Captain Kangaroo
Captain Kangaroo

Captain Kangaroo

Family
Kids
Rating
6.7/10
First Air Date
October 3, 1955
Episode Runtime
1h 0m
Status
Returning Series

Overview

Captain Kangaroo was an American children's television series which aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for nearly 30 years, from October 3, 1955 until December 8, 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program of its day. In 1986, the American Program Service integrated some newly produced segments into reruns of past episodes, distributing the newer version of the series until 1993. The show was conceived and the title character played by Bob Keeshan, who based the show on "the warm relationship between grandparents and children." Keeshan had portrayed the original Clarabell the Clown on The Howdy Doody Show when it aired on NBC. Captain Kangaroo had a loose structure, built around life in the "Treasure House" where the Captain would tell stories, meet guests, and indulge in silly stunts with regular characters, both humans and puppets. The show was telecast live to the East Coast and the Midwest for its first four years and broadcast on kinescope for the West Coast, as Keeshan would not perform the show live three times a day, and was in black-and-white until 1966. The May 17, 1971 episode saw two major changes on the show: The Treasure House was renovated and renamed "The Captain's Place" and the Captain replaced his navy blue coat with a red coat. In September 1981, CBS shortened the hour-long show to a half-hour, briefly retitled it Wake Up with the Captain, and moved it to an earlier time slot; it was later moved to weekends in September 1982, and returned to an hour-long format. It was canceled by CBS at the end of 1984.

Seasons

Season 1

2 episodes

Season 2

0 episodes

Season 3

0 episodes

Season 4

0 episodes

Season 5

0 episodes

Season 6

2 episodes

Season 7

0 episodes

Season 8

1 episodes

Season 9

0 episodes

Season 10

0 episodes

Season 11

0 episodes

Season 12

0 episodes

Season 13

1 episodes

Season 14

0 episodes

Season 15

0 episodes

Season 16

0 episodes

Season 17

0 episodes

Season 18

0 episodes

Season 19

0 episodes

Season 20

1 episodes

Season 21

3 episodes

Season 22

0 episodes

Season 23

0 episodes

Season 24

0 episodes

Season 25

0 episodes

Season 26

1 episodes

Season 27

0 episodes

Season 28

0 episodes

Season 29

0 episodes

Season 30

0 episodes

Season 31

0 episodes

Season 32

0 episodes

Season 33

0 episodes

Season 34

0 episodes

Season 35

0 episodes

Season 36

0 episodes

Season 37

0 episodes

Season 38

0 episodes

Cast

Bob Keeshan

Captain Kangaroo