Here's a show I regret never having the chance to see. At all.
Bob McAllister was lured away from the popular NYC children's franchise, Wonderama, by ABC in 1978 to host Kids Are People, Too, which was the backbone of what was left of the network's Sunday morning block, leading to news programs like Issues & Answers.
Unfortunately, Kids didn't air in my district for the simple reason that the affiliate refused to air the show, favoring instead locally produced programming or syndicated fare. In a nutshell, the networks stopped programming Sunday daytime for kids soon after because of the lack of affiliate interest.
McAllister wasn't long for the show, either, as he was gone after 2 months, replaced by Michael Young. However, Kids remained blacked out in a lot of small markets, yet soldiered on until the early 80's. For this reason, I cannot offer a rating on the show, since I never saw it. 70skidvid offers this clip, introduced by the late Ernie Anderson, with a song by McAllister.
4 comments:
I saw some of this show, but Bob McCallister got the short shrift IMO. TPTB wanted someone young and hip so Michael Young got the job. Plus, he was for a while the host of the ABC Weekend Specials.
McCallister wanted to try appealing to tweens and eventually teens (after succeeding with younger kids on Wonderama) but he got edged out for being too "grown up".
I recall a segment, "Dear Alex & Annie", that was later reused as an interstital on Saturdays, and that's really all I ever saw coming out of this show. Funny thing. I've read the Wikipedia page on Weekend Special, and there was never any mention of McAllister as host at any time in its history (and it premiered the same year).
Sorry, not Bob McCallister as host of the Weekend Special.. I meant Michael Young was the host for a while. Ventriloquist Willie Tyler & Lester took over after that.
I do remember Alex & Annie, but only as an interstitial. Then again, I wasn't into KAPT.
I know Willie Tyler & Lester hosted Weekend Special for a spell, before they turned it over to the puppet OG Readmore (Frank Welker), but my memory is hazy on Michael Young serving as host. Hmmmm.
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