| Razzle Dazzle | |
|---|---|
) Alan Hamel, Howard the Turtle and Michele Finney, together with prospective meal. | |
| Presented by | Alan Hamel Michele Finney Ray Bellew Trudy Young |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBC Television |
| Original release | October 2, 1961 – July 1, 1966 |
Razzle Dazzle was a Canadian children's television program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between October 2, 1961, and July 1, 1966.
The series was initially co-hosted by Alan Hamel and Michele Finney who were later replaced by Ray Bellew and Trudy Young. There was also a cast of characters who appeared in every episode, most notably the puppet Howard the Turtle (John Keogh), who was considered the star of the show. Howard would tell jokes which he called Groaners. Other recurring characters on the show included Percy Q. Kidpester (drawn by George Feyer) and Mr. Sharpey (Paul Kligman) who was known for saying "A knuckle full of nickels".
A highlight of the show was the secret decoder wheel which kids could request by mail. At the end of each show, a secret message was shown on the TV screen. Home users of a decoder wheel could decipher the message. "Spots and Stripes" was often a feature on the show, where groups of kids competed against each other.
Another regular feature was the serialization of a children's adventure series in the final five minutes (thus spreading each episode over a week's worth of shows). Initially shown was The Magic Boomerang, an Australian adventure series, followed by The Adventures of the Terrible Ten. This was replaced by the Canadian-made The Forest Rangers which was spun off to become a series of its own.
References
External links
- "Razzle Dazzle". tvarchive.ca. (includes episode details)
- Razzle Dazzle at IMDb
- Allan, Blaine. "CBC Television Series, 1952-1982" (PDF). Department of Film and Media, Queen's University. Entry for Razzle Dazzle. Retrieved March 4, 2017.