View Full Version : Gotta Love Ho-Ho



oneforone
11-24-2008, 04:01 AM
YouTube - Vintage KOCO: Ho-Ho The Clown, Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa8BdKe7PHc&feature=related)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa8BdKe7PHc

ddavidson8
11-26-2008, 07:15 PM
Very interestling.

Intrepid
11-26-2008, 08:09 PM
Wow...was expecting this to be another Brian Bates Video Vigilante production.

:LolLolLol

Rifleman2C
11-27-2008, 08:47 PM
So... anyone have any idea who the person is who actually dressed up as Ho-Ho? And how long did that last?


I can't imagine that being an overly popular segment with most viewers, but it might have found a niche... it does speak volumes for the quality of television in the late 70's, though!

oneforone
11-28-2008, 12:46 AM
I found this on Wikipedia:

Ed Birchall was born on July 16 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_16), 1923 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923) of Irish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish-American) heritage in Colchester, Connecticut (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchester,_Connecticut) and served in the United States Army Air Corps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Corps) during World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II). A lover of the circus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus), he performed as a freelance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelance) clown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown) before being hired as an entertainer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainer) who by KOCO (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KOCO)-TV in Oklahoma City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City). There, he starred in a local children's television show named after him, which typically featured an array of firefighters, police officers, zoo animals, visiting circus clowns, and other guests, as well as Pokey the Puppet, played by Bill Howard, the station's long-time stage manager wearing a sock-puppet on his arm. HoHo was all over the TV schedule, for much of the 1960s he was on six days a week. Various titles were "HoHo's Showboat", "Lunch With HoHo", "Good Morning HoHo", and "HoHo's Showplace". The show survived for 29 years, long after the station was acquired by Gannett (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gannett_Company), airing in its last years without commercials to fulfill the station's public service requirements. He was a frequent visitor to children's wards at local hospitals, providing a kind of medicine the doctors could not. He also appeared at restaurants, charity events, parades, and children's parties, from which he derived most of his income. Mr. Birchall was a diminutive and slightly round man of cheerful spirit and hippie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie) inclinations. Friends remember him as behaving much the same in real life as on his show. He lived in Bethany, Oklahoma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany,_Oklahoma) for most of his life, and suffered declining health leading to his death in the hospital at age 64 from a heart attack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_attack) while undergoing treatment for cancer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cancer). His popularity was so great that it took three funeral services to accommodate all of his well-wishers, the first of which was attended by an honor guard of professional clown friends and carried live by KOCO-TV

magicchord
12-02-2008, 04:13 PM
HoHo's show in the 1960s was quite funny and imaginative.
He was a great man and an OKC institution in his day.

NativeOkie
12-02-2008, 05:40 PM
I remember him on the show and in town without the nose. (grew up in Bethany)
My favorite was Mr. Mist-o who was the director doing the special effects. Pokey the puppet used to always have him laughing over mistakes due to live TV.

PennyQuilts
12-02-2008, 06:17 PM
HoHo was wonderful. He was just a nice guy dressed in a clown outfit and it worked. He had no gimmick. But for the makeup, he was just a nice man.

Anyone remember the show where the puppet noticed that the dog had died and HoHo was oblivious? That puppet was a real b*stard.

My husband has a picture of Ho Ho framed over his desk here in Virginia.

When my son was 13 years old, he and I went out on a "date" so he could practice opening doors for a date, how to order from the menu, how to make small talk etc., etc. We went to a "sit down" restaurant to practice and Ho Ho came out just as we were going in. I don't recall much of what he said but remember how nice he was. It was kind of a big day in my life with my young son who was growing up. HoHo recognized that it was a big deal and behaved accordingly.

angel27
12-02-2008, 08:10 PM
I was more impressed with the quality of sesame street in those days when my boys were young. I volunteered with the zoo for some years and they sent me with an iguana and a couple of other animals to appear on HoHo. Was fun, but I never got to see the three shows I was on. I will echo that Mr Birchall was a very nice and cordial man, and from what I hear a good Catholic.

dismayed
12-02-2008, 09:51 PM
Ho Ho was on TV for a long time. I remember him still being on the air in the early 1980s. He had a kid's show Saturday morning's on KOCO 5. At one point I knew one of his daughters a long time ago. I never met him but understand he was a very kind man.

I remember that much like Mr. Rogers he had a very calm way of doing his show.

Matt
12-02-2008, 09:57 PM
His show was still on the air up until he went into the hospital in mid-1988.

CCOKC
12-03-2008, 04:28 PM
I absolutely loved Ho Ho and I enjoyed watching those clips on You Tube.
Ho Ho was a lecter at my church (St Charles) when I was growing up. I think I was in high school before I figured that out. I just did not recognize him without his baggy clothes and red nose. (and pokey of course)

yukong
12-04-2008, 10:16 AM
Most any kid who grew up on OKC in the 60s will never forget HoHo and Foreman Scotty. HoHo was an institution. I never missed that show. Pokey was the best. Of course, it helped that we went to church with Bill Howard, and he and his wife were very good friends with my mom and dad. Bill is the funniest guy I have ever known. Even now, in his later years, he is still hilarious.

Pete
12-04-2008, 03:50 PM
Ed (HoHo) was one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet.

He lived in the house on the SE corner of 50th & Council and the trim was painted pink.

Matt
12-04-2008, 04:57 PM
He lived on Alexander Lane, just south of Eldon Lyon Park, for years.

NativeOkie
12-04-2008, 05:43 PM
someone should start the Ho HO, Forman Scotty Dannys Day museum or exhibit.

CCOKC
12-06-2008, 03:50 PM
There is a pretty nice exhibit at the OK History Museum about early TV in OK.
Don't remember Ho Ho being in there but I believe Foreman Scotty is in there.

oneforone
12-07-2008, 01:02 PM
The 2nd Floor of Jim Thorpe Rehab at INTEGRIS Southwest medical center has a bronze bust dedicated two him and huge paiting on the wall in one of the hallways. They call that area of the unit Healing Through Humor.

yukong
12-10-2008, 01:30 PM
There is a pretty nice exhibit at the OK History Museum about early TV in OK.
Don't remember Ho Ho being in there but I believe Foreman Scotty is in there.


Yes, there is an exhibit on HoHo show at the history museum. They have one of the Pokey puppets donated by Bill Howard on display as well as the magic mailbox. Not sure of what else is there.

Matt
12-10-2008, 05:11 PM
Update:


Anyone remember the show where the puppet noticed that the dog had died and HoHo was oblivious? That puppet was a real b*stard.

This never happened.



He lived in the house on the SE corner of 50th & Council and the trim was painted pink.

Neither did this.

PennyQuilts
12-10-2008, 06:26 PM
Update:



This never happened.



Neither did this.

My husband saw it happen! Don't know anything about the house...

Matt
12-10-2008, 07:12 PM
My husband saw it happen!

Okay, but my dad saw his dad take the dog to the vet to be put to sleep!

PennyQuilts
12-11-2008, 04:08 PM
Okay, but my dad saw his dad take the dog to the vet to be put to sleep!

Different dog?

SoonerDave
12-15-2008, 10:04 AM
I think there were at least two dogs that endured through the HoHo era. I think one was named "Dog."

Birchall was a legend we never appreciated, back when the feds didn't tell us how much "children's time" was required on local TV, and local TV production really saw value in producing a fun, simple, TV show for children. It deliberately lacked the freneticism of WGN's Bozo; HoHo was more of an Emmiit Kelly "hobo" clone. He showed children's crayon-colored pictures, gave away giant Tootsie roll container banks, cans of strange stuff called Suga Duga, took kids on wonderul trips through the "Tempus Levitator." Pokey was hilarous, spontaneous, and timely, even though kids would never get the frequent in-jokes.

HoHo did the one thing unthinkable in most contemporary "kids" TV; he treated kids like kids, not idiots. He celebrated childhood by, in large part, becoming a child himself for, if I recall, an hour every weekday; as TV "progressed," it was squeezed to thirty minutes a day; then on Saturdays, then, sadly, not at all.

HoHo and Foreman Scotty were a wonderful and, sadly, kinda forgotten part of OKC TV history. I'm glad some folks here still remember those great shows.

-SoonerDave

PennyQuilts
12-15-2008, 05:16 PM
I think the other dog was named Jeanie. She is the one I am told died.

Matt
12-16-2008, 02:05 PM
I think the other dog was named Jeanie. She is the one I am told died.

She's the one that was taken to the vet.

No dog died on TV. The end.

bornhere
12-16-2008, 06:21 PM
But HoHo did play Eddie Haskell on "Leave It To Beaver."

jane10357
12-16-2008, 07:45 PM
I'm no Ho-Ho expert, but I did go to school with his kids and was good friends with his daughter Charmagne (AKA Cha Cha). I visited in their home a few times. Jeanie, the dog, did die on the air and Pokie, the sock puppet couldn't actually "see" it since alas his eyes weren't too great. :-)

As for Foreman Scotty, I was on his show a couple of times and even got to ride "Woody" the birthday horse. Once when my family was eating at Kips Big Boy he was there with his family - that's when I saw him driving a baracuda...wow...he was really "hot" for an old guy! ha.

SoonerDave
12-17-2008, 12:31 PM
But HoHo did play Eddie Haskell on "Leave It To Beaver."

Huh? If there's a joke here, I'll have to play dumb and admit I don't get it...

USG '60
12-17-2008, 01:12 PM
I loved the "character" Hollywood Harry. I loved to watch him talk. I taught school in El Reno in '65-'66 and just lived a block from school. HoHo was on during my lunch hour and I would hurry home so as not to miss any of the show while I ate. I never told anyone why I didn't eat at school. :redface::wink:

Matt
01-06-2009, 08:05 PM
Program details Oklahoma's early TV (http://http://newsok.com/program-details-states-early-tv/article/3335523?custom_click=lead_story_photo)


http://photos.newsok.com/2/showimage/532440/lead620/
"Sugaring" up Jeanie, are, left to right, Ho Ho the Clown, owner of the dog, Miss Fran and Foreman Scotty - Photo ran March 14, 1963

When Oklahoma’s first television station went on the air, at least 35 people crowded around a 12-inch screen at Oklahoma City’s Municipal Auditorium every night. What they watched was amazing at the time: the first fuzzy images coming over the airwaves and crackling to life. Stations in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Ada and Lawton broadcast local talk shows, cooking shows, news, weather and children’s shows. To mention the names of programs such as "Mr. Zing and Tuffy,” "Ho-Ho and Pokey” and "3-D Danny” is to watch the eyes of baby boomers light up with a glow of nostalgia.

"Stateline: Television Pioneers, Part One,” which premieres at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on OETA-13, will examine the rich and entertaining history of Oklahoma’s early local TV programs.

Now in its ninth season, "Stateline” is a regularly scheduled documentary series produced by OETA-The Oklahoma Network that focuses on issues and concerns of Oklahomans. The Emmy Award-winning series produces 10 half-hour documentaries each year, each with an Oklahoma focus. Recent episodes include an investigation into the state’s methamphetamine problem, water as the new oil, a history of the Governor’s Mansion, the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s disease and the growing homeschooling trend in Oklahoma.

And in case you'll be busy watching something else on Thursday night, this program airs again on Thursday, January 22, at 8:30 p.m., and on Sunday, January 25, at 11:30 a.m., with Part Two coming in March.

namellac
01-08-2009, 01:21 PM
Rifleman2C must not have grown up here, or during that time frame.

"The show survived for 29 years" pretty much says it all.

I remember the world seemingly coming to a stop when he passed on in '88. It was like a member of the family had passed.

And now I can't get his theme song out of my head! Anybody know the name of the tune????

I'll be watching that show tonight for sure!

Matt
10-21-2012, 11:18 PM
And now I can't get his theme song out of my head! Anybody know the name of the tune????

There's no Statute of Limitations to bump a thread here, is there?

JCsDBrD9xvU

I don't know what the theme song (if any) was like in the early days, but the Ho-Ho's Showplace of my day used this song (starting at around 1:39).

RadicalModerate
10-22-2012, 12:16 AM
If Nicola Tesla wanted to hire a combo for a shindig--verging on a hootenanny--out there by The Electrical Tower he could have done worse than hiring wandering keyboardists Robert Moog and Larry Welk. But he did so he didn't.

Bellaboo
10-22-2012, 08:08 AM
I read the bio of Ed Birchall in an earlier post. I know that Ed worked for my dad at Aero Comander at Wiley Post airport back in the 1960's.......when he left there, it was when he got his full time job as a clown.

SoonerDave
10-22-2012, 08:28 AM
After hearing that theme, I still think there was a different, less "electric" version at one point, but I don't recall with certainty.

This was a nice thread bump. We need to remember the contribution to the community folks like HoHo provided, and how that era of locally produced television is now essentially extinct. Foreman Scotty was the other local show that's been mentioned in this thread, and it was, for a local show, a fairly large-scale production - big sets, story arcs, multiple episodes taped each day - it was a tremendous thing. I got to be on the ol' Circle 4 Ranch twice as a kid. Great stuff. Foreman Scotty used to drive huge crowds with appearances at the State Fair, one year to provide secret decoder cards to foil the evil Count, which was played by Danny Williams. Great, fun, creative stuff.

reverend
10-22-2012, 08:33 AM
this thread brings up some memories for me. As for me, I am too young to have enjoyed HoHo, but my older brother adored HoHo as a child of the 80s. I can remember as a kid strolling through Shepherd Mall with my family and they had a HoHo exhibit in one of the (many) empty storefronts. My brother had tears rolling down his face. Anyone else remember this exhibit at Shepherd Mall?

Jim Kyle
10-22-2012, 09:29 AM
Speaking of Danny Williams, I learned yesterday that he's in hospital with cardiac problems...

RadicalModerate
10-22-2012, 10:23 AM
I'm sorry to say that I was previously unaware of how good Ho Ho was since I didn't grow up around here. I was aware of him as a media character in the background but that's about all . . . This guy was great!
wa8BdKe7PHc
(to the tune of that old MTV standard):
"Technology killed the video clown . . ."

RadicalModerate
10-23-2012, 09:24 PM
Please allow me a brief moment to apologize for the updated, implied, metaphor, above.
I just spent about two hours watching CREATE (a semi-federallyfunded subsidiaryofpbs/npr) then clicked the dial to K4(Four) to listen/view the newz.
Suggestion: Delete the OgleRant/BarbieDoll and just let Bob Mills run the show. (its a "believabiltiy" thing. i can't believe "the news" unless Bob Mills presents it. Bob Mills and The BMWDude (ho-hos sock puppet =)

Matt
01-19-2013, 04:07 PM
After hearing that theme, I still think there was a different, less "electric" version at one point, but I don't recall with certainty.

You're right. The earlier (original?) theme was the theme from the 1962 movie The Wonderful World of The Brothers Grimm. For the show they used a cover version done by Henry Mancini in 1963. That doesn't seem to be on YouTube, but the original, done by the David Rose Orchestra, is, and the two versions are very similar.

oKylcz35ynM