Art Baker | Angels Bark

STATEMENT THAT APPEARS AT THE BEGINNING OF ALL A-Z 2016 PAGES:

Welcome to the A-Z Classic TV Shows Theme Songs and Intros! Last year I did an A-Z Musical Tour of My Life and featured tons of classic rock music. I had so much fun with it that this year I decided to present classic television shows theme songs and intros. These are shows that I remember from my youth during the 60s and 70s…with the occasional 80s show thrown in. Each show is introduced with information (gathered primarily from my favorite go-to for info, Wikipedia) or associated memories, followed by a video of the TV show’s theme song intro. At first glance, the posts may seem long because of the number of videos included but it’s really laid out in a way that will enable you to scroll through and read, watch or hear just what you want and then either move on to the next A-Zer or linger and go back in time with all the fun theme song intros you’ll find here. Please leave a comment and share your favorite classic TV shows. By all means, bookmark my blog so you can come back! I hope you enjoy my collection. Now, let’s get started with…

Y is a tough letter for TV shows. The most classic Y show that I could think of was the show from the 50s called You Asked for It:

Y is for You Asked for It:

You Asked for It was a human interest television show created and hosted by Art Baker. Initially titled The Art Baker Show, the program originally aired on American television between 1950 and 1959. Later versions of the series were seen in 1972, 1981, and 2000.

On the show, viewers were asked to send in postcards describing something that they wanted to see on television, such as the reenactment of William Tell shooting an apple off his son’s head. (1950 US national archery champion Stan Overby performed the feat, shooting an apple off his assistant’s head.)

The show was originally broadcast live, so some of the riskier propositions took on added elements of danger and suspense. A segment where animal trainer and stuntman, Reed Parham wrestled a huge, deadly anaconda, for example, nearly became disastrous until assistants interceded with guns drawn, visibly unnerving host Art Baker.

The program was named The Art Baker Show, after the series creator and host. In April 1951, the show’s title was changed to You Asked for It. Originally airing on the DuMont Television Network from December 29, 1950 to December 7, 1951, it moved to ABC, where it remained until the end of its original run on September 27, 1959. The show was sponsored by Skippy Peanut Butter and Studebaker Automobiles.

Art Baker hosted the show, until early 1958, when Jack Smith took over for the remaining 20 months. Later in the 1981 remake of the show, Rich Little hosted. Here is a clip of a 1981 episode:

Here’s a 7 minute segment from 1953, reuniting the Our Gang kids, 25 years later:

And of course there’s that classic cartoon character Yogi Bear!

Y is for The Yogi Bear Show: “Hey Boo-Boo, Let’s grab that pic-a-nic basket!” I used to impersonate Yogi Bear saying that line. What a classic!

The Yogi Bear Show is an animated television series and the first incarnation of Hanna-Barbera’s Yogi Bear series about the misadventures of picnic basket stealing bear Yogi in Jellystone Park. The show debuted in syndication on January 30, 1961 and ran for 33 episodes until January 6, 1962 and included two segments, Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle. The show had a two-year production run.

Yogi Bear’s popularity led to many spinoff incarnations, feature movies and specials that starred the character.

Characters:

Yogi Bear

Yogi Bear (voiced by Daws Butler impersonating Art Carney) and Boo Boo Bear (voiced by Don Messick) reside in Jellystone Park and would often try to steal picnic baskets while evading Ranger Smith (voiced by Don Messick). Yogi also has a relationship with his girlfriend Cindy Bear (voiced by Julie Bennett).

Boo-Boo Bear

Yogi’s childlike sidekick who tries (and never succeeds) to warn Yogi that “Mr. Ranger” wouldn’t like Yogi to steal picnic baskets. He only wears a blue bowtie.

Ranger Smith

The head ranger who argues with Yogi stealing picnic baskets. He wears a traditional ranger costume.

Cindy Bear

Cindy Bear (voiced by Julie Bennett) is the girlfriend of Yogi Bear. She speaks with a pronounced Southern accent, and carries a parasol.

Here’s a video (18 minutes) containing the 1961 Yogi Bear Show Intro plus sponsor messages, commercials and bumpers utilizing Yogi, Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle. If you just want to see the Yogi Bear Show intro, you’re in luck because that’s at the very beginning of this video: