Captain Noah and His Magical Ark

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Captain Noah and His Magical Ark was a television program for children and was generally broadcast around the Philadelphia area.

Captain Noah and His Magical Ark, produced by the Philadelphia Council of Churches, starred W. Carter Merbreier and his wife Patricia, known as "Mrs. Noah," airing from 1967 until 1994.

Started a a religious oriented program, Captain Noah and His Magical Ark became a daily children's program in 1970, running into the 1980s before finishing its long tenure as a weekend program. It was on WPVI, channel 6 (WFIL when the program started) in the Philadelphia area, and was syndicated on 22 stations across the United States.

The theme song was, "I Can Sing a Rainbow". Another notable song that was played every episode was "Send Your Pictures to Dear Old Captain Noah". The show had some famous guests, such as Elvis Presley and Charles Barkley, but the staples of the show were the puppets, the cartoons and the songs. The Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, was introduced to children on Captain Noah.

Captain and Mrs. Noah were both inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2001. A 35th anniversary was aired in 2005.

While Captain Noah, a Lutheran minister, was the main "host" of the show, Mrs. Noah was the puppeteer and a trained singer. Famous Philadelphian entertainer Larry Ferrari provided the music. Favorite puppets included Maurice and Wally.

The set of the show was incorporated into Philadelphia's Please Touch Museum, located in Penn's Landing.