| Columns
:
TV on DVD
|
Last Updated:
Jul 1st, 2008 - 09:48:14 |
Hiya, Kids!!
A ‘50s Saturday Morning
Shout Factory
Hiya Kids!! resurrects a great mix of classic 1950s TV shows that were geared towards kids. Represented is a great mix of puppet shows, adventure programs, circus acts, clowns and vaudeville dressed up for kids. The puppet-themed shows included Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Howdy Doody, Time For Beany, The Paul Winchell Sho, and The Rootie Kazootie Club. The shows all had a had a running theme, teaching life’s lessons, but mostly it was just fun for the kids. I dug the episodes of the adventure shows mixed into the DVD. The cowboy-themed shows, Roy Rogers Show, The Cisco Kid and Annie Oakley, brought the rough and tumble west to the “little screen," all the while letting the kids know that the bad guys always got their due in the end. The space-themed shows, Captain Z-Ro, Flash Gordon and Sky King, were funny to watch. I loved how the set builders were able to make so much out of so little. Again, that’s where the imagination comes in handy. It also taught kids that you never know what the future might bring.
I must admit I was a little creeped out by the Magic Clown and the Ding Dong School. I just don’t know what it was about the Magic Clown. The premise of the show was cool, a clown teaching kids magic. I think the clown reminded me too much of John Wayne Gacy’s alter-ego Pogo The Clown.
My favorite shows in the collection were The Pinky Lee Show and Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle. I loved Irish McCalla as Sheena. I’m sure that she must have been every little boy’s fantasy in the 1950s! The Pinky Lee Show featured Pinky performing old vaudeville bits, kind of a '50s version of Pee Wee Herman. I’m not sure if today’s younger kids will like Hiya, Kids!!, but I’m sure the adults who grew up watching these shows will love the memories that these bring back.
|
|
|
 |
