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penpusherLet's state this immediately. Sid & Marty Krofft were two unique individuals with some pretty funky views of how everything worked.
It really started when Sid Krofft developed a very popular puppet show act in Rhode Island after his family moved there from Montreal. And it became so successful, Sid was given a featured performer role on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Sideshow, which, for a kid, was a pretty big deal.
Because of this, Sid was essentially the star of the family. He soon started to tour with his act including stops in his homeland of Canada, plus Great Britain and France.
Meanwhile, his brother Marty began to do Sid's act, as well. By the time these guys reunited, they were both highly seasoned performers and developed a slightly ribald puppet show, based on the Parisian cabarets of the Moulin Rouge, and presented at special events, like the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. A couple of the "female" marionettes (including one modeled after famed actress Mae West) were topless during the production, which created the need for an Adults Only rule for these audiences.
Sid (left) and Marty Krofft making adjustments in their "Adult" puppet show
It's also interesting to parallel the rise of Jim Henson and the Muppets, because there was a kind of similar (but very different) track they were doing.
Henson got a head start on his puppetry career. His Washington DC based "Sam and Friends" had become a successful local TV show. Maybe calling it a "TV show" was overstating it. It was actually a 5 minute bit, twice on weekdays from the mid 1950s til 1961.
The cast of "Sam and Friends"
What it did do was get Henson some opportunities to experiment, to play, to expand the concept of how television could be used to express ideas and meanings... oh, and one of the players on the show who went by the name "Kermit," would also be changing and growing. Kermit wasn't an amphibian at this point, but soon would be.
Stick a pin in the year: 1968 because that was a big deal.
"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" NBC's new comedy series, had already taken the nation by storm. The style of the show, with quick one-liners, blackout sketches, non-stop patter, zany recurring characters, song and dance numbers by the cast, girls in bikinis grooving to the music with body paint messages added and "The Joke Wall" which played under the closing credits of every broadcast, was a new kind of entertainment. It was all verrrrrrry innnnnnteresting.
The Cast of Rowan and Martn's Laugh-In
At the other end of NBC's Peacock spectrum, "The Monkees," the sitcom about four guys who formed a rock group and went on a series of musical misadventures, had just ended, with the band itself soon to follow.
Counterclockwise from the lower right,Peter Davy, Peter Micky, Peter Mike and Peter of "The Monkees"
It was at that moment William Hanna and Joseph Barbera teamed up with Sid and Marty to develop a new show:
William Hanna (left) and Joseph Barbera
Hanna-Barbera had established themselves as a TV animation juggernaut. And by the late 1960s, they had a lot of freedom to do different things. So, they pushed the envelope and created a kind of hybrid show that featured both animation and live action for Saturday Mornings on NBC:
"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and "The Monkees" relate to this new kid's show in two distinct ways. First the Banana Splits were (allegedly) a musical group, and Sid and Marty Krofft designed the characters to represent The Monkees!
Left to Right: Drooper (a lion), Bingo (an ape), Fleegle (a beagle) and Snork (an elephant)
Drooper, the bass player, was supposed to be Mike Nesmith. Bingo, the drummer, used Micky Dolenz as his template. Fleegle, the cutest member of the group was represntative of Davy Jones and Snork, the skinniest elephant you'll ever see, was a parody of Peter Tork.
The group actually performed songs, much like their prime time simian siblings, and they similarly did "videos" of their songs during the show, just as The Monkees did with their hits. The Banana Splits even put out an album! Most of their songs aside from the earwormy TV theme were forgettable, but for some reason this track stuck in my head. Maybe because it was kinda low-key so it was different. Take a look at The Banana Splits as they take on San Francisco with their song "Wait Till Tomorrow."
Now tell me the Banana Splits, riding around in that Red Chevy, didn't remind you of the Pontiac GTO that was used as The Monkeemobile!
"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" was the other element, as Hanna-Barbera went and got the writers of the prime time variety series to come in and do the same stuff with their show, essentially turning "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" into a kid version of "Laugh-In!"
And at that same time, Jim Henson had started working on a different kind of kid's program - one with higher aspirations than just entertaining and pacifying its viewers.
Daniel Seagreen, Jim Henson and Frank Oz playing Bert and Ernie on "Sesame Street"
At the very same time "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" was kicking in on NBC, NET (National Education Television) was beginning another new program: "Sesame Street."
Still and all, "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" was A Hanna-Barbera production. The Kroffts merely added some of the production touches to the show. And those elements were just a portion of the show. The rest were a couple of cartoons and a different live action segment to fill out the hour. But it was Sid and Marty's first taste of TV. There was more to come.... a lot more.
It really started when Sid Krofft developed a very popular puppet show act in Rhode Island after his family moved there from Montreal. And it became so successful, Sid was given a featured performer role on the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Sideshow, which, for a kid, was a pretty big deal.
Because of this, Sid was essentially the star of the family. He soon started to tour with his act including stops in his homeland of Canada, plus Great Britain and France.
Meanwhile, his brother Marty began to do Sid's act, as well. By the time these guys reunited, they were both highly seasoned performers and developed a slightly ribald puppet show, based on the Parisian cabarets of the Moulin Rouge, and presented at special events, like the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and the 1964-65 New York World's Fair. A couple of the "female" marionettes (including one modeled after famed actress Mae West) were topless during the production, which created the need for an Adults Only rule for these audiences.
Sid (left) and Marty Krofft making adjustments in their "Adult" puppet show
It's also interesting to parallel the rise of Jim Henson and the Muppets, because there was a kind of similar (but very different) track they were doing.
Henson got a head start on his puppetry career. His Washington DC based "Sam and Friends" had become a successful local TV show. Maybe calling it a "TV show" was overstating it. It was actually a 5 minute bit, twice on weekdays from the mid 1950s til 1961.
The cast of "Sam and Friends"
What it did do was get Henson some opportunities to experiment, to play, to expand the concept of how television could be used to express ideas and meanings... oh, and one of the players on the show who went by the name "Kermit," would also be changing and growing. Kermit wasn't an amphibian at this point, but soon would be.
Stick a pin in the year: 1968 because that was a big deal.
"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" NBC's new comedy series, had already taken the nation by storm. The style of the show, with quick one-liners, blackout sketches, non-stop patter, zany recurring characters, song and dance numbers by the cast, girls in bikinis grooving to the music with body paint messages added and "The Joke Wall" which played under the closing credits of every broadcast, was a new kind of entertainment. It was all verrrrrrry innnnnnteresting.
The Cast of Rowan and Martn's Laugh-In
At the other end of NBC's Peacock spectrum, "The Monkees," the sitcom about four guys who formed a rock group and went on a series of musical misadventures, had just ended, with the band itself soon to follow.
Counterclockwise from the lower right,
It was at that moment William Hanna and Joseph Barbera teamed up with Sid and Marty to develop a new show:
William Hanna (left) and Joseph Barbera
Hanna-Barbera had established themselves as a TV animation juggernaut. And by the late 1960s, they had a lot of freedom to do different things. So, they pushed the envelope and created a kind of hybrid show that featured both animation and live action for Saturday Mornings on NBC:
"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and "The Monkees" relate to this new kid's show in two distinct ways. First the Banana Splits were (allegedly) a musical group, and Sid and Marty Krofft designed the characters to represent The Monkees!
Left to Right: Drooper (a lion), Bingo (an ape), Fleegle (a beagle) and Snork (an elephant)
Drooper, the bass player, was supposed to be Mike Nesmith. Bingo, the drummer, used Micky Dolenz as his template. Fleegle, the cutest member of the group was represntative of Davy Jones and Snork, the skinniest elephant you'll ever see, was a parody of Peter Tork.
The group actually performed songs, much like their prime time simian siblings, and they similarly did "videos" of their songs during the show, just as The Monkees did with their hits. The Banana Splits even put out an album! Most of their songs aside from the earwormy TV theme were forgettable, but for some reason this track stuck in my head. Maybe because it was kinda low-key so it was different. Take a look at The Banana Splits as they take on San Francisco with their song "Wait Till Tomorrow."
Now tell me the Banana Splits, riding around in that Red Chevy, didn't remind you of the Pontiac GTO that was used as The Monkeemobile!
"Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" was the other element, as Hanna-Barbera went and got the writers of the prime time variety series to come in and do the same stuff with their show, essentially turning "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" into a kid version of "Laugh-In!"
And at that same time, Jim Henson had started working on a different kind of kid's program - one with higher aspirations than just entertaining and pacifying its viewers.
Daniel Seagreen, Jim Henson and Frank Oz playing Bert and Ernie on "Sesame Street"
At the very same time "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" was kicking in on NBC, NET (National Education Television) was beginning another new program: "Sesame Street."
Still and all, "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" was A Hanna-Barbera production. The Kroffts merely added some of the production touches to the show. And those elements were just a portion of the show. The rest were a couple of cartoons and a different live action segment to fill out the hour. But it was Sid and Marty's first taste of TV. There was more to come.... a lot more.
no subject
Date: 2026-08-23 10:59 am (UTC)I LOVED Laugh-In as a kid even though I didn't get the innuendos. I loved the colors, the dancing, Rowan and Martin themselves (I had a kind of crush on Dan Rowan for a bit), the party bit with the crazy camera angles, Judy Carne and Goldie and Ruth and Artie...I could go on.
I didn't watch the Banana Splits very much nor the Monkees. I imagine it might have been in part because my mother couldn't stand either and she didn't want to hear the TV from another room. She did get a kick out of Laugh-In, though, especially whenever they had a guest star.
no subject
Date: 2026-08-23 06:28 pm (UTC)Mother didn't like "The Monkees?" I can see how she might not have liked the series because, really, it wasn't that great as a sitcom, but the music was charting!
no subject
Date: 2026-08-27 12:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-08-27 02:06 pm (UTC)It's funny how even the Baby Boomers, who were a very divided set of people (I think back to "National Lampoon's Animal House"as a "case in point," where you had these college students, some wanting to toe the line with the establishment and others that wanted to overthrow the system! Same age, different feeling, and different actions) are in fact still a formidable force because they found their groups. I heard that the cast of that movie were still hanging out with each other over the years, and that it didn't apply to the people on the "other side" of that battle!
I think the boomers were quite similar to the Greatest Generation in that they knew what they stood for and would fiercely defend it and find supporters who felt the same way.
no subject
Date: 2026-08-27 03:46 pm (UTC)The Greatest Generation even more so, IMO, because they came of age during the war. My mother lost maybe a third of her male high school classmates, including a boy she'd dated off and on. The collective memory of that generation did a ton to mold their psyche.