Elmer the Elephant (TV show)

Last updated

Elmer the Elephant is an American children's television series broadcast by WNBQ-Ch.5. It aired from 5:00 to 5:30 on weekday afternoons from 1951 to 1956. [1] John Conrad stars in and created Elmer the Elephant. [2] The show was canceled in 1956, but then returned from 1962 to 1964, with the same format. Conrad noted that "if you've got a winning formula, why mess with it?". [3]

Contents

In 1954, Elmer the Elephant won the Chicago Award for Best Children's Show from TV Guide . [3]

Content

Hosted by John Conrad, Elmer the Elephant, commanded the attention of children of Chicago. Elmer was a mischievous, speechless puppet performed by stagehand Kenny Hermann. Elmer would make children laugh as John would take a pie to the face, be hit with flour, or be pranked by Elmer. For a short period, a female elephant Elmira was also featured, but did not have the popularity of Elmer so was eventually dropped. [3] Conrad would also play short films on the show, including Our Gang and host visiting guests such as Roy Rogers. [4]

The puppet itself was crafted from papier-mâché by prop-man Emil von Knauf, and featured a trunk-like sleeve into which Hermann would place his right arm. [3]

John Conrad

John Conrad, the host and creator of Elmer the Elephant, was born in 1919. After his services in the Navy after World War II, Conrad came to Chicago and became a staff announcer at WMAQ radio (later WMAQ television). Some of his colleagues include Hugh Downs and Dave Garroway. Conrad is best remembered as the host of the Elmer the Elephant show. [5]

In the mid-1960s, Conrad hosted a radio disk-jockey show called John Conrad and Max. Max was a fictitious studio turntable operator who made all sorts of trouble for Conrad, similar to Elmer the Elephant before. Conrad retired from broadcasting in 1968, and them moved to southern California to pursue other business interests. [6]

Conrad died aged 86 on February 7, 2006, in Westlake Village, California.

Episodes

Episode NameHost
"John's New Coat"John Conrad
"Hypnotizing Elmer"John Conrad
"Posting Signs"John Conrad

Historical relevance

Despite its popularity, Elmer the Elephant was canceled in 1956, as NBC moved away from afternoon children's television. The replacement for the afternoon slot had poor ratings, which further slumped. The show was re-commissioned in 1962, and eventually was filmed in color, but was finally cancelled in 1964. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Downs</span> American broadcaster (1921–2020)

Hugh Malcolm Downs was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular television presence from the mid 1940s until the late 1990s, he had several successful roles on morning, prime-time, and late-night television. For several years, he held the certified Guinness World Record for the most hours on commercial network television before being surpassed by Regis Philbin, who died 24 days after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave Garroway</span> American television personality (1913–1982)

David Cunningham Garroway was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's Today from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway has been honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood.

WGN is a commercial AM radio station in Chicago, Illinois, featuring a talk radio format. WGN's studios are in the Chicago Loop, while the transmitter is in Elk Grove Village. WGN also features broadcasts of Chicago Blackhawks hockey and Northwestern University football and basketball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garry Moore</span> American entertainer, comedian, and game show host (1915–1993)

Garry Moore was an American entertainer, comedic personality, game show host, and humorist best known for his work in television. He began a long career with the CBS network starting in radio in 1937. Beginning in 1949 and through the mid-1970s, Moore was a television host on several variety and game shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Douglas</span> Entertainer, talk show host (1920–2006)

Michael Delaney Dowd Jr., known as Mike Douglas, was an American "Big Band" era singer, entertainer, television talk show host of The Mike Douglas Show, and actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WLS-TV</span> ABC TV station in Chicago

WLS-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's ABC network outlet. It has been owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division since the station's inception. WLS-TV's studios are located on North State Street in the Chicago Loop, and its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower.

<i>Kukla, Fran and Ollie</i> American television series

Kukla, Fran and Ollie was an early American television show using puppets. It was created for children, but was soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was broadcast from Chicago between October 13, 1947, and August 30, 1957. Comedienne Fran Allison starred, interacting with puppets, Kukla and Ollie whose puppeteer was the show's creator, Burr Tillstrom. After the original run, the team appeared in other productions over several decades.

The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, published between 1875 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floyd Kalber</span> American television journalist and anchor

Floyd Kalber was an American television journalist and anchorman, nicknamed "The Big Tuna."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WMAQ-TV</span> NBC TV station in Chicago

WMAQ-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV. The two stations share studios at the NBC Tower on North Columbus Drive in the city's Streeterville neighborhood and broadcast from the same transmitter atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WSCR</span> Clear-channel sports radio station in Chicago

WSCR – branded 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, and the Chicago metropolitan area. Owned by Audacy, Inc., WSCR is a clear-channel station with extended nighttime range in most of the Central United States and part of the Eastern United States. WSCR is the Chicago affiliate for the BetQL Network, Infinity Sports Network, the Fighting Illini Sports Network and the NFL on Westwood One Sports; the flagship station for the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bulls radio networks; and the home of radio personalities David Haugh and Matt Spiegel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Horwich</span> American childrens television host (1907–2001)

Frances Rappaport Horwich was an American educator, television personality and television executive. As Miss Frances, she was the host of the children's television program Ding Dong School, seen weekday mornings on the NBC network in the 1950s and nationally syndicated between 1959 and 1965.

Allison Kay Rosati is the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscast co-anchor for WMAQ-TV in Chicago, in the United States.

Thomas Duggan Goss was an American journalist, writer and actor. He appeared on NBC and ABC as a radio and television commentator in Chicago and Los Angeles and was a crusader against Chicago mob involvement in boxing and politics.

The year 1931 saw a number of significant events in radio broadcasting history.

<i>Ding Dong School</i> American television program (1952–1956)

Ding Dong School, billed as "the nursery school of the air", is a half-hour children's TV show which began on WNBQ-TV in Chicago, Illinois a few months before its four-year run on NBC. It is the earliest known preschool series to be produced in the United States, predating Romper Room by a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Siciliano</span> American sports announcer (born 1974)

Andrew David Siciliano is an American sports television anchor, reporter and radio broadcaster. He is the play-by-play announcer for the National Football League's Cleveland Browns Radio Network, and for Big Ten Football on NBC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry G. Bishop</span> American broadcaster in Chicago

Jerry G. Bishop was a radio and television personality who is known for being Chicago's original "Svengoolie", and for his award-winning twelve-year stint on Sun-Up San Diego.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith C. Waller</span> American broadcasting pioneer (1889–1973)

Judith Cary Waller was an American broadcasting pioneer. Despite the fact that she knew nothing about radio at the time, she became the first station manager of Chicago radio station WMAQ when it went on the air in 1922. She was one of the first female radio station managers in the United States, along with Eleanor Poehler of WLAG/WCCO in Minneapolis, and Bertha Brainard of WJZ and Vaughn De Leath of WDT in New York City. During her tenure as station manager, Waller was responsible for obtaining broadcast rights for Chicago Cubs home games for WMAQ and for hiring Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll as Amos 'n' Andy after they left WGN radio over syndication rights. Waller tried to interest the CBS radio network in the program with no success. NBC brought the program to its Blue Network three years before its purchase of WMAQ in 1931.

Claude Kirchner, was an American television announcer and personality whose 50-year career in radio and television included hosting popular children's programs in Chicago and New York City from 1949 until 1970. The best known of these were Super Circus, Terrytoon Circus / Merrytoon Circus and Super Adventure Theater.

References

  1. Media History Digital Library. "Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1955)." Lantern, Washington, D.C. : Broadcasting Publications Inc., 3 November 2022.
  2. Triangle Publications, Inc. "TV Guide (June 4, 1954)." Lantern, Media History Digital Library, 28 Aug. 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Okuda, Ted; Mulqueen, Jack (2016). The Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television. Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 90–95. ISBN   978-0809335367.
  4. "John Conrad, Hosted Children’s Show, 'Elmer the Elephant', 86", 10 Feb. 2006, Sun Times.
  5. Wischnowsky, Dave. "John R. Conrad." Chicago Tribune, 21 Aug. 2021.
  6. Samuels, Rich. "John Conrad: NBC-Chicago Staff Announcer." Richsamuels, Accessed 9 May 2023.