Long before the Federal Communications Commission instituted their current Educational/Informational guidelines (E/I), the networks experimented with such programming, usually slotting it in the "death slot" around lunch time (12 noon ET).
One such show was Hot Dog, produced by Lee Mendelson (Peanuts specials) & comic Frank Buxton, previously of ABC's Discovery, but better known to cartoon fans for his work on Hal Seeger's Batfink. Buxton was also the series' creator, developing Hot Dog after a number of his comic monologues about his travels.
What fueled Hot Dog were its celebrity hosts: Jo Anne Worley (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In), Jonathan Winters, & future Academy Award winner Woody Allen, who was just starting to make a name for himself in movies when Hot Dog bowed in 1970. Winters would only appear in the pilot, a clip of which appears below, and was replaced by Tom Smothers. As I noted, Hot Dog was given the lunch hour slot, guaranteeing a short shelf life, and was cancelled after 1 season.
70skidvid uploaded the open & close to the pilot:
Rating: None. I never saw the show, so I can't give a fair rating.
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