August 30, 1957…Ten Years Of “Kukla, Fran & Ollie” Come To An End
At the link is KFO creator Burr Tillstrom’s timeline of the shows milestones, starting with their October 13, 1947 debut as “The Junior Jamboree” on WBKB in Chicago, to their last show, which was also on WBKB.
http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/kuklapolitans/kuklapolitan_chronology.html
In the five years that the show ran on NBC nationally, fan mail averaged 5,000 letters a day, and the show’s ratings rivaled Milton Burle’s and even Ed Sullivan’s at CBS. Be sure and click through the attached images…there is a surprise on one of them.
Thanks for the memories, Burr, Fran, Kukla and Ollie! By the way, KFO are also a big part of a post here from earlier today on an NBC color milestone, so visit the page by clicking on the blue EOAG text at the top left of this post. -Bobby Ellerbee
The show ended in ’57? They must’ve reran episodes, because I remember watching it when I was littler kid and I was born in ’61
KF&O was a necessary part of my day when I was a young tot.
Had forgotten about ole KFO…. brings back a flood of memories.
I wish I’d seen it. I was a bit too young to enjoy its network run. Somehow I knew of it in the early 60s, but it wasn’t broadcast anywhere in Indianapolis at that time.
http://www.kukla.tv
There’s also a detailed timeline at my site, where these photos came from.
http://kukla.tv/history.html
One of the greatest joys of my career was working with Burr in the early days of WFLD.
I loved this show when I was a kid. I think some of the shows aired on Sunday afternoons, but my memory may be failing.
Good bit of tv history.
I didn’t have the opportunity to watch Kukla, Fran and Ollie as a young child. I did, however, watch them in my early teens. In the late 1960s, they hosted a TV series entitled the “CBS Children’s Film Festival”. The trio introduced films made for children from around the world. I enjoyed watching the show on weekend afternoons.
I can remember watching that last show. Probably crying…
Loved them!
I remember this show as a little child. Question…I wasn’t born until ’56 was it in syndication after’57? probably so. Saw it on WIS Columbia SC.