Kukla, Fran and Ollie

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75 years ago today, January 12, 1949, Kukla, Fran and Ollie premiered on NBC. Originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was first aired from 1947 to 1957. The first NBC network broadcast of the show took place on January 12, 1949. It aired from 6–6:30 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday from Chicago.

 

Fran was Fran Allison, a radio comedienne and singer who was usually the only human to appear on screen, filling the role of big sister and cheery voice of reason as the puppets engaged each other concerning their foibles.

 

The design style of puppets was in the style of Neapolitan puppet shows, or Punch and Judy without the slapstick, but their personalities were less caricatured. The puppet cast included Kukla, the earnest leader of the troupe; Ollie, or Oliver J. Dragon, a roguish one-toothed dragon (who would slam his flat chin on the stage in frustration or roll on his back to be endearing); Madame Oglepuss, a retired opera diva; Beulah Witch, a liberated witch; Fletcher Rabbit, the troupe's mailman and resident fussbudget; Cecil Bill, the troupe's union stagehand who spoke in "tooie talk"; Colonel Crackie, a Southern gentleman; Dolores Dragon, Ollie's younger cousin, and a number of others.

 

The series' music was written and performed by Jack Fascinato, who first accompanied the troupe on solo piano, and later conducted the show's small orchestra.

 

After the original series ended in 1957, Burr Tillstrom continued to search for a place for the Kuklapolitans, doing a daily five-minute show for NBC, and even appearing on Broadway. Tillstrom and his puppets returned to NBC television without Allison in the early 1960s for Burr Tillstrom's Kukla and Ollie show that aired weekdays.

 

In 1967, KFO began hosting CBS Children's Film Festival. In this context, their conversations were restricted to a brief introduction, commercial segues and a summary of the film, and could only provide a hint of what had made KFO so popular. Many people know the troupe only from this filmed show and their later taped series for NET in 1970. Burr also brought the troupe to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago for a series of live performances in the early 1980s.

 

KFO can claim a number of television firsts, including the first ship-to-shore telecast. The first publicly announced network broadcast of a program using the NTSC "compatible color" system was an episode of Kukla, Fran and Ollie on August 30, 1953. Burr was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1986 for his many contributions to the medium. Tillstrom influenced and mentored many later puppeteers, including Shari Lewis and Jim Henson.

 

Kukla and Ollie made an appearance on The Carpenters' 1977 television special for ABC, The Carpenters at Christmas, along with Harvey Korman and Kristy McNichol. Kukla and Ollie also appeared as panelists on a 1979 episode of Match Game PM and on two episodes of Match Game '79.