Captain Kangaroo

1955

Captain Kangaroo

8 | en | Family

Captain Kangaroo was an American children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. In 1986, the American Program Service integrated some newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing the newer version of the series until 1993. The show was conceived and the title character played by Bob Keeshan, who based the show on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children." Keeshan had portrayed the original Clarabell the Clown on The Howdy Doody Show when it aired on NBC. Captain Kangaroo had a loose structure, built around life in the "Treasure House" where the Captain would tell stories, meet guests, and indulge in silly stunts with regular characters, both humans and puppets. The show was telecast live to the East Coast and the Midwest for its first four years and broadcast on kinescope for the West Coast, as Keeshan would not perform the show live three times a day, and was in black-and-white until 1966. The May 17, 1971 episode saw two major changes on the show: The Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place" and the Captain replaced his navy blue coat with a red coat. In September 1981, CBS shortened the hour-long show to a half-hour, briefly retitled it Wake Up with the Captain, and moved it to an earlier time slot; it was later moved to weekends in September 1982, and returned to an hour-long format. It was canceled by CBS at the end of 1984.

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8 | en | Family , Kids | More Info

Released: 1955-10-03 | Released Producted By: , Country: United States of America Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

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John T. Ryan AFTER MILESTONES IN a career that included gigs as Clarabelle the Clown on the HOWDY DOODY Show and another short lived series called TINKER, the good Captain came into our living rooms and entertained and instructed close to 3 generations of rug-rats.THE GENISIS OF the CAPTAIN KANGAROO longevity was born in that TINKER Series; as we once heard Mr. Keeshin, himself the Captain, relate in an interview. There would appear to be no secrets here. The methods employed by the show's production team were those that any parent would instinctively gravitate toward after spending their time with their own offspring.THEY TOOK A SORT of nonsensical and cute name, hung it on a character who was decked out like a cartoon character and mixed in generous portions of music, comic sketches and soft sell instruction on good manners and behaviour. Special guests and special examinations of varying subjects were a staple. Captain Kangaroo was so well assisted by Mr. Greenjeans (Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum) for so many years.THERE WERE MANY showings of some made for TV cartoon series from TERRYTOONS, by then a subsidiary of the COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM'S Television Network. Titles shown included: TOM TERRIFIC, DEPUTY DAWG and LARIAT SAM.

durrant4145@rogers.com I haven't seen this show for many years, but I remember it vividly. My favourite skit was the Captain's and the Town Clown's retelling of Jack in the Beanstalk, with the silent Clown in charge of the sound effects. As I recall, there were different bits of dialogue for each of the characters ("Hello, my name is Jack!" for Jack, which the clown repeats throughout Captain Kangaroo's retelling of the story, and "Fee Fi Fo Fum" for the giant, and something like "Hello, who's there?" for the Giant's wife and Jack's mother)which appear to come out of the three cups on the table that the clown is using. As usual with the Town Clown, everything went wrong at the end, probably because Keeshan and the shows producers realized that Jack would never say "Hello, my name is Jack!" to his own mother.

hfan77 Like many people growing up in the 60s and 70s, I remember watching Captain Kangaroo in the mornings. To me, it was the best kids show of all time on network TV, thanks to Bob Keeshan's portrayal of the title character who presided over The Treasure House (later The Captain's Place). He kept the tone gentle and never talked down to the young audience.But the show was more than just Keeshan. There was Mr. Green Jeans, portrayed by Lumpy Brannum, who showcased many animal species throughout the show's long run. He also portrayed other characters, including The Old Folk Singer. There was also Mr. Baxter, played by James Wall and later Debbie Weems, who unfortunately took her own life. There were also many celebrity guests.Of course, we cannot forget the puppet characters Mister Moose and Bunny Rabbit, as well as Grandfather Clock and The Magic Drawing Board, all portrayed by Cosmo Allegretti. One of my favorite parts of the show was the exchanges between the Captain and Mister Moose, which usually ended in the Captain being pelted with ping pong balls. It was so funny. I also remember some of the cartoon segments that included Tom Terrific and Lariat Sam.I also liked the theme song, which was titled "Puffin' Billy." When they changed the theme, I felt it was a sign of a shark jump. Yet, Captain Kangaroo had a long, healthy run until CBS felt the need to expand the Morning News to two hours. But memories of The Treasure House live on.

lambiepie-2 I'll admit it: I was one of the first watchers of PBS's "Sesame Street" (Well, actually.. "The Electric Company" and "Zoom" were more my generation!) but that does not negate the importance of Captain Kangaroo which was on broadcast TV and watched with as much love and admiration as well. When it went off the air, I was pretty disappointed. But at that time I realized how long this was on the air - I had no idea! What a long run for a great children's program! PBS took over the educational children's market as the major broadcast networks found "no money in it" and preferred to go with talky morning news magazines - whereas I find everyone should have a stake in educational and fun children's programming.I remember watching Captain Kangaroo before going to kindergarten. It was calming to see the Captain, Mr. Green Jeans, The Rabbit, The Moose before toddling off to school. Caaptain Kangaroo hit everything that grabbed children's attention - cartoon, books, skits, cute puppets, neighbors, etc., and the show went from brushes of fantasy to daily reality. As I got older, I found the show had started acquiring local "news breaks" and spiffy toy commercials. The last memory I have of Captain Kangaroo on the CBS network was the Captain introducing "a new medium". It was animation with a live person interacting in it. It was Al Jareau singing "Mornin'" acting within an animated set with a lively sun, happy toaster, etc. This was at the beginning of the "music video" boom and I thought this was great. I also remember my older brother telling me that his third grade elementary school teacher turned on Captain Kangaroo when he focused on man walking on the moon, which my brother told me was the day after man did. Captain Kangaroo did stay on top of trends, current events and talked to children - not "down" to children.What was the demise of Captain Kangaroo? It's 37 year run on broadcast television? The Reagan Era of complaints that children were seeing too much TV and violence on TV? (For those that do not know, Captain Kangaroo was named as a part of that - and the reason was because children were watching TV before going to school and that was wrong to them.) Morning News magazines focusing on adults going to work rather than focusing on children before school? Cable and Satellite TV becoming more affordable, accessible and focusing more on diverse children's programming than broadcast TV? PBS now being known for children's programming? Everyone has an opinion and it could be what has been mentioned, a combination of that or even something else.It doesn't matter. This was a great show of a 37 year run and there will not be any show on broadcast TV that will EVER do that again. Maybe its time the broadcast networks should try. The morning news shows and news programs on broadcast TV DO NOT appeal to toddlers and small children. And while broadcast network brass thinks that many homes can afford cable or satellite to see new broadcast shows, they can't. Captain Kangaroo was a great staple. It's time for broadcast programmers to remember the toddlers and little children once again.