Tag Archives: Golden Age of TV

The Woman Who Created Kid’s Television

DING DONG SCHOOL!

Before there was Sesame Street…

Before there was Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood …

Before there was Romper Room …

Before there was Captain Kangaroo …

There was Miss Frances and Ding Dong School. The show not only was the first in its genre, it literally created children’s television—and set the bar very high, too. Let’s hop into the Wayback Machine and revisit 1952. Continue reading

Did the Kremlin Love Lucy, Too?

Was America’s favorite redhead really a Red?

o-LUCILLE-BALL-570

Lucille Ball was no stranger to pressure. For years, she had appeared on stage and in live radio broadcasts. She had performed hilarious stunts before movie and TV cameras alike with equal ease.

But nothing, nothing at all, was like the pressure facing her on Friday evening, September 11, 1953. Because everything (and I do mean everything) hinged on the response that would greet her when she walked out before 300 people in the television studio audience.

Lucy found herself in countless zany predicaments over the years. But this one beat them all. And here’s the true story of how she got in it. Continue reading