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The truth about CAPTAIN 20! [Archive] - RonFez.net Messageboard

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curtoid
01-23-2004, 05:16 PM
SO much mis-information given by the lame DC callers about Captain 20 tonight on the show...!

* First, over the years, there were 3 Captain 20s. They all hosted an afternoon kids block of programming - everything from Get Smart, to Bugs Bunny, to Star Trek, to Little Rascals, to Kimba, to Speed Racer - it was the best. The first two were earth astronauts, and were on the air in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Only one of those first two did do the notorious gerbal races, not the third one who decided to change Captain 20 to an alien, like out of Star Trek.

* The 3rd Captain 20 was played by Dick Dyszel. Dick was NOT the owner of Channel 20.

* Aside from Captain 20, he also helped revive Bozo the Clown in DC; he did Bozo in the AM, and then Captain 20 in the afternoon. Soon after he also did a third character 'Count Gore de Vol,' who hosted horror movies Saturday Night ("Creature Feature"). For about 5 years he did all three characters.

* Count Gore is often credited as being the inspiration to Joe Flaherty's character "Count Floyd" on SCTV back in the 1970s. There is a book on Horror Hosts that was published a number of years ago, and Count Gore merits and enitre chapter, alongside Zacherly, Vampira, Ghoulardi and Elvira.

http://www.geocities.com/horrorhostunderground/images/main/128.jpg

* Bozo was the first to go off the air - he stopped doing Bozo in the late 1970s. As someone mentioned earlier, Bozo had previously been played by Willard Scott here in DC, back in the 1960s. As Bozo, Willard often made appearances at local McDonalds. When Bozo went off the air back then, Willard developed a new character for McDonalds - a clown named Ronald McDonald.

http://kidshow.dcmemories.com/bozoTVG_350.jpg

* Willard is credited in MANY books as being the man who created Ronald McDonald. However, when they decided to take Ronald national, Willard was deemed too fat to promote burgers.

* Back to Dick Dyszel - Captain 20 signed off in 1987, after Count Gore de Vol signed off in the mid '80s - after about 15 years.

* IN the late 1990s Count Gore returned, but to the internet, where he hosts movies - updated once a week. Dick and his wife and daughters now live in Illinois, however he still makes appearances as Count Gore to conventions here in the DC/Baltimore area. In 1999, he was credited by the City Paper as being a bigger draw to one convention than Christopher Lee!

* On New Years 1999/2000 Count Gore returned for a one shot event on Channel 20 - "Count Down with The Count." A Four hour one shot special. Shortly after that, Channel 20 (which is an UPN station) was sold to Fox, and everyone there was fired - Fox now owns Channels 5 and 20 in Washington, and share the same staff, and many of the same programming, like "Buffy" reruns, or "Seinfeld." There is no chance for Count Gore to return to Channel 20, since Channel 20 really doesn't exist anymore.

* LAST YEAR - a group of trendy DC artists debuted a series of work under the title "Captain 20's Children." Dick was so impressed and moved, he made his first public appearance in 15 years as Capt. 20. It was covered in the Washington Post and Washington City Paper. The man still fit into his tacky pink polyester suit!

http://www.countgore.com/images/DSCN0638.JPG

* With the exception of Public Access and the nightly news, local television across the country is dead. On Access there currently are many people trying to revive their lost childhoods by becoming hosts themselves. Here in Virginia there is a show that's been on the air for almost 10 years, which Gore has made appearances on ("The Spooky Movie with Dr. Sarcofiguy"), while up in New York there is a wonderful hybrid show - "Ghoul A Go Go," which mixes the classic kids show formula, with vampires and hunchbacks and groovy music kids can dance too. In New Jersey there's a show called "The Haunted Theatre with Halloween Jack" that's been on the air for about 3 years now. There are about 40 other such shows all around the country right now.

[img]http:

mikeyboy
01-23-2004, 07:20 PM
Very nice synopsis, KOP, and it's nice to hear what happened to Captain 20/Count Gore De Vol. As a kid growing up in the MD area in the 70s, it's great to revisit all this stuff.

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TheMojoPin
01-23-2004, 08:55 PM
Clarify Bozo's history for me.

I'm 24, and have only known Bozo's show as one out of my home town of Chicago. Was Willard Scott the first one? When did the show relocate to Chicago?

"Cram it, clown!"

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curtoid
01-24-2004, 04:10 AM
The original Bozo was from Chicago. At some point, like Romper Room, they/he decided to put a Bozo in every town. They even had a Bozo school.Both Ron and Fez remembered Bozo's where they grew up, in Florida and Pa.

Willard was not the original Bozo, nor was he even the first Bozo here in DC. He was a radio dude ("The Joy Boys of Radio") who took the gig in the early/mid sixties. He was the last Bozo until they revived the character in the early seventies. Dick Dyszel was the last DC Bozo, however.

(There was actually an animated Bozo cartoon that they tried to pass off in the years between those two eras).

Willard was the original Ronald McDonald - he even came up with the name. Like I said, he was such a hit a Bozo, when he made the personal appearances in McDonalds that when Bozo ended they wanted to keep him on/keep a clown on/etc, and there you go - he created a character that is more recognized around the world thank even Mikey Mouse!

Willard, after not getting tapped to be the national Ronald, stayed in DC, where he was Channel 4's weatherman. Eventually he made his way north to the today show.


my home town of Chicago.



Did you ever watch Svengoolie?

[KOP]

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This message was edited by KOP on 1-24-04 @ 8:13 AM

TheMojoPin
01-24-2004, 06:53 AM
Did you ever watch Svengoolie?

Only when I was very, very young...I either forgot about it or he went off the air when we moved away.

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2% << December boys got it BAD >> "You might tell some lies about the good times we've had/But I've kissed your mother twice...and now I'm working on your dad..."

Late2party
01-24-2004, 10:26 PM
Last weekend when I had something to do I was tapped to go help swab out WARW's transmission line in "Channel 20's garage".

Well, it had a cyclorama in it.

And a lighting grid above it, devoid of lights.

And a door reading STUDIO A, and a control room with no controls.

Felt like I was treading hallowed ground.

-Wendell

curtoid
06-03-2004, 05:26 AM
This topic got brought up again last night, so I figured - what they HEY! - people, including newbies from Balmer, may want to skip down memory lane again! Bring this puppy to the TOP!

On a side note - Dick Dysell may be returning to the Washington DC area for good in the next year. His wife works for the government, and after almost 8 years in Chicago, she may be assigned back here.

While this would not mean the return of Count Gore (to television) or Captain 20, he would more than likely get involved in the very lucrative voice over work here in DC, and maybe get talked into some occasional appearances.

He is still planning on issuing a disc of his many children's programing he did when he was here.





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"Don't believe everything you read on message boards." - RB

Tall_James
06-03-2004, 06:25 AM
Man, Willard Scott played not one, but 2 clowns back in the day.

If he did that today he would be automatically suspected of being a cannibalistic psycho kid toucher.

Times sure have changed.


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Mike Teacher
06-03-2004, 06:35 AM
i have a McDonalds book with apic of Willard as the original, gonna have to scan that unless its on the web.

I found this on Ron's Philadelphia Local TV Shows, maybe its linked above; some cool stuff on Gene London and other shows mentioned:

Linky Linkerton (http://www.tvparty.com/lostlondon2.html)

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