Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Your HOLIDAY SOR-BAY: Adam 12 and Ding Dong School


Here is a "HOLIDAY SOR-BAY"

little spark of madness

that we could use to artificially maintain our Christmas spirit.




December 28, 1931
Martin Sam Milner is born December 30, 1931) The actor best known for his performances in two popular television series, Adam-12 and Route 66.
He has also appeared in other television series, numerous films, radio dramas, a Broadway play, and even a radio fishing show. In addition, his appearance was the inspiration for Guy Gardner, the Green Lantern Corps superhero created in 1969 by John Broome and Gil Kane.


December 28, 1956
After five years on television, the last Ding Dong School was aired on NBC-TV.
Ding Dong School, billed as "the nursery school of the air", was a half-hour children's TV show which began on WNBQ-TV (now WMAQ-TV) in Chicago, Illinois[1] a few months before its four-year run on NBC (albeit still produced in the WNBQ studios).
The program was presented from a child's point of view. A 1953 magazine article reported, "Low-angled cameras see everything at Lilliputian eye-level, stories and activities are paced at the slow rate just right for small ears and hands." Each program began with Miss Frances ringing a hand-held school bell.
A precursor to both Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, the show was hosted live by Frances Horwich (aka "Miss Frances"), and at one point was the most popular TV series aimed at preschoolers. The program began in 1952 at Chicago's WNBQ television. After six weeks on the air locally, the program was picked up by the NBC television network. At the height of its popularity, Ding Dong School had three million viewers.
The show and its host, Miss Frances, were mentioned in the comic strip Peanuts in 1955 and 1956. In the February 20, 1956 Peanuts comic, Lucy refers to the "Ding Dong School" TV show as the one that her mother allows her to watch if she eats all of her breakfast.
The show was revived in 1959 as a syndicated program, now videotaped and distributed by National Telefilm Associates. This iteration ran until 1965.

Five NBC kinescoped episodes from 1954-1955 are housed at the Library of Congress, in the J. Fred and Leslie W. MacDonald Collection.




Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

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