"Countdown
Carnival"
with
Bill Gormly
Billy
Gormly (Courtesy: Jim Baxter)
|
|
Aired
on WTTG-TV 5,
Mondays
through Fridays,
Afternoons,
at various times
From
August 1963 to September 1968:
(8/26/63
to
9/16/65)
4:00
to 5:00PM
|
(9/19/65
to 3/11/66)
3:30
to 5:00PM
|
(3/14/66
to 9/2/66)
4:00
to 5:00PM
|
(9/5/66
to 12/16/66)
3:30
to 4:30PM
|
(12/19/66
to 9/1/67)
3:00
to 5:00PM
|
(9/4/67
to 9/20/68)
3:00
to 3:30PM
|
-
Also
"The Bill Gormly Show"
Aired
on WTTG-TV 5,
Monday
through Friday Mornings:
(9/14/64
to 4/30/65)
8:00
to 9:00AM
|
(Never
listed as being broadcast in color.)
|
-
|
Host:
Bill Gormly as Himself and as various other characters,
(with
whom he would interact, via pre-taped drop-ins).
|
|
Broadcast
live from WTTG-TV studios
in
the Raleigh Hotel and later moved to Wisconsin Ave. with pre-taped bits
and a variety of film features (such as Warner Bros
cartoons).
The
show was shown in COLOR beginning 12/19/66.
|
-
 |
From
8/26/63 to 9/1/67, a full thirty-minute episode of "The Adventures
of Superman",
starring George Reeves,
aired
from 4:30 to 5:00 PM each weekday.
|
-
|
Gary
Helton, wrote: "Gormly
was a talented
guy who did
some really funny
characters
like
Robin J. Finch (The
Bird Man), C. Aubrey
Bottomly, and
Luke the Janitor. "
Pete
White swears: "To
this day I still carry
a dogeared
photo
of 'Uncle
Clyde'
in my wallet for luck."
|
 |
|
Thanks to Tonette M.
Joyce Skube and Pete White for the photo!
|
-
Phil
Wood adds "Extremely
talented
gentleman.
Other characters included
A.C.
Sparks, the electrician, Mr. Poucher, the mailman, & Uncle
Clyde, a
Civil War veteran whose dialogue would invariably include the line 'How
'bout them Redskins?' Gormly would carry on conversations
with
himself;
that is, he'd have pre-taped responses as one of his characters, and
proceed
to interact
with
the pre-recorded video. Greatly underappreciated talent."
John
Bevilacqua concludes: "I
rode an elevator
in the Georgetown University library with Bill Gormly in the
'70s.
He made reference to a character in one of his shows called 'Elmo
Hickey';
36 years old and still in the 3rd grade. "
|
(Courtesy: DIVER
DAN web site)
|
Jack
Maier recalls; "One
film feature/cartoon
I'll
always remember was Diver
Dan. Dan
was
a real life diver; the other characters were all fish puppets; (you
could
even see the strings). |
|
One
of the 'bad guys' was Barry Barracuda, (shown at Dan's left in the
photo
at right), who really looked cool, even as a puppet, because he had
lots
of teeth."
|
(Courtesy: DIVER
DAN web site)
|
|
|
Jack
Maier adds: "Bill
Johnson and Bill Gormly were closely associated with the
local
'Jerry
Lewis Carnivals for MD' Summer fundraisers. You'd send away
to
Channel
5 for a 'Carnival Kit' that included posters & other materials
to
help
put on a carnival. In addition to having kids appear on the
show
to present their money, these hosts also announced who sent-in (raised)
money."
In 1966,
Jack's neighborhood held a carnival, as reported in
"The
Greenwich Street Gazette Special 'Halloween Issue'" (#18
Fall
1997):
GREENWICH
STREET’S OWN
HAUNTED HOUSE
.
In the summer of
1966, there
was a haunted house setup
in the Daniels' "playhouse" as part of a Carnival for Muscular
Distrophy
held by neighborhood kids J.P. Daniel, Laurie Bolster and John Maier.
These
carnivals were a fun way to raise money for muscular distrophy (before
the Jerry Lewis Telethon) and were promoted by the afternoon kiddie
show
hosts on WTTG Channel 5. The playhouse was a perfect place to transform
into a haunted house, similar to those of the Addams or Munsters
families.
A mysterious voice surprised each visitor, along with a
remote-controlled
robot monster .The fireplace held an iron pot full of "Madame
Witch’s
Brew",
complete with snakes, bats and newts. Uncle Ogelthorpe's
skeleton
(a horseskull) was on display for all to see.
.
Ironically, that
house was
reported to be really haunted
in the years before the Daniels moved there in 1935.
Charlotte
Hottle
recalls Mrs. Minnie Lent (formerly of 500) telling the story that the
house's
previous owners often heard a baby's ghost crying. No one in the Daniel
family ever heard it, though.
.
POSTSCRIPT
(May
2001)
.
John Maier
& the late J.P.
Daniel continued as friends
& neighbors for another 35 years. As teenagers & much
later as
responsible adults, the two friends would reminisce about that MD
carnival,
and WTTG kiddie shows from all those years ago: Countdown Carnival's
Bill
Gormly; the Three Stooges' Bill Johnson and their fun fireworks pitches
often came to mind on the hot summer days. The most cherish-
ed character,
however, was
Captain Tugg. At a recent
block party, when asked of Tugg & the Channel Queen, J.P.
clearly
remembered
the Captain & Fantail's quest to catch the two spies, Axel
&
Spike. |
|
 |
A
correspondent calling himself only "Kevin"
wrote
to NorVaPics.Com
on 7/3/02 (in
part):
"One
of my favorite childhood summertime memories is of sitting at the
dinner
table eating my supper and watching TV, a fan droning in the
background,
as Bill Gormly described the various fireworks assortment boxes lined
up
neatly before him on a long table...
They
were always hawked as 'safe and sane' (... as opposed to dangerous and
crazy), were 'Available at all local area Dart Drug, Drug Fair, and
High's
stores!!!', and had names like 'Spirit of '76', 'Miss Liberty',
'Project
Mercury', and 'Liberty Bell'. The Cadillac of all the assortments (and
of course, the one all we kids dreamed of), came in a big red tube with
a black cone on top, and looked like a rocket.
...After
finally pestering our parents into getting them for us, all us kids in
the neighborhood would take our fireworks out of the boxes, and then
spend
hours organizing, admiring, and playing with them, and showing them off
to our friends, always for at least a week before the big night finally
came.
My personal
favorite item was always the 'House on Fire', a little red cardboard
house
with a (very lame) fountain (which always burned out too quickly)
sticking
out of the top like a chimney. When the fountain failed to catch the
little
house on fire, which was almost always (not that it was supposed to),
my
friends and I would dutifully light it ourselves, and ensure it 'burned
to the ground', all the time dancing around, laughing and screaming
'Fire!
Fire!'. ..."
|
|
Crusader
Rabbit aired on Countdown Carnival.
(Courtesy: 'TOON
TRACKER web site)
|
Mark
Rockman reports: "According
to my good
friend
Bill Halvorsen, a noted Percy Faith expert, the CC theme song was 'Little
Bells & Big Bells (Glocke und Glockchen)', written by
Helmut
Zacharias;
from Percy Faith's 1956 monaural album 'Passport to Romance'. Bill
recalls
Gormly responding reluctantly on the air to a viewer request to name
the
tune. The same recording was used for ABC's 'Seven Keys' game show
hosted
by Jack Narz. It turned up in various other places as well." |
|
|
James
Garner comments:
"Countdown
Carnival aired during the Rat
Fink
craze. There was a large collection of Rat
Finks on the set, some sent in by viewers, in all sizes
including
large
ones from model kits and small ones from gum- ball machines. One day
they
showed the 'world's smallest Rat
Fink'
on a little cushion; so small you couldn't see it."
|
|
Rat
Fink™ name & device
and
"Big Daddy" Roth are trademarks of
Ed Roth
©1999-2004.
Rat
Fink device ©Ed Roth 1984/89.
|
-
|
|
Hear
The Theme To COUNTDOWN
CARNIVAL
At Kidshow
Klips!
|
(Courtesy: 'TOON
TRACKER web site)
|
John
Bevilacqua says:
"The
show broadcast Rod Rocket, Space
Angel, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and in the last half hour,
Superman.
It premiered on 8/26/63. You know, Bill Gormly did look like Superman
actor
George Reeves."
|
|
-.
(Courtesy: 'TOON
TRACKER web site)
|
Tom
Fielding recalls: "Pow-Wow,The
Indian Boy" (with his sappy theme song) would always get into jams and
his animal friends came to his rescue. Along with the 'Big World of
Little
Adam', Pow-Wow
was among the most hated cartoons among my pals, who wanted to see the
animals eat him. But I found a certain charm in his oversized head." |
| "The
big attraction on Countdown Carnival for my crowd was 'Roger
Ramjet'. But, 'The Adventures of Superman' were the high
point of
the
show for me." |
(Courtesy: 'TOON
TRACKER web site)
|
|
Scott
Marinoff points-out: "Hosts
of WTTG kids
shows
also pitched a 2-piece plastic item, about the size of a softball, into
which you'd put a scoop of ice cream - then snap it together - then
insert
it into the top of an old fashioned
6-oz
bottle of Coca Cola - and volia! INSTANT ICE CREAM FLOAT!"
-
|
Glen
Swanson
provided
these
photos
of the
Astro-Float
for
Coke.
|
 |
-
 |
Jack
Maier recalls
the
same product
was
later marketed
by the
7-UP company
as the
"Fizz-Nik",
(modeled
perhaps
after
the Soviets'
"Sputnik"
craft),
for
49 cents each
and
was featured
in a
Sixties TV ad
that
starred monkeys. |
-
|
Before
going to WTTG,
Gormly
was a popular DJ
at WITH-AM,
Baltimore,
in the
early 1960s.
|
|
When
Countdown Carnival ended, Bill Gormly continued as WTTG staff
announcer.
He eventually joined the Mutual Broadcasting System as a radio
newscaster.
Following
his career in broadcasting and until his retirement in April
2000,
Gormly
was spokesperson for the WSSC (Washington
Suburban
Sanitary Commission).
|
Sources:
Jim Baxter... Diver Dan is property owned by John Ferlaine, Brian
Kellman
& Martin Young. Diver Dan images from http://www.planetxmagazine.com/diverdan.html
Other cartoon images from Ron
Kurer's
'TOON TRACKER web site. Theme song info by Mark Rockman.
Music/info
courtesy Bill Halvorsen.
Thanks
to Gary Helton, Jack Maier, James Garner, Tom Fielding, Scott Marinoff,
John
Bevilacqua, Glen Swanson & Kevin who wrote to
NorVaPics.Com.
Rat
Fink™ name & device & Ed "Big Daddy" Roth are
trademarks of Ed
Roth ©1999-2004.
Rat
Fink device ©Ed Roth 1984/89
Airtimes
and some other facts confirmed from TV listings found in the Evening
Star,
Sunday
Star TV Magazine (provided by Jack Maier) and the Washington Post
papers.
|
|
|
Do
you remember?
Any Other
Cast Characters
Any Other
Cartoons/Shorts Featured
Any Other
Details/Correctios
|
|
Email
Us
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
All
Shows Originated From Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Studios
|
..
.
|
Outstanding
Sites
you'll also want to visit...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kaptain
Kidshow
Saluting
Vintage TV Kid Shows
Produced
In Washington, DC
|
Page
Revised: 8/26/04
.
.
Complete
List of Shows
.
Complete
List of Hosts
.
Sounds
From The Shows
.
Your
Own Recollections
.
Send
Email To Kappy
|
