''Curiosity Shop'' is an American preschool children's educational

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

program produced by ABC. The show was executive produced by

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...

, sponsored by the

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

cereal company and created as a commercial rival to the public television series ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. ''Curiosity Shop'' was broadcast from September 11, 1971 to September 2, 1973. The program featured three inquisitive children (two boys and a girl) who each week visited a shop populated with various puppets and

gadgets A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was dev ...

, discovering interesting things about science, nature and history. Each hour-long show covered a specific theme: clothing, music, dance, weather, the five senses, space, time, rules, flight, dolls, etc.

Production

After NET (soon to become

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

) premiered ''

'' in November 1969, the show proved to be successful and gained high ratings; its success gained attention from

Michael Eisner Michael Dammann Eisner ( ; born March 7, 1942) is an American businessman and former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Walt Disney Company from September 1984 to September 2005. Prior to Disney, Eisner was president of rival film ...

, ABC’s Vice President. He asked animator

to create a series to rival its success and be the executive producer. Kellogg’s signed on to be the show’s sponsor. Unlike ''Sesame Street'', the show is geared more towards young adolescents. Jones and Eisner tapped puppeteer Bob Baker (cofounder of the

Bob Baker Marionette Theater The Bob Baker Marionette Theater, founded by Bob Baker and Alton Wood in 1963, is the oldest children's theater company in Los Angeles. In June 2009, the theater was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. In early 2019, the thea ...

) to create the show’s puppets and its setting. Baker was reluctant at first, though he later agreed. Irving Phillips provided some scripts and animation art, including an animation of his syndicated comic strip ''

The Strange World of Mr. Mum ''The Strange World of Mr. Mum'' was a surreal humor comic panel by Irving Phillips which was published from May 5, 1958, to 1974. At its peak, it appeared daily in 180 newspapers across 22 countries. Initially distributed by the Hall Syndicate, ...

''. Animations of

Mell Lazarus Melvin Lazarus (May 3, 1927 – May 24, 2016) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of two comic strips, '' Miss Peach'' (1957–2002) and '' Momma'' (1970–2016). Additionally, he wrote two novels. For his comic strip ''Pauline ...

's comic strip ''

Miss Peach ''Miss Peach'' was a syndicated comic strip created by American cartoonist Mell Lazarus. It ran for 45 years, from February 4, 1957, to September 8, 2002. Format and style The daily strips often contained only a single panel. The format was ...

'', Johnny Hart's comic strip ''The Wizard of Id'',

Virgil Partch Virgil Franklin Partch (October 17, 1916 – August 10, 1984), who generally signed his work Vip,Virgil F ...

's cartoon ''Big George'' and Hank Ketcham's '' Dennis the Menace'' were also presented on the show. Abe Levitow animated most of these short segments.

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury ( ; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of genres, including fantasy, science fiction, Horror fiction, horr ...

is also credited as one of the show's writers.

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flutist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Awards, ...

created the bossa nova theme music for the show's title sequence (animated by Jones). Dean Elliott wrote additional music for the show.Curiosity Shop
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Cast and characters

John Levin and Kerry McLane played Gerard and Ralph, the two boys. Alternating in the girl's role were

Pamelyn Ferdin Pamelyn Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and former actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later years. She beg ...

as Pam and Jerelyn Fields as Cindy. Barbara Minkus made a regular appearance as Gittle, a witch who magically appeared whenever someone said a phrase that included "which". Chuck Jones contributed two new animated characters to the show: * Professor S. I. Trivia, (voiced by Bob Holt) a bespectacled "bookworm," who lived in a dictionary and was always on hand to supply a definition to a word the children didn't know. * Monsieur Cou Cou was a French-accented bird who lived inside the shop's

cuckoo clock A cuckoo clock is a type of clock, typically pendulum clock, pendulum driven, that striking clock, strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and ope ...

and whose catchphrase was, "That's right!" He always tried to catch Prof. Trivia with a nosedive before the worm invariably dodged the bird just in time, repeatedly causing him to ram into the dictionary and get his beak stuck in it.

Mel Blanc Melvin Jerome Blanc (born Blank ; May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for come ...

June Foray June Foray (born June Lucille Forer; September 18, 1917 – July 26, 2017) was an American Voice acting, voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animation, animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha F ...

, Bob Holt,

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor, known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered voice roles include Scooby-Doo; Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ''The Flintsto ...

and

Les Tremayne Lester Tremayne (16 April 1913 – 19 December 2003) was a British-born American actor who performed in Vaudeville, film, theatre, radio and television. Early life Tremayne was born in Balham, London. He moved with his family at the age o ...

provided the voices of the puppets. Puppet characters Created by Bob Baker (co-founder of the

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

), the show's puppets included: * Flip, (voiced by Messick) an orange hippopotamus with a jive-talking voice and oversized sneakers. Flip was the only character on the show to be portrayed as both a hand puppet and a full-body costume. * Baron Balthazar, (voiced by Holt) a bearded, derby-hatted little man who would spin tales, in animated form, about his adventures and inventions back in his homeland, "Downtown

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

." The cartoons were originally a series called '' Professor Balthazar'' that was produced in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

when it was part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(as

also was at the time). * The Oogle, a marsupial-like silent creature with a beak-like mouth, a hayseed-style hat, and a demeanor of clownish confusion and disillusion. * Onomatopoeia, a multi-legged furry beast that spoke in sound effects, partially inspired by an alien in a ''Professor Balthazar'' episode. * Woodrow the groundhog, (voiced by Messick) who often yelled "Qui-e-e-e-e-e-t!" when things got out of hand and woke him from his slumber. * Eek A. Mouse, who often emerged from the wall to scream for quiet as well. * Nostalgia, (voiced by Foray) a chronically forgetful but sweet-tempered elephant who was intimidated by Eek. * Hermione Giraffe, (voiced by Foray) a haughty giraffe wearing a gem-studded tiara. * Aarthur the Aardvark, (voiced by Foray) a yellow aardvark who, contrary to the usual stereotype, hates ants. * Ole Factory the Bloodhound, (voiced by Blanc) a wise bloodhound with hay fever. * Halcyon the Hyena, (voiced by Blanc) a green hyena with world-weary eyes. * Oliver Wendell Lookout, (voiced by Holt) an owl dressed in flight gear. * Miss Fowler, a flower in a pot. Other characters * Two real animals made occasional appearances; Darwin, a chimpanzee who made his home in a treehouse on the show, and Eunice, a seal who lived in a waterbed — literally a water tank shaped like a bed. * A talking computer (voiced by Blanc) with tape-reel eyes who satisfied the children's curiosity about any subject and presented educational movies, tapes, cartoons, vocabulary series, etc., on his screen-mouth. * Hudson, a gravelly-voiced rock who told stories of prehistory. (Named as a pun after

Rock Hudson Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular film stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades, and was a prominent figure in the G ...

, the actor.) * Granny TV, a rocking antique television set who presented classic film comedies by

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

, or the like. * Havemeyer the Helping Hand, an animate white-gloved hand. * Mr. Jones, the enigmatic owner of the store whose only means of communication between him and the visiting children was messages left on a tape recorder. Although named after series creator Chuck Jones, Messick provided the voice of the fictional Jones.

often concluded an episode by saying, "Goodbye, Mr. Jones — wherever you are." Guests Guests on the program included: *

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

in a special

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

episode, where the Curiosity Shop took the form of a haunted house. * Don Herbert as his TV scientist personality Mr. Wizard. * Two appearances by '' Dennis the Menace'' cartoonist Hank Ketcham, who presented the first animated cartoons of Dennis (voiced by a young

Jackie Earle Haley Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor and director. His earliest roles included Moocher in '' Breaking Away'' (1979) and Kelly Leak in '' The Bad News Bears'' (1976), '' The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training'' (1977) and '' ...

) , as well as comic strips in which Dennis interacted with the kids on the show.

Shirley Jones Shirley Mae Jones (born March 31, 1934) is an American actress and singer. In her six decades in show business, she has starred as wholesome characters in a number of musical films, such as ''Oklahoma! (film), Oklahoma!'' (1955), ''Carousel (fi ...

appeared on the show's pilot, "The Curiosity Shop Special,"''Curiosity Shop Special'' as originally broadcast on ABC, September 2, 1971. Partial aircheck off

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship station of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station mai ...

. Starts at 12:07, ends after " Three Is a Magic Number.

via

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. which featured all four children. It was on this pilot that the first song from ''

Multiplication Rock ''Schoolhouse Rock!'' is an American interstitial programming series of animated musical educational short films (and later, music videos) which aired during the Saturday morning children's programming block on the U.S. television network ...

,'' " Three Is a Magic Number," would make its debut. (The pilot aired in prime time, Thursday, September 2, 1971, pre-empting ''

Alias Smith and Jones ''Alias Smith and Jones'' is an American Western television series that originally aired on ABC from January 1971 to January 1973. The show initially starred Pete Duel (and, after Duel's death, Roger Davis) as Hannibal Heyes and Ben Murphy ...

''.)

Episodes

References

External links

Curiosity Shop
at the

Archive of American Television: Curiosity Shop

"Curiosity Shop TV Show" on Facebook
{{Chuck Jones American Broadcasting Company animated television series 1970s American animated comedy television series 1970s American children's comedy television series 1970s American sketch comedy television series 1971 American animated television series debuts 1972 American television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated education television series American children's animated musical television series American television series with live action and animation American television shows featuring puppetry Children's sketch comedy Animated television series about children Personal development television series Works by Chuck Jones