The Stooge
Paul Shannon introduced cartoon segments by lowering a "magic sword" and reciting the phrase, "Down goes the curtain, and back up again for . . ." whatever was the feature. Old Three Stooges shorts were shown, as well as the cartoons Kimba the White Lion, "Dodo- The Kid From Outer Space", Coco The Clown, Beanie and Cecil, Space Angel, Dick Tracy, Krazy Kat, Snuffy Smith, Popeye, Beetle Bailey (the aforementioned four shows produced by King Features Syndicate, whose parent company is also WTAE’s current owner) and Rocky and Bullwinkle. Often the Three Stooges episodes were introduced by Shannon spinning "The Stooge-O-Scope"...a mounted wheel with pictures of the six comic actors who played the Three Stooges attached to it. After Paul would spin the wheel, the camera would zoom into it, with the fade back out going into that day's episode of the Stooges. Moe Howard credited Shannon and the show with playing a major role in the Stooges' national revival in the 1960s.