Fractured Flickers facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fractured Flickers |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Chris Hayward |
| Written by | Allan Burns Chris Hayward Lloyd Turner George Atkins Jim Critchfield Bill Scott |
| Presented by | Hans Conried |
| Voices of | Paul Frees June Foray Bill Scott |
| Opening theme | Dennis Farnon |
| Composer(s) | Dennis Farnon Fred Steiner |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ponsonby Britt, O.B.E. |
| Producer(s) | Jay Ward Bill Scott |
| Editor(s) | Skip Craig Roger Donkin |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Jay Ward Productions |
| Distributor | Desilu Sales, Inc. |
| Release | |
| Original release | 1 January 1963 – 1 January 1964 |
Fractured Flickers was a funny TV show from the 1960s. It was created by Jay Ward, who also made famous cartoons. This show took old silent movies and added new, silly voices and sounds. It was like giving old films a brand-new, hilarious makeover! The show first aired in 1963 and had 26 episodes. It was shown on local TV stations for several years.
Contents
How the Show Worked
The show's host, Hans Conried, would introduce short film clips. These clips came from old silent films and other classic movies. The clever part was that new, funny voices and sounds were added over the original film. This is called overdubbing.
The voices for these funny clips were done by famous voice actors. These included Paul Frees, June Foray, and Bill Scott. They were all well-known for their work on Jay Ward's cartoons.
At first, the voice actors tried hard to match the new words to the old actors' lip movements. This was very tricky and took a lot of time. Later, as the show had to meet deadlines, they stopped trying to perfectly match the lips. The humor was still great, even without perfect syncing!
The Humor of Fractured Flickers
The jokes in Fractured Flickers were full of puns and quick, funny lines. This was a classic style of humor for Jay Ward's shows. For example, a silent movie scene might be retitled "The Barber of Stanwyck." This used clips from an old movie called The Mark of Zorro.
The show made fun of many things. It poked fun at movies, other TV shows, and even commercials. Sometimes, it even made jokes about Fractured Flickers itself! The funniest parts often came from making old melodramas seem silly. For instance, a serious actor like Rudolph Valentino might be shown as an insurance salesman.
One very famous example was turning The Hunchback of Notre Dame into "Dinky Dunstan, Boy Cheerleader." This made the serious character Lon Chaney, Sr. look very silly.
Funny Commercials and Mysteries
Many parts of the show were funny spoofs of TV commercials. A typical "word from our sponsor" would praise a product. But it would show funny or strange clips instead of what you'd expect. For example, a real estate ad might show buildings being destroyed by a cyclone. This clip was from an old movie with Buster Keaton.
Another funny ad was for "Bee" tissues. The announcer would say it was "woven in mid-air by bees!" These segments were always very creative and unexpected.
The show also had regular features. One was "Minute Mysteries," starring Stan Laurel as a detective named Sherman Oaks. These clips came from his old short comedy, Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde. Each episode also had a weekly "tribute" to an American city.
Celebrity Guests
Every episode also featured a celebrity guest. Host Hans Conried would interview them. Most of these guests were popular stars from the 1960s. Some famous names included Fabian, Bob Denver, Deborah Walley, Rod Serling, and Rose Marie. Many of them understood the show's humor. They would give funny, playful answers to Conried's questions.
A segment about the Kennedy family was filmed for the show. However, it was later removed from all copies and never shown to the public. The entire series is now available on DVD.
List of Guest Stars
The following celebrities appeared on the show, talking with Hans Conried:
- Rose Marie
- Fabian
- Gypsy Rose Lee
- Allan Sherman
- Annette Funicello
- Edward Everett Horton
- Paula Prentiss
- Sebastian Cabot
- Roddy McDowall (He appeared briefly again later, the only guest to do so.)
- Vivienne Della Chiesa, an opera singer
- Connie Stevens
- Rod Serling
- Connie Hines
- Cesar Romero
- Diana Dors
- Bullwinkle J. Moose (as a hand puppet)
- Deborah Walley
- Paul Lynde
- Anna Maria Alberghetti
- Ruta Lee
- Barbara Eden
- Bob Denver
- Pat Carroll
- Bob Newhart
- Ursula Andress
- Zsa Zsa Gabor
An interview with Johnny Weissmuller was filmed but not used. The interview with the Bullwinkle puppet might have been filmed instead. Co-producer Bill Scott also appeared briefly in two episodes. He played a delivery man in one and a stuntman in another.
