CINCINNATI'S AL LEWIS

Local and network kids TV has suffered another loss!

Al Lewis, former musical entertainer/art director for Cincinnati, Ohio based TV station WCPO TV 9 and the host/performer and creator of one of the longest-running wraparound shows The Uncle Al Show is dead. Mr. Lewis died on Saturday February 28, 2009 at his home in Hillsboro, Ky. He was 84 years old.

Lewis, whose real name was Al Lewis Slowik, joined WCPO in 1949 just when the station made it's debut in the Cincinnati viewing area. He worked at the station as the art director but also created many musical/variety programs for WCPO like Get Off The Hook, Club Til Midnight and a weekday morning series titled The Corner Drug Store. It was on the latter series that Lewis first saw the potential in hosting a children's show.

The series was not doing very well in the ratings at first and was in danger of being cancelled until one morning Mr. Lewis (who hosted the show dressed as a soda jerk) noticed a group of kids entering the studio. He invited them to come in and listen to him play his accordion, take song requests and make "Barq's Brown Cows" (root beer and ice cream floats). The kids enjoyed the experience so Lewis asked them to bring their fiends to the studio tomorrow. They did. More and more kids came until parents bombarded the station with requests for tickets for future appearances on Mr. Lewis' new kids' TV show.

The backdrop of the series would undergo many changes but Lewis used a blank screen to draw his pictures and still sported his soda jerk uniform initially. He was also aided by Ms. Marilyn Green who played "Princess Twinkle" on the program.

Within time he knew that the soda jerk character was not appropriate for the type of show that he wanted to do so he changed his costume to a straw skimmer, striped blazer with bow tie and hired other performers to help out on the series.

Comic actor Bob Shreeve played Bozo The Clown on the show, Larry Smith and Jack Williams were the show puppeteers and comedy assistants playing a variety of live and puppet characters while Mr. Lewis' wife Wanda played the first super heroine in kids' TV as "Captain Windy."

The show's backdrop would change to a magic castle to a farm concept and many kids came to join Uncle Al and his friends in his enchanted realm. For a time the show featured cartoons, commercials, songs and music. Eventually, the cartoon reruns were dropped from the show and the series utilized a wraparound format where Lewis and his troop engaged their viewers and studio audiences in games, craftmaking, hobbies, songs, drawing lessons, comedy and puppet skits, informational segments and interviews with guest personalities and members of the studio audience.

Among the many guests who appeared on the program were Shirley Temple, Art Linkletter, Will Geer, Johnny Carson and "The Great One" Jackie Gleason. The program became a hit with Cincinnati kids and Lewis and his troop were in demand for personal appearances at many venues. He also cut two kids records and promoted Barqs sodas, Momma's Cookies and The Nash Moving Co.

In 1958, The Uncle Al Show went network when WCPO joined the ABC TV network. The series was seen Saturday afternoons for one season but, by 1959, ABC dropped WCPO as an affiliate. The station was picked up by CBS who refused to air the series on their Saturday afternoon schedule. The Uncle Al Show was cancelled and replaced by Lunch With Soupy Sales.

The Uncle Al Show was still a popular vehicle in the Cincinnati viewing area and remained on the air weekday mornings on Channel 9. The Lewis' also created, produced and performed on many kids' TV specials including the highly acclaimed Great Pumpkin Mystery which featured original songs and complete score performed by a full orchestra and a cast of talented performers.

In 1985 Mr. & Mrs. Lewis decided to cancel the show, the daily grind and handling their other duties for WCPO got to be too much for them so it was time to end the popular program.

The Lewis' continued to work at WCPO as art directors until they retired from the station four years later. They made their last TV appearances on two tributes - Uncle Al Thru The Years (a look back at the show's many years on the air) and a 40th anniversary tribute to WCPO.

Lewis and his wife spent their remaining years on their farm in Hillsboro where they painted and drew pictures, tended to their animals and spent time with their four daughters and their grandchildren.

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