Programming as Advertised

The New Adventures of the Startled Toddler (broadcast date: 10/20/1952, 8:00 PM, NBC)

The action comes fast and furious for the titular tyke (Hortense Googums) this week, as Aunt Agnes (Delia Crowe) visits for a intense session of peek-a-boo, Papa (Joe Ytterbium) blurts out a cuss word while watching a ball game, and Mama (Mary Miller) accidentally knocks a crate full of baby chicks down the basement stairs.

Rover McBark and Mister Boots (broadcast date: 3/17/1952, 8:30 PM, CBS)

The toughest pair of detectives in the NYPD’s “Pet Town” precinct take on their toughest assignment yet.  What seems like a simple catnip smugging ring becomes so much more when Boots begins to unravel the threads. 

Before he can share his conclusions with his canine partner, however, Boots gets hospitalized with a potential fatal urinary tract blockage.  Can McBark’s rough brand of two-pawed street justice succeed on its own?

Angel Stallion (broadcast date: 9/18/1957, 8:00 PM, NBC)

After Bill Flintjaw (Eustace Crisp) dies from drinking a bad bottle of rotgut, the notorious gunslinger is sent back back to Earth by the irascible Saint Peter (Sid Hamtrack) in order to atone for his past sins.

Together with his new steed — a magical flying horse named Bocephus — Bill roams the frontier righting wrongs, teaching valuable moral lessons, and shooting heathen savages in the face.

The Puppet Players Funtime Sunshine Show (broadcast date: 3/12/1951, 7:30 AM, ABC)

Giggles the Clown (voiced by Phillip Howard) accidentally sunders the black veil.  Pirate Bob (Dexter Charles) hosts a colony of fungal larvae in his distended skull. Miss Carol (Carol Joyce) reads viewers’ letters with a voice born of ten thousand buzzing mosquitos before dissolving into a puddle of steaming noisome ichor.

Filmed before a live studio audience.

Political Review Hosted By Fussy Baby (broadcast date: 2/26/1951, 11:30 AM, NBC)

A groundbreaking and influential news program in which Fussy Baby (real name: Don Bannity, Jr.) discusses the pressing issues of the day.  This week’s guests: General Lucius Clay on the challenges of wartime mobilization, Dean Acheson defends Truman’s policies on Formosa, and Hedda Hopper dishes on who’s Red in Hollywood.

That’s Our Adele (broadcast date: 9/20/1963, 8:30 PM, NBC)

When Adele (Margo Olsen) wins an elephant from a radio contest, it’s perky brunette versus pesky pachederm for control of her spacious Brooklyn apartment! 

Guest starring funnyman Bucky Hendricks as “Animal Control Officer Willie Gassum.”

Jojo and Lulu (broadcast date: 9/4/1950, 3:30 PM, Dumont)

Adorable puppet antics for the kiddies!  Jojo (voice of Ed Tunney) suspects Carl Crocodile (Pat Silliphant) of passing secret pie recipes to Comrade Naughtsky (Mary Pinter), but the ditzy Lulu (also voiced by Tunney) is convinced he’s just imagining things.

Can Jojo set his misguided friend straight before all of Gumption Place’s desserts are threatened?

The Doorway to Mystery (broadcast date: 2/23/1959, 9:00 PM, NBC)

Titled “The Greasepaint Führer,” this week’s episode of the fantasy-themed anthology series examines the Nazis’ rise to power through the metaphoric lens of a traveling circus. 

Cast: Bonzo (Jeb Carlisle), Fieldmarshal von Tickles (Sir Leopold Hamilton), the Flying Lutfwaffles (The Amazing Dalyrimples)

Columbia Tobacco Company Presents the Family Funtime Hour with Dickie Danton (broadcast date: 1/19/1953, 8:00 PM, ABC)

This episode of the popular crooner’s variety show features a display of Oriental mysticism by Looda Huda (Don Hansen), a tribute to our boys in Korea by the Jane Phillips Dancers, a reading from Hamlet by Crazed Jungle Ladies of the Congo star Sultrana (Polly Hunkel), the down home comedy of Shuffle and Fetchit, and a concluding performance of Dickie Danton’s signature hit “You’re Darn Swell, By Golly” with an assist by the Tremaine Triplets.

Outta Our Heads (broadcast date: 10/14/1984, 8:00 PM, CBS)

Single mom Ellen Saunders (Tina Robards) tries to prepare for a date with hunky neighbor Ted (Zach Trebuchet), but things get zany when her daughter Toni (Brandy Maxon) brings home her new boyfriend — a punk rocker named “Ooze!” (Chuck Ponzi)

Can a special guest appearance by pop sensation Nik Jacobs bridge this wacky generation gap?