TODAY'S TWD: FIFTY YEARS OF HUCKLEBERRY

We're taking a break from our Tiddlywinkydink salute to Paul Newman's TV legacy today in order to mark a special occasion. So get yourself all set and turn on your TV set......
If it weren't for Mark Evanier's blog "News From ME" (links to the left, hound dawgs!), I might not have known that today, October 2nd, 2008, is the fiftieth anniversary of Huckleberry Hound's introduction on television. He was the star of Hanna-Barbera's second animated TV series (after 'Ruff 'n' Reddy'), and the first cartoon series to win the Emmy.

I think for a lot of folks in my age group, Huckleberry Hound was the first big cartoon superstar, a comfortable presence our Moms could leave us with to be our TV babysitter. Of course, it wasn't until decades later we learned the dark truth to ol' Huck.....

When 'The Huckleberry Hound Show' premiered, you would have thought the Kellog's Corn Flakes Rooster was the actual star of the show, based on the introductory credits. I suppose that was an example of the heavy influence which advertisers had on the show's content back in those days. (And which we're seeing crop up again, especially in shows on NBC networks like 'Heroes', 'Psych', 'Monk', and worst offender of all this season, 'Eureka'.) But eventually they got it right as far as showcasing the true star of the show.

Next year will be the tenth anniversary for the TV Crossover Hall of Fame and we're planning something special - four inductions a month, every week a rotating theme of these four categories - the League of Themselves, the Tooniverse, historical portrayals, and maybe locations. You can bet that oh so merry chuckleberry will be in that number!

Happy birthday, Huckleberry!
BCnU!
Toby O'B