The Burr Tillstrom Copyright Trust, in collaboration with The Kuklapolitan Website, announces the first release of the earliest episodes of the Peabody and Emmy-award-winning Kukla, Fran and Ollie, one of the most highly regarded shows of early television, and the first series produced in Chicago to receive national attention. The two-DVD set of 20 digitally restored episodes, which have never been commercially available in any format, will be released Nov. 20, 2010, through Amazon.com and the Chicago History Museum.
KFO is unique in television
history: a live, ad-libbed, daily puppet
show actually watched by more adults than children. Filled with
references to the theater, opera, and current events, it counted Orson
Welles, Katharine Hepburn, John Steinbeck, Tallulah Bankhead, and Adlai
Stevenson among its many adult fans.
How did a puppet show originally aimed at children become “appointment
television” for millions of adults? Two words: Burr
Tillstrom. His ability to create over twenty distinct characters
and voices (he was the only puppeteer) and his rapport with Fran
Allison (the show’s only onscreen human) were essential to the show’s
humor and believability.
Today, it's hard to imagine a simple puppet show being so popular, but
KFO evoked loyalty and a deep
belief in its characters from viewers.
After Kukla sneezed in one early episode, over 250 fans sent in
handkerchiefs. At its peak, the show received 10,000 fan letters in one
week. Critics were convinced of the show's virtues:
“Without any question whatsoever it is the most charming and
heartwarming excursion into pure make-believe that is to be found in
television
today. The program has acquired a personality which is
utterly engaging and completely habit-forming.” Jack
Gould, The New York Times
“You didn't just watch their show each day, you shared in it. You
partook of it. You lived it with them. Kukla, Fran and Ollie was
important to the development of television, and it was also inestimably
important to the development of those who tuned in.
Tom
Shales, The Washington Post
“Kukla, Fran and Ollie was
originally a children’s show but it has been
adopted by the adults. It is difficult to put the charm of this
program into any comprehensible prose. You’ll just have to see it for
yourself. Don’t see it just once, though. It takes a
while.” John Crosby, New York Herald Tribune
The 20 black-and-white kinescopes in the set, which retails for $14.95,
have undergone extensive audio and video restoration to provide the
best possible presentation of these early films. For more
information on Kukla, Fran and Ollie, visit www.kukla.tv. For a
screening copy or to arrange interviews with Burr’s colleagues, contact
Mark Milano.
Available for interviews: Bruce Berquist (cameraman in the 1950s), Jack Hackman (designer in the '70s), Lyle Conway (puppet maker in the '80s), Rich Maisel (pianist in the '80s).
The DVD includes the following shows:
Disc One
12/5/49 Salute To Television
9/8/49 Screen Test
9/26/49 Madame Ooglepuss Loses Her Wig
8/17/49 Lemonade
10/6/49 Ice Cream - with Dave Garroway
10/31/49 Halloween
11/30/49 Kukla Kiddish
12/20/49 Making A Christmas Tree Stand
12/28/49 Hansel and Gretel
Bonus:
Homecoming - with Gene Rayburn (excerpt)
Disc
Two
6/28/50
Puppetry Festival
11/3/50
As You Like It
12/20/50
Winter
Carnival
11/26/51
First 15 Minute Show
12/5/51
Guppies Gavotte
12/12/51
Fran Practices Christmas Singing
4/22/52
June Lockhart
5/2/52
Leaving New York
10/12/52
Fifth
Birthday
1/3/54
Miss VUHF
2/21/54
"The Mikado" Dress Rehearsal
Bonus:
Sweet William (excerpt)
Bonus:
"Here We Are" (excerpt)
