Children’s Television

Essay

Local children’s programming in the Philadelphia area flourished during the “Golden Age of Television,” from the rise of commercial broadcasting after World War II to the early 1970s. During its heyday the hosted children’s show was a mainstay of locally produced programming. In the Philadelphia area, original children’s shows were produced by the three local broadcast affiliates – WPZT (later KYW), Channel 3 (NBC, later CBS), WFIL (later WPVI) Channel 6 (ABC), and WCAU Channel 10 (CBS, later NBC) – and reached viewers throughout Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, Delaware, and even northern Maryland. The Philadelphia shows were not only financially successful, garnering large audience shares for their time slots and generating substantial advertising income for the stations, but were also critically well-received by reviewers, children, and parents.

When commercial television began, national networks typically did not begin their weekday broadcasts until after seven o’clock at night. Local stations had to fill the rest of the air time during each weekday.  Children’s shows became a popular choice for economic reasons. The local children’s programs kept their production costs very low: the sets were minimal; there were no writers (most shows were ad-libbed); and the star (the host) performed live.

From Radio to TV

An image of Bill Webber speaking in front of cameras and an audience full of sitting and standing children.
Bill Webber interacts with the “Peanut Gallery” live audience on “Wee Willie Webber’s Colorful Cartoon Club” on WPHL-TV, Channel 17. (Photograph published with permission of The Webber Family, Copyright 2012, The Webber Family.)

Most of the shows followed the same formula. The role of host was similar to the role of a disc jockey on the radio. Indeed, several of the popular children’s show hosts in the Philadelphia area were originally radio personalities. The host introduced cartoons or film shorts (such as Popeye, Little Rascals, and The Three Stooges), which program directors purchased in bundles from the controlling motion picture studios or from brokers such as King Features Syndicate. Hosts filled the time between the segments with singing, improvised “dialogue” with the child-viewer at home, and story-telling often accompanied with drawings by the host done in real time. The host also served as the spokesperson for the show’s sponsors. Inexpensive to produce and popular with the child-viewer, these shows became attractive vehicles for local businesses eager to tap into the new advertising medium of television.

Jane Norman as “Pixanne” in the Enchanted Forest. (Photograph published with the permission of Jane Norman.)

Hosts such as Sally Starr (Popeye Theater) and Bill “Wee Willie” Webber (Breakfast Time), whose personalities transcended the shows’ limited production values, attracted the children who tuned in daily.  Many program directors felt that since there was so much time to fill, they could afford to give any reasonably good idea a chance. This atmosphere fostered creativity and encouraged experimentation. Children’s entertainers had the opportunity to land their own shows if they could craft a unique concept. In addition to Starr and Webber, some of the most popular hosts—based on both the longevity of the shows and market share of viewing audiences—were Jane Norman (Pixanne), Gene London, “Uncle” Pete Boyle, Traynor Ora Halftown (Chief Halftown), and W. Carter Merbreier (Captain Noah).

By the early 1970s, the heyday of children’s programming in Philadelphia had ended. New Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations prohibited the hosts from performing commercials for the sponsor’s products, thus making them less attractive to local businesses. The rise of educational programming, UHF stations, and the introduction of the Saturday-morning cartoon block resulted in increased competition for the locally produced shows on the network affiliates. Thus increased government scrutiny and regulation in conjunction with major industry changes reduced the financial viability of these shows and helped to bring about their demise in stations across the country.

Host Bill Webber

By decade’s end, most of the local hosted children’s shows were gone. Some hosts, like Bill Webber, made a successful transition to UHF. From the mid-1960s through to the end of the 1970s, Webber hosted cartoon shows for local stations Channel 17 (WPHL) and Channel 48 (WKBS). Captain Noah and His Magical Ark (which began in the late 1960s) sailed its final voyage in 1994. Chief Halftown’s weekend show continued on the air until 1999, although the format had changed from a cartoon show to a children’s talent showcase.

Even though the hosts of the shows were no longer on television they continued to personal appearances and draw crowds of former child-viewer fans at local parades and amusement parks throughout the area. Bill Webber, Ora Halftown, and “Uncle” Pete Boyle are now deceased. Many of the remaining hosts have reinvented themselves and have had second careers. Jane Norman has had a highly successful career as an author and currently tours and records as an interpreter of the Great American Songbook and jazz standards. Sally Starr was a radio show host (WVLT Vineland, N.J.) until her retirement in 2011. Gene London became a historian and curator of movie costumes. His collection has been featured in museums nationally and internationally. Although now retired, W. Carter Merbreier continues to write for children and is active in professional organizations such as the Broadcast Pioneers. (The set of Captain Noah is on permanent display at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.)

Though their reign over the “Golden Age of Television” was brief, children’s television show hosts in the Delaware Valley left an indelible mark on the children of the era who were comforted by the hosts’ warmth and charm. Television stations produced inexpensive yet high-quality programming, and Baby Boomer children in the Philadelphia region reaped the benefits.

Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic is a reference librarian at the Paul Robeson Library of Rutgers – The State University of New Jersey. Brandi Scardilli graduated from Rutgers University–Camden with an M.A. in history. (Author information current at time of publication.)

Copyright 2012, Rutgers University

Gallery

Bill Webber with the Peanut Gallery

Bill Webber interacts with the "Peanut Gallery" live audience on "Wee Willie Webber's Colorful Cartoon Club" on WPHL-TV, Channel 17. (Photograph published with permission of The Webber Family, Copyright 2012, The Webber Family.)

Pixanne

Jane Norman, whose show Pixanne consciously referenced Peter Pan, wanted to re-interpret Peter in a feminized form. She set her show in an “Enchanted Forest,” where she sang songs and taught life lessons to the child viewers at home. She even “flew” through the air with the aide of a wire. (Photograph published with the permission of Jane Norman.)

Pete Boyle

Philadelphia’s favorite “uncle” was Pete Boyle (father of "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Peter Boyle), who hosted a variety of children’s shows. Uncle Pete showed cartoons and short features; he also drew and told stories. His shows usually included an audience of children who attended the taping and appeared with Uncle Pete on-camera. Uncle Pete was gentle and low-key in demeanor. He emphasized good manners and the Golden Rule in his TV chats with the children on his show and at home. (Photograph published with permission of Channel 3 [KYW] Children's Programming Art.)

Lee Dexter

Australian Ventriloquist Lee Dexter created “Bertie the Bunyip,” one of the most popular children’s show characters of the 1950s. The puppet star of Bertie the Bunyip was based on a fantastical beast from aboriginal mythology. (Photograph published with permission of Channel 3 [KYW] Children's Programming Art)

Bertie the Bunyip Newsletter

Bertie the Bunyip fan club newsletter. (Published with permission of Channel 3 [KYW] Children's Programming Art.)

Bunyip Newsletter, continued.

In the first column, the extensive daily lineup of children's programming on WPTZ-Channel 3 is listed for readers of the Bertie the Bunyip fan club newletter. (Published with permission of Channel 3 [KYW] Children's Programming Art.)

Related Topics

Themes

Time Periods

Locations

Essays

Related Reading

Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. Accessed February 18, 2012.

Hollis, Tim. Hi There, Boys and Girls!: America’s Local Children’s TV Programs. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001.

Philly’s Favorite Kids Show Hosts. Produced by Ed Cunningham. 2007. Philadelphia: WHYY-TV.

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Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy