See that duck? That's Webster Webfoot, who was a star of local kids' TV in Los Angeles during the sixties. He was usually seen in the company of the man in the photo, "Uncle" Jimmy Weldon. I remember watching Tex Avery cartoons and Felix the Cat adventures on Channel 13 when I was a mere lad. As I later found out, Uncle Jimmy was one of the true pioneers of hosting shows for younger audiences.
I won't attempt to go through his history here. Why? Because he can tell the story much better than I can…and he'll be telling it later today on Stu's Show, hosted by the Johnny Carson of Internet Radio, Stuart Shostak. Each week, Stu welcomes someone important from the world of television onto his program for interviewing purposes. That is, if he can find someone important. When he can't, he has me on. But he finds great guests often enough that you're probably sick of seeing me tell you to tune in.
I'll be listening today from 4 PM to 6 PM Pacific Time on Shokus Internet Radio. The show is live so if you live on the East Coast, for instance, you need to tune in at 7 PM your time. Also please understand that this is not a podcast. You can't download this show and listen to it at your leisure. It's Internet Radio, which means it's like a radio station…you listen when it's on. If you can't be at your computer when it's on, you can catch one of the many reruns during the week but it's more fun if you listen live. (You can even call in and ask Jimmy a question.) The whole broadcast schedule is over on this page. Adjust the little time doo-hickey at the bottom to reflect your time zone.
Stu and Uncle Jimmy will be joined in the plush Shokus Internet Radio studio by my colleague, animation writer-historian Earl Kress. Earl will mostly be quizzing Weldon on his days voicing the cute duck, Yakky Doodle, on the Yogi Bear show, and on Jimmy's other work as an animation voice actor. And maybe they'll even chat about Jimmy's other career, which is as a motivational speaker. You can find out a lot about Uncle Jimmy over at his website.
Anyway, tune in. Call in. If you grew up in Los Angeles or one of the other cities where Uncle Jimmy and Webster did shows, you'll have the special thrill of hearing a fixture of local teevee. If you aren't familiar with Webster Webfoot…well, how often do you get to hear a man who talks like a duck? I mean, besides when you watch almost anyone on C-Span.
To access Shokus Internet Radio, go to this page and select an audio browser. And you don't have to wait 'til Stu's Show is on. If you go there right now, you may hear something else you'll like.