Tomfoolery

I have nothing but fond memories of this series; the only rerun I ever caught in the 46 years it's been off the air was a video on YouTube ten years ago. Definitely a potential choice for a "manufactured on demand" complete DVD set.

The show drew upon the creations of Edward Lear and Ogden Nash, and copied the "Laugh-In" format of blackout jokes and running routines—a style the other Saturday morning cartoons duplicated extensively. "Tomfoolery" stood out above the others for its dazzling graphic design, compliments of Britain's Halas & Batchelor studio; this was one series that made you glad to have a color-TV set in 1970. The show was also noteworthy for its inspired silliness and verbal wit which refused to simply write down to its kiddie audience.

I was 7 years old at the time "The Tomfoolery Show" (the full name of the program) aired on NBC-TV but one thing I remember is the dopey little theme song that introduced and closed the show (from memory):

C'mon, we're puttin' on the nonsense, The funny, zany nonsense, With riddles, jokes and silly things, It's all Tomfoolery

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C'mon, we're puttin' on the nonsense, The funny, zany nonsense, We'll tickle every funny bone, It's all Tomfoolery

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(Voice over introduces the key characters on the show as music plays in the background)

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C'mon, we're puttin' on the nonsense, The funny, zany nonsense, With riddles, jokes and silly things, It's all Tom-foo-ler-yyyyyy! (ka-pow!)

My family LOVED this program! I've only ever seen it when it originally aired, so there is just one song from it I remember completely. That was the large alligator-like creature that walked along saying "Lippity-kip, Lippity-kip, my only name's the SCREDUNGULOUS PIP!" and after him would be a parade of silly animals and creatures including a grasshopper hopping along in a little top hat and tailcoat!! Also there were the crazy recipes on it like "Pot Roast", where peanut butter was smeared on to a pot and roasted! There was always a choice of cooking time offered, like "Bake at 300 degrees for 2 days or 2 degrees for 300 days!". I believe the above recipe was eventually fed to a goat!

Almost nobody remembers this programme but I thought it was great as a kid. The characters I remember most are the Fastidious Fish who walked around using stilts held outside his fishbowl (complete with spat shoes on the end) and the Scoobious Snake who sported a straw hat and a cane. I was already familiar with the poems of Edward Lear such as the Owl & the Pussycat, the Pobble Without Any Toes etc. etc. so it was good to see them set to cartoon sketches.

At least there are a few people who remember. Now I need to find something for the cartoon "Arthur the King of Camelot" which was in some ways similar and which nobody seems to remember either! "Arthur, the King of Camelot, He's a Ring A Ding A Ding of a King"

I remember watching this show on British TV when I was 8 and thought it fantastic. Apart from the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo I seem to remember characters like The Dong with the Luminous Nose

and The Jumblies and Mr and Mrs Discobbolos and The Pobble who has no toes? and also a Quangle-Wangle Quee! I also remember features like "and now a word from our sponsors" and someone

would say "Zephyr" or such like.

Or "earthworms get lost!" This would have been the forerunner of "tiswas",Monty Python and even Sesame Street's occasional nonsense. I remember this from nearly 40 years ago but nobody else seems to.