Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine |
|
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's television series |
| Created by | Charles Grinker, Mert Koplin and Sanford Fisher |
| Starring | Laurie Faso |
| Voices of | Mert Koplin (Machine) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Sanford Fisher |
| Producer(s) | Charles Grinker |
| Running time | 60 min. (1977) 30 min. (1978 - 1980) |
| Production company(s) | Corporation for Education and Learning, Inc. |
| Distributor | Group W Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS (WFSB) |
| Original release | 1977 – 1980 |
Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine was a fun children's television show. It aired from 1977 to 1980. The show came from WFSB-TV in Hartford, USA.
The main character was Marlo Higgins, played by Laurie Faso. Marlo was a super smart computer programmer. He worked for a company called L. Dullo. His boss, Leo Dullo, sent him to the "sub-sub-basement."
At night, Marlo worked on a secret project. He built and programmed his own Magic Movie Machine. He used parts from the L. Dullo company. The machine could talk, and its screen showed sound waves. Marlo and the machine would share jokes and helpful tips.
How Marlo Used the Machine
Marlo sat at a special control desk. It looked a bit like a TV studio's main control panel. He would pick different film clips to watch. To do this, he typed codes on a numeric keypad. This keypad had round, yellow number buttons. Then, he pressed an orange "Start" button.
Machine Displays and Sounds
In the early episodes, a special sign on the desk showed the code. This sign had flaps that would flip to show numbers. Later, this was changed to a bright LED display. The buttons also made sounds like a touch-tone phone when Marlo pressed them.
Marlo usually used a small keypad. It had two columns of buttons around a screen. This was right in front of him at the desk. Sometimes, he used a bigger keypad on the wall.
Fun Segments on the Show
The show had many regular parts. These were created by the producer, Charles Grinker. Here are some of the popular segments:
- The Pre-fame Game: Marlo always typed '5060' for this game. The show would display baby pictures of famous people. Viewers got to guess who the celebrity was. Then, a current picture of the star was revealed.
- The Birthday Game: A special date would be picked. Sometimes, it was from letters sent by fans. Marlo would type the month and day. Then, a film would play showing famous people who shared that birthday.
- What do you see from A to Z: The code for this game was '456.' A letter of the alphabet was chosen. Then, film clips of things starting with that letter were shown. The picture started completely hidden. It slowly became clear over 10 seconds. The goal was to guess what it was as fast as possible.
- What do you see from A to Z Hidden Word Game: This game was like the one above. The code was '5460.' Each picture shown started with a different letter. After the picture was revealed, its first letter filled in a blank. By the end, a secret word was completely spelled out.
- Magic Year, Magic Month, and Magic Day: Marlo and the machine would show historical events. They used a chosen date or year as the code. A special keypad was added later to enter months. They would feature events from a specific day (in different years) or a certain month or year.
- Knock-knock Jokes: Marlo used the larger keypad for this. He typed '0000' to bring up these jokes. A character on screen would say "knock-knock." Marlo would reply "Who's There." Then, a knock-knock joke would be told.
- Riddles: In a later season, riddles replaced the knock-knock jokes. Marlo would call them up using the bigger keypad. He pressed '2222' for the riddles.
