Monday, September 19, 2005

Bwooop!

The trio vs. the pirate-ladyman

Recently lis opined that no native Utard remembers Lighthouse 20, the kid show that was broadcast on UHF channel 20. Now I have a slight dispute with lis, in that I remember the pirate on the show was played by a woman, and she recalls someone very different (a man, I presume). Now Lighthouse 20 was not by any means my favorite show (hell I think it replaced Gillagan's Island!), but I do remember it--not really fondly but I remember it.

The real purpose of my writing is that I made the comparison of Lighthouse 20 to Hotel Balderdash--a show that apparently ran for 10 years on channel four here in SLC. Now this show was the bomb; not only did it start at ~~6:00 am~~ 6:45 am and show nothing but 30's-late 40's Warner Brothers cartoons (you know, Bugs and Daffy, but not Porky Pig and certainly not that crap WB churned out from the 50s onward.) These cartoons, of course, were made for adults and the humor was mostly sophisticated in a slapstick kind of way and not juvenile at all (more on excellent WB work during that time later) Hotel Balderdash also originally featured a trio of characters who "ran" said hotel. I saw this show long before Fawlty Towers, but it seemed that Balderdash was much like Fawlty Towers but with a studio audience of kids in tow. (And you think Felini is surreal?) The trio were Cannonball, Harvey, and the greasy, Nelly-Olsen-like Raymond. Raymond wore a red brat costume (you know like Buster Brown) with a blond wig and stupid sailor hat. Cannonball was rotund and wore a bowler. Harvey was tall and lanky and wore a top hat and a scarf. The trio were triangulated against each other with Raymond always being a brat and trying to get the best of Harvey but never succeeding, and Cannonball acted as the straight an to them both. Harvey was the goofy ne'er-do-well with a good heart. Cannonball was the officious, overbearing "boss" who also had a good heart in the long run. Raymond was a whiney brat who never did well at all. He had a column in our Feliniesque local mini-paper where he answered letters in his bratty way. Pure local comedy gold, I say.

The show ran far longer than my childhood, so I lost track of it somewhere in the 70s, and then one day it was gone, replaced by that tripe Good Morning America. So much for a local show with a ~~modicum of~~ talent fondly remembered from childhood. Are there anything like these shows any more? Where are the Lighthouse 20s? Can a Hotel Balderdash exist in our pre-fab world?

Cast update

~~Raymond survived a few season on the show, but must have grown tired of being the guy in the brat, and moved on to other projects. Apparently he has struck gold in Mormon comedico-dramulettes.~~ Wrong on this one, Raymond was played by Charlie LeSueur who has given a all-out corection to my childhood misperceptions:

Hello everybody! This is the one, the only, RAYMOND, and my name is Charlie LeSueur, not Lance Williams!
Lance, I believe was one of those local actors who used to pop in and out from time to time on the show, but he was never a regular.
Concerning the history of "Hotel Balderdash." The show was indeed taken from "Wallace and Ladmo,in Arizona where Larry "Cannonball" John and I grew up. Wallace gave us the name Balderdash and said he had always wanted to place his show in a hotel with the guests as rotating characters. We ran with that and named the show "Hotel Balderdash." Wallace and Ladmo weren't very happy when the show was a success.
Just before the show started we brought Randy Lovoi in as Harvey after other actors dropped out.
The show went on the air on September 11, 1972 and lasted until 1982.
I left the show in 1976, but returned briefly in 1977 when Cannonball left the show. When he returned I left again, but returned to the show in 1979 as a regular until it's demise. By the time it left the air I was the only regular left on the show. Randy Lovoi left during the last couple of years and we brought in Steve Farnworth as a new Harvey. Cannonball left in 1982 and soon the show ended with a hiss rather then a bang!
Also, you had the time slot wrong for the show. During the first couple of years we ran from 6:45am until 8:40am at which time they ran a 20 minute newscast. When "AM America," the orginal name for "Good Morning America," started we were so popular that they ended up running the first hour of "AM America" from 6:00am to 7:00am. We ran from 7:00am to 8am and then they ran the last hour of "AM America." During that time the station changed it's CALL letters from KCPX to KTVX.
Larry and I moved back to our home state of Arizona where I continued in television, film, radio,and stage. I am now concentrating on stage and have written two books on film and travel the country doing lectures and radio programs as a film historian. For more info you can visit my website: www.silverscreencowboys.com.
In answer to you comments on "Light House 20," the show was created by Craig Clyde and Scott Curran. Scott played the host, Captain Scotty. I do not ever remember a girl on there.
I hope I've cleared the air about things

I think Cannonball survived all 10 seasons of Hotel Balderdash. He had his radio morning show in SLC during the same time period (which he must have run too since HB was filmed live) . He apparently moved on to small-town Arizona, had a large family and enjoys motorcycles.

The top-hatted Harvey who's trademark was pulling his hand in front of his mouth and making a "bwooooooooop" sound whenever the show went to a cartoon, has disappeared off the face of the Earth with nary an Internet mention. I'm sure he is alive and well in some radio station in the heartland.

¶ 7:28 PM

Listen to this article

Comments:

How bizarre.

We just had Miss Sandy and Romper Room. They must have had Romper Room franchises.
# posted by Cordelia : 2:48 PM

-Oh yeah!-

I remember Hotel Balderdash from the few years I lived in SLC as a kid. It was quite a relief when I moved to Arizona to find a similar formula show called Wallace and Ladmo. Wallace was a rotund straight man and Ladmo was the tall skinny goofy one. There was also a third bratty guy called Gerald.

Look familair?
http://www.geocities.com/hidenchef/WallaceandLadmo.html
# posted by TheBunny : 2:50 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Hello everybody! This is the one, the only, RAYMOND, and my name is Charlie LeSueur, not Lance Williams!
Lance, I believe was one of those local actors who used to pop in and out from time to time on the show, but he was never a regular.
Concerning the history of "Hotel Balderdash." The show was indeed taken from "Wallace and Ladmo,in Arizona where Larry "Cannonball" John and I grew up. Wallace gave us the name Balderdash and said he had always wanted to place his show in a hotel with the guests as rotating characters. We ran with that and named the show "Hotel Balderdash." Wallace and Ladmo weren't very happy when the show was a success.
Just before the show started we brought Randy Lovoi in as Harvey after other actors dropped out.
The show went on the air on September 11, 1972 and lasted until 1982.
I left the show in 1976, but returned briefly in 1977 when Cannonball left the show. When he returned I left again, but returned to the show in 1979 as a regular until it's demise. By the time it left the air I was the only regular left on the show. Randy Lovoi left during the last couple of years and we brought in Steve Farnworth as a new Harvey. Cannonball left in 1982 and soon the show ended with a hiss rather then a bang!
Also, you had the time slot wrong for the show. During the first couple of years we ran from 6:45am until 8:40am at which time they ran a 20 minute newscast. When "AM America," the orginal name for "Good Morning America," started we were so popular that they ended up running the first hour of "AM America" from 6:00am to 7:00am. We ran from 7:00am to 8am and then they ran the last hour of "AM America." During that time the station changed it's CALL letters from KCPX to KTVX.
Larry and I moved back to our home state of Arizona where I continued in television, film, radio,and stage. I am now concentrating on stage and have written two books on film and travel the country doing lectures and radio programs as a film historian. For more info you can visit my website: www.silverscreencowboys.com.
In answer to you comments on "Light House 20," the show was created by Craig Clyde and Scott Curran. Scott played the host, Captain Scotty. I do not ever remember a girl on there.
I hope I've cleared the air about things.
# posted by Charlie LeSueur : 6:41 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Raymond! Wow, I feel honored.

In any case, I do think I remember Captain Scotty, but Channel 20 in those days was pretty mom and pop and I know the station manager dueled as Captain Scotty when Craig Clyde left the show for temporary reasons.

As for Hotel Balderdash--quientessential TV that. Did you write an article for small local Utah papers or was that Larry John in your guise?

Whatever happened to Harvey?
# posted by theorris : 8:21 PM

-Oh yeah!-

I was a film critic for a local newspaper that I believe was owned by Larry John, although I can't remember the name of it, and I'm suprised anyone remembers it at all!
One of my best friends, Dale Christianson, was the manager of the Trolley Theaters chain and a small group of us would watch movies at the theaters at Trolly Square until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, it was great! I understand that the Trolley Theater chain is no more.
Larry John was, and is, a very industrious guy. I get together with him from time to time, and he comes to see my stage shows. I also produced a great show at KTVX called "Nightmare Theater" on the weekends, when Larry played a character named "Doctor Volapuk." He would start every show with, "Hello, this is kindly, lovable Doctor Volapuk." I never knew where he came up with that name? It was great sitting in the editing room watching those old Universal Pictures horror films.
When I left "Balderdash," the first time, I can remember how all the big wigs at the station had to have a meeting with us to decide what they were going to do now that I was leaving. It was interesting to have us three guys, who were in our mid-twenties, in this room with all these old guys who were trying to figure out how to cover my leaving. It worked out fine in the long-run, but I knew the minute that I landed in L.A. that I wanted back. A little over a year after being in L.A., and doing some film and television work, I was called for an audition for a new situation comedy by the producers of "All in the Family." At the same time Randy Lovoi asked me back to do "Balderdash." Larry had left the show because he was tired of it. I came back for more "Balderdash." Three months later I was gone again!
My stay in L.A. was productive however. I was in an improvisational comedy class with fellow student Robin Williams, this was before "Mork and Mindy," and he was hilarious!
Craig Clyde, by the way, only did character parts on "Lighthouse 20," I believe he was also the announcer. Scott Curran was Scotty. The station manager at the time was a woman, and I'm sure she didn't appear on the show, but there may have been another woman who appeared on "Lighthouse 20."
Craig had a noon talk show that I appeared on from time to time as a character named Thaddeus, who would answer trivia questions about horror movies.
I can'remember whether "Lighthouse 20" was live or on tape, but I was at a few of shows and found out later that Scott and Craig had talked about me being a regular on the show - this according to Scott - but Craig didn't want me; who knows because Craig was always a gentleman with me. This of course was during the time I was not on "Balderdash."
I was doing a radio show at KPRQ in Murray at the time that Balderdash came knocking again in 1979, and I found myself back on the show.
By that time I was married. As a side note, my best man was Larry Tamblyn, the leader of the rock group, The Standells, and brother of film actor Russ Tamblyn. He spent some time with me a few years back at Christmas and it was good seeing him. Merrill Osmond was there as well. He's a great guy and married to my favorite cousin, Mary. Larry and Randy were taking odds at the time of my marriage as to how long it would last. So far almost 25 years, 7 kids and soon to be 11 grandchildren, although I'm too young for all that . . . yeah right! Randy, on the other hand, was the one to get the divorce!
# posted by Charlie LeSueur : 8:28 PM

-Oh yeah!-

This stuff is bringing back a lot of fun memories. I grew up in SLC in the 60s and remember Nightmare Theater, Fireman Frank, and Captain Scotty very well. This all pre-dates Hotel Balderdash and Lighthouse 20. I may be mistaken, but I recall Scotty Clark was the original Captain Scotty on KCPX channel 4 in the afternoon and that he had a heart attack and died very young around 1973. Does anyone know for sure? Another great memory is of Fireman Frank hosting Dr. Mark Littmann from the Hansen Planetarium or the chimps Chip and Cookie from the Hogle zoo. Wasn't Ron Ross (Fireman Frank) Dr. Volapuk? And did Scotty Clark also have something to do with Nightmare Theater right around the time of the call letter change to KTVX when they started running the great old classic Universal flicks instead of all the old crap Godzilla vs. (fill in the blank) or Mr. Sardonicus movies? Thanks for letting me be a part of your blog...
# posted by Anonymous : 10:08 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Hi, Raymond again.

Never heard of a Scotty Clark, although that was some time ago and I didn't arrive in Salt Lake until 1972. Ron Ross was THE voice at the top of "Nightmare Theatre" pre-Volapuk. His voice welcomed everyone to the show, but there was only one LIVE host after 1972 (when I arrived)and that was Larry "Cannonball" John as Dr. Volapuk - a name he came up with. When I asked him what it meant he didn't have any idea, he just liked it.
Anything pre-1972 I don't really know anything about, so there could have been a Captain Scotty before "Light House 20," but it would have been before 1972; as I said, I don't remember a Scotty Clark at Channel 4 after we arrived.
I know, without going into the complete story, that the three of us went to KCPX just by chance to push our show as an afternoon kids show. We knew that Fireman Frank was very popular in the mornings, and had been for 10 years.
We really had no plans to go to Channel 4, but Channel 2 wasn't interested because they felt educational children's show were the way to go - like "The New Zoo Review," - and Channel 5 was very interested but they wanted time to think it over. We decided to just visit Channel 4 on a lark, and within 30 minutes of us going in we were sitting in front of the Station President, Programming Director, and Advertising Director.
They were very interested in why we came in that particular day. We kept telling them that we had made appointments with the other two stations and decided to give them a visit. They weren't satisfied with that answer and kept asking us: "But why did you pick today to come in?" I guess we finally convinced them that it was just coincidence, and then they told us that they had just released "Fireman Frank," that morning over a money issue.
I know that "Fireman Frank," blamed us for his dismissal, but we had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, several "in house," talents such as Lynn Lehman, and Terry Pepper were also planning kids shows for their viewing. We did a pilot in early summer of 1972 and they picked our show over all the others. I have the pilot tape but it's on 3/4" tape, and I would need to find a machine to transfer it over to in order to look at it. It would be interesting. We never met "Fireman Frank," but Mark Littman was always on the show and was wonderful, as was Nancy the Librarian.
As a side-note, when KCPX changed call letters to KTVX in order to differentiate the television station from the radio station, we soon moved off of Social Hall Avenue. Our "Hotel Balderdash" set wasn't ready yet so we came in for about a week and did our show live from the news set; remember Art Kent, Allan Moll, and Dave Blackwell (who was a real pr#@k). For a while, they had a weatherman named Alan Eutis (we nicknamed him "Alan Useless") They kept pumping money into their news department to no avail. We would joke that in a three station market Channel Four's news was rated fourth! As a matter of fact, our show got caught in the crossfire when ABC threatened to yank their affiliation due to low news ratings. The only way they could save the affiliation was to place the two hours of "Good Morning,America," together from 7:00am to 9:00am. Our show was then relegated to a half hour from 6:30am to 7:00am. It was time to leave anyway, as the corporation that took it over was full of wannabe stars (one of them a prominate attorney in Orem)that had absolutely no talent; the attorney's main character was a blatant rip-off of John Belushi's Samauri character. It was very embarrassing, and finally Randy quit out of disgust and frustration. No matter what our differences, Randy wanted the show to be a class act and now it was getting to be more like "Talent Showcase."
One last side-note, a pleasant one. One of my best friends was the popular KCPX DJ Chad O' Stevens who would eventually use his real name Danny Jessop and achieve real success in the Salt Lake market.

All the Best,
Charlie LeSueur
www.silverscreencowboys.com
# posted by Charlie LeSueur : 8:48 PM

-Oh yeah!-

I'm not trying to put you off or anything, but I'm sorry to say that I was extremely bothered by the Raymond character and as a result tended to leave the room when the cartoon was over...sorry Mr. LeSueur (but thank you for writing in the blog...it's cool to communicate with someone from the era that was a part of it, not just an observer)...but then again, to be annoying was probably the point of Raymond.
I may be mistaken, but I recall Scotty Clark was the original Captain Scotty on KCPX channel 4 on the afternoon cartoon show (pre-1971). He had light short hair (it might have even been a flat top) and I think he wore a lot of turtlenecks. He even lived on Green Street just off 8th south (near my childhood home on 7th east) but moved away because the neighborhood kids wouldn't let him have any peace...and that he had a heart attack and died very young around 1973, but that part came from my late mother, as I never met him. And speaking of Ron Ross, who my mom went to school with at Ogden High in the 40s, I still get the chills when I recall that horrific footage that intro'd Nightmare Theater...I'd love to see that again (and also know what flicks they edited it from). Funny how about the only advertisers during Nightmare were for Freight Outlet and Menlove Dodge Toyota...the last of the little guys!...what were 30s going for back then...about five bucks?! I also remember Allan Mall (the guy looked like he'd had a stroke...always talked out of one side of his mouth). Remember Carrie Cochrane? A Pirate's Dream! (sunken chest) and Alan Eustis was pretty milquetoast as channel 4's weatherman. I think he left to go to Alaska or something...I Googled him and he's still working in weather...I think for the government. But please...Dave Blackwell a p%$&k? Say it ain't so! He was so authoritative in his paisley ties (but I preferred Paul James). I was in the SLC radio scene for awhile in the late 70s to 1985 at B101-FM as their chief engineer, commercial traffic manager and even did copy writing and news and commercials occasionally before they were sold and became KBER. I'm now a dentist in Arizona and I truly miss those days so long ago. I Hope Raymond, Harvey and Cannonball have a special place reserved for them in TV/Radio heaven with Ron Ross, Scotty Clark, Will Lucas and Bernie Calderwood.
# posted by Anonymous : 11:54 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Great news for Balderdash Fans! I just got off the phone with Randy 'Harvey' Lovoi and we will be appearing together again! Next week - December 12th - we will be recording some new segments for Randy's new show, "The Randy Lovoi Show," which will air in Utah, but Cannonball and I will be shot here in Arizona! We will just be ourselves talking about current topics, not a children's show. Randy will also be involved in the production of two new podcast shows for me, "Rant and Rave," and "Riding the Cowboy Trail." Larry "Cannonball" John already has a show which is podcast called, "The HotTub Podcast Party," give it a listen, but keep the children away!
# posted by Charlie LeSueur : 2:44 PM

-Oh yeah!-

After a recent move, my copy of the Hotel Balderdash album turned up and I was trying to explain to my husband what it was all about.
I received the album (and a few other goodies) at a visit that was made to my elementary school in Utah County.
Guess I need to copy it onto cd for the kids...
# posted by DLogan : 10:36 PM

-Oh yeah!-

By the way, I just noticed that it was said that Larry John had to run to his radio show in the morning because Balderdash was done "live." This is untrue. It was taped on Monday nights for the week (Tuesday through the next Monday).

Charlie (Raymond) LeSueur
# posted by Charlie LeSueur : 9:02 AM

-Oh yeah!-

I remember Nightmare Theatre with Fireman Frank. I've been in the Salt Lake Valley, off and on, since 1962. I thought he would be easy to find on the internet, but isn't. This was a really good show and I used to look forward to staying up late and watching it every week.
# posted by Michael William Andersen : 7:29 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Some quick asides, having been born in SLC (1956) and spending my prime childhood years watching all of that stuff.
The opening to Nightmare Theater was terrrific--thunder and lightning, the camera zooming in on a haunted house. Ron Ross would echo "Nighhhttmaaaare!...(evil laugh) ...thrilling...chilling..." etc. The movies were typical 50s stuff--Attack of the 50-foot woman, House on Haunted Hill, etc.) It began at 10:30 p.m., right after the news.
Fireman Frank was terrific; it began with Ron Ross sliding down the pole in his "Firehouse," siren and bells in the background...I remember his having as a guest Jerry Duberry (sp) from the Hogle Zoo, who later died when bitten by a poisonous snake at the zoo!
Prior to that, Ron was "Kimbo the Clown." I recall a peanut gallery of kids appearing on the show. He wore a large top hat and the huge, oversize glasses. I was very young; this probably was around 1960-61.
Another thing: As a kid a bunch of us went to the ballet to see "The Nutcracker." Ron Ross had a part in it, I remember him dancing in tights. Extraordinary! He struck me, and strikes me, as a wonderful, talented, good-hearted fellow.
The first "Captain Scotty" show had a fuller title--"Captain Scotty and Gemini 4" This is very telling as to when it began: 1965. He wore the astronaut's suit without the helmet. He looked a bit like actor Martin Milner. The show seemed to wear on him; even as a kid he seemed strained, and didn't appear to like children very much. I remember seeing him at Lagoon one summer, kids all around him, and him not looking happy about it at all. In my teenage years, I remember older people telling me had a drinking problem. That's unkind and unsubstantiated, but it's part of the local lore.
The first Romper Room I recall had Miss Nancy as host. Lord knows there were a bunch of them.
Hotel Balderdash was very well done I thought, corny, slapstick, improvisational stuff, but very good. I admire that they could do it day after day; the layman has no idea how tough that is.
No question Channel 4, KCPX, was the best network for kids.
After college I was a sportswriter at the Ogden Standard-Examiner for a few years. I got to know some of the old sports guys--Bill Marcroft, the imcomparable Bill Howard, and so on. One of my roommates was a cameraman at the NBC affiliate in Salt lake (we were young and woefully underpaid) and I remember him asking him one time if he had access to some old Utah Stars ABA basketball footage. He looked into it, and told me NONE of the stuff, sports or otherwise, from the early years existed. They just taped over the same reels, never saved a damned thing. My understanding is that all the networks did that, and it's tragic how that part of our culture and heritage has been lost. I can't imagine how much fun it would be watching an episode or two of Hotel Balderdash, Captain Scotty, Fireman Frank and so on.
# posted by Mediaman : 2:49 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Just thought I'd check back. It's been a while. It's always fun to look back. Larry "Cannonball" John recently emailed me and asked if I was interested in doing a radio program with him. I was, but the time just isn't right for me. I am busy going from stage show to stage show and recently opened a Quiznos Fast Food Shop. I am nominated for a Zoni (Arizona's equivalent to a Tony) Award this year, so things are very busy for me. In answer to the person saying that Raymond bothered them - the character was supposed to. However, Raymond also got more fan mail then the two others, which we always found interesting. Every year Harvey and Raymond would run for "Fun Commissioner" and Harvey was supposed to get the most votes. Every year Raymond would get the most votes, but we couldn't have him win so we said that Harvey always got the most votes! Great Times! Check out my new website: www.charlielesueur.com.

See Ya Later,
Charlie "Raymond" LeSueur
# posted by Anonymous : 3:58 PM

-Oh yeah!-

Wow, this is great.

I grew up in Provo watching you guys and remember many shows and scenes, whether you know it or not you are still a part of many peoples lives and probably played a bigger role in many than you will ever know.

I remember Charlie's (Raymond) "bell-hop" skit for instance, and the rest of the cast looking on like "what the heck are you doing???" I was worried when he left the show shortly afterwards. Raymond's Corner was always worth watching. Weird for us young kids, but funny.

I remember staying up late because our babysitter somehow heard Cannonball would be driving by on the freeway in Provo one night. Sure enough, an hour later he did in what I recall as an older, yellow VW Bug, smiling and waving and happy to see us. Those kinds of things were big deals to us.

I also remember meeting Harvey during the road show at Provo's Farrer Jr High, I was one of the lucky nerds and got picked to sit next to Harvey in the crowd to hold his mic during the opening skit.

I learned a bit about show biz and acting that day after I disobeyed his request to not stand up with the lunky 70's microphone in my lap and got a sharp tug of the shirt sleeve to remind me. Cannonball was onstage telling everyone to stand up and cheer, while Harvey was telling me to sit down, it was quite the conflict at the time. :D

Thanks for all the memories guys, and glad to hear you are all doing well.
# posted by i dont : 10:40 AM