Howdy Friends

**Howdy Friends** is an American children's television series that aired on PBS from September 23, 1991 to June 26, 1996.

It is the second revival of The Howdy Doody Show and Buffalo Bob Smith's final major television role before his death in 1998.

## Premise

Howdy Friends is set in an unnamed town (presumably Doodyville) and follows the everyday adventures of Buffalo Bob and his sidekick Howdy with their mischievous, but kind clown friend Clarabell. Each episode starts out slow with Buffalo Bob introducing himself to the audience and as the episode progresses, it becomes more fast-paced.

Other characters include Mayor Bluster, the grumpy mayor and Dilly Dally, Howdy's naive friend.

## Cast and characters

* Buffalo Bob Smith: (played by Robert E. Smith) the kind, grandfatherly host of the show who introduces himself at the beginning of each episode.
* Howdy: (performed by Pady Blackwood) the titular main character who is the embodiment of childhood innocence. He is brave, sweet and funny.
* Clarabell: (played by Lew Anderson) a michevious, but kind-hearted clown who communicates by honking his horn.
* Mayor Bluster: (performed by Jack Roth) the grumpy, but friendly mayor of the unnamed town.
* Dilly Dally: (performed by Jack Roth) the naive, but loyal friend of Howdy.
* Flub-a-Dub: (performed by Alan Semok) a loudmouth creature who is a mix of several different animals.
* Nick Muir: (played by Bill LeCornec; first two seasons only) the no-nonsense manager of WNMS. He In the season 2 finale, he announces that he is going to move away to Coraly City.
* Mr. Cobb: (played by Nick Nicholson; season one only) the caring but cranky owner of Cobb's Shop. He retires at the end of the first season, due to Nick Nicholson's declining health.
* Melody Day: (played by Irene Bedard; main seasons 2-4, recurring season 5) she is Howdy's music teacher who debuts in the season two premiere episode. She is a very determined, but nice person. As shown many times in the series, she is very busy making new music.

## Production

After The New Howdy Doody Show was cancelled in 1977, Buffalo Bob Smith expressed interest in doing Howdy Doody special and in 1987, a primerime special was produced. Before the special debuted in November 1987, Smith wanted to do another revival if it succeeded in viewership. Despite this, the potenial series was never produced.

In 1990, plans for another Howdy Doody revival presented by David Letterman were announced by then-NBC chairman, Brandon Tartikoff, however they were scrapped and Smith (who was not involved in the project) disliked the idea.

At the same time, Buffalo Bob Smith and Edward Kean announced plans for a new Howdy Doody series that would air on PBS set for a September 1991 release date. Production for the first season began in early 1991 and was shot in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

When the show debuted in 1991, it became a hit with preschoolers and parents alike. The show was praised by critics for elements such as the unique format.

Production for the show moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina before filming began for the second season in early-1992.

Future Pocohontas star, Irene Bedard joined the cast as Melody Day, who works as a music teacher. The reason for her casting was concern from Native American groups who felt that Chief Thunderthud and the Ooragnak Tribe were outdated, negative stereotypes of them. Bedard brought her Native American background in the show and the character was praised due to being written as a positive role model.

The second season was Bill LeCornec's final season, as he was retiring. His character, Nick Muir moved away to Coraly City in the second season finale, but the show still remained popular.

In late-1994, Smith announced that the fifth season would be the final, as he wanted to retire. The final season debuted on September 4, 1995 and ended on June 26, 1996.