The Howdy Doody Show- 40 Episode Collection [DVD]

This set made me rediscover a treasure trove that says more about American entertainment, technology, consumerism, and society than many textbooks.This is one of television's very first shows, and the creative team was learning as they went, so judging it from the standpoint of today's taste may not yield the proper perspective. After i watched the shows in this set, i visited amazon for any and all books about the show and found one that tells the good and the not-so-good ("Say Kids, What TIme is It?"), Buffalo Bob's side of the story (""Howdy and Me") and the overwhelming amount of details, episodes and, most of all, merchandise ("Howdy Doody Collector's Reference"). It's a fascinating epic saga of how a show progressed from radio to TV as the baby boomers grew up, started buying stuff, and gradually needed more bells and whistles to amuse them (for instance, the more lavish Mickey Mouse Club, trouncing Howdy in the ratings, clearly influencing their more ambitious stories and effects).I even started buying the new shows from the 1970's, which are actually quite good for their genre, and feature many of the same talents behind the original show.Because the box does not list the episodes, I took the liberty of creating the following list, based on my learnings from various sources and the screen menus on the discs themselves.19492/1Howdy and the gang talk about greeting friends, making friends and working together. Buffalo Bob is not in his familiar costume yet and the show is more like its earlier radio version, with more kid participation. Howdy also uses the Flapdoodle and the Olde Time Movie starts out backwards and upside down. Howdy and Buff celebrate NBC's reach from New York to St. Louis.Song: "Yell Howdy Doody"3/8Howdy plays "Ask Howdy Doody;" he, Buff and Clarabell make a movie with a audience member named Sandra and we see an Olde Time Movie with Mickey McGuire.3/16Clarabell resets the clock so Buff and Howdy are sleeping instead of doing show so they play a trick on him with a fake newspaper; a live bunny appears from the Flapdoodle and Betty the animal lady appears; Buff hawks Howdy hand puppet toys; the Old Time Movie stars Mickey McGuire.8/3Rodeo Ray (Ray Forrest) is the guest host and plays a sight game with the kids; Howdy is in debt to Mr. Bluster; the Olde Time Movie is about a wedding & sailors; Ray does a handkerchief trick.Song: Cross the Street with Your Eyes19503/27Buffalo Bob (now in his famous costume), Clarabell, Howdy Doody and Flub-a-Dub are in Arizona searching for a Native American tribe to prove Buffalo Bob is truly Buffalo Bob so Bluster can't be president of the Peanut Gallery (which does not appear). Chief Featherman (who is afraid of Clarabell because he's also played by Bob Keeshan) helps Buff with the Magical Mars Coconut Doodle to hawk candy bars and mention a puppet offer. Olde Time Movie is about a man trying to marry the Police chief's daughter.5/1Flub-a Dub and Rodeo Ray host and look for clues to the mysterious 5 L's while Buff and Howdy are away, searching for clues; Flub suspects Dilly Dally of conspiring with Don Jose Bluster; the Olde Time Movie is about a Count.6/19Nine things have gone wrong, Buffalo Bob, Howdy and the gang are waiting for the return of Mr. Bluster for an answer to all the bad luck; Clarabell wears an "I was fired" sign; the Inspector (who was made from a second Howdy puppet) tries to figure out clues; in the Olde Time Movie, the Three Tons of Fun attend a kids' costume party; Buff shows how Three Musketeer bars break into three pieces; he and Clarabell put on Musketeer hats and sing the Three Musketeers song with Howdy and the kids.7/4A celebration of Independence Day; Howdy hawks Rice Krispies and the Snap, Crackle & Pop hand puppet offer; Buff and Clarabell use the Lollapalooza to figure out an anchor clue; they sing about and sell Colgate Toothpaste twice; Olde Time Movie about poachers and Mounties.Song: My Country `Tis of Thee7/10The gang tries to figure out the meaning behind the strange word "Abadabazaba Mr. Bluster has been speaking; Dayton Allen appears as Sir Archibald; Clarabell shares an issue of Movie Stars Parade with a Howdy article; Tons of Fun visit a ranch in the Olde Time Movie, two pitches for the Three Musketeers candy bar.8/3A nautical show with ''Captain'' Ugly Sam (played on camera by Dayton Allen doing a voice that similar to the one he would later do for Deputy Dawg); Rice Krispies hand puppet offer; Olde Time Movie takes place in a restaurant; Colgate jingle now says "you know it's right when it's red and white" to distinguish it from Ipana for kids who can't read yet; during a riddle game, Buff gives kids a Howdy comic, the first Howdy record album, the Air-O-Doodle and a song folio.Song: What Kind of Animal10/2The kids and cast sing the Halo Shampoo song followed by an animated Three Bears Halo commercial; Howdy announces the new Howdy Doody newspaper comic strip and the illustrators (Milt Neil and Chad Grothkopf) visit; Buff and Clarabell use a xylophone to lead into hawking Three Musketeers (with a sing along jingle); Olde Time Movie is about dog tricks.11/1Chief Chief Chickapaw (played, with noticeable unsteadiness at first, by Bill LeCornec) gives a suspicious drawing to Buffalo Bob as a gift from his Chigoochie tribe and does other mysterious things; the Olde Time Movie is about a girl's suitors and horseback riding; kids can draw their face in a Howdy Doody coloring book from Poll Parrot shoes; Buff and a Poll Parrot puppet hawk new shoes.Songs: The Howdy Doody Rhumba; The Friend Song19513/6Dr. Singasong (LeCornec) hosts while Buffalo Bob calls in on his radio from Canada; Buff hawks Rice Krispies with Sir Archibald tomorrow the solar eclipse will be on the show; Olde Time Movie is about college girls in a track meet, Singasong tells a Colgate story in pictures; Dilly tries to remember something; Clarabell finds a special feather.4/2Buffalo Bob hawks a periscope offer from Halo Shampoo; , Dilly Dally calls on the TalkaScope from Arizona; a Mickey McGuire Olde Time Movie; Three Musketeers commercial; Princess Summerfall Winterspring (in her original puppet form performed by Rhoda Mann) and Chief Thunderthud (LeCornec) and Flub-a-Dub discuss the problem of Clarabell's tricks.4/6The Welch's Grape Juice jingle and Howdy climber offer; the gang tries to figure out who is the owner of the oil and seltzer wells Dilly Dally and Oil Well Willy found in Arizona; Olde Time Movie with Mickey McGuire about a rodeo; singing and selling Ovaltine.5/2The Snickersdoodle Skyrocket Factory makes a poem and Snickers candy; Princess Summerfall Winterspring is the owner of the oil well, but her plans to share it look to get derailed by Bluster, who says there will be no oil for the Princess and everything can be confirmed by the mysterious Lanky Lou; Olde Time Movie about swimming the channel; Poll Parrot shoes offer Howdy detective disguise kit - so ask Mommy or Daddy to take you to buy shoes.10/1The gang trying to solve the mystery of Chief Thunderthud's Tententotube; Olde Time Movie stars Charley Chase; miniature Snickers factory and Snickers Special train; rodeo star Steve Hickock visits.10/17Three Musketeers Howdy Doody Christmas Card offer; Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doo hope to help Ugly Sam convince ''Chief'' Bluster that he is Chief Drippingwet; Ovaltine; the Tons of Fun have pack mule trouble in the Olde Time Movie is included in this episode.11/1Howdy dances with a Rice Krispies while the voice of Thurl Ravenscroft sings a jingle; Buffalo Bob, Howdy and Princess Summerfall Winterspring (now played on camera by Judy Tyler) discover the truth behind Mr. Bluster's picture of his grandmother; during a riddle game, a prize is a Howdy inflatable toy and a Howdy comic book; song and pitch for Halo Shampoo with a "Halo Movie" cartoon about Sir Lancelot and the Dragon; Olde Time Movie is about Harry Langdon in the army.Song: Let's Tell a Riddle19524/1The show starts upside down for April Fool's Day; Kellogg's all-star breakfast spot with Thurl Ravenscroft and chorus with celebrity boxes; first 1952 Wing Ding celebrating the states of Nebraska and Wisconsin; the Peanut Gallery (with the help of a Wing Ding Machine) must decide if Howdy Doody or Flub-a-Dub did a better job honoring the states; Kellogg's rocket beanie offer; Olde Time Movie is about Mickey McGuire out west; Colgate story in pictures;6/2Sheriff Lanky Lou hosts the show while Buffalo Bob is out in South Dakota for the ''Howdy Doody for President'' campaign. Meanwhile, the Circus Gang is trying to discover the true identity of Mister X and they discover their suspect, Chief Thunderthud, is not the mysterious candidate. After the Olde Time Movie, Mr. Bluster announces that Dilly Dally will be Mister X's Vice Presidential candidate.7/1Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody are disappointed to see Clarabell is campaigning for Mister X, pulling all sorts of pranks on Buffalo Bob on behalf of the mysterious candidate. Meanwhile, after the Howdy Doody Olde Time Movie, Chief Featherman arrives to dispute charges that he is Mister X.10/1Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody are trying to stop Mister X and his Fadoozler by using Howdy''s latest invention, the Switcheroo. Mister X is upset about Buffalo Bob and Howdy planning to use the Switcheroo so Buffalo Bob gives him until after the Olde Time Movie to decide if he's going to stop using the Fadoozler, otherwise Howdy will use the Switcheroo.11/3While Buffalo Bob is trying to bring back the missing votes for Howdy Doody from Rinklemyer''s Rest, Oil Well Willy is hosting the show with Howdy Doody, Clarabell and Flub-a-Dub. The Circus Gang tries to come up with a plan to help Buffalo Bob bring back the votes in time for counting for the election of President for Kids.12/1Clarabell tries to convince Buffalo Bob and Mr. Cobb he saw a mysterious bird with no feathers in Doodyville Park. A pair of penguins shows up in the park and they visit the Peanut Gallery after the Old Time Movie. Meanwhile, Clarabell's mysterious bird appears and looks to be very interested in Doodyville's Antarctic visitors.12/31Doodyville is celebrating a special Kids New Year's Eve for all the Peanut Gallery. In the meantime, Clarabell is still missing on the runaway horse that took him away eight days ago. Big Ben, the traveling circus ringmaster arrives to help ring in the New Year with the kids and some New Year's resolutions are made.19531/5Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody and the Circus Gang welcome back Inspector Fadoozle, who ran against Howdy Doody for President for Kids. They also welcome back the Flub-a-Dub from his visit to the mysterious Changing Island. Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody discover the Changing Island changes whoever visits it and the Bluster brothers are all on the island right now.1/6Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody try to help out J. Cornelius Cobb from being cheated out of his general store by Inspector Fadoozle and his partner Moose Marberry. In the meantime, the Bluster brothers are still stranded on the mysterious Changing Island, which has day and night at the same time. What mysterious proof does Inspector Fadoozle have to show Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody for his claim to the Cobb General Store?2/2Buffalo Bob, Princess Summerfall Winterspring and Chief Kongamucha set out on their search for the Jabawa horn. Meanwhile, Inspector Fadoozle plots with Clarabell to keep Chief Kongamucha from taking Clarabell's horn in exchange for Clarabell helping Fadoozle ruin Howdy Doody's show. How will Clarabell ruin Chief Kongamucha's search for the mysterious horn?4/1Buffalo Bob, Princess Summerfall Winterspring and Howdy Doody are trying to figure out the mysterious actions of Chief Thunderthud. Meanwhile, Clarabell's practical jokes result in Buffalo Bob getting knocked out. After the Old Time Movie, Buffalo Bob tells Chief Thunderthud to leave Doodyville forever but the Chief convinces Buffalo Bob he is sincere about changing his ways.5/1Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody and the Circus Gang are suspicious of Mr. Bluster's Contest. After Mr. Bluster provides the contest rules and the address, Buffalo Bob considers calling off the contest. But, with Mr. Bluster holding onto some of Buffalo Bob, Princess Summerfall Winterspring and Clarabell's clothes; Howdy pleads with Buffalo Bob to keep the contest going to get back their belongings and has a plan to help out.5/26Buffalo Bob, Princess Summerfall Winterspring and Howdy Doody are trying to find out the secret behind Mr. Bluster and Chief Thunderthud's Finnygurgle. Howdy Doody comes up with an idea to use his chattering chimpanzee plan in order to find out all the secrets about the mysterious secrets of the Finnygurgle.6/1Howdy Doody, Buffalo Bob and the rest are hoping to get some word on what the big announcement is that Mr. Bluster has promised to make. After a song and a Howdy Doody Olde Time Movie, Princess Summerfall Winterspring discovers her magic necklace is missing and Buffalo Bob finds his Buffalo Bob Belt missing. After finding the Princess'' necklace with a clue tied to it, Buffalo Bob and Howdy wonder what else is going to happen.7/2With Buffalo Bob in India searching for Miguel the Mexican, Oil Well Willy and Princess Summerfall Winterspring are hosting the show. The Circus Gang is hoping to wake up Miguel's twin brother Michael so they can show Buffalo Bob what he looks like to help find Miguel. Will friendly Michael wake up in time for the Circus Gang to talk to Buffalo Bob and show his face?8/3In order to protect the Quasher Squasher, Clarabell has come up with an alarm system that will catch the culprit red-handed. Chumley P. Grumley, the detective hired by Mr. Bluster to find the Quasher Squasher, shows up at the Clubhouse hoping to find the device. Will Chumley P. Grumley be able to outsmart Buffalo Bob and the Gang and steal the Quasher Squasher?12/24The Circus Gang is curious to see who the mystery guest Howdy Doody has for the Peanut Gallery. Everyone is wondering who the Super 75''er surprise is that Howdy is bringing to the Clubhouse. If it doesn't snow before 6:00 PM, the mystery guest will not appear in the Clubhouse and Mr. Bluster will win the contest.12/29It looks like Mr. Bluster had driven off Grandpa Doody from his visit to Doodyville and the Circus Gang is sad to see him gone. After the Olde Time Movie, Buffalo Bob and Clarabell use the Whatadoodle to show the Peanut Gallery highlights from 1953 and who they might see in 1954. Buffalo Bob and Howdy Doody find out that Captain Scuttlebutt is going to be stirring up things in Doodyville in 1954.19542/4Everyone in Doodyville is excited about the Doody Musicana contest and all the singing performances at this big event. After the dancing contest performance of Howdy Doody, Dilly Dally and the Inspector, the Doody Musicana contest looks to be pretty close. It looks like the musical contest may decide the winner and it's anybody's guess who will win! Will Mr. Bluster cheat his way into winning the Grand Prize?4/13Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody and the citizens of Doodyville put on a play to earn marbles to get a new Doodyville Fire Engine. After the Olde Time Movie, Buffalo Bob collects the marbles from the Peanut Gallery for the play and learns they are three marbles ahead of Mr. Bluster and Chief Thunderthud. Mr. Bluster plots to ruin Buffalo Bob and Howdy''s plans for the next marble-raising play and sends Chief Thunderthud to find out what the new play will be.6/7Buffalo Bob, Howdy Doody and the Circus Gang are searching for Captain Scuttlebutt's dog Windy, who Mr. Bluster wants to sign up to perform in his own circus. Mr. Bluster hires a magician to help locate Windy before Howdy Doody and the rest can. Will the mysterious mage be able to bring back Windy before Howdy and the gang can find him?BONUS DISC1/2/53 - 5TH ANNIVERSARYFred Allen is among the kids in the Peanut Gallery, who are asked about their favorite Howdy Doody moments; Fred chats with Howdy; he and Buff use the Scope-Doodle to watch an Old-Time Movie about boating; Princess Summerfall Winterspring brings out the cake; Buff, the Princess and Cornelius Cobb sing a "tom-tom" jingle for Welch's "Fresh Frozen" grape juice; congratulatory notes come in from TV Digest magazines, Milton Berle, Gabby Hayes, Paul Winchell, Sid Caesar, Dennis Day, Joe E. Brown, John Cameron Swayze, Herb Shriner and Groucho Marx; dishes turn out to be cookies, Buff asks a Peanut about Welch's Grape Juice (could be Herbert Hoover's grandson, who according to legend, was added to the already-full Gallery by working him into the commercial).Episode #1751 - 8TH ANNIVERSARY 12/31/54New Year's Eve and the show's 8th anniversary are celebrated with guest hosts Gabby Hayes and Bison Bill (played by Ted Brown, who subs for Bob Smith, who was recovering from a heart attack; Allen Swift does Howdy's voice in Smith's absence). A cake arrives from TV Guide; a picture story about Colgate and Happy Tooth; Gina Genardi, the third Princess Summerfall Winterspring, appears in this episode, singing with Dilly Dally; Bill brings on Zippy the chimp--and a Zippy doll--to prepare for the Olde Time Movie starring Ben Turpin; the Chief plugs a new record, "Howdy Doody's Magic Jukebox," and the latest comic book; Gabby heads west; Welch's grape jelly glasses with show characters on the jar bottom.Songs: Yippee-I, Yippee-O, Yippee-AEpisode #2343 - FINAL EPISODE 9/24/60The famous one hour, full color show in which the gang "remembers" events that are mostly skits and songs performed for this episode. Clarabell promises a big surprise at the end of the show. Buff looks through memorabilia, including awards; Sandra Witch helps Buff find the invisible Peanut Gallery; Nabisco Wheat & Rice Honeys cereals; reminiscing about Howdy's presidential campaign; a filmed ad for Howdy characters rings in Nabisco cereal boxes, musical goodbyes from Mambo the Elephant, Tizzy the Dinosaur, Hide and Zeke the bears and Tom Turtle; Captain Scuttlebutt and Buff look at magazines including a TV Guide from 1952 and a 1855 TV-Radio Mirror, in which the show won awards; Buff and Corny talk about the many sponsors and products; Corny remembers when Buff and Clarabell took a magic carpet to the land of Balloona; photos from the Howdy Doody scrapbook; footage of an appearance in St. Paul for the Winter Carnival; Buff and the Chief recall when it "rained indoors; Buff says they won't be around to remind them, but to remember that reading is fun; Buff says goodbye to Dilly Dally, Flub-A-Dub and Sandra Witch; then Howdy, Buff, Corny and Clarabell, with luggage, sing their Goodbye song for the last time. The show ends with one of the most famous moments in TV history: Clarabell, trembling and dazed, looks at America and says, "Goodbye, kids," and blinks away tears. You can hear emotional murmurs as the picture fades to black. The closing credits roll over a darkened Doodyville hotel set before the announcement of next week's premiere of "The Shari Lewis Show" and Sunday's broadcast of "National Velvet." You can hear someone say, "Thanks, everybody" during the final fade.THIS DISC ALSO INCLUDES:* TIMELINE* SLIDESHOW* "HOWDY DOODY: THE EARLY YEARS" DOCUMENTARY (edited from the Archive of American Television interviews)

Here's a rarity, almost an impossibility. The Howdy Doody show, FORTY episodes of late 1940s and early 1950s childrens's television, restored for all to enjoy! The quality is very good throughout, judging that most of the five discs are kinescopes, some with wavering sound. Some of the earliest memories I have of the show were not so much the puppets, but the clips from old time movies that showed up on Howdy's program. A Ton of Fun, referred to by Bob Smith as "The Three Tons of Fun", introduced me to silent comedy. The Smith Family with little Mary Ann Jackson, later to star in the Our Gang comedies for Hal Roach, really stands out in these 1920s Sennett reels. Buffalo Bob makes it tough to find out who REALLY starred in some of the comedies by making up names for the actors, like "Bullets" and "Mary Schnikelfritz",and sometimes throwing in names of his old friends and crew members in place of the real names of the actors. It's a rare treat to see the show through from it's very early days when Howdy was so polite that he always called Buffalo Bob "Mr. Smith", the Dayton Allen era of Ugly Sam and his hilarious version of the Flub-A-Dub narrating an old time movie, to the remarkable use of Allen Swift's voice as Phineas T. Bluster and others after Dayton was fired. We can see the evolution of Clarabelle from Bob Keeshan through Lew Anderson and witness how the clown changed from a child-clown who squirted seltzer at the Peanut Gallery and Bob Smith to the skilled trombone player and juggler who STILL squirted seltzer on all and sundry. There is a remarkable show with Milt Neil the cartoonist on the Howdy Doody comic strip doing team-up drawings with a fellow artist where Milt does one side of a character's head at the same time the other artist does the other side of the head, resulting in a perfectly balanced drawing that looks like the work of one artist! Disc 5 is my favorite. It contains the 5th, 8th and last (the 13th) anniversary programs. Fred Allen actually takes a seat in the Peanut Gallery on the 5th anniversary show, making fun of Buffalo Bob not being able to appear on-camera with the Howdy puppet (Bob Smith did Howdy's voice in the early shows) and "helping" Bob Smith narrate the old-time movie. Although not in the best of health, Fred Allen is a lot of fun to watch in this program. Gabby Hayes is featured on the 8th anniversary program in a funny suitcase packing routine with Clarabelle, and of course the last program from 1960 in color ends with Clarabelle's famous "Goodbye, Kids" in a pretty decent looking color copy. There is a half-hour of oral history provided by the television Academy on Disc 5 as well, with Bob Smith, Ed Kean the writer of the show, Bob Keeshan and others giving interviews. Keeshan betrays not a shred of bitterness at his poor treatment on the show, but speaks well of his role as Clarabelle and working with Bob Smith. It's still a great comfort to spend time with "Mr. Smith" after all these years, his charisma and love of the Peanuts still comes through after more than 50 years, especially when he pitches products. The growth of advertising to children in these early programs is especially revealing, starting with almost no sponsors and ending with too many. It's interesting that the Kellogg's cereal and Halo shampoo commercials are the only ones to use full cel animation in this pioneering era. It's so rare and remarkable to see this much early "kidvid" on home video, an era when there was little regulation and no knowledge of television's impact on children. Yet, there is a cozy spirit of friendliness and hospitality in these Howdy Doody shows that is largely missing from the kid's video scene today. Mr. Rogers is one of the few "live" kid's hosts whose show is still running today that has some of the "Smith" charisma with children, and he's dead! So pick this up, buy two or three and send them to your friends. Maybe NBC-Universal will release a 40 episoder of "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" someday, or the Bob Clampett estate will release a big set of "Beany and Cecil" puppet shows on DVD! Let's show them that there is a demand for this kind of show on home video!

I was all set for some nostalgia, but found a whole lot more. If you think TV is awful now, you must get this set--it was way worse. I watched early episodes with my grandson and we both laughed till we cried. Not because they were cute, but because we couldn't believe early TV was so 'rustic'. We've come a long way, baby.As a young child, like most others, I was glued to this program and obviously thought it was super at the time, but looking at it as an adult all these years later is very enlightening. Yes, it reminded me of what we looked like and how innocent the kids in the Peanut Gallery were compared to young ones these days, and it showed how difficult live TV was then. It is now, too, but they were just figuring things out then and it showed. The props and credits were anything but sophisticated and there was a good bit of fumbling around, but my favorite part was the commercial. Yes, the ONE commercial in the half hour segment. It was easily 3 seconds long and consisted of showing a sign with a picture of the product--Mars Bar 5 cents--and everyone was sufficiently embarrassed even to do that that they felt the need to offer a toy for 5 cents in gratitude for our watching it. Oh, how we've changed.If you remember Howdy Doody fondly from childhood, you'll get a kick out of seeing the characters again, but even if you're just curious about early TV, in case you think they were the good old days, you have to see this. They weren't. I didn't remember the silent movies in early episodes that were narrated, badly, by Buffalo Bob, nor the fact that Howdy was so big or so bossy. These episodes are a selection of the best, so they say. I can't imagine what the worst looked like. Simply hilarious and definitely recommended.

Arrived as advertised, in perfect condition and well before the promised delivery date. Was a gift and recipient delighted.

I was not aware that the Canadian version was different than the American and I would like to remember the version I saw as a kid. It was interesting to see the history of the show.