Ya know, I don't get all the haterizing of clowns. Clowns bring joy and smiles to people's faces, especially at the circus.
In the early days of television, ABC banked on the positive appeal of clowns and circuses in developing a Sunday afternoon entry, Super Circus, which ran for 7 years (1949-56), based out of Chicago for the first six before moving to New York.
Claude Kirschner was the ringmaster, assisted by Mary Hartline, one of television's first "sex symbols" for adults. When the series moved to New York, comedian Jerry Colonna took over as ringmaster. Unfortunately for ABC, this proved to be a bad idea, as the series was cancelled after its lone season in the Big Apple. Kirschner, apparently, was unwilling to relocate.
There will be no rating, so we'll leave you with a 1954 episode from Chicago.
2 comments:
Kirchner sounds like the guy who did the Kellogg's promos on the Superman radio show, but that might just be because he's selling the same stuff.
Well, you know more about it than I, so I'll take your word for it, Sammy.
Post a Comment