Fifty years ago today, the first episode of Rocky and His Friends was broadcast on ABC Television. The show would later be known by other names and in other permutations — The Bullwinkle Show, The Rocky Show, Rocky & Bullwinkle, etc. — but it was Rocky and His Friends when it started on November 19, 1959.
I think I was watching that afternoon. I remember discovering the show and being excited about having a new cartoon to watch. At age seven, I was already weary of seeing some of the same cartoons over and over and over and over…so anything different was exciting. I don't think I appreciated at the time how wonderful the show was or would turn out to be. That took time…but that was okay because the show was timeless.
Working with or just being around June Foray, I've really come to appreciate how beloved the series was and is. She can't go anywhere without folks throwing out their favorite lines of dialogue or telling her their favorite Fractured Fairy Tale. It's not just "That was a good show." It's more like "Some of my happiest childhood moments…" or "My whole sense of humor…" or "My desire to become a writer [or artist] came from that series!"
This article celebrates Rocky and Bullwinkle reaching the big five-oh. I'm not sure there will be a lot of others but we know what today means. 11/19/59 was the day television — and therefore, eventually, the nation — got a little hipper.