Garfield Goose
I was born in 1961, and grew up in a little farming town in southern Indiana. Southern Indiana is a hilly place, and we were situated pretty much in a bowl. As might be imagined, this resulted in substandard TV reception, and that at a time when reliable access to television was essential to any community that wanted to be modern, and to take part in the cultural life of the nation. I can see with retrospect that we were an affluent community, in the way that farmers are affluent; so in either the late 50s or early 60s, to ensure that we would be modern and up to date, and not risible rustics, the county built a cable TV system, at a time when such things were not common. This consisted of several huge reception antennae on various hills, able to pick up strong signals from Louisville, from Terre Haute, from Bloomington, and from Indianapolis. These signals were then redistributed by cable to the various communities in the county, along with a locally-produced public access / public affairs channel. We had all three broadcast networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS - that's what there was back then) plus several independents, including Channel 4 from Indianapolis, one of the major regional stations that produced its own shows, and carried hours and hours of live programming from the Speedway each day in May, as well as covering the State Fair in great detail each year. It was a different time.
About 1972 or '73 Channel 9 in Chicago, WGN (World's Greatest Network) was added to our lineup. They were piped in over wire, and then went onto the cable like the other channels. I suspect that this was when WGN was pushing to become one of the first, if not the first, nationwide independents. At any rate, here they were, with every Chicago Cubs game, home and away, as well as a new assortment of movies (back then, each TV station had its own library of movies, and a new station meant movies that you'd not seen before - as I said, it was a different time). Like every independent, they also had kids' shows, produced in-house, often live, as was the practice in those days. WGN had the original Bozo the Clown, whose name even then was the absolute gold standard for accusations of shameless incompetence. They also had a puppet show called "Garfield Goose and Friends", about a Goose who was the self-proclaimed King of America, and spent much of his time dispensing advice (most of it atrocious) to his subjects.
Bozo never held much appeal for me - then, as now, I tend to feel most secure in the presence of clowns when I've a flamethrower in one paw, and a tommygun in the other. I don't like them. Friendly, silly Geese are a different story. Garfield, sadly, came at exactly the wrong time for me, when I was a pre-teen / teen, trying very hard to be grown-up. A few years earlier, and I'd have loved him unreservedly. A few years later, and I wouldn't have given a rat's ass what anyone else thought - I'd have watched Garfield Goose if I'd wanted to, and probably have enjoyed it all the more if others thought it was 'inappropriate'. As it was, I was desperately afraid of being seen watching (and enjoying) a baby's show, and only saw it here and there, in guilty snatches.
While browsing earlier in a free-association fashion, reading about the 'Goose Game' led to a mention of Garfield Goose. I went to see what could be found online. Not much. http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=3606#videoclip looks to be about it. Stations just didn't record their live-action stuff back then.
So... Something I missed out on, through my own fault, but I'm glad these little bits are left. More happy than sad over it. And, I *like* the way the puppeteer is playing the Geese, even in just these little scraps. Someone was having fun.
Original posted at https://rain-gryphon.dreamwidth.org/112377.html
About 1972 or '73 Channel 9 in Chicago, WGN (World's Greatest Network) was added to our lineup. They were piped in over wire, and then went onto the cable like the other channels. I suspect that this was when WGN was pushing to become one of the first, if not the first, nationwide independents. At any rate, here they were, with every Chicago Cubs game, home and away, as well as a new assortment of movies (back then, each TV station had its own library of movies, and a new station meant movies that you'd not seen before - as I said, it was a different time). Like every independent, they also had kids' shows, produced in-house, often live, as was the practice in those days. WGN had the original Bozo the Clown, whose name even then was the absolute gold standard for accusations of shameless incompetence. They also had a puppet show called "Garfield Goose and Friends", about a Goose who was the self-proclaimed King of America, and spent much of his time dispensing advice (most of it atrocious) to his subjects.
Bozo never held much appeal for me - then, as now, I tend to feel most secure in the presence of clowns when I've a flamethrower in one paw, and a tommygun in the other. I don't like them. Friendly, silly Geese are a different story. Garfield, sadly, came at exactly the wrong time for me, when I was a pre-teen / teen, trying very hard to be grown-up. A few years earlier, and I'd have loved him unreservedly. A few years later, and I wouldn't have given a rat's ass what anyone else thought - I'd have watched Garfield Goose if I'd wanted to, and probably have enjoyed it all the more if others thought it was 'inappropriate'. As it was, I was desperately afraid of being seen watching (and enjoying) a baby's show, and only saw it here and there, in guilty snatches.
While browsing earlier in a free-association fashion, reading about the 'Goose Game' led to a mention of Garfield Goose. I went to see what could be found online. Not much. http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/index.php?c=3606#videoclip looks to be about it. Stations just didn't record their live-action stuff back then.
So... Something I missed out on, through my own fault, but I'm glad these little bits are left. More happy than sad over it. And, I *like* the way the puppeteer is playing the Geese, even in just these little scraps. Someone was having fun.
Original posted at https://rain-gryphon.dreamwidth.org/112377.html