The Uncle Al Show
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Uncle Al Show | |
|---|---|
 L to R: Wanda Lewis, 'Uncle Al' Lewis, and Lucky The Clown (Jack Williams) |
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| Genre | Children |
| Creator(s) | Al Lewis Mort Watters |
| Starring | "Uncle Al" Lewis Wanda Lewis (1956–1985) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | WCPO (1950–1985) ABC (1958–1959) |
| Original run | June 12, 1950 – 1985 |
| Links | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Uncle Al Show was a children's television program originating in Cincinnati. The show enjoyed a remarkable 35-year run (1950–1985) on WCPO Television, making it the longest running local children's show in American TV history. (Sesame Street holds the national record at 38 years and counting.)
Contents |
[edit] History
The show's origins were completely happenstantial. In the summer of 1949, then-General Manager Mort Watters asked Lewis (hired on two months earlier as WCPO's first art director) to host an hour-long filler show called Al's Drugstore, in which Lewis, dressed in a soda jerker uniform, would take phone-in requests for songs which he would play on his accordion (later becoming one of his many trademarks along with his straw boater hat).
At that time, the show was not aired in a closed set, so people could walk in from off the street to watch the show in person. Neighborhood children began doing just that, and Lewis, out of his love for children, invited them onto the stage during the show. The same kids would return on subsequent occasions bringing friends, and they all took to calling Lewis "Uncle Al". When mothers began calling in to the station requesting tickets to be on The Uncle Al Show, a Cincinnati institution was born- again, completely by accident, although Lewis himself never treated it in such a manner. The show's longevity can stand alone as witness to that.
The Uncle Al Show made its début on June 12, 1950. Having started as a 15-minute outing, it eventually expanded to 90 minutes by the '70s. Lewis' wife Wanda joined the show in 1956 after colleague Paul Dixon left for his own show on WLWT the year before. Uncle Al's show was picked up by The ABC Network for 14 months in 1958.
[edit] Uncle Al & The Kids
The kids who visited Uncle Al were more than just audience members; most of them were selected to be active participants for different skits on the show. While Wanda would handle the more educational aspects of the show, featuring kids assisting in one way or another, Uncle Al got kids involved as helpers for puppets doing different odd jobs, or he would enlist a child from the crowd on-the-spot to be a barker for games at Uncle Al's circus ("Step right up! Win a prize!"). Other activities included dance contests, celebrating birthdays of kids in the audience that day (which was usually done during their trip to the circus near the end of the show) and singing, accompanied by Al himself, who often played a banjo, guitar or his trademark accordion singing simple ditties like this one:
"When we sing together songs are such delight,
Har-mo-nee makes the melody right.."
One of the show's many trademarks was when they would go to an external commercial, Uncle Al would get everyone in front of the camera to say "magic words": "Ala-kazam one, Ala-kazam two, Ala-kazam three, and POOF!!" On equally frequent occasions, they would do in-house commercials for various local businesses. (These included Kahn's Wieners, Mama's Cookies, Kroger, Barq's Soft Drinks, and others.)
Uncle Al's farm was also frequented by his in-house friends, which at one time or another included:
- Pal the Dog, Uncle Al's pet
- Lucky the Clown (played by Jack Williams): Used mainly when they visited the circus near the end of each show
- The Merry Mailman: A puppet who delivered viewer mail to Uncle Al every day.
(the producers used the last few lines of the Ray Heatherton song from the New York kids show of the same name) - The Ding-A-Lings: A group of giggling, dancing squiggly columns
(one might understand it better if they ever caught an episode of the show) - The Weather People: These consisted of kids dressed in double-sided sun and cloud costumes (one side happy, the other side sad). If the weather forecast for a given day called for sunshine, the sun costume would be turned happy for the camera, and a "pity party" would be briefly held for the sad cloud. The opposite, of course, would ensue if that day's forecast called for rain.
- Mr. Patches (played by Tom York): When going to a commercial break from a skit he was in, Mr. Patches would say some magic words of his own, finishing with a "hum-m-m-m-m-mmmmm".
[edit] Later years
By 1975, the show had adopted a more educational base, with guest appearances by members of the Cincinnati Police and Fire departments, representatives from the Cincinnati Zoo, educators and many others. But despite the educational enrichments, The Uncle Al Show continued to hold fast to the values the children came to love from day one.
However, by the early '80s, demographics were changing, and The Uncle Al Show was not immune. The show was first cut back down to a half-hour, and then moved from its weekday slot to an early-morning weekend show. The show had been re-named Uncle Al Town by the time it went to its reward in 1985. Despite the show coming to an end, both Al and Wanda remained at WCPO to the end of the '80s, both eventually retiring to their home in Hillsboro, Ohio.
[edit] Did You Know...
- Uncle Al was so popular at one point that executives from CBS came to Cincinnati in 1955 to consult with Al about hosting a similar show on their network. But when WCPO executives (WCPO was affiliated with ABC at the time) refused to release Lewis from his contract, CBS brass settled on Howdy Doody alum Bob Keeshan to host their new show, which became known as Captain Kangaroo. (When WCPO switched to CBS in 1961, Captain Kangaroo and Uncle Al's show would eventually run back-to-back on weekday mornings.)
- The Uncle Al Show aired almost 15,000 episodes over its 35-year run.
- Wanda's nickname, "Captain Windy", was taken from a nickname Paul Dixon gave her when they co-starred on their own show on WCPO. Dixon called her "The Windy One" because of her shy, quiet manner.
- Some of the cast members went on to become beloved Cincinnati TV Personalities in their own right. Most notable among these were puppet master Larry Smith [1], and future late-night movie matron Bob Shreve [2].
- The show always ended with Uncle Al, Wanda and the kids all singing a prayer on the air before the kids made their way off the stage.
- The closing theme for the show was the last few verses of the Disney standard It's A Small World written by Robert & Richard Sherman
- Future film superstar George Clooney appeared on an episode of Uncle Al at the tender age of seven. He played the role of a ship's captain in one of the show's skits.
