My father always used to say to us "Plunk your magic twanger Froggy!" He recently passed and this is a memory I will always remember. Thank you for posting this...I now know its origin. All I remember him saying is that it was from a show when he was a kid♥️
So sorry for your loss, but from your reply it’s apparent that your dad had a good sense of humor. Froggy helped to nurture that trait in many of us very early boomers, now we’ll into our 70s.
Never missed one show as a four year old. Parents didn't have to worry about what was on TV in the fifties. Andy was the best and Froggy, Midnight and the Gang ruled our world. Cost for the studio and show probably in the hundreds but brought millions of laughs to kids like me.
what a great character I'm 75 and I happen to catch this brought back memories I couldn't stop laughing I thought I was a kid again but this humor is funnier than any age used to watch it New York City back in the fifties
+Phil Benza , It was. I'm pushing 70 and I still laugh convulsively when I see these. Some people get it - some don't (pity them!). This wise-cracking little frog managed to deflate and humiliate all the authoritarian buffoons that we encountered in life (real and imagined) just like Groucho did a generation earlier. Long live Froggy!
I remember this. We used to watch it religiously every Saturday morning. I had literally pissed myself more than once. You must take into account that this was the mid 50's. I don't see this passing any ratings today. It would make the P.C. crowd howl in protest!
I only wish more of the Froggy bits were available. For me, as a young boy, they were the highlight of the show and I loved it when Froggy would torment the "Lecturers" and then laugh, ha, ha, ha, in his croaky voice while dancing back and forth on top of the grandfather clock. I just couldn't get enough of him.
Thanks, Valmor. I'm 72 and these clips always have me laughing out loud like the little kid I was when I first saw them. My favorite "victim" was Prof. Pasta Fazooli (Vito Scotti), who can be found on someone else's hilarious TH-cam posting. It's great! Check it out.
My wife wouldn't believe such a show existed so I had to show her. I met Andy Devine when I was a kid when he was on the Wild Bill Hickock Show. Hiya, Kids. Hiya Hiya Hiya
I do remember Smilin Ed. He was a heavy set man with white hair and I believe he wore glasses. He would sit in a chair and take out a large story book, open it and begin to read. At that point, the show would cut to whatever serial they would be showing that day. When he passed away, Andy Devine replaced him and the show became "Andy's Gang". I watched it without fail. I absolutely loved Froggy the Gremlin and Midnight the black cat. I actually thought Midnight said "nice" and remember asking my mom if cats could really speak because Midnight did.
All of us who grew up on the early days of TV , will never forget the Geniuses of Children's programming in the 50s & 60s. We heard from a Howdy Dooty fan , but Crusader Rabbit and Rags the Tiger and Winky Dink & You ! , also were fun . Then there was Shari Lewis and LambChop or Paul Winchell & Gerrry Mahoney , ventriliquists and who could forget Farfo & Jimmy Nelson , Nestles Chocolate commercial ! Then Clarabell magically became Captain Kangaroo with Tom Terrific and Manfred Mann the Wonder Dog's Adventures. Then the Villans like Crabby Appleton ,The meanest man in the World or Mister Phineas T Buster the tight wad , not even to mention Kukla ,Fran & Ollie. I'm sure you will find some of these great characters from those days way back when, here on YT ...Its not really becoming a 2nd Childhood for us Seniors but never finishing our First ! I still love Good Animation and Classic Cartoon Character , What's up Doc? !
Thank you so much for downloading these "Froggy", videos. I am 70 y/o and this was one of my favorite shows. Every once and awhile when I entire a room that has people I know, the first thing out of my mouth is"Hiya kids. Hiya, hiya, hiya. Plunk your magic twanger Froggy!" Some remember.
I was absolutely fascinated with the characters on this program as a kid. Froggy was my favorite and I had a duplicate toy of him my mom bought for me. Midnight the Cat supposedly spoke. She said "Nice". I thought she could actually speak and recall asking my mother if cats really could speak because, after all, Midnight could. The program was sponsored by Buster Brown Shoes. "I'm Buster Brown, I live in a shoe". Here's my dog Ty (?), he lives in there too".
Bless you-tube! I never thought I would ever see much less hear Froggy plunk his magic twanger again. I too would mimic the whole hah, hah and Hiya, hiya, hiya routine for ever. I also can understand why I became such a rebel and couldn't respect authority. Healthy for kids of the 60's. Now we understand.., 'down with the establishment'.
I am 77 years old and I remember that this show used to be on the radio in 1949, before it was on TV.. Midnight, Froggy and Squeaky, I remember from the radio.. I was about 8 years old at that time..
I remember sitting on the floor in front of a big radio which had a turn table that pulled to play 78 records but we heard a lot of great music early on in the 50's until got the first tv ,wow anyone remember Howdy Doddy ,and lam Chop ,life was so easy then when we were kids
Awesome! Undoubtedly the greatest character in television history. A totally perverse influence on a entire generation. Don't trust authority figures kids, they're all morons. I wish there was more of these on line, but this one will do.
In addition to these characters, I think there was Squeaky the Mouse. My brother and I watched religiously … I miss my childhood, it was such a happy time.
"Alkali Pete"and the cop were both played by Bill Thompson..Bill is best remembered for his performing cartoon voice overs for Walt Disney and for Hanna/Barbera.
Yeah, he was one of Froggy's foils, too. They were ALL very funny, but my personal favorite was Vito Scotti doing his Pasta Fazooli character. These bits still make me howl. (Inside every 73-year old there's a 9-year old begging to get out!)
I loved the episode where Midnight the Cat flies in an airplane. I always remember the kid who jumps out of his seat in the audience at the beginning of the show. Who was that kid??
I first learned of Froggy 2 or 3 decades ago, in "The Armageddon Rag" by George R.R. Martin. It was one of those stories of '60s radicals looking back from the perspective of the '80s. Froggy was the key inspiration. A character in the novel patterns his entire life after Froggy, calling him "the original anarchist." This show was before my time, and I didn't find out Froggy was for real until a few years ago. The novel was about a fictional rock band, and Froggy seemed just too radical to have been on TV in the conformist 1950s, so I thought he must be fictional too. Now that his video clips have surfaced, it makes me reflect on how they got this past the censors. The mindset must have been it's only a kiddie show and therefore of no consequence. To hear Martin and the sixty-somethings commenting here, Froggy planted the culture-jamming seeds that led to big consequences in the Yippie era.
Same thing, I just finished reading the Armageddon Rag in the digital re-issue, and had to see if Froggy the Gremlin was possibly inspired by something real, I had no idea Martin was being literal with 'plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!' 'I'll be good, I will I will!' etc. but sure enough....the original anarchist indeed. I am utterly amazed this was allowed on in the censored 50s as well, but I am sure glad it was.
I loved the Smilin Ed Show as a kid, especially Froggy Gremlin and Midnight the cat. In this clip, watch for Billy Gilbert with the Swiss outfit on. He was in a number of classic Laurel and Hardy comedies in the 1930's including the Academy Award winning "The Music Box". Watch how exasperated he gets with Froggy.
Brace67 Don't forget squeaky the mouse. Yes, I listened to Smilin' Ed on the radio before this went on TV. Remember Midnight playing on his cigar box fiddle?
Special effects were probably better when Smilin' Ed and Froggy were on radio, since all the effects were in your imagination. I think the radio version is where I first ran into Ed McConnell and the Buster Brown show around the time that the TV version began. Andy Devine replaced Ed on TV when he passed away, which I remember finding both disturbing and confusing as a little kid. Confusing because Andy Devine was also Wild Bill Hickok's sidekick Jingles. Wikipedia and the old time radio researchers group are my memory refresher is on these things.
Watto: No, they won't-a! What? You think you're some kind of Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money. No money, no parts, no deal!
I have always thought that froggy the gremlin rivals if not exceeds the Jedi mind control. I put him up against the best of them. And he can vanish at will!
I think the character was called "Alkalai Pete," played by the same guy who played the cop. My absolute favorite Froggy victim was "Pasta Fazooli," played by that wonderful character, Vito Scotti. Many years later he was in the opening scene of "The Godfather." He was the baker of the wedding cake for the Don's daughter's wedding, who requested the Godfather's help to obtain permanent immigrant status for a family member. His departure from the Don's office in that scene is hilarious. You can almost picture him as Pasta Fazooli. Very talented actor!
If I showed Froggy the Gremlin to my kids and grand kids they would freak out because it's not politically correct for them. To me me Froggy was a 'crack up riot'. Froggy smoked dope, took 'acid', ate peyote and magic mushrooms before any of us.
You are so right. Unfortunately I did not have any Pasta Fazooli segments. HOWEVER, there is one classic encounter between Froggy and Signor Fazooli elsewhere on TH-cam. Just so s search. Hilarious!
He was evil and needed to be stomped on. What were they thinking when they programmed that anti-human message for young children? I have to think 50 years later we're looking at the desired result.
This show scared me to death, and yet I watched it every week. Froggy and that creepy cat and mouse. If my parents were still alive I'd sue them for child abuse, letting me watch this each week, lol.
I said that to a girl I used to date years ago, she told me I could' nt plunk her magic twanger, nor would she plunk mine!! Some girls just have a bad attitude!!
I loved Midnight the Cat too ! But felt a little sorry for him cause he really got bounced around he was sorry of Hand held and would play the small piano and Meow !
![[ARCHIVES] ANDY KAUFMAN INTERVIEWING HOWDY DOODY](/img/n.gif)
My father always used to say to us "Plunk your magic twanger Froggy!" He recently passed and this is a memory I will always remember. Thank you for posting this...I now know its origin. All I remember him saying is that it was from a show when he was a kid♥️
So sorry for your loss, but from your reply it’s apparent that your dad had a good sense of humor. Froggy helped to nurture that trait in many of us very early boomers, now we’ll into our 70s.
When I was a small child, about 3 or 4, I used to watch this. I had rubber "Froggies". They were my first toys!
These episodes with Froggie and guests were some of my favorite moments in my 1950's childhood.
Never missed one show as a four year old. Parents didn't have to worry about what was on TV in the fifties. Andy was the best and Froggy, Midnight and the Gang ruled our world. Cost for the studio and show probably in the hundreds but brought millions of laughs to kids like me.
Seeing and hearing Froggy again made me ridiculously happy. Kids really don't grow up. Thanks for the memory. Cindy lu
Still makes me LOL! What fun it must have been for the actors!
I can see why kids back then loved this show. Very funny and entertaining; even today.
loved Froggy as a kid. He was so awesome. he was , he was
what a great character I'm 75 and I happen to catch this brought back memories I couldn't stop laughing I thought I was a kid again but this humor is funnier than any age used to watch it New York City back in the fifties
My late father turned me on to this classic series!
Thanks dad.
Oh, thank you, thank you for posting this. I'm 71 and still find this almost unbearably funny.
Just cracks me up. Foggy was years ahead of his time. This must have been a great show.
+Phil Benza , It was. I'm pushing 70 and I still laugh convulsively when I see these. Some people get it - some don't (pity them!). This wise-cracking little frog managed to deflate and humiliate all the authoritarian buffoons that we encountered in life (real and imagined) just like Groucho did a generation earlier. Long live Froggy!
PLUNK YOUR MAGIC TWANGER, FROGGY! A totally bizarre kids show that I remember very well as a totally bizarre Kid myself. Thanks a zillion for posting.
is that what happend to me????? iguess?
I remember this. We used to watch it religiously every Saturday morning. I had literally pissed myself more than once. You must take into account that this was the mid 50's. I don't see this passing any ratings today. It would make the P.C. crowd howl in protest!
I only wish more of the Froggy bits were available. For me, as a young boy, they were the highlight of the show and I loved it when Froggy would torment the "Lecturers" and then laugh, ha, ha, ha, in his croaky voice while dancing back and forth on top of the grandfather clock. I just couldn't get enough of him.
Thank you! I think I just realized what a profound impact this show has had on my life. I'll be forever grateful to Froggy and his creators.
70 years old now and haven’t seen anything funnier .
Thanks, Valmor. I'm 72 and these clips always have me laughing out loud like the little kid I was when I first saw them. My favorite "victim" was Prof. Pasta Fazooli (Vito Scotti), who can be found on someone else's hilarious TH-cam posting. It's great! Check it out.
Nice to go back to a better time and place ❤❤
Froggy was my hero! Still funny as hell, 60 years later. Froggy Rocks!
No nudity no profanity nothing like that. But funny as hell to us " boomers"!
Freaking frog scared the crap out of me!
@@PRYNCESSJO LOL
My wife wouldn't believe such a show existed so I had to show her. I met Andy Devine when I was a kid when he was on the Wild Bill Hickock Show. Hiya, Kids. Hiya Hiya Hiya
Love how Froggy interjects, and the lecturers just take up from there.
I do remember Smilin Ed. He was a heavy set man with white hair and I believe he wore glasses. He would sit in a chair and take out a large story book, open it and begin to read. At that point, the show would cut to whatever serial they would be showing that day. When he passed away, Andy Devine replaced him and the show became "Andy's Gang". I watched it without fail. I absolutely loved Froggy the Gremlin and Midnight the black cat. I actually thought Midnight said "nice" and remember asking my mom if cats could really speak because Midnight did.
we loved this bizarre little show.
Froggy was my first crush......I loved that little demon:). Brings back so many memories. Thanks!
I watched this religiously as a child, and loved it! Froggy was so funny! That fat guy is the great Billy Gilbert !
Thank you for posting, childhood laughs, good days
All of us who grew up on the early days of TV , will never forget the Geniuses of Children's programming in the 50s & 60s. We heard from a Howdy Dooty fan , but Crusader Rabbit and Rags the Tiger and Winky Dink & You ! , also were fun . Then there was Shari Lewis and LambChop or Paul Winchell & Gerrry Mahoney , ventriliquists and who could forget Farfo & Jimmy Nelson , Nestles Chocolate commercial ! Then Clarabell magically became Captain Kangaroo with Tom Terrific and Manfred Mann the Wonder Dog's Adventures. Then the Villans like Crabby Appleton ,The meanest man in the World or Mister Phineas T Buster the tight wad , not even to mention Kukla ,Fran & Ollie. I'm sure you will find some of these great characters from those days way back when, here on YT ...Its not really becoming a 2nd Childhood for us Seniors but never finishing our First ! I still love Good Animation and Classic Cartoon Character , What's up Doc? !
+The Wizard of Rock and Roll I guess you are older than I am; I remember these. Don't figure out my age, but have a safe Thanksgiving.
From one Boomer to another ... thanks for the memories! :)
Don't forget Pinky Lee!!
And Molly bee
Thank you so much for downloading these "Froggy", videos. I am 70 y/o and this was one of my favorite shows. Every once and awhile when I entire a room that has people I know, the first thing out of my mouth is"Hiya kids. Hiya, hiya, hiya. Plunk your magic twanger Froggy!" Some remember.
I am hysterically laughing. Loved Froggy as a kid and he is still funny as hell😂
I was absolutely fascinated with the characters on this program as a kid. Froggy was my favorite and I had a duplicate toy of him my mom bought for me. Midnight the Cat supposedly spoke. She said "Nice". I thought she could actually speak and recall asking my mother if cats really could speak because, after all, Midnight could. The program was sponsored by Buster Brown Shoes. "I'm Buster Brown, I live in a shoe". Here's my dog Ty (?), he lives in there too".
Brace67 Tige. Probably short for Tiger.
Nigerian children dance
These are hysterical!
I love the show with Froggy the Gremlin. He is so cute!
Bless you-tube! I never thought I would ever see much less hear Froggy plunk his magic twanger again. I too would mimic the whole hah, hah and Hiya, hiya, hiya routine for ever. I also can understand why I became such a rebel and couldn't respect authority. Healthy for kids of the 60's. Now we understand.., 'down with the establishment'.
I'd wait all week to see Froggy!
Wow! Thanks for this post. I remember Andy's Gang too.
I am 77 years old and I remember that this show used to be on the radio in 1949, before it was on TV.. Midnight, Froggy and Squeaky, I remember from the radio.. I was about 8 years old at that time..
Hilarious! Thanks so much for posting.
Great memories!
We didn't have a TV, so I had to watch this at a friends house on Saturday mornings.
I remember sitting on the floor in front of a big radio which had a turn table that pulled to play 78 records but we heard a lot of great music early on in the 50's until got the first tv ,wow anyone remember Howdy Doddy ,and lam Chop ,life was so easy then when we were kids
loved this show
Froggy still rocks!
+John Healy He does, he does.
Awesome! Undoubtedly the greatest character in television history. A totally perverse influence on a entire generation. Don't trust authority figures kids, they're all morons. I wish there was more of these on line, but this one will do.
I absolutely believe that Froggy's ability to thoroughly abase pompous authority figures may have had an influence on the so-called 60s generation.
Love it!!!!! Thanks
This is just the best!
In addition to these characters, I think there was Squeaky the Mouse. My brother and I watched religiously … I miss my childhood, it was such a happy time.
I’m 77 remember Froggy as a funny slap stick comedic puppet. Nothing sinister just funny.
"Alkali Pete"and the cop were both played by Bill Thompson..Bill is best remembered for his performing cartoon voice overs for Walt Disney and for Hanna/Barbera.
i have two remple froggies the ultra rare large one and the smaller 5 inch one.
I just read "The search for Smilin' Ed" by Kim Deitch. Knocked my socks off when I found out this was a real show.
Hey- one of those guys is Billy Gilbert! I never knew he was on the show. I used to watch this in the early 60's, before the cartoons would come on.
Yeah, he was one of Froggy's foils, too. They were ALL very funny, but my personal favorite was Vito Scotti doing his Pasta Fazooli character. These bits still make me howl. (Inside every 73-year old there's a 9-year old begging to get out!)
Vito was also "Bon Bon The cooking expert" and a Mexican general..who "Froggy"really socked it to them.
Froggy was the original troll. lol Well, gremlin, but still...
Amen, brother!
You see he was a magic frog and could put words in people's mouths.
THE VERY BEST... EVER!!!
I loved the episode where Midnight the Cat flies in an airplane. I always remember the kid who jumps out of his seat in the audience at the beginning of the show. Who was that kid??
You're right. I was there and watched it all unfold...kinda like a like a Sunflower.
Goldilocks And The Three Stooges. That would make a great movie!
Goldilocks and the three stooges! I'd pay money to see that!
Me too 🤩
I first learned of Froggy 2 or 3 decades ago, in "The Armageddon Rag" by George R.R. Martin. It was one of those stories of '60s radicals looking back from the perspective of the '80s. Froggy was the key inspiration. A character in the novel patterns his entire life after Froggy, calling him "the original anarchist." This show was before my time, and I didn't find out Froggy was for real until a few years ago. The novel was about a fictional rock band, and Froggy seemed just too radical to have been on TV in the conformist 1950s, so I thought he must be fictional too. Now that his video clips have surfaced, it makes me reflect on how they got this past the censors. The mindset must have been it's only a kiddie show and therefore of no consequence. To hear Martin and the sixty-somethings commenting here, Froggy planted the culture-jamming seeds that led to big consequences in the Yippie era.
Same thing, I just finished reading the Armageddon Rag in the digital re-issue, and had to see if Froggy the Gremlin was possibly inspired by something real, I had no idea Martin was being literal with 'plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!' 'I'll be good, I will I will!' etc. but sure enough....the original anarchist indeed. I am utterly amazed this was allowed on in the censored 50s as well, but I am sure glad it was.
Froggy also appears in various of Kim Deitch's underground comics, as part of a complicated mythology.
Froggy The Gremlin is now the base player in the band 'David Arvedon and The Psychopaths.'
Loved Froggy and Midnight!
Did watch the movies think there were three and they played them over and over.
Froggy............... OG!!!
Plunk your magic twanger.
I can't say I remember the sheriff pulling a gun on Froggy and blowing him away. You might say Froggy ended with a BANG.
🐸
Looked like June Foray - the voice of Rocky The Flying Squirrel and many others.
The trickster archetype in most basic form
I could plunk my twanger back then, but now I'm too old
Froggy the Gremlin made me into an revolutionary
I loved the Smilin Ed Show as a kid, especially Froggy Gremlin and Midnight the cat. In this clip, watch for Billy Gilbert with the Swiss outfit on. He was in a number of classic Laurel and Hardy comedies in the 1930's including the Academy Award winning "The Music Box". Watch how exasperated he gets with Froggy.
Brace67 Don't forget squeaky the mouse. Yes, I listened to Smilin' Ed on the radio before this went on TV. Remember Midnight playing on his cigar box fiddle?
+Brace67 If you remember Smilin' Ed, you are positively, beyond the shadow of any doubt, older than I am.
Special effects were probably better when Smilin' Ed and Froggy were on radio, since all the effects were in your imagination. I think the radio version is where I first ran into Ed McConnell and the Buster Brown show around the time that the TV version began. Andy Devine replaced Ed on TV when he passed away, which I remember finding both disturbing and confusing as a little kid. Confusing because Andy Devine was also Wild Bill Hickok's sidekick Jingles. Wikipedia and the old time radio researchers group are my memory refresher is on these things.
Watto: No, they won't-a! What? You think you're some kind of Jedi, waving your hand around like that? I'm a Toydarian. Mind tricks don't work on me. Only money. No money, no parts, no deal!
Buckner & Garcia got me here.
I believe that was Billy Gilbert making an appearance.
It certainly was!
Yes..That was Comic/character actor and dialectician and comedy writer:Billy Gilbert..the storyteller..that clip is the only one that exists.
Did Froggy ever say “people eat fish cakes”? Not certain.
And they want to know why I am so fucked up!
I had a Froggy Gremlin. He would be worth a lot 70 yrs later.
Froggy used to scare the crap out of me!
I have always thought that froggy the gremlin rivals if not exceeds the Jedi mind control. I put him up against the best of them. And he can vanish at will!
Froggy was the spiritual ancestor of Abbie Hoffman and other 60s rebels.
wicked
You ought to read Armageddon Rock by George R R Martin from the year 1982
Whos the cowboy dude?
I think the character was called "Alkalai Pete," played by the same guy who played the cop. My absolute favorite Froggy victim was "Pasta Fazooli," played by that wonderful character, Vito Scotti. Many years later he was in the opening scene of "The Godfather." He was the baker of the wedding cake for the Don's daughter's wedding, who requested the Godfather's help to obtain permanent immigrant status for a family member. His departure from the Don's office in that scene is hilarious. You can almost picture him as Pasta Fazooli. Very talented actor!
@@barbanna92 thank you for that information. I never knew he was Enzo's father
Who's The Cowboy's Name?
If I showed Froggy the Gremlin to my kids and grand kids they would freak out because it's not politically correct for them. To me me Froggy was a 'crack up riot'. Froggy smoked dope, took 'acid', ate peyote and magic mushrooms before any of us.
They left out Pasta Fazouli.........he was Froggy's best victim..........
You are so right. Unfortunately I did not have any Pasta Fazooli segments. HOWEVER, there is one classic encounter between Froggy and Signor Fazooli elsewhere on TH-cam. Just so s search. Hilarious!
Froggy scared the crap out of me. Couldn't watch him as a kid.
He was evil and needed to be stomped on. What were they thinking when they programmed that anti-human message for young children? I have to think 50 years later we're looking at the desired result.
Froggy is the only thing I know that frightens me more than Hillary Clinton...
@@garygruber1452 Her husband's twanger was scary too
This show scared me to death, and yet I watched it every week. Froggy and that creepy cat and mouse.
If my parents were still alive I'd sue them for child abuse, letting me watch this each week, lol.
Hi ya kids hi ya hi ya !!
One of the weirdest kid shows ever.
I said that to a girl I used to date years ago, she told me I could' nt plunk her magic twanger, nor would she plunk mine!! Some girls just have a bad attitude!!
360, apparently you are as slow to pick up on satire as I am.
Family feud brought me here
Trump looks a lot like Froggy.
Froggy formed my anti authoritarian personality.i never liked goody two shoes cartoon characters.
Who did Froggys voice
I loved Midnight the Cat too ! But felt a little sorry for him cause he really got bounced around he was sorry of Hand held and would play the small piano and Meow !