The Wallace and Ladmo Show

"The Wallace and Ladmo Show", also known as "It's Wallace?" and "Wallace & Company", was a children's television show produced by and aired on KPHO-TV (Channel 5) in Phoenix, Arizona.

History

"The Wallace and Ladmo Show" ran from April 3, 1954 to December 29, 1989—36 years—making it the longest-running daily, locally produced children's television show. Their record is unlikely to be eclipsed as local children's programs are no longer produced in the U.S.

It premiered as "It's Wallace?", a vehicle to showcase cartoons for KPHO. The show was hosted by Bill Thompson, who created the character of Wallace Snead when he appeared on the "Golddust Charlie Show" (also on KPHO). It aired on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30 PM. Within a year, Ladimir Kwiatkowski (who had been a cameraman for the station) joined the show as Ladmo, the rubber-faced sidekick to Wallace. In 1960, Pat McMahon joined the cast and developed a list of characters (such as Gerald, Aunt Maud, Captain Super and Marshall Good) that parodied various popular culture icons. (McMahon was also a popular talk radio host for KTAR in the Phoenix market.) In addition to the daily broadcasts, the cast of the show also performed regular stage shows at such venues as local movie theaters and malls, Encanto Park (in central Phoenix), and the Legend City theme park.

In 1968 the show was renamed "Wallace & Company" and again in 1970, to its better known title, "The Wallace & Ladmo Show". In 1973, the time slot of the show split with a morning and afternoon show but taping of the two shows was still in the afternoon so children could attend the audience after school.

The show ended with the final taping on December 29, 1989. By that time it had won many awards, including nine Emmy awards.

In recent years, the show has run in syndication on KAZT-TV (Channel 7 in Prescott and Channel 27 in Phoenix) at 5:30 PM.

Ladmo Bags

Not long after the addition of Ladmo, the Ladmo Bag appeared on the show. The Ladmo Bag was a prize won by children in the in-studio audience or at stage performances. Originally the Ladmo bags were large paper grocery bags filled with candy, potato chips and so on, but as the show progressed, the Ladmo Bags were in smaller paper grocery bags but still stuffed full of candy and assorted coupons.

To diehard fans and collectors, an authentic Ladmo Bag from the original show can be worth a considerable amount of money. However, very few of these bags still exist intact, as most children that won the prizes consumed the candy inside and discarded the bag. Some natives of the Phoenix area use the expression "I never got a Ladmo Bag when I was a kid" as a metaphor for "I had a deprived childhood."

Kwiatkowski died from cancer in 1994. However, during special events in Arizona, particularly the Arizona State Fair, Ladmo bags are still won by select people attending. The last Ladmo bag that was given during the last telecast was won by Alice Cooper, a musician and longtime Phoenix resident.

Plays

In recent years there have been two plays written about the show with a third still in production.Fact|date=July 2008 The first play follows Wallace, Ladmo, Pat and Mike Condello as they struggle to hold the show together when the parody band, Hubb Kapp and the Wheels, are offered a record deal with Capitol Records. The second play deals with the death of Ladmo from cancer. The first play was performed two times at the Herberger Theatre in downtown Phoenix, with several celebrities showing up as "Time Machine" guests, including Alice Cooper. The plays were all written by Ben Tyler with input from both Thompson and McMahon.

External links

* [http://www.wallacewatchers.com/ WallaceWatchers.com: The Official Wallace and Ladmo Website (History, Photos, Desktops)]
* [http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wallaceandladmo/ The Official Wallace & Ladmo Fan Club!]
* [http://www.wallaceandladmo.com/ WallaceandLadmo.com (Fan site)]
* [http://www.geocities.com/hidenchef/WallaceandLadmo.html Another Fan Site]
* [http://www.wallaceladmogerald.com/ The Wallace, Ladmo and Gerald Fan Site]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0430859/ IMDB Entry]
* [http://www.legend-city.com Legend City]
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ladmo&search=Search Videos on YouTube]