Kukla, Fran, And Ollie
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''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'' is an early American
television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...
using
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...
s. It was created for children, but was soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was broadcast from Chicago between October 13, 1947, and August 30, 1957. Comedienne
Fran Allison Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show '' Kukla, Fran and Ollie'', which ran fr ...
starred, interacting with puppets, Kukla and Ollie (and sometimes other puppets) whose puppeteer was the show's creator,
Burr Tillstrom Franklin Burr Tillstrom (October 13, 1917 – December 6, 1985) was a puppeteer and the creator of ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie''. Early life Tillstrom was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Bert and Alice Burr Tillstrom. He attended Senn High School in ...
. After the original run, the team appeared in other productions over several decades.


Original series

Burr Tillstrom Franklin Burr Tillstrom (October 13, 1917 – December 6, 1985) was a puppeteer and the creator of ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie''. Early life Tillstrom was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Bert and Alice Burr Tillstrom. He attended Senn High School in ...
was the creator and only puppeteer on the show, which premiered as the hour-long ''Junior Jamboree'' locally on WBKB in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, on October 13, 1947. The program was renamed ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'' (''KFO'') and transferred to WNBQ (the predecessor of Chicago's
WMAQ-TV WMAQ-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Telemundo station WSNS-TV (chann ...
) on November 29, 1948. The first
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
network broadcast of the show took place on January 12, 1949. It aired from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday from Chicago. "Fran" was
Fran Allison Frances Helen Allison (November 20, 1907June 13, 1989) was an American television and radio comedienne, personality, and singer. She is best known for her starring role on the weekday NBC-TV puppet show '' Kukla, Fran and Ollie'', which ran fr ...
, a radio comedian and singer who was typically the only human to appear on screen, filling the role of big sister and cheery voice of reason as the puppets engaged each other concerning their foibles. The design style of puppets was that of Neapolitan puppet shows, or
Punch and Judy Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Mr Punch and one other ...
without the
slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
, but their personalities were less caricatured. The puppet cast included "Kukla", the earnest leader of the troupe; "Ollie", or "Oliver J. Dragon", a roguish one-toothed
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
(who would slam his flat chin on the stage in frustration or roll on his back to be endearing); Madame Ooglepuss, a retired
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
diva; Buelah Witch, a brash, madcap
witch Witchcraft is the use of magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meaning. According to ''Enc ...
; Fletcher Rabbit, the troupe's mailman and resident fussbudget (who worked at the Easter Bunny's Egg Plant during the Easter season); Cecil Bill, the troupe's union stagehand who spoke in an unintelligible "tooie talk"; Colonel Crackie, a Southern gentleman; Doloras Dragon, Ollie's younger cousin; Mercedes, a bratty grade schooler, Ollie's mother Olivia, and a number of others. The series' music was written and performed by Jack Fascinato, who first accompanied the troupe on solo piano and later conducted the show's small orchestra. ''KFOs humor relied on building a relationship between its characters and the audience over time. The humor was quite tame by the standards of later comedy. There were few laugh-out-loud jokes per show; ''KFO'' relied on the humor of familiarity. ''KFO'' evoked not only loyalty but also a deep belief in its characters from regular viewers. Fans became so attached to the show that, when it was cut back to 15 minutes in November 1951, letters of outrage poured into NBC and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. ''The Bob & Ray Show'' was the replacement 15-minute program. The change received considerable vitriol by angry ''KFO'' viewers. From August 1952 to June 1954, ''KFO'' ran as a weekly program on Sundays (3:00–3:30 p.m. CT). They also began a weekday radio show in October 1952. It was then picked up by the
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
network and returned to the 15-minute daily format (7:00–7:15 p.m. ET) until the last regular program aired on August 30, 1957, a continuous run of nearly ten years. During that time, ''KFO'' was a hugely successful show that counted
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...
,
John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...
,
Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...
,
Ben Grauer Benjamin Franklin Grauer (June 2, 1908 – May 31, 1977) was an American radio and television personality, following a career during the 1920s as a child actor in films and on Broadway. He began his career as a child in David Warfield's productio ...
,
Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a re ...
and
Adlai Stevenson Adlai Stevenson may refer to: * Adlai Stevenson I Adlai Ewing Stevenson (October 23, 1835 – June 14, 1914) was an American politician and diplomat who served as the 23rd vice president of the United States from 1893 to 1897 under President Gr ...
among its many adult fans. The show had sponsors like ''
Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine,
RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...
,
Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco' ...
and Ford Motor Co., who surely weren't trying to reach children.
James Thurber James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist, and playwright. He was best known for his gag cartoon, cartoons and short stories, published mainly in ''The New Yorker'' an ...
once wrote that Tillstrom was "helping to save the sanity of the nation and to improve, if not even to invent, the quality of television."


Awards

''Kukla, Fran, and Ollie'' won a
Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...
in 1949 for its "whimsy and gentle satire of the James Barrie
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...
sort," and two
Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
s: in 1954 for Best Children's Program, and in 1971 for Outstanding Children's Programming.


The Ford 50th Anniversary Show

In 1953, Kukla and Ollie co-hosted
The Ford 50th Anniversary Show ''The Ford 50th Anniversary Show'', also known as ''The American Road'', was a two-hour television special that was broadcast live on June 15, 1953, from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Ford Motor Company purchased two hours of prime time from ...
, a program that was broadcast live on both
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
and
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 ...
. The puppets introduced various sketches and artists, were featured in a sketch about the history of the
Ford Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...
, and presented a multi-part "Oliver J. Dragon" compilation of newsreel scenes. Following a song medley by
Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann; January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American singer and actress. Known for her distinctive, powerful voice, and her leading roles in musical theatre, musical theater,Obituary ''Variety Obitua ...
and
Mary Martin Mary Virginia Martin (December 1, 1913 – November 3, 1990) was an American actress and singer. A muse of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she originated many leading roles on stage over her career, including Nellie Forbush in ''South Pacific (musica ...
, Kukla and Ollie complain about having to follow the two singers performing "There's No Business Like Show Business". Ollie says, "There's no business like television, either." Kukla replies, "Well, it's so young." Ollie says, "Yes. Whenever will it grow up? Maybe tonight. Maybe tonight." The program attracted an audience of 60 million viewers. Forty years after the broadcast, television critic
Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (November 3, 1944 – January 13, 2024) was an American writer and television critic. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 1 ...
recalled the broadcast as both "a landmark in television" and "a milestone in the cultural life of the '50s".


Later series

After the original series ended in 1957, Tillstrom continued to search for a place for the Kuklapolitans, doing a daily five-minute show for NBC, and even appearing on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
. Tillstrom and his puppets returned to NBC television without Allison in the early 1960s for ''Burr Tillstrom's Kukla and Ollie'' show that aired weekdays. In 1967, ''KFO'' began hosting '' CBS Children's Film Festival''. In this context, their conversations were restricted to a brief introduction, commercial segues and a summary of the film, and could only provide a hint of what had made KFO so popular. Many people know the troupe only from this filmed show and their later taped series for NET in 1970. Burr also brought the troupe to the
Goodman Theatre Goodman Theatre is a professional theater company located in Chicago's Loop. A major part of the Chicago theatre scene, it is the city's oldest currently active nonprofit theater organization. Part of its present theater complex occupies the ...
in Chicago for a series of live performances in the early 1980s. ''KFO'' can claim a number of television firsts, including the first ship-to-shore telecast. The first publicly announced network broadcast of a program using the
NTSC NTSC (from National Television System Committee) is the first American standard for analog television, published and adopted in 1941. In 1961, it was assigned the designation System M. It is also known as EIA standard 170. In 1953, a second ...
"compatible color" system was an episode of ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie'' on August 30, 1953. Burr was inducted into the
Television Academy Hall of Fame The Television Academy Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to U.S. television. The hall of fame was founded by former Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) president John H. Mitchell (1921–1988). In ...
in 1986 for his many contributions to the medium. Tillstrom influenced and mentored many later puppeteers, including
Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody awards, Peabody-winning American Ventriloquism, ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, a ...
and
Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...
. Kukla and Ollie made an appearance on
The Carpenters The Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen Carpenter, Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (musician), Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinctive soft musical style, combining ...
' 1977 television special for ABC, ''The Carpenters at Christmas'', along with
Harvey Korman Harvey Herschel Korman (February 15, 1927May 29, 2008) was an American actor and comedian who performed in television and film productions. He is best remembered as a main cast member alongside Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence on the ...
and
Kristy McNichol Christina Ann McNichol (born September 11, 1962) is an American former actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, she rose to fame in 1976 with her portrayal of teenaged daughter Letitia "Buddy" Lawrence in the TV drama ''Family'' for which ...
. Kukla and Ollie also appeared as panelists on a 1979 episode of '' Match Game PM'' and on two episodes of ''
Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...
'79''.


Digital media and stamp

''Kukla, Fran, and Ollie'' was first released on DVD on August 11, 2009. Five episodes that were shot in color between 1969 and 1971 were released in a box set. On the same day, August 11, 2009, the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
issued a commemorative stamp to honor ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie''. A Hollywood gala was scheduled to celebrate both the stamp and the 60th anniversary at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie – The First Episodes: 1949–54'' was released on Fran's birthday, November 20, 2010, by The Burr Tillstrom Copyright Trust. It was the first release of the original series, and contains 20
kinescope Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940s ...
s. A second volume, featuring 22 additional programs, was released on December 15, 2011. Volume 3 of the series, a 24 episode set, was eventually released in December 2013. DVD sales officially ended on January 31, 2020. On February 24, 2020, the ''Kukla, Fran and Ollie''
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel started posting digital transfers of ''KFO'' kinescopes on a regular schedule, beginning with the earliest surviving episode. The stated goal is to eventually make all of the surviving episodes from the original series available and free to view online.


References


External links

*
The Kuklapolitan Website




{{DEFAULTSORT:Kukla, Fran And Ollie 1947 American television series debuts 1940s American children's television series 1950s American children's television series 1957 American television series endings 1960s American children's television series 1969 American television series debuts 1970s American children's television series 1971 American television series endings Emmy Award–winning programs Peabody Award–winning television programs American television shows featuring puppetry American English-language television shows Black-and-white American television shows Original programming by local channels in Chicago Television series about dragons Television series about witchcraft