Gigglesnort Hotel

Last updated
Gigglesnort Hotel
Gigglesnort reduced.JPG
Desk clerk Bill Jackson and Dirty Dragon at the front desk of the Gigglesnort Hotel
GenreChildren's program
Created by Bill Jackson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Original release
Network WLS-TV
Release1975 (1975) 
1978 (1978)

Gigglesnort Hotel is a syndicated children's television program which ran for 78 episodes between 1975 and 1978. It was hosted by Bill Jackson, previously the host of several Chicago-based children's programs including Clown Alley and The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show . The program was set, as the title implies, at an old hotel, where Jackson's role was a desk clerk. [1] The program featured many of the characters from the previous show, including Dirty Dragon, the Old Professor, Weird, Old Mother Plumtree, and several others who were created just for the program, such as the hotel's owner, Old Man Gigglesnort. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

The show was widely praised by critics, and it became one of the highest-rated children's shows in WLS-TV history. [1] [6] [7] It was syndicated in 1978, airing in several markets nationwide as well as Canada, Italy, and Saudi Arabia. [8]

Jackson made a final appearance for a presentation for the Museum of Broadcast Communications, "Saturday Morning with B.J. and Dirty Dragon: Bill Jackson, Live in Person—One Last Time", in December 2009, saying this would be his last time appearing as a performer. [9] [10] In 1995, he donated all his original puppets to Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications. [4]

Related Research Articles

WGN-TV is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW. It is owned and operated by the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is sister to the company's sole radio property, news/talk/sports station WGN. WGN-TV's studios are located on West Bradley Place in Chicago's North Center community; as such, it is the only major commercial television station in Chicago which bases its main studio outside the Loop. Its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Bell (actor)</span> American actor

Robert Lewis Bell, better known as Bob Bell, was an American actor and announcer famous for his alter-ego, Bozo the Clown. He was the original portrayer of the character for Chicago superstation WGN-TV.

<i>Garfield Goose and Friends</i> Chicago childrens television show (1952-1976)

Garfield Goose and Friends is a children's television show produced by WGN-TV in Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1955 to 1976. The show was known as Garfield Goose and Friend from 1952 to 1955 when it aired on WBKB and WBBM-TV. It was the longest running puppet show on television until Sesame Street broke that record. The host of the show was Frazier Thomas, who did all of the talking. The show centered on a clacking goose puppet named Garfield Goose, who considered himself "King of the United States." There were many other puppet characters such as Romberg Rabbit, Macintosh Mouse, Chris Goose and a sleepy bloodhound called Beauregard Burnside III. The show used a "Little Theater Screen", upon which the camera would zoom before cartoons such as Total Television, The Funny Company, Clutch Cargo, The Pink Panther, Jay Ward, Hanna-Barbera, Space Angel and The Mighty Hercules were broadcast.

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

WFLD is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV outlet WPWR-TV. The two stations share studios on North Michigan Avenue in the Chicago Loop, and transmitter facilities atop the Willis Tower.

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

WCIU-TV is an independent television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the flagship television property of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to two low-power stations: independent outlet WMEU-CD and MeTV/Heroes & Icons flagship WWME-CD. The stations share studios on Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood; WCIU-TV's transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower in the Chicago Loop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KIAH</span> CW TV station in Houston

KIAH is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, serving as the local outlet for The CW Television Network. Owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains studios adjacent to the Westpark Tollway on the southwest side of Houston, and its transmitter is located near Missouri City, in unincorporated Fort Bend County.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archives, public programs, screenings, exhibits, publications and online access to our resources." It is headquartered in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ray Rayner</span> American television presenter

Ray Rayner was an American television presenter, actor and author. He was a staple of Chicago children's television in the 1960s and 1970s on WGN-TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frazier Thomas</span> American television personality (1918-1985)

William Frazier Thomas was a Chicago television personality. Although Thomas wrote nine children's books, he was best known for creating, hosting, writing and producing the long-running children's television program Garfield Goose and Friends on WGN-TV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Jackson (television personality)</span> American television personality (1935–2022)

Bill Ray Jackson was an American television personality, cartoonist, and educator. He was best known for having hosted the children's programs The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show and Gigglesnort Hotel.

<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.

Action for Children's Television (ACT) was an American grassroots, nonprofit child advocacy group dedicated to improving the quality of children's television. Specifically, ACT's main goals were to encourage diversification in children's television offerings, to discourage overcommercialization of children's programming, and to eliminate deceptive advertising aimed at young viewers.

<i>The Bozo Show</i> Television series

The Bozo Show was a locally produced children's television program that aired on WGN-TV in Chicago and nationally on its superstation feed. It was based on a children's record-book series, Bozo the Clown by Capitol Records. The series is a local version of the internationally franchised Bozo the Clown format and is also the longest-running in the franchise. Recognized as the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television, it only aired under this title for 14 of its 40+ years: it also aired under the titles Bozo (1960–1961), Bozo's Circus (1961–1980), and The Bozo Super Sunday Show (1994–2001).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Brown (clown)</span> American TV personality, puppeteer and clown

Roy Thomas Brown was an American television personality, puppeteer, clown and artist known for playing "Cooky the Cook" on Chicago's Bozo's Circus.

<i>The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show</i> Chicago childrens television series (1968–1974)

The BJ and Dirty Dragon Show is a Chicago children's television program that aired on WFLD and later WGN-TV from 1968 to 1974. It starred Bill Jackson and his puppets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ned Locke</span> American television personality and radio announcer

Norbert Locke, better known as Ned Locke, was an American television personality and radio announcer, best known for the role of "Ringmaster Ned" on WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus from 1961 - 1976.

<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">Cuddly Dudley</span> Cocker spaniel toy and TV character

Cuddly Dudley is a lifesize shiny plush stuffed animal nostalgic cocker spaniel doll that was used as a subscription sales promotional item by the Chicago Tribune in the mid-1960s. In addition, the animal took on a life of its own as a recurring puppet character on Chicago children's TV for many years.

<i>The Adventures of Paddy the Pelican</i> US television program

The Adventures of Paddy the Pelican is an American animated television series that debuted on local stations in Chicago during the 1950s. It is exceedingly rare, but has gained some fame for appearing on Jerry Beck's Worst Cartoons Ever. On the DVD, Beck states that he has not found any evidence that this particular animated adaptation was aired on TV, although there is evidence that the Paddy the Pelican character began in 1950 as a local TV puppet show on Chicago's WENR-TV, with Helen York and Ray Suber as puppeteers.

This is a list of American television-related events in 1952.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bill Jackson Interview". Toonarific. 1 April 2001. Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  2. Caro, Mark (1 October 2009). "Catching up with local children's TV legend Bill Jackson". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  3. Okuda & Mulqueen 2004, p. 149.
  4. 1 2 Hollis 2001, p. 105.
  5. Blecha, Karen Rugen (August 20, 1978). "Sunday Morning a World Apart From Saturday Kid Shows". TV Week-Chicago Tribune. p. 2. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  6. "Chicago Emmy Awards" (PDF). Chicago chapter-National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 1977–1978. Retrieved 13 February 2011.(PDF)
  7. "Chicago Emmy Awards" (PDF). Chicago chapter-National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 1976–1977. Retrieved 13 February 2011.(PDF)
  8. "Cartoon Town, BJ and Dirty Dragon". Chicago Television. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  9. "Last Chance To Gigglesnort". Illinois Entertainer. 30 October 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  10. "B.J. and Dirty Dragon's Bill Jackson to Revisit the Golden Age of Chicago Children's Television with LIVE Performance". Museum of Broadcast Communications. 12 November 2009. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.

Bibliography