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| Capt. Bob |
The FuckImOld subreddit done it again. Some random post got me traipsin' down Memory Lane to my childhood. No candy or cereal or less-than-super-safe situations and products this time. It's kids TV programming again.
Spurred on by Beautiful_Donut6412, who asked if anyone else had recollections of their childhood TV time being hosted by a quirky kids show personality geared specifically to their local broadcast market. For him in the Buffalo, NY area, he remembers a 1970s show host known as Commander Tom.
Responders posted replies attesting to their fond memories of such characters as Captain Noah in the Philly area, Ray Raynor in Chicagoland and Baltimore's Captain Chesapeake with his sidekick, a sea monster named Monday. Such an odd time, the 70s. I guess every city had someone doing this kinda thing. Before the mass syndications I guess local TV stations had to come up with cheap programming to fill timeslots like early weekend mornings with stuff like this. Maybe, since they were children's educational shows, they might have gotten some subsidies for them as well? Not sure how that all worked. We can surmise though that since shows like these no longer exist, to my knowledge, TV stations found more profitable ways to fill those timeslots.
Anyway, it got me thinking about my youth and I know that in my true local market of Providence, RI, there was a show that was much-beloved, hosted by Salty Brine, a noted broadcasting legend. But his show was primarily from the 50s and early 60s so it was before my time. He was well noted for his closing phrase on his show, which unlike many other shows like this, aired later in the evening timeslots, so he instructed the kids to "Brush Your Teeth and Say Your Prayers." Salty, BTW, is also noted in his radio announcer persona as being Rhode Island famous for announcing, during winter weather alert mornings, "No School: Foster/Glocester!"
But my guy was actually the one pictured above. He was on very early (like crack of dawn early) Saturday mornings, well before the cartoons, broadcast out of Boston, and his show specifically focused on sketching depictions of animals. He was like a kid's version Bob Ross. His voice was even calm and soothing like Bob Ross but instead of that So Cal "everything's groovy" accent Bob Ross rocked, Capt. Bob (yes, his name was Bob too) had a true, deep-cutting Bostonian accent.
I often drew right along with him and I think I did well in making my drawings look pretty close to his. Kids could send in drawings to the studio and he'd show some of them at the end of the next show. Some were God awful but he always had a kind word to say about each. His well-tempered manner, the calming vibe of the show and that beloved little ditty theme song is so fondly remembered.
Here's an episode of his show someone captured and put on YouTube. Enjoy. Be a kid again, get a piece of paper, a pencil and some crayons if you got 'em and go ahead and follow along. You're welcome.