setting the record straight

[kip_w]

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With the media scrutiny Christine O'Donnell's dad is getting as the result of her claim that he was Bozo on a Philadelphia TV station (which was not included in the Wikipedia article on Bozo or Bozos, possibly because O'Donnell Senior was a fill-in Bozo when the regular clown was away), I've noticed an omission in the Wikipedia entry that should be fixed.

Based on information from the book Hi There, Boys and Girls! America's Local Childrens TV Shows by Tim Hollis, the Bozo of Richmond, Virginia up until the show went off the air in 1974 was Jerry Harrell.

My friends back in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia should recognize Mr. Harrell more quickly as Dr. Madblood, beloved local horror movie host whose mad persona operates from Pungo, former home of illustrator Kelly Freas. Harrell started that gig in 1975, originally as a one-shot Halloween special (which means his 35th anniversary is coming right up).

I was lucky enough to view a museum show of Madblood props and memorabilia while living in Virginia. Oddly enough, you never see Madblood exhibitions in Massachusetts or New York. Some of his original props were made by Dave Merriman, a peerless crafter of miniatures for the movies.

But I'm wandering off the track. I have the book that mentions Harrell's Bozo stint, and as fortune would have it, the excerpt that mentions is is viewable at Google Books (see link above). So just now I went to Wikipedia and entered Harrell's name in their list of local Bozos, and inserted a mention of it in the entry for Dr. Madblood as well.

Of course, maybe the man is modest and didn't want this mentioned. But if I'd been a local TV Bozo, I would think I'd at least mention it. (As Harrell does on the bio at his own web page.)

Just doing my job. So to speak.
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Comments

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Dr. Madblood was definitely local to Hampton Roads, though not to any one station. He's been on at least three of them, if my calculations are good.

I mostly grew up seeing KWGN's "Creature Features" out of Denver. There was nominally a host, Mr. First Nighter, but he only seemed to exist in a taped intro and an outro that were the same every week. I looked forward keenly to those movies, and then I'd fall asleep in a chair and wake up for the station signoff or dead air. One time I went into some kind of demi-dream state and seemed to see everything go by in fast motion in a couple of seconds.

[meggins.livejournal.com]

I used to watch something called "Shock Theatre" that way predates Dr. Madblood. Don't know if it was local or syndicated. The host was called Ronald, I believe, and he was something between a crypt keeper and a ghoul. Anyways, it started at 11:30 p.m. (Friday nights), which was late for me way back then. I usually made it through Ronald's opening but somewhere in the early stages of the movied, like you (though sprawled out on the floor), I fell asleep. I'd generally wake up at the very end of the movie or shortly thereafter.