Johnny Jupiter lasted one calendar year, split between two networks, DuMont & ABC, failing to gain enough of an audience to merit an extended run.
When Jupiter debuted on DuMont in the spring of 1953, his human mentor, Ernest, was a janitor and a tinkerer. When the series moved to ABC, Ernest was de-aged to about college age, and now had a different job. Wright King took over the role of Ernest, with Gilbert Mack voicing the puppets.
The shift in networks also led to a sponsorship deal with M & M's candies. Check out Mack singing the jingle in character early in the show.
Check out this sampler.
Mack would later do some cartoon work, particularly the Hawkman portion of the Superman-Aquaman Hour of Adventure in 1967. Co-stars Reta Shaw & Ross Martin would go on to bigger things, Shaw on The Ghost & Mrs. Muir after a guest role on Bewitched, and Martin, well, you know his history (Mr. Lucky, Wild, Wild West, etc).
No rating. Just a public service.
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