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List of local children's television series (United States)

The following is a list of local children's television shows in the United States. These were locally produced commercial television programs intended for the child audience with unique hosts and themes. This type of programming began in the late 1940s and continued into the late 1970s; some shows continued into the 1990s. Author Tim Hollis documented about 1,400 local children's shows in a 2002 book, Hi There, Boys and Girls!

The television programs typically aired in the weekday mornings before school or afternoons after school, as well as on weekends (to a lesser degree). There were different formats. Almost all shows had a stereotypical, colorful host who assumed a persona, such as a cowboy/cowgirl, captain/skipper/commodore/admiral, jungle explorer, astronaut, king/queen, prince/princess, clown, sheriff/deputy/trooper, police/cop, firefighter, hobo/tramp, railroad engineer, magician, "cousin", "grandpa" (or "grandma") or "uncle" (or "aunt"), whose role was not only to be the "DJ" (confused for a person who work on music) for syndicated material (typically cartoons, although Westerns were more popular earlier on) but also to entertain, often with a live television studio audience of kids, during breaks.

Early airing fare included copyright programming, along animation such as Koko the Clown, Tom and Jerry (now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery), Looney Tunes (now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery), Crusader Rabbit, Dick Tracy, Popeye, Rocky and Bullwinkle (now owned by NBCUniversal), Casper the Friendly Ghost (now owned by NBCUniversal), Mighty Mouse (now owned by Paramount), Deputy Dawg, Hergé's Adventures of Tintin (now owned by Corus), Mel-O-Toons, Woody Woodpecker (now owned by NBCUniversal), The Funny Company, Mr. Magoo (now owned by NBCUniversal), Space Angel and Clutch Cargo, as well as short films, such as Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang/The Little Rascals and The Three Stooges (now owned by Sony Pictures), as well as animated versions of Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello and The Three Stooges, and live-action shorts, such as Diver Dan. Some included educational segments such as wildlife in Nature's Window.

Television broadcast markets

Alabama

Anniston

Birmingham

Dothan

Florence

Huntsville/Decatur

Mobile

Montgomery

Alaska

Anchorage

Fairbanks

Arizona

Phoenix

Tucson

Yuma

Arkansas

El Dorado/Monroe

Fort Smith

Little Rock

California

Bakersfield

Fresno

  • KMPH: Uncle Woody Show (with Woody Bryant)
  • KAIL: Leebo The Clown (with Leland Harris)
  • KFSN: Fun Time (with Al Radka)
  • KMJ: Miss Pat's Playroom

Glendale

Los Angeles

Sacramento/Stockton

San Diego

San Francisco Bay Area

Visalia

  • KMPH-TV: Uncle Woody (with Woody Bryant)

Colorado

Colorado Springs

Denver

Connecticut

Hartford

New Haven

Delaware

(see Pennsylvania, Maryland, and District of Columbia markets)

District of Columbia

Washington

Florida

Fort Myers

Jacksonville

  • WMFJ: Here's How, (1962-1963) (with Virginia Atter and a clown known as Clark Winchester). They visited manufacturers each week to see how things are made.
  • WFGA: Romper Room
  • WFGA: Bozo and Skipper Ed Show, (1961–1966) Saturday mornings.
  • WFGA: Popeye & Pals with Skipper Ed, weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

Miami

Orlando

St. Petersburg

Tallahassee

Tampa

  • WFTS-TV: David D TV (1994-2000, Saturday mornings)
  • WTVT: Romper Room ("Miss Colleen"; Weekdays 9:00-9:30am from October 1955 until January 1959)
  • WFLA: Romper Room ("Miss Kay", "Miss June", "Miss Alice") (Kay's version aired at 9:00–9:30am each weekday from January 19, 1959 until Spring 1961. June's WFLA version aired at 10:00-10:30am each weekday from March 31, 1975 until May 30, 1980, and Alice's version aired 10:00-10:30am each weekday from October 1980 until February 1982).

West Palm Beach

Georgia

Atlanta

Augusta

  • WATU: Bozo the Clown (weekdays 4:30–5:30 pm, 1970)
  • WJBF: Trooper Terry (weekdays 5-5:30pm; later years 4:30-5pm; featured weatherman Terry Sams; 1960s-70s)
  • WRDW-TV: "Hippity Hop" (weekdays 5:30-5:45; featuring William "Bill" Tennent; 1954-1957)

Columbus

Macon

Savannah

  • WJCL (TV): Bozo the Clown (weekdays 4:30–5:30 pm)
  • WTOC-TV: Happy Dan (weekdays 4-4:30 pm; originally Happy Dan & The Little Rascals, later Happy Dan & Popeye)
  • WTOC-TV: Romper Room (weekdays 9-9:30 am)

Thomasville

Guam

Hawaii

Honolulu

KHON (Channel 2):

KGU/KITV/KHVH (now KITV) (Channel 4):

KGMB (Channel 9):

KTRG (now KHNL) (Channel 13):

Idaho

Boise

Illinois

Chicago

Peoria

Quad Cities

(see Quad Cities, Iowa market)

Quincy

Rockford

Harrisburg

Indiana

Evansville

Fort Wayne

Indianapolis

South Bend

Terre Haute

  • WTHI-TV: Captain Jack (hosted by "Captain Jack" Haines) (1978–1982)

Iowa

Cedar Rapids/Waterloo

Davenport

(see Quad Cities market)

Des Moines/Ames

Mason City/Fort Dodge

Quad Cities

Sioux City

Kansas

Wichita

Kentucky

Bowling Green

Lexington

Louisville

Paducah

Louisiana

Baton Rouge

Monroe

New Orleans

Shreveport

Maine

Bangor

Portland

Maryland

Baltimore

Massachusetts

Boston

Springfield

Worcester

Michigan

Detroit

Detroit Area

Flint

Grand Rapids

Kalamazoo

  • WWMT-TV/WKZO-TV: Channel 3 Clubhouse (with Beanie Brown and Uncle Fred)

Lansing

  • WJIM-TV: Ranger Jim (with John Kelly then known as Jack Kelin, who then went on to host Kelly and Company with Marilyn Turner

Minnesota

Austin

Duluth

Minneapolis/St. Paul

Rochester

Mississippi

Columbus

Missouri

Columbia/Jefferson City/Sedalia

  • KOMU-TV: Captain Bob (with David Deering)
  • KRCG-TV/KMOS-TV/KOMU-TV: Sesame Street (Due to the lack of a PBS station in Mid-Missouri, CBS stations KRCG and KMOS began premiering PBS's Sesame Street on January 4, 1971 as a weekday morning program [9:00-10:00 AM] after a spokesman for a local group replied that KRCG was confident enough for the Citizens of Sesame Street Fund could raise money that it had notified CBS of the preemption replacement of two programs. Both stations dropped Sesame Street during the first week of March 1977 due to the station's revenue losses, and the former Sesame Street slot was replaced with The New Price Is Right that originally aired in the afternoon hours. This led to major consequences on a new station for the program in the market. In April 1977, Columbia's ABC station KCBJ immediately seek funds for Sesame Street to return in Mid-Missouri planning on airing it on weekday evenings rather than weekday mornings, but failed days after announcement due to the Missouri Department of Education reported no funds in its budget available. Then NBC station KOMU came along to seek funds as well, as the staff at KOMU paid an additional $1,825 from its general operating budget to run the program. The staff at KOMU promised to only air the show briefly in its lineup due to concerns over the same reason why KRCG pulled Sesame Street off its lineup. KOMU immediately aired Sesame Street at the same slot as KRCG/KMOS as a replacement of both Sanford & Son and Hollywood Squares for a brief time from June 20, 1977 until August 31, 1977).

Hannibal

Joplin

  • KODE: Romper Room ("Miss Judy")
  • KODE: Sesame Street (For more than a decade, KODE aired Sesame Street on weekday mornings from the early 1970s until 1986 when Springfield's KOZK launched its sister-station KOZJ. This was all due to the lack of a PBS station in the Joplin market, although Springfield received full-time PBS programming when KOZK launched in 1975).

Kansas City

St. Louis

Springfield

Montana

Billings

Butte

Nebraska

Lincoln

Scottsbluff

KSTF: The Wilmer Worm Show (with June Beaman)

Nevada

Reno

` KAME Space Station 21 ( Ricky Price & Jo Anne Buchanan)

Las Vegas

New Hampshire

Manchester

New Jersey

(see New York and Pennsylvania markets)

New Mexico

Albuquerque

New York

Albany/Schenectady

Binghamton

Buffalo

Elmira/Ithaca

New York

Plattsburgh

Rochester

Syracuse/Auburn

Utica/Rome

Watertown

North Carolina

Asheville

Charlotte

Greenville/New Bern

Raleigh/Durham

Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem

North Dakota

Bismarck

Fargo

Ohio

Akron

Canton

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Columbus

Dayton

Lima

WIMA-TV:

Springfield

Steubenville

  • Creegan and Crow

WSTV: Romper Room ("Miss Sandra")

Toledo

Youngstown

  • WKBN-TV: Romper Room ("Miss Anne", "Miss Margaret", "Miss Rosemary")
  • The Captain Hal Fryer Show
  • Clancy's Tip Top Club House
  • WFMJ-TV: Sesame Street (Sesame Street aired on WFMJ from November 1969 until September 1981. The market first had a lack of a NET/PBS station until the launches of both WNEO in May 1973 and WEAO in September 1975. WFMJ continued to air Sesame Street on weekdays due to the lack of weekday morning programming on both WNEO and WEAO. This lasted until September 1981 when both WNEO and WEAO began running weekday morning programming.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City

Tulsa

Oregon

Eugene

Portland

Pennsylvania

Erie

Harrisburg/Lancaster

Johnstown/Altoona

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

Rhode Island

Providence

South Carolina

Charleston

Columbia

Florence/Myrtle Beach

Greenville/Spartanburg

South Dakota

Rapid City

Sioux Falls

Tennessee

Chattanooga

Jackson

Knoxville

Memphis

Nashville

Texas

Abilene

Amarillo

Austin

Beaumont/Port Arthur

Corpus Christi

Dallas/Fort Worth

El Paso

Houston/Galveston

Lubbock

Odessa/Midland

San Antonio

Howdy Doody 1951 Chester Howard Little Rascals 1951 Chester Howard Roy Rogers 1951. Chester Howard Gene Autry. 1951. Chester Howard

Utah

Salt Lake City

Vermont

Burlington

Virginia

Norfolk/Portsmouth

Richmond

Roanoke/Lynchburg

Washington, D.C.

Washington

Bellingham

Everett

  • Channel 3/Everett Cablevision: Jaycee Clown Show (with Crash the Clown (Nik Boldrini) and Captain Fuzz (Richard Boldrin) (1971–72))

Seattle/Tacoma

Spokane

Yakima

West Virginia

Charleston/Huntington

Parkersburg

Wheeling

Wisconsin

Eau Claire

Fond du Lac

  • KFIZ-TV: Sesame Street (Despite the show airing on NET/PBS in much of the US, KFIZ aired Sesame Street from 1969 until the launch of WPNE-TV in 1972 due to the Fond du Lac area not having a PBS station).

Green Bay

Madison

Milwaukee

Wausau

  • WSAU-TV: Romper Room ("Miss Maureen", "Miss Elizabeth")
  • WAOW/WAEO: Sesame Street (Despite being shown on NET/PBS stations in the US, the show was aired on WAOW from 1969 until 1972 and on WAEO from 1974 until 1976, due to most of northern Wisconsin not having a NET/PBS affiliated station with the exceptions of Duluth-Superior (due to the area having its own NET/PBS station) and Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls (due to cable systems and over-the-air antennas can easily receive KTCA in the area) until the launch of WHRM-TV in 1976).

Wyoming

Casper

Cheyenne

See also

References

External links