Jabberwocky is an American daily children's television program designed for 5–10 year-olds that went into national syndication. The original series ran Monday through Friday for over two seasons, from 1972 to 1974, on WCVB-TV in Boston. Starting in 1974, the nationally syndicated version ran weekly and was rerun in the early hours of Saturday mornings by many television stations up until the 1990s.[1]
Created and videotaped by WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston, Jabberwocky featured real actors and puppets and various interstitial cartoons. The "show within a show" concept featured actress JoBeth Williams—in one of her earliest roles—and actor Tucker Smallwood as the "lead performer" and "director" respectively of a children's show. The actress and director were played by Joanne Sopko and Carl Thoma in the first season. Harvard professor and psychologist Jerome Kagan was an advisor to the program.
The friendly antagonist in most episodes was puppet character Dirty Frank, who popped up from whatever packing crate was convenient. As a representative alter-ego for children, Dirty Frank's inquisitive nature and his sloppy behavior drove the plot of most episodes.[1]
Another main character was the helpful and venerable Mr. Buchanan (actor Robert Prosky), a human handyman-prop master who concocted various inventions to help children in his backstage workshop. In many episodes, Mr. Buchanan's failed inventions and grandfatherly insights led the characters toward answers to their questions.
The characters were seen in a studio set, but episodes often took them out into the Greater Boston area for miniature documentary segments.
Co-creators Fred Schilpp (Executive Producer) and Adam Villone (Head Writer) wrote many of the episodes along with Dewey Bergman and Joseph A. Bailey. Tucker Smallwood was also an occasional segment writer for the show. The animation sequences, and the puppets, were created by Tom and Bob Jurkowski. The original theme music was written and produced by David Lucas of David Lucas Associates, a commercial music house in New York. Gail Frank was Producer and eventually became Executive Producer. Peter Johnson, the puppeteer, was trained by Caroll Spinney (Big Bird) from Sesame Street and Children's Television Workshop.
The value-based program won several major broadcasting awards including a citation from Action for Children's Television, the first ever given to a commercial television program.
Reruns and syndicationedit
WCVB-TV continued to air Jabberwocky well after it went out of production, as it became part of the station's past legacy of original local programming (for over two decades, WCVB was known for producing more local programming than any other station in the U.S.). By the mid-to-late 1980s, the show could always be seen Saturday mornings at 5 a.m., followed by off-network reruns and later, in the 1990s, by syndicated children's programming that lead up to ABC's Saturday Morning lineup (most notably Cappelli & Company). However, WCVB did venture into original children's programming post-Jabberwocky; subsequent shows included The Nature World of Captain Bob, Pixanne, Rainbow, Rapmatazz and A Likely Story.
By 2000, after continually airing for more than 25 years, Jabberwocky, along with classic airings of The Nature World of Captain Bob, vanished off the station's schedule.
Referencesedit
^ abWoolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 243–244. ISBN0-8108-1651-2.
January 01, 1970
jabberwocky, series, jabberwocky, american, daily, children, television, program, designed, year, olds, that, went, into, national, syndication, original, series, monday, through, friday, over, seasons, from, 1972, 1974, wcvb, boston, starting, 1974, nationall. Jabberwocky is an American daily children s television program designed for 5 10 year olds that went into national syndication The original series ran Monday through Friday for over two seasons from 1972 to 1974 on WCVB TV in Boston Starting in 1974 the nationally syndicated version ran weekly and was rerun in the early hours of Saturday mornings by many television stations up until the 1990s 1 JabberwockyJabberwocky main titleStarringTucker SmallwoodJoBeth WilliamsRobert ProskyCarl ThomaJoanne SopkoPeter JohnsonCountry of originUnited StatesOriginal releaseNetworkWCVB TVRelease1972 1972 1974 1974 Synopsis and history editCreated and videotaped by WCVB TV Channel 5 Boston Jabberwocky featured real actors and puppets and various interstitial cartoons The show within a show concept featured actress JoBeth Williams in one of her earliest roles and actor Tucker Smallwood as the lead performer and director respectively of a children s show The actress and director were played by Joanne Sopko and Carl Thoma in the first season Harvard professor and psychologist Jerome Kagan was an advisor to the program The friendly antagonist in most episodes was puppet character Dirty Frank who popped up from whatever packing crate was convenient As a representative alter ego for children Dirty Frank s inquisitive nature and his sloppy behavior drove the plot of most episodes 1 Another main character was the helpful and venerable Mr Buchanan actor Robert Prosky a human handyman prop master who concocted various inventions to help children in his backstage workshop In many episodes Mr Buchanan s failed inventions and grandfatherly insights led the characters toward answers to their questions The characters were seen in a studio set but episodes often took them out into the Greater Boston area for miniature documentary segments Co creators Fred Schilpp Executive Producer and Adam Villone Head Writer wrote many of the episodes along with Dewey Bergman and Joseph A Bailey Tucker Smallwood was also an occasional segment writer for the show The animation sequences and the puppets were created by Tom and Bob Jurkowski The original theme music was written and produced by David Lucas of David Lucas Associates a commercial music house in New York Gail Frank was Producer and eventually became Executive Producer Peter Johnson the puppeteer was trained by Caroll Spinney Big Bird from Sesame Street and Children s Television Workshop The value based program won several major broadcasting awards including a citation from Action for Children s Television the first ever given to a commercial television program Reruns and syndication editWCVB TV continued to air Jabberwocky well after it went out of production as it became part of the station s past legacy of original local programming for over two decades WCVB was known for producing more local programming than any other station in the U S By the mid to late 1980s the show could always be seen Saturday mornings at 5 a m followed by off network reruns and later in the 1990s by syndicated children s programming that lead up to ABC s Saturday Morning lineup most notably Cappelli amp Company However WCVB did venture into original children s programming post Jabberwocky subsequent shows included The Nature World of Captain Bob Pixanne Rainbow Rapmatazz and A Likely Story By 2000 after continually airing for more than 25 years Jabberwocky along with classic airings of The Nature World of Captain Bob vanished off the station s schedule References edit a b Woolery George W 1985 Children s Television The First Thirty Five Years 1946 1981 Part II Live Film and Tape Series The Scarecrow Press pp 243 244 ISBN 0 8108 1651 2 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jabberwocky TV series amp oldid 1174146274, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
