Great-Expectorations

I recall this series airing daily during the Boston edition of 'Bozo the Clown' in the early 60's. As kids, we looked askance at the primitive animation, continuity errors, but most importantly, one character in particular: 'Super Chief'. He was an Indian dressed in headdress and blanket, apparently mute, but when prompted by one of the cast, would bellow out this bizarre train whistle/fog horn type of sound. I recall also that the series made fun of a kid who had some sort of speech impediment, and another who had some sort of cognitive impairment. This series was far from the state of the art, even for the times. Just a time filler perhaps, for when Bozo had to go feed the monkeys, if you know what I mean.

Main characters, two cats and a dog spent their days in little make-believe adventures, dressing up and role playing and acting out their little make-believe fantasies on a daily basis. Other urban animals including a bird named "Flap" joined in wherever needed to participate in the stories. As I recall this series was produced in French and was later translated and overdubbed in English to reach the US market, where it was a staple on first PBS and then the Nickelodeon channel or something similar. This show was simple entertainment without violence or preachy messages, just an entertaining half hour for the 2 to 7 year old kids. Wish it was on TV nowadays.

One has to wonder just how far they'd reach to dig up this poorly-conceived idea for a game show. They had these back-lit translucent boards with a complicated line drawing superimposed on it. Contestants were told to find a specific object concealed within the drawing and trace it with a wand. As kids we recalled seeing many errors which were overlooked by the judges, and we marveled at the lameness of the whole format. There was cheesy suspense-building organ music which furthered the lowbrow quality of the show. It was just a way to blow a half-hour between "Lucy" re-runs and 'Concentration' game. I comment here only because it needs to be mentioned and is indeed stuck in the memory of a few people as a trivia gem.