The Magic Clown

Last updated
The Magic Clown
MagicClown.jpg
Zovello, the Magic Clown, and "Laffy" (NBC promotional photo, 1951).
Created by Tico Bonomo
Starring Zovello (1949–1952)
Dick DuBois (1952–1958)
Doug Anderson (1958–1959)
James Randi (1970–1971)
Country of originUnited States
Production
Running time15 minutes
Release
Original network NBC (1949–1954)
WABD (1954–1958)
WNTA (1958–1959)
Syndicated (1970–1971)
Original releaseSeptember 11, 1949 (1949-09-11) –
July 24, 1959 (1959-07-24)

The Magic Clown is an NBC TV series which ran from 1949 to 1954. The final NBC broadcast was on June 27, 1954. The show then moved to WABD where it stayed until 1958. After that, it was renamed Bonomo, The Magic Clown and was broadcast on WNTA from September 29, 1958 to July 24, 1959. [1] The show was sponsored by Bonomo Turkish Taffy. [2] Josh Norris, who used the stage name "Zovello", was the first Magic Clown, and went on to a successful career as a full-time magician.

Contents

Premise

The show featured a clown, at first referred to only as "The Magic Clown," but later renamed Bonomo after the show's sponsor, performing magic tricks, sometimes with the help of his puppet Laffy. [3]

The show was created by Tico Bonomo, grandson of the founder of the Bonomo Turkish Taffy company, specifically as a vehicle to sell candy. As a result, each episode featured constant plugs for the sponsor, and some consider this show to be an early infomercial.

Development of the show took more than a year; fresh out of Syracuse University, Bonomo went to work creating The Magic Clown. In a 1994 interview, Bonomo recalled the hard work that went into the program: "I spent the summer of 1948 with writers and producers and an advertising agency," recalls Bonomo. "Those days I worked a seven-day week. The program was on Sundays so I was at NBC every single Sunday at 8 a.m. and we were on the air at 11:30 a.m." [4]

Cast

The action of the program centered around its eponymous host. Tico Bonomo said that finding a host wasn't easy. "You can't teach clowns to do magic, you have to have a magician and turn him into a clown. And, believe me, it's tough teaching a good magician to put on white face and act like a clown."

The first "Magic Clown" was known only by his stage name, Zovello, and hosted the program from its inception in 1949 until 1952. At that time, a comedian named Richard DuBois took over, [5] serving even after the show was cancelled by NBC and moved to DuMont-owned WABD, until 1958, when the show moved to Newark, New Jersey –based WNTA.

The WNTA run was hosted by comedian, mimic, cartoonist, and puppeteer Doug Anderson, with assistance from his wife, former model Gayle Anderson. The couple added new segments to the show, including informational pieces and in-studio interviews as the show expanded from a weekly to a weekday basis. The Andersons, however, choked at the amount of creative control the sponsor had over the show, and the show was cancelled after only one year on WNTA. [6]

A short-lived revival of the program, produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was created for syndication in 1970. The Magic Clown was performed in this version by James Randi.

Reception

The show was well received by young audiences in both New York and New Jersey, although there is no record of how it was received nationally. Most modern reviews have panned the show, with some calling it "unintentionally hilarious". However, a reviewer at the Internet Archive called it "delightful".

Tico Bonomo claimed that the show was responsible for greatly increasing sales of Turkish Taffy. "Introducing our candy on television allowed us to take a product like Turkish Taffy, which was one that you had to fight for distribution, and make it a big success."

Episode status

As with much of NBC's daytime programming of the 1950s, few episodes exist of The Magic Clown today. One episode appears on a DVD box set by Shout! Factory, while two episodes appear on a DVD by Shokus Video and in the Mill Creek DVD set "Classic Game Shows & More". Much of the surviving content from the series has lapsed into the public domain.

Archivist Ira Gallen is known to have several episodes in his collection.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Magician</i> (American TV series) American TV series (1973–1974)

The Magician is an American television series that ran during the 1973–1974 season. It starred Bill Bixby as stage illusionist Anthony "Tony" Blake, a playboy philanthropist who used his skills to solve difficult crimes as needed. In the series pilot, the character was named Anthony Dorian; the name was changed due to a conflict with the name of a real-life stage magician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DuMont Television Network</span> American television network (1942–1956)

The DuMont Television Network was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in the United States. It was owned by Allen B. DuMont Laboratories, a television equipment and set manufacturer, and began operation on June 28, 1942.

An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of direct response television (DRTV), they are often program-length commercials, and are typically 28:30 or 58:30 minutes in length. Infomercials are also known as paid programming. This phenomenon started in the United States, where infomercials were typically shown overnight, outside peak prime time hours for commercial broadcasters. Some television stations chose to air infomercials as an alternative to the former practice of signing off, while other channels air infomercials 24 hours a day. Some stations also choose to air infomercials during the daytime hours, mostly on weekends, to fill in for unscheduled network or syndicated programming. By 2009, most infomercial spending in the U.S. occurred outside of the traditional overnight hours. Stations in most countries around the world have instituted similar media structures. The infomercial industry is worth over $200 billion.

<i>Truth or Consequences</i> American radio and television game show

Truth or Consequences is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1956), Bob Barker (1956–1975), Steve Dunne (1957–1958), Bob Hilton (1977–1978) and Larry Anderson (1987–1988). The television show ran on CBS, NBC and also in syndication. The premise of the show was to mix the original quiz element of game shows with wacky stunts.

<i>Father Knows Best</i> American television program 1954–1960

Father Knows Best is an American sitcom starring Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six seasons and 203 episodes. Created by Ed James, Father Knows Best follows the lives of the Andersons, a middle-class family living in the town of Springfield. The state in which Springfield is located is never specified, but it is generally accepted to be located in the Midwestern United States.

<i>The Ernie Kovacs Show</i> American TV series or program

The Ernie Kovacs Show was an American comedy show hosted by comedian Ernie Kovacs, first shown in Philadelphia during the early 1950s, then nationally. The show appeared in many versions and formats, including daytime, prime-time, late-night, talk show, comedy, and as a summer replacement series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Anderson</span> American actor, comedian, and magician (1952–2018)

Harry Laverne Anderson was an American actor, comedian and magician. He is best known for his role of Judge Harry Stone on the 1984–1992 television series Night Court. He later starred in the sitcom Dave's World from 1993 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis James</span> American television personality (1917–1997)

Dennis James was an American television personality, philanthropist, and commercial spokesman. Until 1976, he had appeared on TV more times and for a longer period than any other television star. Alternately referred to as "The Dean of Game Show Hosts" and the "Godfather of Gameshows", he was the host of television's first network game show, the DuMont Network's Cash and Carry (1946).

The following is the 1958–59 network television schedule for the four major English language commercial broadcast networks in the United States. The schedule covers primetime hours from September 1958 through March 1959. The schedule is followed by a list per network of returning series, new series, and series cancelled after the 1957–58 season.

<i>The Magic Land of Allakazam</i> American TV series or program

The Magic Land of Allakazam was the name of a series of network television shows featuring American magician Mark Wilson. It ran from 1960 to 1964 and is credited with establishing the credibility of magic as a television entertainment.

<i>The Johnny Carson Show</i> Television series

The Johnny Carson Show was a 1955–56 half-hour primetime television variety show starring Johnny Carson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hans Klok</span> Dutch magician, illusionist and actor (born 1969)

Johannes Franciscus Catharinus "Hans" Klok is a Dutch magician, illusionist and actor.

Crawford Mystery Theatre is an American television program broadcast on the DuMont Television Network Thursdays at 9:30pm ET beginning on September 6, 1951. The series was also seen in first-run syndication. The series ran from 1951 to 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkish Taffy</span>

Turkish Taffy Is a "chewy" taffy-like candy bar, which comes in several flavors.

<i>The Rootie Kazootie Club</i> American TV series or program

Rootie Kazootie was the principal character on the 1950-1954 children's television show The Rootie Kazootie Club. The show was the creation of Steve Carlin and featured human actors along with hand puppets.

<i>Okay, Mother</i> American TV series or program

Okay, Mother is an American daytime variety/game show which originally aired on WABD in New York City in 1948.

Sense and Nonsense is an American game show hosted by Bob Kennedy which ran on New York City TV station WABD from 1951 to 1954. The show consisted of two three-child teams using their five senses to complete challenges and earn money, with the high-scoring team returning on the next show.

<i>Super Circus</i>

Super Circus is an American television program that aired live on Sunday afternoons from 5 to 6pm Eastern Time from 1949 to 1956 on ABC. The show was produced in Chicago by WBKB-TV through 1955, and its production moved to New York City and WABC-TV for its final season. The award-winning show featured circus and clown acts performing in front of a studio audience. Mary Hartline and Claude Kirchner were the hosts, and Bruce Chase conducted the band. Phil Patton was the producer, and Ed Skotch was the director. Sponsors for the show included Kellogg's, Mars, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, and Sweetheart Soap.

Jazz Party, also known as Art Ford's Jazz Party, is a TV series featuring jazz musicians on WNTA-TV in New York City, which aired on Thursdays at 9pm ET from May 8, 1958, to December 25, 1958. It was a music-focused continuation of Art Ford's Greenwich Village Party, arguably the last series to appear on the DuMont Television Network, which ceased operations on August 6, 1956, though only broadcast on WABD as that station was becoming WNEW-TV after the sale of the DuMont-owned stations to Metromedia.

References

  1. ↑ Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . Watson-Guptill Publications. p.  275. ISBN   978-0823083152 . Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. ↑ Terrace, Vincent (2014). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 Through 2010 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 640. ISBN   9780786486410 . Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  3. ↑ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television, the First Thirty-five Years, 1946-1981: Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. Scarecrow Publishing. p. 315. ISBN   9780810816510.
  4. ↑ Hall, Ron (1994-08-01). "Fifty years of candy: consolidation, clowns and confidence". Candy Industry.
  5. ↑ Zovello as The Magic Clown, TV Acres Archived 2010-12-06 at the Library of Congress Web Archives.
  6. ↑ Bonomo, The Magic Clown, TVparty.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.