My earliest puppetry memory, barring Sesame Street, would have to be Captain Kangaroo's Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit. In fact, I think they might have predated SS for me. I also recall seeing Kukla Fran and Ollie, but not on their own show, just a clip of them on someone's variety show, in black and white.
Not sure the year, but somewhere in there was a show called Gigglesnort Hotel that I adored as a child, although I don't have any specific memories of the puppets; I was instead captivated by the character of Bob the Blob, and this led me to my love of modelling clay and sculpting.
There was also of course Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, although I pretty much ONLY watched it for the puppetry scenes in the Land of Make-Believe (and those wicked little dioramas of the LMB locations he kept in his kitchen, which no doubt sparked my love of detailed miniature environments). However, my friend Doug-- the one with the eidetic memory and huge IQ-- watched Mr. Rogers until we were in high school. He loved that show.
When we got cable, I loved Nickelodeon, so I got a lot of new puppet shows that way. First with Pinwheel, which my neighbor Craig and I both watched religiously and would quote often. I remember thinking that Plus and Minus were Bert and Ernie ripoffs, but Craig and I loved Ebenezer T. Squint, and would mimic the Admiral Bird to annoy his older sister.
Today's Special was another one we watched thanks to Nickelodeon. I can't recall much about any episodes, but the opening shots and theme song are burned in my brain.
Yes, I remember 'Madame' too, mostly from Hollywood Squares but also from the occasional prime-time show or guest spot on talk shows. In fact, I recently made a post on here about how I think Madame might be one of Statler's ex-wives.
Somehow, I never saw Great Space Coaster until the 90's, when a clip of Mark Hamill's appearance was included on a 'Star Wars Rarities' VHS that I bought; not surprisingly, that snippet appeared right after the Hamill Muppet Show on that same tape. It remains the only fragment of that show I've ever seen. "Mikey Hamster? Mick Jagger?!"
Someone mentioned Zoobilee Zoo on here. I kinda think maybe I watched that one, but I always got the name confused with New Zoo Revue, so things get a little muddled in my memory. If there was a poem on Zoobilee Zoo about endangered animals, with a line about "two dodo birds forgot the words, so they just hummed along", then I was powerfully moved by that prose and have been searching in vain for it since like 1991!
And Nickelodeon, since recategorized as Nick Jr., was also my introduction to Eureeka's Castle when I became an uncle around the time I went to college. My niece and nephews watched that show all the time. My Dad went to Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios Florida one time and had his picture made in front of the photo-op cutouts of Magellan, etc. just for the grandkids.
In fact, it's the vivid memory of the logo in that photo which made me pretty sure there were three E's in Eureeka. I double-checked it before I typed it just now.
Aside from all that, though, it was Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock. Those were the big three. I'm happy to report that I recently bought myself a vintage Grover puppet to replace the one that was lost in a move in 1975. My younger son played with it more than I did, because it fit his little 9-year-old arm better, so the torch is being passed. My older son is 12 and a half, but even he curled up on the sofa when we watched Sesame Street Spoofs tonight.
Alex
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