokerfan]

2. Reminds me of 'My Favorite Year'

Peter O’Toole is a screen star about to get a harsh introduction to the realities of live television...

BENJY: You look great. How do you feel?

ALAN: I feel surprisingly well, Stone. Thank you. In fact, I feel so well I’m going to make a prediction. It usually takes me two or three takes just to warm up, but tonight, I predict I’m going to get it on the first take.

BENJY: We always get it on the first take. We have to.

ALAN: You do?

BENJY: Sure. This is live television.

ALAN: Live. Live? What does live mean?

BENJY: It means that at the exact moment you’re cavorting and leaping around that stage over there, 20 million people are seeing it.

ALAN: Wait a minute. Wait a minute!

BENJY: Mr. Swann, you’re white.

ALAN: You mean it all goes into the camera lens and just spills out into people’s houses?!

BENJY: Yeah.

ALAN: I don’t know why anyone would have explained this to me before.

BENJY: There’s nothing to worry about, Mr. Swann. Our audiences are great!

ALAN: Audience, what audience? Audience?

BENJY: You knew there was an audience. What did you think those seats were for?

ALAN: I haven’t performed in front of an audience for 28 years. Audience? I played a butler. I HAD ONE LINE!!!... I forgot it.

BENJY: Don’t worry. This is gonna be easy.

ALAN: For you, maybe. Not for me. I’m not an actor; I’m a movie star!

[Golden Raisin]

3. "Go brush your tooth Ollie!"

KF&O was great. Anyone else remember Miss Frances' Ding Dong School from the same era?