@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854 We can only hope that more episodes turn up thanks to private collectors. In the late 70's and early 80's, VCR's cost about $1000 and blank tapes were about $20 each. Speaking for myself, I would tape movies, usually ones that aired in the middle of the night, and just keep recording over and over on the same 4 or 5 tapes.
I was at WGN in the early 60s. Ray Rayner was Oliver O. Oliver and he let me squeeze his rubber nose a few times. Really great man. I tried my best to get Mr. Ned's attention as well as Bozo. Nothing doing. Sandy was the sidekick then. The studio was small. On the way out, I was indeed handed a box of Good n Plenty candy by Bozo himself. Everyone got one. The cast of thousands, which was probably a couple of hundred folks. I was very young, maybe 4 or 5 years old. But I can remember that.
Living vicariously through these videos! We didn't have anything cool like this in New Jersey except steam pipe alley on Wwor in seacaucas. They also had xuxa(pronounced shoosha) my friends went on her show she was some kind of Spanish lady I think?
In the '70's in New York, the equivalent of WGN's Bozo in terms of waiting lists for kids to attend tapings was the Bob McAllister-era "Wonderama" on WNEW Channel 5. At this point, it was off the air two years (the last original show was taped and aired in 1977, and as of this remove was airing in reruns).
Bozo aired on WPIX 11 in New York in the 70s with Bill Britten as Bozo The Clown. The Bozo cartoons used to be shown with an intro narrated by Paul Frees with Larry Harmon as Bozo. Lou Scheimer of Filmation was the art director for the Bozo cartoons.
I used to have a Bozo The Clown fork and spoon set when I was little and I have the Bozo The Clown DVD set, but I'm not sure it's the same show as I watched as a kid on WPIX 11. I also remember having a Bozo coloring book. Bozo was originally a character on a 1946 children's record series called Bozo The Capitol Clown and then became a TV series in 1949 before one of the first Bozo actors, Larry Harmon bought the rights in 1956 and made it a franchise. There was also a 1954 pilot made where Bozo was a little girl's doll that came to life that can be seen on youtube Bozo also appeared in comic books published by Dell, Innovation and Blackthorne Publishing.
I seem to remember reading that in the late 1960's, WPIX ran the syndicated Boston-produced "Bozo" with Frank Avruch. WOR Channel 9, in the late 1960's, also had a "Bozo's Circus" that, by 1969, had become "Circus, Circus, Circus" (they probably got into a spat with Larry Harmon or something).
I remember Bozo being more of an active part of the show. It was named after him after all. In this case he's a support for the guy in the so-very-70s suit.
The Fairchild Video Game System was used for TV Pow! The system used numbered cartridges for each game. This was the shooting gallery game from Cartridges 1 and 2. I got this as a Christmas gift in either 1978 or 1979. Each hit of the target stopped the timer.
WPIX-TV (channel 11) in NYC did have their own version of “TV-Powww” called “TV-Pixxx” where a staff announcer made phone calls to play a game for prizes where they can say “Pix” instead of “Pow” with a use of a console called the Fairchild Channel F.
I was on the show back in 1976. I wanted to play the Grand Prize Game, but the Magic Arrows didn’t fall my way. It cracks me up that they land on an adult and have to keep spinning to get a boy or girl. That is probably why they changed to drawing ticket numbers with the “Bozo-puter.” That way they don’t have to go more than twice to get a boy and a girl.
Hopefully, more of these home recordings of Bozo will surface. Of course, home recorded VHS tapes do not hold up perfectly after 45 years, the oxide coating on the tapes will degrade.
Would you believe it, until now there was nowhere on the web connecting Ms. Williams with "Bozo's Circus" . . . and even if he wanted to, Emmett Kelly wouldn't've been available to fill in for Cooky, as he'd died on March 28th 1979 at age 80.
I found the McDonald's commercials (especially the Ronald McDonald bits) really made sense for such program that involves clowns like WGN's Bozo's Circus. Not sure why but i thought it fits quite well.
I wish Bozo was on in Philly at that time and sadly I have never seen Bozo. But I did get a Lite Brite in Xmas '79 and that Marching Mickey in Xmas '77. And EVERYONE in my classes loved Etch-a-Sketch! I owned the red one and I currently own the gold commemorative one.
Rare to try out a female clown as a guest on the Chicago Bozo Circus Show, it wasn't until 1994 when there were 2 female clowns after the Bozo Show moved to Sundays named Tunia and Pepper.
Thank you for posting these extremely rare videos of Bozo. For a show that ran nearly 40 years, five days a week, very few epsiodes survive.
There's plenty out there just as long as there were people who used those high tech gizmo Betamax machines...
@mcgannahanskyjellyfetti6854 We can only hope that more episodes turn up thanks to private collectors. In the late 70's and early 80's, VCR's cost about $1000 and blank tapes were about $20 each. Speaking for myself, I would tape movies, usually ones that aired in the middle of the night, and just keep recording over and over on the same 4 or 5 tapes.
Happy day before halloween from me to you and thanks for a pre-Halloween edition of Bozo's Circus. 👻🎃
I was at WGN in the early 60s. Ray Rayner was Oliver O. Oliver and he let me squeeze his rubber nose a few times. Really great man. I tried my best to get Mr. Ned's attention as well as Bozo. Nothing doing. Sandy was the sidekick then. The studio was small. On the way out, I was indeed handed a box of Good n Plenty candy by Bozo himself. Everyone got one. The cast of thousands, which was probably a couple of hundred folks. I was very young, maybe 4 or 5 years old. But I can remember that.
Living vicariously through these videos! We didn't have anything cool like this in New Jersey except steam pipe alley on Wwor in seacaucas. They also had xuxa(pronounced shoosha) my friends went on her show she was some kind of Spanish lady I think?
Steam pipe alley was in the 80s. Bozo was in the late 60s into the 70s and was shown all over the country with different actors playing bozo
In the '70's in New York, the equivalent of WGN's Bozo in terms of waiting lists for kids to attend tapings was the Bob McAllister-era "Wonderama" on WNEW Channel 5. At this point, it was off the air two years (the last original show was taped and aired in 1977, and as of this remove was airing in reruns).
Oh yeah! It was kinda off the air or restructured when I was a kid. I remember seeing it on UA-cam. That looked fun too. @@wmbrown6
Bozo aired on WPIX 11 in New York in the 70s with Bill Britten as Bozo The Clown.
The Bozo cartoons used to be shown with an intro narrated by Paul Frees with Larry Harmon as Bozo.
Lou Scheimer of Filmation was the art director for the Bozo cartoons.
Xuxa is from Brazil.
Every kid wanted to go on Bozo circus. The waiting list was so long, people signed up when the baby was born. It was 7 year wait.
I heard stories about that relating to the Bob McAllister "Wonderama" in the '70's.
excited to watch Bozo again
I love Bob Bell as Bozo I grew up watching him❤
I used to have a Bozo The Clown fork and spoon set when I was little and I have the Bozo The Clown DVD set, but I'm not sure it's the same show as I watched as a kid on WPIX 11.
I also remember having a Bozo coloring book.
Bozo was originally a character on a 1946 children's record series called Bozo The Capitol Clown and then became a TV series in 1949 before one of the first Bozo actors, Larry Harmon bought the rights in 1956 and made it a franchise.
There was also a 1954 pilot made where Bozo was a little girl's doll that came to life that can be seen on youtube
Bozo also appeared in comic books published by Dell, Innovation and Blackthorne Publishing.
On my Bozo, the kids that were selected to win the prizes, were dressed up like Bozo's sidekick from the cartoons, Butchy Boy.
I seem to remember reading that in the late 1960's, WPIX ran the syndicated Boston-produced "Bozo" with Frank Avruch. WOR Channel 9, in the late 1960's, also had a "Bozo's Circus" that, by 1969, had become "Circus, Circus, Circus" (they probably got into a spat with Larry Harmon or something).
I remember Bozo being more of an active part of the show. It was named after him after all. In this case he's a support for the guy in the so-very-70s suit.
I was only 6yrs old when this aired.
The Fairchild Video Game System was used for TV Pow! The system used numbered cartridges for each game. This was the shooting gallery game from Cartridges 1 and 2. I got this as a Christmas gift in either 1978 or 1979. Each hit of the target stopped the timer.
Yes - Channel F as the game system was known. The first console to have individual cartridges. Released before Atari 2600.
WPIX-TV (channel 11) in NYC did have their own version of “TV-Powww” called “TV-Pixxx” where a staff announcer made phone calls to play a game for prizes where they can say “Pix” instead of “Pow” with a use of a console called the Fairchild Channel F.
Great times! 1970s! Grade school, lived in Lagrange and Hinsdale IL.
I graduated from high school in Chicago…I miss Frazier Thomas also…Mr Ned 😳
I was almost 14 years old when this aired!
I was on the show back in 1976. I wanted to play the Grand Prize Game, but the Magic Arrows didn’t fall my way. It cracks me up that they land on an adult and have to keep spinning to get a boy or girl. That is probably why they changed to drawing ticket numbers with the “Bozo-puter.” That way they don’t have to go more than twice to get a boy and a girl.
No indoors children on their phones
Better days.
Man, it's only 1979 but it looks so much older. 😅
All the commercials back then still had the vibes of an even older era.
The blonde girl in the Dolly Pops ad bears a striking resemblance to Eve Plumb.
This Bozo sounds the most similar to Krusty the Clown.
Not that I have seen many of the other Bozos.
Hopefully, more of these home recordings of Bozo will surface. Of course, home recorded VHS tapes do not hold up perfectly after 45 years, the oxide coating on the tapes will degrade.
Seemed to be inspiration for the Krusty the Clown show on The Simpsons.
I have heard from other sources that Krusty was inspired by Bozo. Krusty does have a similar speaking manner to Bozo.
Cartridge 1 came with the Fairchild system.
08:08 - ICHOF inductees Bob Bell (1996) & Peggy Williams (1998).
Would you believe it, until now there was nowhere on the web connecting Ms. Williams with "Bozo's Circus" . . . and even if he wanted to, Emmett Kelly wouldn't've been available to fill in for Cooky, as he'd died on March 28th 1979 at age 80.
I never realized that Frazier used a wireless lav microphone...I wonder what caused all the interference during the Grand Prize Game.?
That's why a hand held Electro Voice 635A was handed to him at 18:53 on the video.
@kevinszaflik Yep! Love that mic, I still use it often.
Now I know who Pennywise is patterned after.
It could have been Ronald McDonald.
What is the episode name & season of the Bozo cartoon with the Space dog from Sirius?!
Where was Cooky?
I found the McDonald's commercials (especially the Ronald McDonald bits) really made sense for such program that involves clowns like WGN's Bozo's Circus.
Not sure why but i thought it fits quite well.
It used to be.
I wish Bozo was on in Philly at that time and sadly I have never seen Bozo. But I did get a Lite Brite in Xmas '79 and that Marching Mickey in Xmas '77. And EVERYONE in my classes loved Etch-a-Sketch! I owned the red one and I currently own the gold commemorative one.
Philly 57 WGBS Philadelphia circa late 1980's-early 1990's had its own BOZO show.
Rare to try out a female clown as a guest on the Chicago Bozo Circus Show, it wasn't until 1994 when there were 2 female clowns after the Bozo Show moved to Sundays named Tunia and Pepper.
So I guess it could be said that Peggy Williams was a pioneer in that regard, preceding those female clowns.
The Dolly Pops song is based on “Lollipop” by the Chordettes.
One of them clowns reminds me of a certain political figure 🤔