T.N.Tatters was KSTP’s popular kids show in the 1950s. Daryl Laub created the clown character of J.P.Patches at channel 11 and later moved to channel 5 and change the name to T.N.Tatters. Like other shows, T.N.Tatters ran a variety of cartoons over the years. In 1956, the program was promoting Terrytoons cartoons featuring largely forgotten characters like Peg-Leg Pete, Cocky Cockroach, and Forty Theives. But there were others.
Jack Kennelly found this advertisement for programming on KSTP-TV from the Minneapolis Star, December 10, 1957. T.N.Tatters is featured prominently, promoting “The Wonderful World of Willie Wondeful.” What was “Willie Wonderful?”
I’d never heard of Willie Wonderful and it turns out that the program is pretty obscure. The earliest reference to it comes in a publication called Radio Today, dated May 2, 1951. It refers to actor Eddie Bracken hosting a party to launch his new program, Willie Wonderful. Bracken was a popular character actor who had stared in a series of romantic comedies in the 1940’s. In the 1950’s, he made frequent television appearances and he continued acting will into the nineties.
It turns out this was a filmed puppet show, not a cartoon with segments running three to five minutes. There was a lawsuit filed in December 1951 against the producers by two writers who claimed they created the show. (I don’t know the outcome, but it was likely settled or dismissed.) I was able to locate a few references to the show airing in Los Angeles in 1951, and in 1953 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Carlyle, Kentucky, and in Cincinnati in 1954. In June 1957, an article in The Billboard noted Willie Wonderful had been acquired for distribution by Matty Fox, Inc. and 65 segments would be available. In August 1957 it was reported that Robert DeVinny had acquired the series and would distributed by a new company called Willie Wonderful Productions. 195 segments were now listed as available. Broadcasting magazine in August 1957 noted the show had not been well distributed previously, appearing in “fewer than 10 markets.” Besides appearing in the Twin Cities, it was being shown in San Francisco and Carlyle, Kentucky in 1957.
And to my surprise, there is a segment posted to YouTube!
Today, Eddie Bracken may be best remembered as Mr. Wally, the owner of Wally World in National Lampoon’s Vacation.
So there you have another tiny bit of TV history in the Twin Cities.
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