''Zoo Parade'' is an American television program broadcast from 1950 to 1957 that featured animals from the

Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868, making it the fourth oldest zoo in North America. It is also one of a few free admission zoos in the Unit ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Presented by

Marlin Perkins Richard Marlin Perkins (March 28, 1905 – June 14, 1986) was an American zoology, zoologist. He was best known as a host of the television program ''Wild Kingdom, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom'' from 1963 to 1985. Life and career Perkin ...

, the show was broadcast on Sunday afternoons on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

History

The show was first broadcast locally in Chicago as ''Lincoln Park Zoo'' in 1949, appearing in television listings for WNBQ as early as May, and using the ''Zoo Parade'' name by December. It was then broadcast nationally by

on Sunday afternoons from May 1950 to September 1957. Shot primarily at the

in Chicago, the zoo's director,

, was a presenter throughout the series; he was assisted by announcer Jim Hurlbut for several seasons. Harrison Ford, born in 1942, recalled meeting Perkins during the run of the show, as Ford's father was in advertising and had the zoo as a client. Perkins was bitten on a finger by a rattlesnake shortly before the episode of April 1, 1951, resulting in his hospitalization—a zoologist hosted the episode in his place. The series was primarily filmed in black and white, although a safari episode first aired in December 1955 was filmed in

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

. Some episodes in the fall of 1955 were shot on location in other U.S. cities. The show was canceled in the fall of 1957 and replaced with an interview show, ''Look Here'', hosted by

Martin Agronsky Martin Zama Agronsky ( ; January 12, 1915 – July 25, 1999), also known as Martin Agronski, was an American journalist, political analyst, and television host. He began his career in 1936 working under his uncle, Gershon Agron, at the ''Palest ...

. Perkins went on to host the program ''

Wild Kingdom ''Wild Kingdom'', also known as ''Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom'', is an American documentary television program that features wildlife and nature. It was originally produced from 1963 until 1988, and it was revived in 2002. The show's second ...

'', which debuted in 1963. A

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

entitled ''Marlin Perkins' Zoo Parade'' was issued in 1955 by maker Cadaco-Ellis of Chicago, which involved two to four players answering questions about animals of North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. Examples of the game can sometimes be found via

online auction An online auction (also electronic auction, e-auction, virtual auction, or eAuction) is an auction held over the internet and accessed by internet connected devices. Similar to in-person auctions, online auctions come in a variety of types, with ...

sites.

Awards

The show won a Peabody Award in the area of children's programming for 1950 (awarded in 1951), and a Sylvania Award in 1951 as the "best program suitable for children". The show received four nominations for

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

: * 1951 (for 1950): Best Educational Show (won by ''

KFI-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the C ...

University'') * 1953 (for 1952): Best Children's Program (won by ''

Time for Beany ''Time For Beany'' is an American children's television series, with puppets for characters, which was broadcast locally in Los Angeles starting on February 28, 1949 and nationally (by kinescope) by the improvised Paramount Television Network fro ...

'') * 1954 (for 1953): Best Children's Program (won by ''

Kukla, Fran and Ollie ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'' is an early American television show using puppets. It was created for children, but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was broadcast from Chicago between ...

'') *

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

(for 1954): Best Children's Program (won by '' Lassie'')

Legacy

Jim Wehmeyer has described the show: "A precursor of sorts to the regularly featured animal segments on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

'' and other late-night talk shows, ''Zoo Parade'' was a location-bound production (filmed in the reptile house basement) during which Perkins would present and describe the life and peculiarities of Lincoln Park Zoo animals." Marcel LaFollette has written, "Production approaches that are now standard practice on '' NOVA'' and the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

derive, in fact, from experimentation by television pioneers like

Lynn Poole Lynn Poole (August 11, 1910 – April 14, 1969) was the creator and host of an early U.S. science television program, ''The Johns Hopkins Science Review'' (1948–1955), and the author of more than 20 popular science books. In 2002, Patrick Lucan ...

and

Don Herbert Donald Jeffry Herbert (July 10, 1917 – June 12, 2007), better known as Mr. Wizard, was the creator and host of ''Watch Mr. Wizard'' (1951–65, 1971–72) and ''Mr. Wizard's World'' (1983–90), which were educational television programs for c ...

and such programs as ''

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 ...

'', ''Zoo Parade'', '' Science in Action'', and the Bell Telephone System’s science specials. These early efforts were also influenced by television’s love of the dramatic, refined during its first decade and continuing to shape news and public affairs programming, as well as fiction and fantasy, today." No free online access.

Notes

References

External links