''Hot Dog'' was a Saturday morning documentary series for children, seen on
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 ...
from September 12, 1970 to September 4, 1971.
Created by
Frank Buxton
Frank Buxton (February 13, 1930 – January 2, 2018) was an American actor, television writer, author, and television director. Buxton grew up in Larchmont, New York. He was a graduate of Northwestern University (B.S.) and Syracuse University (M ...
and co-produced by Buxton and
Lee Mendelson
Leland Maurice Mendelson (March 24, 1933 – December 25, 2019) was an American animation producer and the executive producer of the many ''Peanuts'' animated specials.
Biography
Mendelson was born in San Francisco and grew up in San Mateo gra ...
, the program was notable for its hosts – comedienne
Jo Anne Worley
Jo Anne Worley (born September 6, 1937) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. Her work covers television, films, theater, game shows, talk shows, commercials, and cartoons. Worley is widely known for her work on the comedy-variety show ...
, comedian
Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...
and writer and actor
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
. The pilot, televised on March 28, 1970, starred Worley, Allen and
Tom Smothers
Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.
Early life
Smothers was born in 1937 at ...
, who was replaced with Winters when the show became a series.
Based on Buxton's travels as a comedian (and later, as host of the
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 ...
series ''Discovery''), which took him on tours to various factories, ''Hot Dog'' explained, in a humorous manner, how we do things (such as snore) and how things were made (such as the eponymous hot dogs and their buns, plus condiments like mustard).
Seventy topics were covered during the course of this series, which lasted 13 episodes and was rerun the rest of the season. NBC won a Peabody award for the series in 1970.
Some of the music in this series was performed by
The Youngbloods
The Youngbloods were an American rock band consisting of Jesse Colin Young (vocals, bass, guitar), Jerry Corbitt (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Lowell "Banana" Levinger (guitar and electric piano), and Joe Bauer (drums). Despite recei ...
.
Syndication and alternate versions
Reruns of ''Hot Dog'' were
syndicated during the 1977–1978 television season, at a time when Allen had firmly established himself as a motion picture star, director, and writer. Portions of ''Hot Dog'' were also seen on a local
KNBC
KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona-licens ...
children's program in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, ''
That's Cat
''That's Cat'' was a children's television show that premiered on Saturday, September 18, 1976.Lee Margulies, "Bright Show for School-Age Set," ''Los Angeles Times'', Sept. 18, 1976. It was both produced by and aired on KNBC, the NBC owned and op ...
'', which debuted in 1976.
In 1971, the Individual topic segments were sold to schools on 16mm film.
Topics
(listed alphabetically)
# "How does a frog jump?"
# "How does a letter get through the mail?"
# "How do they get toothpaste in the tube?"
# "How do they make a baseball glove?"
# "How do they make a hot dog roll?"
# "How do they make a surfboard?"
# "How do they make baseballs?"
# “How do they make bicycles?”
# "How do they make bowling balls?"
# "How do they make bubblegum?"
# "How do they make cartoons?"
# "How do they make chocolate?"
# "How do they make playing cards?"
# "How do they make pennies?"
# "How do they make plywood"
# "How do they make spaghetti?"
# "How do they make tennis shoes?"
# "How do they make toothbrushes?"
# "How do they make T-shirts?"
# "How money is made"
# "Is that really lead in a lead pencil?"
# "What makes popcorn pop?"
# "What's a compass?"
# "Where does honey come from?"
# "Where does lumber come from?"
# "Where do felt tip pens come from?"
# "Who invented the hot dog?"
References
* ''The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television'' by Wesley Hyatt (Billboard Books 1997)
External links
*
List of productions, including ''Hot Dog'' episodes. produced by Lee Mendelson – Frank Buxton Joint Film Productions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Dog (Tv Series)
Science education television series
1970s American documentary television series
1970s American children's comedy television series
1970 American television series debuts
1971 American television series endings
American children's education television series
NBC original programming
Peabody Award-winning television programs