‘Howdy Doody Show’…The Unforgettable Clarabell Goodbye
Until those awful days in Dallas in 1963, September 24, 1960 was television’s most memorable moment…at least for us kids who watched ‘Howdy Doody’ every Saturday morning.
The show debuted with Iconoscope cameras December 27, 1947 but by early April new RCA TK30 Image Orthicon cameras were in 3H. Although the show went color on September 12, 1955 from Studio 3K, this is the only color footage of the show I have ever seen. For many years, this tape was lost but was finally found and restored.
The final episode was a special hour long show and in this ultra rare clip, we see the beginning and end, and even hear audio from the control room crew at the very top as they prepared for Episode 2,343…the grand finale. Notice on the ending promos, ‘The Sheri Lewis Show’ was the replacement for Howdy.
Lou Anderson, the third and final actor to play Clarabell, has a surprise for us, and that was the episode title…”Clarabell’s Big Surprise”.
Just as I remember where I was on November 23, 1963, I remember this moment too. I was 10 years old, laying on the couch in our Atlanta home, still dressed in my pajamas. I cried at the end. What about you? Where were you and how did you feel that morning? Enjoy and share! -Bobby Ellerbee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ6ybvlsb4s
Broadcasted on September 24, 1960. The hour-long episode was mostly a fond look-back at all the highlights of the show’s past, but in the midst of it all, Cl…
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