Howdy Doody

### Running time

60 minutes (1947–1948; 1961-1967)30 minutes (1948–1960; 1967-2005); 26 minutes (2005-2018); 56 minutes (2019-present)

## Release

### Picture format

Black & White (1947–1955)Color (1955-present)

### Original release

December 27, 1947 - present

**Howdy Doody** is an American children’s television franchise that made its debut in 1947.

There are currently ten versions of the show. The newest version, Howdy Doody's Playhouse will premiere on Nickelodeon in June 2019.

## Eras of the show

* The Howdy Doody Show (1947-1960)
* CBS’s The Howdy Doody Hour (1961-1967)
* The Howdy Doody Variety Show (1967-1972)
* Howdy Doody & Friends (1972-1975)
* The New Howdy Doody Show (1976-1981)
* The Howdy Show (1981-1987)
* Welcome To Doodyville (1987-1989)
* Howdy Doody’s Playtime Corner (1990-2005)
* Howdy Foodies! (2005-2019)
* Howdy Doody’s Playhouse (upcoming)

## Movies

* Howdy Doody (1997)
* Howdy Takes The Seven Seas (2000)
* Howdy Saves Christmas (2002)
* Howdy Rides Again (2005)
* Howdy’s Tropical Island (2007)
* Howdy & Kevin (2009)
* Howdy Doody: Across The Country (2010)
* Howdy’s Valentine’s Spectacular (2012)
* Howdy’s Aquatic Adventure (2014)
* Howdy In London (2016)

An eleventh film for a January 2020 release date has been confirmed.

## Others

Howdy Doody had foreign versions in countries such as Canada and Mexico.

* Mexico: La Hora de Jaudi Dudi (1953-195?)
* Cuba: Chiriltin (195?-1959)
* Canada: The Canadian Howdy Doody Show (1954-1959)
* Italy: Il Circo Audi Dudi (1961-64)
* France: Audi Et Le Clown (1962-66)
* United Kingdom: Howdy’s Circus (1963-68)
* Australia & New Zealand: Howdy & Clarabell (1963-67)

There was also a direct-to-video VHS series that ran from 1984 to 1996 called Howdy’s Adventures in Doodyville. Four volumes were released each year.

## Characters

* Howdy Doody - The titular character of the show. A frecklefaced cowboy with reddish brown hair. As of late-2018, he is currently training to become a Worldwide Kindness Helper.
* Phineas T. Bluster - The grumpy mayor of Doodyville and “nemesis” of Howdy.
* Dilly Dally - Howdy's naive friend.
* Flub-a-Dub - He’s a combination of eight animals. His favorite food is spaghetti and meatballs.
* Buffalo Bob Smith - The original host of Howdy Doody. Sadly, he passed away in 1998 from cancer.
* Inspector Fedoozle - He claims to be America’s number one private eye and was first seen in 1948. He used the pseudonym Mr. X to run against Howdy in order to be elected President of All the Boys and Girls of America, but failed. In recent years, he has been given a major role.
* Clarabell - The mute clown who used to cause havoc in Doodyville.

## Future

Due to the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, the future of Howdy Doody is unknown. Executive producer, TBA says the series will still be around, even when television becomes obsolete.

## Original networks

* NBC (1947-1960)
* CBS (1961-1967)
* ABC (1967-1975)
* First-run syndication (1976-1981)
* PBS (1981-2005)
* Sprout (2005-2017)
* Universal Kids (2017-2019)
* Nickelodeon (2019-present)

## International broadcast

### United Kingdom

* BBC Television (1963-68)
* CBBC (1997-2002)
* CBeebies (2002-present)

### Canada

* CBC (1954-59)
* CBC Kids (1992-present)

### Mexico

* Las Estrellas (1953-5?)
* Canal 5 (1982-present)

### Italy

* RAI (1961-64)
* Jetix (2000-09)
* DeA Junior (2009-present)

### France

* RTF (1962-64)
* ORTF (1964-66)
* Le Disney Channel (1987-88)
* France 5 (1998-present)

### New Zealand

* TVNZ 1 (1963-67)
* TVNZ (1998-present)

## Trivia

* Most of Howdy Doody’s merchandising sales come from the United Kingdom since it’s extremely popular there.
* Due to the success of Howdy Doody (1997), many foreign television networks started to air the show.

## Awards and nominations

* 1948: Peabody Award (won)
* 1953: Emmy for Best Children's Program (nominated)
* 1956: Emmy for Best Children’s Series (nominated)
* 1963: Emmy for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming (won)
* 1971: Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (nominated)
* 1977: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series (won)
* 1982: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Informational/Instructional Series (won)
* 1988: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series (won)
* 1996: Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series (won)
* 2006: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series (nominated)
* 2010: Kidscreen Award for Best Non-Animated Preschool Show (won)
* 2018: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series (won)