ROGER MUIR
by Kevin Butler

Television has suffered another loss. E. Roger Muir, the executive producer of some of TV's most popular children's programs and game shows died, this past Thursday, October 23, 2008. He was 89 and had been ill for many years.

A former photographer, Muir joined NBC TV following the second world war and became a director and producer for Puppet Playhouse Presents in December, 1947. Despite the stories you may have heard about the show's history, Puppet Playhouse was not meant to be a series according to my interview with Mr. Muir back in the 1980's. The show was going to be part of a mini-series of kids TV specials aired once a week on Saturday evenings during the 1947 Christmas holidays.

The show became a weekly series after Bob Smith said to his viewers at the end of the program, "See You next week, kids." Hence the network execs at NBC felt obligated to broadcast the show a few more times before they moved the program to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday evening schedule in 1948. Eventually, the show would be seen Monday thru Friday evenings and the series title would change to Howdy Doody.

Muir oversaw the series' production and helped develop it's growth; he also created and produced two more kid's TV shows, The Gumby Show (which was hosted by Bobby Nicholson as "Scotty McKee" and later by Pinky Lee and the Paul Ashley Puppets) and The Ruff & Reddy Show with Jimmy Blaine as the show's host/ performer with the Rufus Rose / Bobby Nicholson Puppets in 1957.

When Howdy Doody went off the air in the fall of 1960 Muir left NBC and, with Nicholson, formed an independent production company. They created the series The Funny Manns as a vehicle for comic character actor Cliff Norton and they also created and produced game shows like The Newlywed Game, Pay Cards, The Generation Gap, and Super Pay Cards.

Muir would produce the combination Saturday morning preview and Howdy Doody tribute Howdy Doody & Friends in September, 1972. "Buffalo Bob" Smith and "Clarabelle the Clown" (Lew Anderson) co-hosted the show along with an actress who played a new character called "Clever Clara." The show also featured an appearance from one of the Ritts Puppets' The Abominable Snowman. In 1976, Muir also produced The New Howdy Doody Show but the series was not a success due to the fact that stations thought of the program as a kid's comedy show and aired it at uneven hours.

Muir And Nicholson also created and produced the children's anthology show Once Upon A Classic hosted by Bill Bixby. Muir would serve as executive producer for Howdy Doody's 40th Anniversary TV Tribute in December, 1987 and would also be interviewed for the Television Academy's "Living Archives" project in 1999.

Roger Muir retired from television producing in the 1990's when he and his wife Bobbie moved from their home in Pelham, New York to New Hampshire where they would live for the remainder of their lives.

Roger Muir had been working on a book and a documentary about the history of Howdy Doody, hopefully they will still come to pass.