By Jay Kerner
PBS had an excellent documentary a few years back called Whizzo, Old Gus and Me, about the history of children’s television in the Kansas City market. For a kid growing up in St. Joe in the 60’s and 70’s it brought back a lot of memories. They talked not only of the afore mentioned, but also of Torey Southwick, Bozo and
For kids back then, if you weren’t watching local programs, there were also the national shows like Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Rodgers. I just missed out on Sesame Street but for those 45 and younger, it was probably part of your childhood experience. The production values were quite a bit higher, but for local flavor you couldn’t beat the kids shows shot in your hometown.
Here in Joe Town there is one name that stands floppy-red-wig to gigantic-oversized-shoes above any other in children’s television history, and that is my good friend “Barney the Clown.” St. Joseph resident Al Smith portrayed the title character on St. Joe Cablevision through virtually the entire decade of the 70’s.
Cable television was a new technology in the 1960’s when it first came to town. A lot of people don’t realize that we got it here far earlier than other much larger cities. With only one broadcast station here, and the K.C. stations providing a snowy picture from “rabbit ear” antennas, cable offered not only a clear picture, but also a whole new palette of TV choices. Imagine, we now had 13 channels! (If you counted channel 3, which just had the camera going side to side past a clock, thermometer and weather gages.)
The FCC had rules back then requiring cable systems to provide a certain amount of local programming, so in addition to the exercise show and Bill Bennet’s Outdoor beat, we also got our daily dose of Barney. (No, we’re not talking purple dinosaur). But before the clown business, there was the music business.
Al Smith started playing saxophone professionally at age 14 and toured the
The whole week’s programs were shot in one 5 hour day. They were played back every afternoon after school.
As a part time Cablevision employee, every Saturday morning I unlocked the door of the studio on the South Belt to some Cub Scout or Brownie troop in the current, day-old bakery place. It was always somebody’s birthday so we ate a lot of cake. We also had a trade-out with Flavor-Maid Doughnuts.
Barney had a way with kids. Even though the show followed a loose pattern, you never knew what might happen or what one of them might say.
I had the privilege to run the camera and then produce Barney’s show during the later years of his run on Cablevision. He used to look into the camera and talk to “Magicland.” Some days I talked back. Years later, I still occasionally will have some 38 year old stop me out someplace and say, “Hey man, you’re Magicland!”
When I got married and had daughters myself, I got to introduce Barney to them as our personal family clown. When Cablevision shut down the show, Al gave up the Barney character and he took the job as Bingo at Ground Round. He made countless balloon animals keeping kids occupied while dinner was being prepared. My kids never took to the new name. He was always Barney to them as he always will be to me.
After several years, some executive back east decided that kids don’t like clowns anymore and shut down the Bingo character nationwide. When the location closed and later re-opened as a locally owned store, Barney was asked back. He brought the wig out of mothballs and worked up until last summer when his health forced him to pass the position to a new Bingo. Al had nothing but praise for the young lady, who he described as a natural.
A couple of years ago Chris Fleck from Cablevision put together a Barney Reunion Show which was taped at the Robidoux Landing Theater. Several alums of the show stopped by to trade stories about our favorite clown.
All told, between the cable show, his time as Bingo and the hundreds of birthday parties, Al Smith logged 48 years in the funny shoes, until he finally had to stop for good this summer at age 80
He amused and entertained generations of St. Joe kids. If you’re one of them, why not drop him an email and tell him how you ran from the bus stop to get home and watch Barney on channel 6? You can reach Al and Jo Smith at thejoeal@att.net.