Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo
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The show was conceived and the title character played by Bob Keeshan, who based the show on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children." Keeshan was the original Clarabell the Clown on The Howdy Doody Show when it aired on NBC.
It had a loose structure, built around life in the "Treasure House" where the Captain (whose name came from the big pockets in his coat) would tell stories, meet guests and indulge in silly stunts with regular characters, both humans and puppets. The show was live for its first four years and was in black-and-white until 1968. The May 17, 1971 episode saw two major changes on the show; the Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place" and the Captain replaced his black coat with a red coat. In September 1981, CBS shortened the hour-long show to a half-hour and briefly retitled it "Wake Up" and moved it to an earlier time-slot, but when the show moved back to weekends in September 1982 it was back to an hour-long format. It was canceled by CBS at the end of 1984.
In the TV season of 1997–1998, an All New Captain Kangaroo was attempted by Saban Entertainment. John McDonough played the Captain. It was shot in Tampa, Florida. Keeshan was invited to appear as a special guest called "The Admiral," but after seeing sample episodes, he declined to appear or have any association with the new incarnation. It ran for one season and inspired a spin-off, Mister Moose's Fun Time.
Other actors in the show included:
Hugh Brannum played the Captain's main sidekick Mr. Green Jeans and other less-frequently seen characters, such as the New Old Folk Singer, who played a double bass (or "bass fiddle") as if it were a guitar, Percy, Uncle Backwards and Mr. McGwegger, the Painter.
Cosmo Allegretti created and performed several of the show's best-known puppet characters, including Mr. Bunny Rabbit, who always tricked the Captain into giving him carrots, and Mr. Moose, whose riddles and knock-knock jokes invariably ended with hundreds of ping-pong balls cascading from above and hitting the Captain on the head. Allegretti was the actor who portrayed the Dennis the Apprentice, Miss Frog (the telephone operator), Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock, and Uncle Ralph characters. He was also the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board.
Sam Levine played an unusual, mostly mute character known as The Banana Man, who produced huge bunches of bananas from within his coat. He would also magically pull watermelons from his pockets. (Levine replaced the original performer, A. Robins, who died in 1950. Although he was mute, he would continually hum in a falsetto voice, and, when finding several bananas at once in his pocket, would exclaim "Wow!" in a falsetto voice.
Bill Cosby was a regular on the show from 1980–1984, when he did Picture Pages educational segments (as had the Captain himself, from 1978–1980).
From 1973 until 1977, Debbie Weems (1951–1978) was a regular on Captain Kangaroo. She played many roles, including Debbie the newspaper reporter, and was also an active puppeteer who did the voice for Baby Duck. Weems also sang on many episodes and recorded an album of songs from Captain Kangaroo.
Jimmy Wall (credited also as "Larry Wall") was a regular on the show from 1968 until 1978. Playing the kindly "Mr. Baxter," he added a sense of calm to the show when all others around him may have been caught up in the silliness. He also starred with the Captain and Mr. Greenjeans in a serialized production entitled "The Missing Paint Mystery" (shown on the program from December, 1969 until 1977; with the exception of 1976) in which the trio travels to Curaçao (a Caribbean island) to confront the playfully evil villain, Garumph (played by Cosmo Allegretti). Wall also worked as a stage manager for CBS on Captain Kangaroo and other CBS broadcasts, including 60 Minutes. Now age 90, Wall continues to work as a CBS stage manager, and on September 1, 2008, was honored for working on his 41st year of the "US Open" tennis tournament. Sportscasters Dick Enberg and John McEnroe commented that Wall still has a strong backhand tennis shot.
It had a loose structure, built around life in the "Treasure House" where the Captain (whose name came from the big pockets in his coat) would tell stories, meet guests and indulge in silly stunts with regular characters, both humans and puppets. The show was live for its first four years and was in black-and-white until 1968. The May 17, 1971 episode saw two major changes on the show; the Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place" and the Captain replaced his black coat with a red coat. In September 1981, CBS shortened the hour-long show to a half-hour and briefly retitled it "Wake Up" and moved it to an earlier time-slot, but when the show moved back to weekends in September 1982 it was back to an hour-long format. It was canceled by CBS at the end of 1984.
In the TV season of 1997–1998, an All New Captain Kangaroo was attempted by Saban Entertainment. John McDonough played the Captain. It was shot in Tampa, Florida. Keeshan was invited to appear as a special guest called "The Admiral," but after seeing sample episodes, he declined to appear or have any association with the new incarnation. It ran for one season and inspired a spin-off, Mister Moose's Fun Time.
Other actors in the show included:
Hugh Brannum played the Captain's main sidekick Mr. Green Jeans and other less-frequently seen characters, such as the New Old Folk Singer, who played a double bass (or "bass fiddle") as if it were a guitar, Percy, Uncle Backwards and Mr. McGwegger, the Painter.
Cosmo Allegretti created and performed several of the show's best-known puppet characters, including Mr. Bunny Rabbit, who always tricked the Captain into giving him carrots, and Mr. Moose, whose riddles and knock-knock jokes invariably ended with hundreds of ping-pong balls cascading from above and hitting the Captain on the head. Allegretti was the actor who portrayed the Dennis the Apprentice, Miss Frog (the telephone operator), Mr. Whispers, Dancing Bear, Grandfather Clock, and Uncle Ralph characters. He was also the artist behind the Magic Drawing Board.
Sam Levine played an unusual, mostly mute character known as The Banana Man, who produced huge bunches of bananas from within his coat. He would also magically pull watermelons from his pockets. (Levine replaced the original performer, A. Robins, who died in 1950. Although he was mute, he would continually hum in a falsetto voice, and, when finding several bananas at once in his pocket, would exclaim "Wow!" in a falsetto voice.
Bill Cosby was a regular on the show from 1980–1984, when he did Picture Pages educational segments (as had the Captain himself, from 1978–1980).
From 1973 until 1977, Debbie Weems (1951–1978) was a regular on Captain Kangaroo. She played many roles, including Debbie the newspaper reporter, and was also an active puppeteer who did the voice for Baby Duck. Weems also sang on many episodes and recorded an album of songs from Captain Kangaroo.
Jimmy Wall (credited also as "Larry Wall") was a regular on the show from 1968 until 1978. Playing the kindly "Mr. Baxter," he added a sense of calm to the show when all others around him may have been caught up in the silliness. He also starred with the Captain and Mr. Greenjeans in a serialized production entitled "The Missing Paint Mystery" (shown on the program from December, 1969 until 1977; with the exception of 1976) in which the trio travels to Curaçao (a Caribbean island) to confront the playfully evil villain, Garumph (played by Cosmo Allegretti). Wall also worked as a stage manager for CBS on Captain Kangaroo and other CBS broadcasts, including 60 Minutes. Now age 90, Wall continues to work as a CBS stage manager, and on September 1, 2008, was honored for working on his 41st year of the "US Open" tennis tournament. Sportscasters Dick Enberg and John McEnroe commented that Wall still has a strong backhand tennis shot.
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