''Circus Boy'' was an American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

that aired in

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

, and then on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, from 1956 to 1957. It was then rerun by NBC on Saturday mornings, from 1958 to 1960.

Summary

Set in the late 1890s, the title of the series refers to a boy named Corky. After his parents, "The Flying Falcons," were killed in a trapeze accident, young Corky (

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions ...

– billed at the time as Mickey Braddock) was adopted by Joey the Clown (

Noah Beery, Jr. Noah Lindsey Beery (August 10, 1913 – November 1, 1994) was an American actor often specializing in warm, friendly character roles similar to many portrayed by his Oscar-winning uncle, Wallace Beery. Unlike his more famous uncle, however, Be ...

), and the whole Burke and Walsh Circus family. When school was brought up for Corky, Joey said he was a school teacher for many years before joining the circus and could easily handle his education. The young boy quickly found a role with the

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

water boy In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farm workers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the ...

to Bimbo, a baby elephant whom Corky would come to consider his pet. Riding Bimbo's back, Corky dealt with adolescent problems, and helped the show's adults including Joey, owner/promoter Big Tim Champion ( Robert Lowery) and head canvasman Pete (

Guinn Williams Guinn Terrell Williams (April 22, 1871 – January 9, 1948) was an American banker and politician. A Democrat, he served in the Texas State Senate, and is most notable for his service in the U.S. representative from Texas. His son was the actor ...

), keep the circus successful as the traveling show moved from town to town each week. Outside of an elephant being the animal companion, the series was similar to popular "boy and his dog" shows of the time, such as '' Lassie/Jeff's Collie'', and ''

The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin ''The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin'' is an American children's television series in the Western genre that aired from October 1954 to May 1959 on the ABC television network. In all, 164 episodes aired. The show starred Lee Aaker as Rusty, a boy orph ...

''. Unusually, the opening credits billed the regular actors by their character names, rather than their own names.

Cast

Series regulars

Recurring roles and notable guest stars

First episode guest stars

The following cast appeared in the debut episode only. Several sources erroneously list these three, as well as Billy Barty from Episodes 1 and 2, as series regulars.

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (1956–57)

Season 2 (1957)

References in ''The Monkees''

Micky Dolenz sings the theme to the series in "The Monkees at the Circus", an episode of ''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

''. When asked by

Mike Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

"What 'is' that?", Dolenz responds "It's the theme song for an old TV series". Their song "

Porpoise Song "Porpoise Song" is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and performed by the Monkees as the theme song for their 1968 film ''Head'' and its accompanying soundtrack album. The single version contains an extended instrumental outro not inc ...

" contains references to the series, most notably with the line "riding the back of giraffes for laughs is alright for a while."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0048855, title=Circus Boy
Circus Boy, season 1, episode 1
YouTube 1956 American television series debuts 1957 American television series endings 1950s Western (genre) television series Television series set in the 1890s American adventure television series American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows NBC original programming Television series by Screen Gems Circus television shows Television shows adapted into comics Television series about adoption