Old Puppet PSAs, Commercials and Other Appearances

[Convincing John]

Hey all,

I was just wondering if anyone cared to ramble on about any puppet work that was done for Public Service Announcements, commercials or other short inserts for TV back in the 70's and early 80's.

When I was growing up with a lot of Saturday morning cartoons, I used to see these all the time. When there weren't many channels to choose from, I would see these "almost Muppets" on the screen some Saturday or weekday afternoon in the summer.

Check these out:

PSAs with the Abominable Snowman...and a PSA with singing pills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiUQKuZF85w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqyJVw-DhPg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB7Gk4T1r9M

And here's a show called "Kids' Break" (which I don't remember, I just stumbled across):

http://captain20.com/kidsbreak.htm
(Click on the green Cookie Monsteresque creature to see an episode)

http://kidshow.dcmemories.com/kbreak.html

Yeah, some of the puppets were pretty crude compared to the Muppets (check out Milton M. Milton) the lip synch was off at times, the sound was kind of muffled (like a lot of programming was back then) and the filming was low budget and grainy...

But still, there's a quaintness to these segments. This type of intermittent puppetry on TV was a part of my childhood, they were simple, and I remember enjoying them as a kid (especially the Abominable Snowman ones).

These segments kind of take you back when TV was simpler than today, and everything didn't have to be pristine perfect and fully examined before it was aired.

These segments (to me anyway) have kind of a "Rocky and Bullwinkle" appeal. With Rocky and Bullwinkle, people didn't care about the crudely painted backgrounds or the nonsense inserts (Rocky and Bullwinkle sprouting like flowers comes to mind). It was just simple and fun to watch.

Anyone remember any puppet-related inserts, commercials or stuff like these bits that aired at some sporadic time in your chilhood?

I (very fuzzily) remember one about something on Nickelodeon. My sister loved "Pinwheel", and this other segment came on after it. It was of two puppets that were named either "Poofy and Foofie" or something like that. One was basically a blobby, tan throw pillow with a Telly Monster-like face. The other was a cylinder-shaped...something with no arms or legs, a head like a medium sized lavender AM Muppet and...bunny-like ears. Anyway, they were filmed in a crib (yeah a crib) against a black backdrop. They played some kind of game while the wobbly camera tried to keep them in focus. The crib, by the way, had no floor beneath it. It just floated in space! To quote "Weird. Weird show."

What other puppet stuff do you guys remember?

Convincing John

 

[Buck-Beaver]

The Uncle Bobby Show!

(it's a Canadian thing)

 

[ravagefrackle]

to bad it wasnt the better version of the old pill PSA,

havnet seen that one in Decades

 

[muppetperson]

In the mid to late 60's,the Gerry Anderson "Thunderbirds" marionettes did road safety commercials, but they seemed to have been lost from the archives
......Unless anyone has private copies?

 

[MGov]

"B.J. and the Dirty Dragon" in Chicago.

http://www.chicagotelevision.com/wfldtv.htm

Bill Jackson (B.J.) started as Freckles the Clown on "Clown Alley" with the Dirty Dragon puppet that he voiced himself. The show then became "Cartoon Town" and Jackson was B.J., mayor of Cartoon Town. He also added several more puppets, all of whom he voiced and often puppeteered. That show changed its name to "The B.J. and Dirty Dragon Show" and was very popular in Chicago. A friend of mine (who is much older than me) worked as a puppeteer for the show until it changed again to "Gigglesnort Hotel" and began running just once a week (my friend couldn't afford the once a week gig after the five days a week job). Bill Jackson owns the copyright on "Gigglesnort Hotel" and sells the DVD's at the website below.

http://www.dirtydragon.com/

 

[MGov]

By the way, I remember the Abominable Snowman PSA's.

 

[TheCreatureWork]

In Canada this PSA was hillarious!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyl5Mwr84MA
As a teen we always joked that they were singing about something else.
Now at 33, I finally figured out they were singing about rat poison

 

[Tim]

About "puppets in cribs" anyone see Marlo Thomas' "Free To Be You & Me" with the newborn foam puppets "discovering" each other? Marlo voiced the girl and Mel Brooks voiced the boy. Wayland Flowers (Madame) did the puppetry.

Now if anyone can come up with a copy of "The B.B. Beagle Show" PM me!

 

[wes]

The only one I remember is O.G. Readmore from Saturday mornings and during the week he would do psa on reading which was his thing, does anyone remember him?

 

[Da Dogster]

I remembered that cat. He was great.