Jim Scancarelli "haunting" a house for the opening of Friday night's "Horror Theater," circa 1965. The prop, originally used in a window display at Belk's in downtown Charlotte, was salvaged by director Ed Wade, then was "horrified" by ace artist Scancarelli.
For nearly fifty years WBTV (like most TV stations) had at least one local children's show on the schedule at any given time. It just made sense to capture your once and future viewers' undying loyalty while they were young, and since you had to fill all those available hours with something, kids' shows were the easiest and cheapest to produce. In those days there weren't a great many syndicated shows available, at least at prices that seemed reasonable. And, hey, we've got all these employees on the payroll anyway, so let's get the most out of them.
(Today there is an under abundance of employees on the payroll at many local stations, which have been automated and down-sized to the point that even sales calls are made by robots. It's even rumored that, at some stations, if anyone is caught being creative, not only will he be fired, but one additional staff member will be let go each week until morale has declined to an acceptable level.)
Back then there were no lack of talented people around WBTV (before and behind the cameras) to create these programs, like fred Kirby, Jim Patterson, Bill Ward, Philip Morris, Alice Walker and many others. Here are cast members from just a few of WBTV's presentations for kids (of all ages).
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Whistle Stop — Created and produced by Dennis Philips (left) the show featured fred Kirby, Jim Patterson, Philips (shown here as Bosco, the tramp) and Clara Lowry. This award-winning show ran for three years, from 1972 to 1975. There's more on this series, including photos, in "The Story of Whistle Stop," written by the producer himself.
Photo courtesy Dennis Philips
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Big Bill's Clubhouse — As he himself told it, Bill Ward—WBTV's sportscaster—was drafted by management to host this show where the kids in the audience would enter through a loose board in the fence, whereas Bill, being Big, would have to walk the long way around, delighting the kids. Bob Carroll, one of the station's early artists, recalls helping create the set. “Colonel Captain Phil” Morris is shown here with Bill. Perhaps someone who remembers these shows will write in with their memories of them. Did you watch often? Were you ever on the show?
Photo courtesy Philip Morris
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Tiny Town — Notice Jim Patterson is present on all these shows? He was the go-to guy for anything involving tomfoolery. His quick wit, ability to ad lib and his goofy sense of humor made him essential to any kids' program. In one episode of the show, Clarence Nash, the “official” voice of Donald Duck, in town to promote some event or other, came on the show with a cast of Disney characters. Jim Scancarelli created the set.
Photo courtesy Jim Scancarelli
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Three Ring Circus - Philip Morris and Jim Patterson as “Colonel Captain Phil” and "Bozo the Clown," respectively. Three Ring was an extravaganza, with a large cast of lovable characters—these two, plus Barker Bill (Ward); a pirate (with an eye patch and a real peg leg)—whose name escapes us; Pancho, a bandito type in a Mexican mariachi outfit, demonstrated his prowess with a bullwhip; and Mr. Goody (Tom King) dispensed prizes and favors. The program was live every weekday from five to six.
Photo courtesy Philip Morris
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Castle in the Clouds — This short-lived show from the late '60s was built around Princess Alice (Walker) and Jester Jim (Patterson) on yet another set by Jim Scancarelli. It had a medieval theme—you know, knights and stuff. An afternoon show, it was designed to be competitive with the highly-popular Joey the Clown on that other station, who was eating our lunch in the ratings. Ratings-wise, Castle was a flop, and lasted less than a year. It had a magic mirror named "Shimmer" with which the princess could converse. Dick Hess was the principal director.
Photo courtesy Jim Scancarelli
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Three Ring Circus — Phil Morris, master illusionist, abracadabs an unlit candle into revealing its secret, hidden flame. And who's that familiar-looking kid named Jay? Why, it's Jay North, star of CBS-TV's Dennis The Menace series (1959-1963). It was common for series stars to visit affiliate stations to promote their shows.
Are you ready to be depressed? As of this writing little Jay is about 55 years old.
Photo courtesy Philip Morris
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Remember that nice Colonel Captain Phil from the earlier shows? Well, sometime in the mid to late '60s, Philip Morris reverted to one of his other creations, the fiendish and fezzed Dr. Evil, a character he had been using for several years in fright shows on stages and theaters across the country. Dr. Evil was a natural to be the "ghost host" of WBTV's Friday night Horror Theatre. Skulls, skeletons, scary scenes, a Scancarelli set, oh, my! It's a scientific fact: Dr. Evil scared the pants off 8,731,221 kids, many of them under the age of 21.
Photo courtesy Philip Morris
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Behind the scenes at Friday night's Horror Theatre (or was it Theater?). Legend has it that often the crew members would become so frightened they would flee the studio, leaving the cameras dangling in the wind. Above the skull-adorned mantel is displayed the Evil family crest. Dr. Evil, whose first name was Jerry, descended from a long line of Evils, mostly mica miners in the misty mountains of rural Roumania. Phil himself was raised in Michigan.
Photo courtesy Philip Morris
