Fifty-eight years ago today (May 28), Zoo Parade premiered on NBC. For its first five seasons, the show was broadcast from Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. The series’ host, Marlin Perkins, also just happened to be Lincoln Park’s director. By the time Zoo Parade went off the air, Perkins was thoroughly convinced that television was in desperate need more wildlife programming, and Wild Kingdom was born.

1. Marlin Perkins Slayed the Abominable Snowman
Back when TV was limited to the networks and a handful of local stations, before there was an Animal Planet or a Crocodile Hunter, Wild Kingdom was the only place average Americans could see polar bears or hippopotami in their natural habitat from the comfort of their living rooms. The program was typically aired right after family-friendly fare like Hee-Haw or The Lawrence Welk Show. White-haired Marlin Perkins, who looked more like an insurance salesman than the zoologist that he really was, hosted Wild Kingdom during its original syndicated run from 1963 to 1985. Prior to television stardom, Perkins had gained a small amount of fame for debunking the myth of the Abominable Snowman. On an excursion to the Himalayas with Sir Edmund Hillary, Perkins deduced that the Yeti’s “large” footprints were actually made form a series of tracks made by foxes and other small animals. The tracks melted together in the sun, turning into larger shapes.

2. The Moment Everyone Remembers that Never Actually Happened
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Sixteen years ago today, Johnny Carson ended his 30-year run as the King of Late Night Television. Johnny’s relaxed manner and casual interviewing style made him a trusted friend to many Americans, and was the sole reason that many families purchased a second TV (for the bedroom, since The Tonight Show didn’t wrap up until 1:00AM EST). Ask Dave, Conan, Jay, et al, who their mentor and inspiration was, and the answer is always the same: Johnny Carson. Here are just a few examples of what made Johnny a cut above the rest:

1. Carson Made Magicians Tremble

Carson had always been fascinated by magicians, and at age 12 he sent away for a mail order magic kit. After a bit of practice he became The Great Carsoni and performed for church socials and Rotary Club luncheons. He never lost his interest in sleight of hand, and when world-famous “psychic” Uri Geller was booked for an appearance on The Tonight Show in 1973, Johnny contacted his good friend and fellow magician James Randi for advice on how to keep Geller’s performance “honest.” Geller adamantly billed himself not as a magician, but as a true psychic who could bend spoons with his mind. Randi advised Carson to have his own staff set up the necessary props, and not let Geller’s people near them. Geller was visibly filled with trepidation from the get-go when asked to determine which metal container was filled with water without touching them (watch carefully and see him gently nudge the table with his knee in an effort to get a hint). Throughout the entire fiasco, Johnny remained poker-faced and never indicated that he had any doubt in Geller’s abilities.

2. A Soft Spot for Weirdos

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I’ve discussed the various products hawked on late night TV in a previous column; this week takes an in-depth look at some of those personalities who’ve invaded our living rooms with such regularity that they feel like family.

1. Mike Levey has an “Amazing Discovery”

Mike Levey graduated from college with a degree in electrical engineering, but after a stint as an advertising copywriter, he discovered that his true love was sales. He founded Direct Response Television in 1988, and a year later his infomercial brainchild, Amazing Discoveries, hit the airwaves. Armed with more enthusiasm than his Technicolor sweaters could contain and a compensated ($60 per person per show) studio audience, Levey spent the next several years convincing viewers around the world that they couldn’t live without a stained glass craft kit or a vertical roaster. Levey’s company sold billions of dollars worth of products, and the Sweaterman himself received fan mail from Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and several American prisons. In 1993 the Federal Trade Commission took a closer look at Amazing Discoveries and decided that a few of the products pitched were misleadingly advertised. Financial settlements were hammered out, Direct Response’s stock price fell, and AD quietly went off the air. Mike Levey succumbed to cancer in 2003 at the age of 55.

2. Miss Cleo Senses Opportunity

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The Dick Van Dyke Show may seem dated in some ways, but it broke so much TV ground in an otherwise staid era that it still remains fresh in my mind. Here are 6 things everyone ought to know about The Dick Van Dyke Show.

1. It was all Carl Reiner’s Idea

From 1950-54, Carl Reiner cut his show business teeth as a writer/performer on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows. His fellow writers on the show included the famous (Mel Brooks) and not-so-famous (Selma Diamond, who would later portray bailiff Selma Hacker on Night Court). When Caesar’s show ended, Reiner wrote a pilot script and several episodes for a new TV sitcom which closely mirrored his own life. Called Head of the Family, the show highlighted the daily life of Rob Petrie (Reiner), a TV comedy writer who lived in New Rochelle with his wife and son. Borscht belt comedian Morey Amsterdam was cast as the Mel Brooks-type joke writer, and Rose Marie portrayed the self-deprecating spinster-in-search-of-a-husband Selma Diamond.

2. The Lead Role Almost Went to Johnny Carson?!

The pilot caught the attention of veteran producer Sheldon Leonard (The Danny Thomas Show, The Andy Griffith Show) who liked the concept and the script, but didn’t care for Reiner’s acting ability. He not-so-tactfully suggested that the lead character needed to be more mainstream American (translation: less Jewish) for the show to be successful with a wide audience. The finalists for the lead role of Rob Petrie boiled down to two bona fide corn-fed Midwesterners: Johnny Carson and Dick Van Dyke. Thanks to name recognition generated by a successful run on Broadway in Bye, Bye Birdie, Van Dyke landed the job. Of course, runner-up Johnny Carson didn’t do so badly for himself… (more…)

If you didn’t start watching TV until after 1971, then chances are you’ve never seen a cigarette commercial outside of a retrospective special. When the medium came into its own in the 1940s-50s, Big Tobacco was one of the first industries not only to advertise on television, but also to pick up the tab for entire shows. The commercials grew more elaborate over the years, using everything from cute animation to glamorous women and men to promote their cancerous wares. Sure, we all know now that smoking is bad, but boy did they know how to make it look tantalizing back in the day!

1. The Cigarette Company that saved I Love Lucy from being canceled

It’s true. I Love Lucy had been turned down by General Foods and several other companies. In fact, the sitcom probably would’ve never seen the light of day had Philip Morris not taken a chance on it. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz dutifully promoted the sponsor’s products, even though Lucy’s real-life preferred brand was Chesterfield (she stashed her own smokes in empty packs of PMs on the set). Johnny Roventini, longtime Philip Morris spokesman, was an actual bellhop working in New York when he was spotted by a marketing exec. A childhood illness had stunted his growth, so although he was 22 years of age, he was only four feet tall and had a somewhat child-like voice. Johnny’s contract with Philip Morris made him the world’s first “living trademark.”

2. How Marlboro got Rebranded as a Man’s Cigarette

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Many of today’s TV shows have dispensed with the traditional theme song in an effort to squeeze in more commercial time, which fills traditional television fans with a sense of melancholy. Does anyone out there still remember a time when a show’s theme song told the back-story of the series, or was catchy enough to become a Top-40 hit? As Archie and Edith might sigh, “those were the days.” Stroll down memory lane as mental_floss takes a look at the stories behind some of TV’s classic theme songs.

1. All in the Family: How Budget Restrictions Turned Actors into Singers

The cozy picture of Archie and Edith Bunker sitting at the piano singing “Those Were the Days” seems so in context with the series, it’s hard to picture All in the Family without that opening. However, that homey tableau that seemed so perfectly designed to set the tone for the series was concocted strictly out of necessity. Producer Norman Lear had used up his allotted budget by the time he’d filmed the pilot, leaving no money to hire professional singers or musicians to perform the theme song. Series stars Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton stepped in at the last minute to help him out.

2. Gilligan’s Island: Explaining a Show’s Premise in a minute (or less!)

Cheers, The Addams Family, and of course, Gilligan’s Island, all after the jump.

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When The Cosby Show premiered in 1984, many media critics tripped over themselves trying to point out that no “real” African-American family lived like the Huxtables. Cultural relevance and political correctness aside, syndicated reruns have taught us that The Cosby Show endures because it delivered laughs along with warm fuzzies. The Huxtables provided a loving family atmosphere (along with an impressively appointed house) where audiences could escape for 30 minutes each week.

1. Why Rudy was a girl

The original concept for The Cosby Show called for four Huxtable children—two girls and two boys. The youngest child, Rudy, was supposed to be a son. But despite auditioning hundreds of young male actors, the producers still felt that they hadn’t found “the one.” When they opened up the auditions to females, Keshia Knight Pulliam immediately won them over. The littlest Huxtable child thus became a girl, and Keshia subsequently became the youngest actress ever to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Emmy, at the tender age of six.
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I grew up in an era when parents didn’t hesitate to use the television set as a babysitter. Back then, TV didn’t rot our brains, it simply “kept us out of Mom’s hair” for a few hours. How many of these shows kept you company as a child?

1. Sesame Street: The Surprising Rocker Behind the Numbers

Sesame Street was sort of the MTV of children’s programming when it premiered in 1969. There were a few adult “regulars” in the neighborhood, but the true stars were the Muppets – Ernie, Bert, Big Bird, Oscar, et al – and the various animated shorts and comedy skits. I already knew my alphabet and numbers, so I was a bit older than the target demographic of Sesame Street, but I still watched it regularly because the A.D.D.-soothing, rapid-fire graphics were mesmerizing. Plus, the songs were catchy. One of my favorite recurring bits was the “Jazzy Spies,” which featured a frenetic musical background while a singer repeatedly intoned the particular numeral being highlighted. The vocalist was none other than Grace Slick (of Jefferson Airplane/Starship), whose then-husband, Jerry Slick, actually produced those segments.

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The live-action Superman had had a decent run on network television, so in 1966, ABC pondered the ratings potential of another comic book hero: Batman. The production techniques used for Batman were far different than those used on the Superman series; bright colors, stilted dialog, and the POW! BAM! graphics used during the fight scenes all combined to make the series look like a comic book brought to life. Immediately after the pilot episode was aired, Batman was the topic of discussion on American playgrounds. A double entendre here and there (not to mention Julie Newmar in a catsuit) also helped to keep adult viewers interested.

1. The Batmobile was originally a Bargainmobile

An integral non-human “character” on the show was the Batmobile. In 1955, the Lincoln division of the Ford Motor Company designed a futuristic concept car called the Futura. The prototype was hand-built in Italy at a cost of $250,000. The car was never put into production, and 10 years later, George Barris of Barris Kustom City bought it from Ford for the bargain price of one dollar. A few modifications here and there, a custom paint job, and voilà! Barris was able to present the world’s first Batmobile to the studio just three weeks later.

2. The Boy Wonder and the Problems with his “Boy Wonder”

While casting the show, producers ended up with a choice between two Dynamic Duos: Adam West and Burt Ward versus Lyle Waggoner and Peter Deyell. Every Batman script included fight scenes as well as other very physical stunts. In the case of the main character, most of his face was covered by his cowl, so a stunt double could be used. But the Boy Wonder’s Lone Ranger mask made too much of his face visible for a double to be used. Ward snagged the role by virtue of a very athletic resume, which included a black belt in karate and a stint as a professional figure skater. Not long after the series began, however, the network was inundated with letters of complaint about Ward’s, er, bat-bulge, which was clearly visible in his form-fitting costume. Ward claimed in his autobiography that a studio doctor eventually gave him some mystery pills that shrank his manhood for hours at a time. He also wryly pointed out that Adam West needed no such “modification.”

3. The Riddler Gets a Promotion

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Have you ever been laboriously peeling potatoes the old-fashioned way when suddenly you realized: “My life has been a waste! If only I had a set of Tater Mitts, I could have saved time and done something useful, like apply rhinestones and studs to all my clothing!” Of course you haven’t. No one has. Infomercial hucksters rely on lonely insomniacs with credit cards. There’s some sort of ambience in every living room during those late night TV viewing hours that makes the allure of an in-the-shell egg scrambler irresistible.

1. The Pocket Fisherman Breaks the Seal

The history of pitching unusual gadgets on television can be traced back to Samuel Jacob Popeil, known as S.J. to his family and friends. Popeil’s family had long been hawking various kitchen utensils at fairs and from roadside stands, but S.J. was the first to realize that a much larger audience could be reached via TV. The first gizmo he pitched on television was the Pocket Fisherman, small enough to keep in your glove compartment or briefcase in order to satisfy those sudden fly-casting urges. Even though veteran anglers debated the usefulness of the flimsy rod, Popeil retorted, “It’s not for using, it’s for giving.” The Pocket Fisherman is still selling millions of units annually today, some 40 years after the first commercial aired. Be sure to watch the video here.

2. The Guy Behind the Chia Pet is the same genius behind The Clapper

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