In the Washington, D.C. viewing area, Lee Reynolds
("Grandpa" of WTTG-TV channel 5's 'Grandpa's Place') began
hosting 'The Captain Tugg's Show' on WTTG in the late 1950's.
Sporting a beard, captain's cap, turtleneck sweater
and working from inside of the pilot's room of a tugboat, "Capt.
Tugg" entertained viewers in framing segments between the cartoons.
In 1964, the show underwent a title changed to 'Capt.
Lee's Pleasure Cruise' then later became 'Capt. Lee and his Mates.'
Providence, RI Popeye Show
Salty Brine & his dog
Jeff.
KRON TV in San Francisco, CA aired 'The Skipper
Bruce Sedley Show.' Ventriloquist and TV personality Bruce Sedley's
"Skipper Bruce" MC'd his show from the late 1950's until
the early 1960's; then helmed 'The Sir Bruce Sedley Show' on KTVU
where he hosted reruns of The Three Stooges films.
Entertainer and
radio/TV broadcaster Hal Fryer donned a captain's outfit as he entertained
the kids of Youngstown, Ohio on 'The Captain Hal Fryer Show' on
WFMJ TV channel 21.
Mr. Fryer eventually jumped ship and headed for Indianapolis, Indiana
where he gained more success as "Harlow Hickenlooper"
on 'The Harlow Hickenlooper Show' on WFMB TV channel 6; there he
hosted the cinematic antics of The Three Stooges.
In the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX viewing area, KFJZ
(now known as KVTV) TV channel 11 had a fellow named George Nolan
playing "Capt. Swabby" with a puppeteer named Dick Clayton
who worked with two mud turtle puppets, "Mickey" and "Michelle."
Sioux Falls, S.D. weatherman David Dedrick began
a long assignment during the late 1950's as futuristic superhero
"Captain 11" on KELO channel 11. He retired from the series
in late December of 1996. Captain 11 entertained
a studio audience of kids between reruns of Popeye cartoons
but switched to the Hanna-Barbera cartoon package in the late-1960's.
My
friend Mr. Rex Trailer reran the Popeye movie cartoons
on his Boomtown show on WBZ TV in the Boston, Ma. viewing
area.
The films were screened on the Popeye Playhouse
Show weekday evenings with local TV personality "Skipper
Al" (no known last name) was the series' host on WFGA TV Channel
12 in Jacksonville, Fla.
CINCINNATI:
-
Hal Erickson writes: In 1960, WCPO acquired the new
King Features package of made-for-TV POPEYE cartoons for a daily
Bob Shreve series, with Shreve sitting in a makeshift canoe, trading
wisecracks with a stuffed eagle named "Bird-uh." This show was WAY
over the kid's heads, with Shreve telling risque jokes, doing Perry
Como and Lawrence Welk imitations, and making insulting remarks
about the cartoons.
Meanwhile,
the original theatrical POPEYES were being shown on rival station
WKRC. In the morning, the station featured an hour-long kid's show,
POPEYE & BILLY (the actual name of the host escapes me).
In the afternoon, Popeye appeared on THE SKIPPER
RYLE SHOW, hosted by WKRC announcer Glenn Ryle, who did his show
from a set resembling the control room of an old-fashioned riverboat.
On
Sundays, Skipper Ryle emceed a two-hour audience-participation show,
with games, stories and cartoons. I remember that Ryle was kind
of cranky and on occasion stopped the show to chew out a particularly
unruly kid.
Popeye and Pals
on WXON in Detroit from 1989.
The Officer Don Popeye Club
was on WSB TV Channel 2 in the Atlanta, Ga. viewing area.
The Popeye Show from New
Orleans circa 1988 with host Matt Borel.
ABOVE: Better than pills???
The Popeye TV Album was a hit with kids
across the country. Here's the Popeye
Song sung by Jack Mercer, the voice of Popeye.
POPEYE
FACTS:
The
comic strip Thimble Theater was renamed Popeye
in the 1970s.
There is
a chain of Popeye's Fried Chicken in some areas of the U.S. - but do they
have spinach on the menu?
The first
Popeye cartoon debuted on July 14, 1933 entitled Popeye the
Sailor. Eugene the Jeep made his first appearance in the cartoons
on April 1, 1936.
Bluto's name
was changed to Brutus when the cartoons were made for TV by King Features
Syndicate.
Popeye's nephews were named Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye and
Pupeye.