TV Time: How To Kill Time On Weekend Mornings

A typical weekends when I was younger would have found me up at around the crack of dawn, heading to the television set, waiting for the farm reports to end so I could get to the serious business of watching those all-important kids' shows.  Bear in mind a lot of this took place when I wasn't bust with catechism classes or other activities.  This would last until around noontime, and after a nice lunch I would head outside for the bulk of the day.

There were a few programs I got to thinking about recently, and how they pretty much disappeared from view, for better or worse.  We'll explore a few of these programs in this entry, and as more present themselves, they will be featured in future articles.

NOTE: Video links will be included, but there will be no embedded videos in this or any entry.  I do this so as to: a) not break your reader window; and b) give you the chance to "opt-out" of viewing any of the content I am showcasing.


Let's start with Make A Wish, which ran until 1976 on Sunday mornings.  Yes, ABC was, at the time, showing children's programming on Sundays as well.  This practice was eliminated in the early 1980s when ABC joined the other big networks in presenting news shows.  Strangely enough, Make A Wish was produced by ABC News.  Hosted by Tom Chapin (brother to Harry, who also wrote some of the music for the show), each episode would focus on a particular theme, encouraging the viewer to "imagine all the possibilities."  I can still remember the words to the part that was sung right before a commercial break:

"Dream a dream, sing a song, wish you could, right or wrong.
Take a chance, sing and dance, wish you could, you'll find it good.
So dream your dreams, dreams come true.
They can even work for you..."

*ahem* Sorry, my singing voice is a bit rusty.

In 1976 this show was replaced by Animals, Animals, Animals -- a show about, yup, animals.  Hosted by Hal Linden (known to me at the time as Barney Miller), the show presented a different species of animal each week and told you a little bit more about them.  This was another Sunday morning timekiller, since it was on late enough that church would be over and I could be home to watch it.

Moving along to a couple of forgotten gems from Saturday mornings, we begin with The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show.  Now, I had never heard of the Hudson Brothers outside of this show, which only lasted one season but seemed to me to go on much longer.  It was typical goofball stuff with musical numbers thrown in, and while much of the show doesn't stick in my brain, I can still remember the opening and closing, along with good ol' Avery Schreiber.  An attempt to cash in on the Hudson Brothers' fame, perhaps? Maybe, I can't say for sure.

Another show in the same vein was The Harlem Globetrotters Popcorn Machine.  The famous comedy basketball team had their own entry in Saturday mornings, appearing here in person rather than animated form.  This was also where I had first heard of Rodney Allen Rippy.  This was another one-season wonder and again it seemed to me to have been on much longer.

But things weren't all fun and games.  CBS, in an attempt to educate and inform produced In The News, highlighting and explaining a current news topic.  Each segment was maybe five minutes long, and aired in the space between programs.

There's more to cover, but we'll save that for another entry.  So, until next time, take care.