"Circle 4 Ranch"
(f.k.a. "Circle 4 Roundup")
Photos ©2004,
Estate of Joseph Pendleton
Campbell.
All rights reserved.
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Aired
on WNBW-TV 4,
(renamed WRC-TV 4,
as of
October 1954).
Broadcast
Live from
Wardman
Park Hotel studios
'til
May
1958, when WRC moved
to
4001 Nebraska Ave., N.W..
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"Circle 4 Roundup"
Various
Times
January 1950 - October 1953
Various Length Broadcasts
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(January 7
-
April 30, 1950)
5:30 - 7:30pm, Saturday
4:00 - 5:15pm, Weekdays |
(May 1 -
May 3, 1950)
4 - 4:15pm:
Circle 4 Club Meeting
5:00 - 6:00pm: Circle 4 Roundup
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(May 4 -
May 31, 1950)
5:30 -
7:30pm, Saturday
4:00 -
5:15pm, Weekdays
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(June -
July 1950)
4:00 -
5:15pm, Weekdays
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(January 1951 - July 1952)
Various Times, Saturdays
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(October 1952)
12:30 - 2:00 pm, Saturday
5:00 - 6:30 pm, Saturday
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(January -
October 1953)
Various Times, Saturday
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No Host Listed
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"Circle 4
Ranch"
Various
Times
November 1953 - September 1958
Various Length Broadcasts |
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(November
1953 - February 1954)
Various Times, Saturday
No Host Listed
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(June
- September 25, 1954)
Various
Times, Saturday
Host: Cowboy Joe Campbell
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(September
26, 1954-June 1955)
Various
Times, Saturday
Various Times, Sunday AM
Host: Cowboy Joe Campbell
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(July
- September 1955)
Various
Times, Sunday AM
Host: Cowboy Joe Campbell
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(April 1957
- September 1958)
Various
Times, Saturday
No Host Listed
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"Circle 4 Ranch" traces its roots to
Saturday, January 7th, 1950 at 5:30pm when "Circle 4 Roundup" debuted;
described as "New two-hour show for children includes a Western
and 'Children's Sketchbook'." There's no indication in published
listings of a live host during
the first four years.
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For
reasons that may never be known, "Circle 4 Roundup"
was re-christened "Circle 4 Ranch" in November
1953.
As with "Roundup", no host was specified in the "Ranch" TV
listings until the appearance of Cowboy Joe
Campbell's name
in June 1954.
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Joe
Campbell first polished his TV cowboy act at competing station WMAL-TV
7's Joe's Ranch in
1953. Then, Joe's personal manager Paul Menzer
thought it might
work
to Joe's advantage to take his act to Channel-4, so Joe obtained a
release from Channel-7 station manager
Charles
Kelly and got hired by the higher- rated NBC affiliate uptown.
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From
September 1954 to September 1955, Joe Campbell hosted a Sunday
morning Circle 4 Ranch in addition to the Saturday program. His Sunday
show aired opposite Pick
Temple and, as Campbell writes in his autobiography, his ratings regularly
beat out the competition.
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As had been
done the previous year by competitor WMAL-TV,
Channel-4 would
promote Joe's shows (and Pepsi-Cola) with personal appearances by Joe
Campbell at Glen Echo in September of 1954. Two lucky kids would win a
pony of their own, (could both
ponies have possibly been named "Pepsi Joe"?),
and their parents would promptly face the harsh reality of raising a
horse in
an urban setting. |
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| Although
a new
school year was looming for otherwise carefree DC area kids on Friday,
September
3rd, 1954, they packed Glen Echo's Kiddieland Pavilion at both 4 and 9
pm to
witness the drawing of the lucky pony-winning tickets. |
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Campbell would also make charitable
appearances as well as promote his TV
programs. On December 21st, 1954, Joe visited the kids in three wards
of DC General Hospital as part of their annual Childrens Christmas
Party. Over 100 youngsters were entertained
during the event, held in conjunction with local American
Legion Post 44.
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The Circle
4 Ranch full-hour format allowed Joe
to perform elaborate skits featuring his "picking and singing". By late
autumn 1954, many of these skits involved hand-puppets, "Longhorn",
"Shorthorn", (and
later, "Penelope"). Few folks know that those puppets were the
brainchild of Joe,
and built by a soon to be rising star on Channel-4's staff.
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Joe's
director, Bob Porter, (who
would step into the spotlight as Cousin Cupcake from
1959 to '66) introduced him to a newly hired University of MD freshman Jim
Henson who worked off-camera in set construction
and design. Joe designed (as shown at left)
"Shorthorn", "Longhorn", and
eventually "Penelope". Jim Henson then crafted the puppets
according to Campbell's exact specifications. |
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| When
picking a name for these cloth
characters, Bob Porter first suggested "Moppet Puppets." However, it
was Joe Campbell who coined the term "Muppet" during that conversation,
and the name stuck. On December 18, 1954, James Maury
Henson signed a handwritten contract (shown on right) giving Joe
Campbell 51% ownership
of the muppets known as "Longhorn" and "Shorthorn." |
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Although
Joe performed his own songs and dialogue "live" during every
broadcast, he provided
the voices for Longhorn,
Shorthorn and Penelope through the magic of pre-recording. In that era,
such recordings were made on 33rpm acetate transcription disks;
several of which have survived for 50 years, and are cherished by the
whole Campbell clan. (Hear a
sample MP3.)
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As seen in the photo at right, Cowboy
Joe Campbell could easily draw a crowd of enthusiastic "Circle 4 Ranch" fans, like this appearance at a
"Federal Grocery" store. But, despite his popularity, an
across-the-board cancellation of kids programs in September 1955 led to
his
dismissal and the removal of "Circle 4 Ranch" from the Channel-4
airwaves for more than a year and a half.
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the time of the program's return to WRC-TV in April 1957 until its
final demise in September 1958, the host-less "Circle 4 Ranch" was
constantly shuffled around Saturday's schedule, often disappearing for
months... especially during those seasons when sporting events domained
the weekend airwaves. |
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(©2004,
Estate of Joseph Pendleton Campbell. All rights reserved.)
Joe
Campbell passed-away on November 10, 2003 at age 79,
but
not before he was able to complete, and see, his auto-
biography,
"On The Edge of Greatness (But No Cigar)", in print.
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Photos
and articles ©2004, Estate of Joseph Pendleton Campbell. All
rights
reserved.
Data
provided courtesy of Sharen Campbell Dowdy with Mark and Phil Campbell.
Some
data provided by TV listings in The Evening Star and The Washington
Post.
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All
Shows Originated From Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Studios
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