The Bozo Show

Television series

The Bozo Show was a locally produced children's television program that aired on WGN TV in Chicago and nationally on what is now NewsNation. It was based on a children's record book series, Bozo the Clown by Capitol Records. The series is a local version of the internationally franchised Bozo the Clown format and is also the longest running in the franchise. Recognized as the most popular and successful locally produced children's program in the history of television, it only aired under this title for 14 of its 40+ years: other titles were Bozo, Bozo's Circus, and The Bozo Super Sunday Show.

Roy Brown began suffering heart related problems and was absent from the show for an extended period during the 1991–92 season. This coincided with the show's 30th anniversary and a reunion special that included Don Sandburg as Sandy, who also filled in for Cooky for the first two weeks that season. Actor Adrian Zmed (best known from ABC TV's T. J. Hooker), who was a childhood fan of Bozo's Circus and former Grand Prize Game contestant, also appeared on the special and portrayed himself as a "Rookie Clown" for the following two weeks. Actor Michael Immel then joined the show as "Spiffy" (Spifford Q. Fahrquahrrr). Brown returned in January 1992, initially on a part time basis but suffered additional health setbacks and took another extended leave of absence in the fall of 1993. Brown's presence on the show remained, though, as previously aired segments as Cooky and Cuddly Dudley were incorporated until 1994, when he and Marshall Brodien retired from television. Later that year, WGN management decided to get out of the weekday children's television business and buried The Bozo Show in an early Sunday timeslot as The Bozo Super Sunday Show on 11 September 1994; WGN's decision to relegate the program to Sundays coincided with the launch of the WGN Morning News (which debuted five days earlier), a weekday morning newscast that originally launched as an hour long program (the move of Bozo effectively resulted in the cancellation of the station's then 2 year old Sunday morning newscast, whose 8 a. m. timeslot Bozo took over). Immel was replaced by Robin Eurich as "Rusty the Handyman," Michele Gregory as "Tunia" and Cathy Schenkelberg as "Pepper." In 1996, Shenkelberg was dropped and the show suffered another blow in 1997, when its format became educational following a Federal Communications Commission mandate requiring broadcast television stations to air a minimum three hours of educational children's programs per week. In 1998, Michele Gregory left the cast following more budget cuts.

In 2001, station management controversially ended production citing increased competition from newer children's cable channels. The final taping, a 90 minute primetime special titled Bozo: 40 Years of Fun!, was taped on 12 June 2001 and aired 14 July 2001. By this time, it was the only Bozo show that remained on television. The special featured Joey D'Auria as Bozo, Robin Eurich as Rusty, Andy Mitran as Professor Andy, Marshall Brodien as Wizzo and Don Sandburg as Sandy. Also present at the last show were Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, who performed, and Bob Bell's family. Many of the costumes and props are on display at The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Reruns of The Bozo Super Sunday Show aired until 26 August 2001. Bozo returned to television on 24 December 2005 in a two hour retrospective titled Bozo, Gar & Ray: WGN TV Classics. The primetime premiere was #1 in the Chicago market and continues to be rebroadcast and streamed live online annually during the holiday season. Bozo also returned to Chicago's parade scene and the WGN TV float in 2008 as the station celebrated its 60th anniversary. He also appeared in a 2008 public service announcement alerting WGN TV analog viewers about the upcoming switch to digital television. Bozo was played by WGN TV staff member George Pappas. Since then, Bozo continues to appear annually in Chicago's biggest parades.

Few episodes from the show's first two decades survive; although some were recorded to videotape for delayed broadcasts, the tapes were reused and eventually discarded. In 2012, a vintage tape was located on the Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection website archive list by Rick Klein of The Museum of Classic Chicago Television, containing material from two 1971 episodes. WGN reacquired the tape and put together a new special entitled Bozo's Circus: The Lost Tape, which aired in December 2012. Klein maintains a substantial number of Bozo tapes in his museum; WGN initially prevented Klein from sharing the tapes on the museum's YouTube page but later dropped its objection, recognizing the importance of preserving the content. On 6 October 2018, Don Sandburg, Bozo's Circus producer, writer and the last surviving original cast member, died at the age of 87. Four months later, WGN TV paid tribute to Sandburg and the rest of the original cast with a two hour special titled Bozo's Circus: The 1960s.

Character Actor Years Bozo Bob Bell ^ 1960–1984 Oliver O. Oliver Ray Rayner ^ 1961–1971 Sandy Don Sandburg ^ 1961–1969 Ringmaster Ned Ned Locke ^ 1961–1976 Mr. Bob Bob Trendler 1961–1975 Cooky Roy Brown ^ 1968–1994 Wizzo Marshall Brodien ^ 1968–1994 Elrod T. Potter Pat Tobin 1971–1972 Clod Hopper John Thompson 1972–1973 Frazier Thomas Himself 1976–1985 Pat Hurley Himself 1983–1987 Bozo Joey D'Auria ^ 1984–2001 Professor Andy Andy Mitran ^ 1987–2001 Spiffy Michael Immel 1991–1994 Rusty Robin Eurich ^ 1994–2001 Pepper Cathy Schenkelberg 1994–1996 Tunia Michele Gregory 1994–1998

^ Costume part of the Museum of Broadcast Communications' Bozo's Circus collection.