Old pal and regular commenter Susan commented briefly on my previous post that she now lives in a part of the country far from the NY/NJ/CT media market (known locally as the “Tri-State Area”), where folks have no idea of what “The Magic Garden” was, and how much it meant to those of us who watched it faithfully as kids in the late 70s and early 80s. I feel bad for them too, because I can’t imagine any other locally produced kid’s show with such a devoted following. Along with my personal role model Fred Rogers (I kid you not — I quoted him on my “senior page” in the high school yearbook) and my musical hero Bob Dorough (see my previous post here), Carole Demas and Paula Janis who hosted “The Magic Garden” were a huge influence on me, a kid who watched an unhealthily large amount of television in my formative years. I suspect that if it weren’t for Paula I would never have bothered to learn to play guitar!
Paula & Carole, circa 1975
It all seems so hokey now: two perky gals on swings hanging from an obviously fake tree in a TV studio, singing songs like “This Old Man” and “The Ugly Duckling”, talking to a pink squirrel named Sherlock, pulling hats and props out of the “Story Box“, and visiting the daisies of “The Chuckle Patch” who provided the canned laughs for some of the lamest riddles ever written. Here’s how the show began every afternoon on Channel 11, WPIX from 1972 to 1984:
Some fun facts about Carole and Paula that I’ve discovered from my research:
1. Did you know that Carole and Paula met in high school chorus class in Brooklyn and have been friends ever since?
2. Did you know that Carole originated the role of Sandy in the first Broadway production of “Grease“?
3. Did you know that Paula got her M.A. in Early Childhood Education and went on to become a director for the Head Start programs in New York City?
4. Did you know that VH1 gave Paula and Carole the title “Foxy Ladies of 1973″?
5. Did you know that I could kick myself that this blog post didn’t happen a few weeks sooner so that I would have known that CurlyWurlyGurly and I could have seen them live last week on November 8th in Scarsdale, NY?
Yes, that’s right — they’re still friends, and they’re still performing for their now grown up fans. Here’s a video I found of a children’s concert that Carole and Paula did a few years ago (performing one of the first songs I taught myself to play on the guitar) and wrapping up this post in style…”See Ya!”
Carrie’s Editorial Notes:
1) CWG you totally owe me for spending so much time on this post — you’re welcome!
2) Oh, and thank you so much for giving me the chance to do this, babe!
3) My trip down memory lane has just got to stop! I will try to make my next post about cutting edge nanotechnology or brain transplants or something equally futuristic…
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November 17, 2008 at 2:35 am
curlywurlygurly
*swooning* i loved the magic garden. seriously. it was unhealthy. my mom usedto call carole & paula the “annoying hippie singers”.
i was GLUED to the set when the show came on…i loved the chuckle patch and the story box…and even sherlock!
husban-dito got to SEE carole & paula when he was a kid–they came to his town and put on a show at the local high school. he reports that they only brought along a “chuckle plant”, though…no patch.
thanks for this awesome post–even though it’s a bit nyc meto-area-centric.
now if you could only come up with some info on a strange kid’s gameshow i recall from my childhood in which some of the prizes were hot dogs. (not double dare…) it aired on saturday or sundays…and looked pretty low budget.
ps. i’m so BUMMED we missed seeing them in scarsdale–i would have been there for sure.
jimsmuse sez: The game show doesn’t ring a bell right off the bat, but I probably will wake up at 3am sometime this week and it’ll all come back to me. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes. I knew you would be bummed to miss them…I was heartbroken when I found out they’d played so close and so recently! I am on their mailing list, so if they do another area show I will be sure to email you instantly! I can only assume that Husbandito, being a red blooded American male, thinks Carole is the hot one. They all do.
November 17, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Connie
While not familiar with the show I am familiar with the hairdos!!! Interesting post. We just had creepy Mr. Knozit as a local celebrity and show.
jimsmuse sez: Great. Now I have to google “Mr. Knozit”…I just have to know.
And I’m with you on the hair thing — those were the days!
November 17, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Susan
Ohhhhhh….I still want to go live on that set. Watching that clip, I had a HUGE smile on my face the whole time (but how awful to have the Vin Diesel VO promo at the end – boo!). How can it be that my daughter will grow up without TMG??? Also, how is it that we never imagined ourselves to be the next Paula & Carole? We could have totally done that!!!
jimsmuse sez: Fortunately for your adorable daughter, you can click HERE and get her (and her silly Mommy!) the DVD that just came out last month! As far as being the next Carole & Paula I’m not sure how we missed it, but since they are in their 60s and still performing, there is hope for us yet!
November 21, 2008 at 5:34 pm
thedailydish
Here in the Philadelphia “Tri-State” area (PA, NJ, DE) we had Chief Halftown.