I came across the very last 1960 Howdy Doody show on the internet last night and I remember watching it as a child but I have a silly question that had bug me for 49 years or so.
In the last show they had everyone packing in order to leave the town of Doodyville however in the show before this one they was going to tell the kids the story reason of why they was all leaving and my parents had me out of town during that show.
So my question that I could not find on the internet is what reason did the writers come up with for shutting down Doodyville?
Somehow I do not think it had anything to do with the ratings dropping.
Reply:
Well, It was a rather convoluted story.
Princess Summer Fall Winter Spring got knocked up by that Duck thing and they were looking to abort, but , back then, there was no Rowe v Wade so they had to trip her off to Sweden where she got a severe case of vaginitis, Very Sad.
Doody then had to go into rehab for chemical induced depression. He was suicidal for quite a while before getting it together.
Buffalo Bob turned gay and was packing Clarabell, who was diagnosed with some pneumonial condition and Sarkosie's sarcoma. This was suspected to have been transmitted to Buffalo Bob by some , then, unknown vector. This was a time when that whole thing was not dealt with any understanding.
Mr Bluster died in a failed hit on Mr Fixapants and there was a big court fight over the entire DOodeyville properties since he was the owner of record. They had to hire a major law firm for the probate hearings and Doodeyville finally went to that puppet (Dilly Dally)with the beanie , who, as it turned out was the love child of Bluster and the cleaning lady. Dally had a severe gambling problem and went deep in debt to some shylock , who extorted all the Doodeyville properties from Dally.
The entire site has been converted to a Big Box Chrysler/GM Car mall since then.
It was not an ending where everyone was "moving on" to other things. Doody was later trying to make it as Window dummy but developed a bad hip and had to undergo a hip replacement. (Back in those days they used ceramic for the joints and these were found later to induce blood clots in the veinous system) . Doody died of a thrombosis in 78 and he wasnt found until several days after he died in a hot summer of New York City near the site of the thermos bottle building.
After Howdy's death, Buffalo Bob tried to resurrect the show with Howdy's brother Rudie Doody but Rudie had an ADD problem and never showed up for rehersals.
All in all, it was best that the show ended on its downward arc, to have ended a few years later, what with all the problems that everyone was having, it would have been even sadder.
I hope this helps.
Thank you so very much for remembering so very clearly that last episode, as I will now search the net for it. Fascinating, absolutely fascinating, would have love to have seen it.
The real story is worse.
NBC and the other stations used to reuse the videotapes for all the early TV shows to save money. They are gone.
Also, Buffalo Bob had a second career doing stand-up marijuana comedy to college audiences. All mention scrubbed from the Net.
Everything vanishes. And we thought the burning of the library at Alexandria was bad.
I did not think I could laugh today, but that is a keeper, even if I can’t find the episode. Great stuff, just brilliant! I wonder why I can’t find it on the net? I am going to send this out to my email buddies, I bet they did not see the last episode either. Never to late to be informed.