B'wana Don!

For many of us who were born in the late fifties/early sixties, our first taste of exotica came to us in the form of a black & white kid's show called "B'wana Don in Jungle-La." Something of a hybrid between "The Popeye Club" and Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom," B'wana Don's show featured his chimp Bongo Bailey, and was actually filmed in Kenya, where Don lives to this day. (See http://www.ferndalehistoricalsociety.org/people_hunt.html for more biographical material). Originally the show lasted for three years, but was later syndicated to more remote markets (in my case, Atlanta) in the early 'sixties. Though of African origination, I think B'wana Don more than deserves his plinth in the mid-century Hall of Heroes.

!uSathane omhlophe umthondo omkhulu!

[ Edited by: White Devil 2011-08-25 06:26 ]

"B'wana Don" was one of the last children's shows that featured social interaction with an adult (the host) and studio audience, in the mold of the previous generation's “Howdy Doody” and “Bozo the Clown.” Such shows overtly sought to enlighten and equip its young audience, as opposed to socializing/indoctrinating or outright emasculating it (see “Romper Room,” “Sesame Street,” “Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,” and the wave of 'seventies & 'eighties non-violent pap). Other programs of this era were the early Japanimation hits “8 Man,” and “Astro Boy,” “Mighty Mouse,” “Captain Kangaroo,” and an Atlanta-local production “Officer Don and the Popeye Club.” The latter featured early Fleischer “Popeye” cartoons sandwiched between in-studio hijinks such as “the ooey-gooey-bag:” a musical-chairs game featuring viscous ooze inside paper sandwich bags. Other Atlanta-market characters were “Officer Don’s…” Orville the Dragon hand-puppet, “Tubby & Lester” (a blatant Laurel & Hardy rip-off), and the inimitable Bestoink Dooley.
It's my observation that this era of programming uniquely combined its exposure to reality & adulthood with a sense of fun and adventure, and later found its greatest iteration in the prime-time “Jonny Quest.” The creators of such entertainments were inherently more human in their approach than the later crop of social engineers & toy vendors who would come to spoil children’s television. Of course, this all seems to be no more than obscure television trivia except when seen from the standpoint of how early media exposure carves our world-views. I would assert that exposing and equipping young minds to the potential threats of the world (be it hungry leopards, atom bombs or heavily-armed socialist clones) is a far more honest and useful approach than the comparatively-cretinous message of “let’s all be super-friends.” This orientation-of-consciousness has ripple effects throughout our lives that to one degree or another accounts for the vast chasm of difference in how different generations perceive reality.

!uSathane omhlophe umthondo omkhulu!

[ Edited by: White Devil 2011-08-25 09:39 ]