''Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine'' is a 1977-1980 children's

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

show originating from

WFSB WFSB (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Media, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way in Rocky H ...

-TV in

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. The storyline involved Marlo Higgins ( Laurie Faso) who is a mustachioed and frizzy-haired

computer programming Computer programming or coding is the composition of sequences of instructions, called computer program, programs, that computers can follow to perform tasks. It involves designing and implementing algorithms, step-by-step specifications of proc ...

genius Genius is a characteristic of original and exceptional insight in the performance of some art or endeavor that surpasses expectations, sets new standards for the future, establishes better methods of operation, or remains outside the capabiliti ...

working for the L. Dullo computer company. He was banished to the "sub-sub-basement" by his boss, Leo Dullo. By day Marlo works for L. Dullo. At night he builds, programs, and interacts with his Magic Movie Machine (Mert Koplin, voice) built using L. Dullo hardware. The waveform from a real-time audio

oscilloscope An oscilloscope (formerly known as an oscillograph, informally scope or O-scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying voltages of one or more signals as a function of time. Their main purpose is capturing i ...

was displayed on the Magic Movie Machine's screen whenever it talked and it played short clips. The two (man and computer) traded tips and quips. Marlo sat at a console with a slight resemblance to

master control Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room (PCR) in television studios where the activities such as swit ...

consoles of the time. He would call up the various film clips featured on the show by entering codes using a

numeric keypad A numeric keypad, number pad, numpad, or ten key, is the calculator-style group of ten numeric keys accompanied by other keys, usually on the far right side of computer keyboard. This grouping allows quick number entry with right hand, ...

with round, yellow number buttons and pressing an orange rectangular Start button to start the selected film. In earlier episodes, a

split-flap display A split-flap display, or sometimes simply a flap display, is a digital electromechanical display device that presents changeable alphanumeric text, and occasionally fixed graphics. They were (from the 1960s to 1990s) commonly used as public tr ...

mounted on the console showed the code entered on the keypad. In later episodes, this was changed to an

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

display, and the buttons were made to sound like the

DTMF Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling is a telecommunication signaling system using the voice-frequency band over telephone lines between telephone equipment and other communications devices and switching centers. DTMF was first developed ...

tones made by a

touch-tone Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signaling is a telecommunication signaling system using the voice-frequency band over telephone lines between telephone equipment and other communications devices and switching centers. DTMF was first developed ...

telephone as Marlo pressed them. Most of the time, Marlo used a small keypad consisting of two columns of buttons flanking a

CRT CRT or Crt most commonly refers to: * Cathode-ray tube, a display * Critical race theory, an academic framework of analysis CRT may also refer to: Law * Charitable remainder trust, United States * Civil Resolution Tribunal, Canada * Columbia ...

, located in front of him when he was sitting at the console of the Magic Movie Machine. However, a similar but larger keypad located on the wall was sometimes used (see below).

Segments

Regularly featured segments, conceived and written by Producer/Story Editor Charles Grinker, included: *The Pre-fame Game: Marlo always used the code '5060' to call up this film. Baby pictures of famous people would be shown and the audience would be given a chance to guess who the celebrity's identity before a more current picture was revealed. *The Birthday Game: A date would be chosen, possibly from letters sent in by fans having that birthday. Marlo would enter this month and day on the keypad. A film featuring famous people who shared that birthday would be shown. *What do you see from A to Z: The code for this feature was '456.' A letter of the alphabet would be chosen, and film clips of things beginning with that letter would be shown. The clip would begin shown completely covered up, and gradually uncovered until it is completely revealed after 10 seconds. Presumably, the audience would try to identify what is being shown as quickly as possible. *What do you see from A to Z Hidden Word Game: The code was '5460.' Similar to above, except that each word would begin with a different letter, and after the picture is uncovered, its initial letter would be placed in a blank in a final word. At the end of the segment, the final word would be completely filled in. *Magic Year, Magic Month, and Magic Day: Using a chosen date or year as the code and utilizing a special keypad added in a later season to enter months, Marlo and the machine would feature events in history occurring on a particular day (the same day in different years) or in a particular month or year. *Knock-knock Jokes: Marlo would use the larger keypad to enter the code '0000' to call up this film. A character on-screen would begin by saying "knock-knock," Marlo would answer "Who's there?" and a

knock-knock joke The knock-knock joke is an audience-participation joke cycle; a knock-knock joke is primarily a child's joke, though there are exceptions. The scenario is of a person knocking on the front door to a house. The teller of the joke says, "Knock, kn ...

would be told. *Riddles: In a later season, the knock-knock jokes were replaced by riddles, which Marlo would call up, again using the bigger keypad, by pressing '2222.'

Production information

*Executive producer: Sanford Fisher ** Producer and Story Editor: Charles Grinker *Taped at: WFSB-TV in Hartford *Aired from 1977 (60 minutes), 1978-1980 (30 minutes), Saturday afternoons *Channel:

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

/Syndicated *Production company: Corporation for Education and Learning (who leveraged their enormous archive of footage) *Music: Score Productions, Inc.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0257313 1977 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings 1970s American children's television series 1980s American children's television series Fictional computers Local children's television programming in the United States