DVD Review - "Primeval Puppets TV Shows" from Festival Films

Primeval TV Puppet Shows -- Trailer from Movie Memories on Vimeo.

"Primeval TV Puppet Shows"

This is my first DVD Review and it is for a set that I hope to see a second edition of in the future. 

Primeval TV Puppets Shows is the latest DVD from Festival Films in their Lost and Rare series. Lost and rare is definitely true description for a number of shows in this collection. I was happy to supply information of a couple of the titles.

The one series on this set that I never thought I would ever see is "Unk and Andy, Stargazing With Professor Twink" (1951). It was a sequel or continuation of "Unk and Andy" a 1950s series, and one of the first to teach the alphabet. Produced by host "Unk" Jack Kenaston, this series probably has not been available for over 55 years. I found the puppet Andy Auk to be funny and wonder if Jim Henson could have seen this series.

"Topsy Turvy Theater" is a funny puppet series with the talents of Walter Edminson from around 1961. It is like a spin of the "Fractured Fairy Tales" format with puppet characters doing their take on story, in this case Sherlock Holmes.

Johnny and B-12 from "Johnny Jupiter". 

Another favorite surprise is the episode of "Johnny Jupiter" (1953) with the late Wright King. Johnny Jupiter was a puppet/live action sitcom about janitor Ernest P. Duckweather (King) who invents a TV set allows him to communicate with characters on the planet Jupiter trying to explain the ways of the planet Earth. This was ALF before ALF. In recent decades there were only 2 episodes of "Johnny" circulating. This DVD brings that number of surviving episodes up to 3.

Scene from "Fearless Fosdick" 

The collection is rounded out nicely with an episode of the very rare "Fearless Fosdick" based on Al Capp's "Dick Tracy" parody strip within the "Li'l Abner" comic strip, the "Rootie Kazootie Club" a puppet show very similar to Howdy Doody, that I find more entertaining, "The Magic Clown" a short Saturday morning series, the long time favorite "Howdy Doody's Christmas" and clips from "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" and "Andy's Gang" with Froggy the Gremlin.

This DVD is a must have for collectors and enthusiasts of Golden age television, early children's media and of course, puppets.

For more information or to purchase a copy:

Lost and Rare: Film and TV Treasures - https://www.lostandrare.com/

Amazon.com -
https://www.amazon.com/Primeval-TV-Puppet-Shows-1950s/dp/B08231GHCV