The Uncle Al Show was a children's television program originating in Cincinnati. The show was hosted by Cleveland native Al Lewis (1924–2009) (not to be confused with the actor who played Grandpa on The Munsters), and later was co-hosted by his wife, Wanda.
The show enjoyed a remarkable 35-year run (1950–1985) on WCPO-TV, making it one of the longest-running local children's shows in American TV history. (Sesame Street holds the national record, as it has now surpassed 40 consecutive years on the air.) Uncle Al holds the unofficial record for the longest-running regularly scheduled series with the same host for the show's entire run.
The show's origins were completely happenstantial. In the summer of 1949, then-General Manager Mort Watters asked Lewis (hired on two months earlier as WCPO's first art director) to host an hour-long filler show called Al's Corner Drugstore, in which Lewis, dressed in a soda jerk's uniform, would take phone-in requests for songs which he would play on his accordion, which would later become one of his many trademarks along with his straw boater hat.
At that time, the show was not aired in a closed set, so people could walk in from off the street to watch the show in person. Neighborhood children began doing just that, and Lewis, having a natural affinity for children, invited them onto the stage during the show. The same kids would return on subsequent occasions bringing friends, and they all took to calling Lewis "Uncle Al".
When mothers began calling into the station requesting tickets to be on The Uncle Al Show, a Cincinnati institution was born- again, completely by accident, although Lewis himself never treated it in such a manner, as evidenced by the show's exceptional longevity. The Uncle Al Show made its official début on June 12, 1950. Having originally started as a 15-minute outing, it quickly expanded into an hour long show airing three episodes daily:
First episode: 9-10 am (ET)
Second episode: 11 am-12 noon (ET)
Third episode: 1-2 pm (ET)
By the mid-late 1960s the show was scaled back to one 90-minute episode per day from 9 to 10:30 am, running opposite WLWT's Paul Dixon Show.
By 1955 Uncle Al had become so popular that executives from CBS came to Cincinnati to consult with Al about hosting a similar show on their network; this was before WCPO switched affiliation from ABC to CBS in 1961. Station executives understandably refused to release Lewis from his contract, so CBS brass settled on Howdy Doody alum Bob Keeshan to host their new kids' show, which became Captain Kangaroo. When WCPO switched network affiliation from ABC to CBS in 1961, both shows would run back-to-back on weekday mornings.
Lewis' wife Wanda joined the show in 1956. Initially, Wanda was called "Captain Windy", costumed in a superhero-like outfit during the early days of the show, and was seen "flying" Superman-style before she made her entrance on stage. Her shy, quiet manner inspired colleague Paul Dixon to call her "The Windy One" when they co-starred on their own show.
Uncle Al's show was picked up by ABC from October 18, 1958 until September 19, 1959.
The kids who visited Uncle Al were more than just audience members; most of them were selected to be active participants for different skits on the show. While Wanda would handle the more educational aspects of the show, featuring kids assisting in one way or another, Uncle Al got kids involved as helpers for puppets doing different odd jobs, or he would enlist a child from the crowd on-the-spot to be a barker for games at Uncle Al's circus ("Step right up! Win a prize!"). Then-eight-year-old future film superstar George Clooney appeared in a 1970 episode of Uncle Al playing a ship's captain in one of the show's skits.
By the 1960s, kids who appeared on the show each were given a nametag sticker in the shape of a bow tie modeled after Uncle Al's sartorial trademark. While the kids were told the name tag was a ticket to get in and a souvenir to take home, the primary reason for them was so that Lewis could refer to each child by name. Initially the tags were plain white, but later included the name of the show to one side, and WCPO's "9" logo to the other, with room in the middle for the child's name.
Other activities included dance contests, celebrating birthdays of kids in the audience that day (which was usually done during their trip to the circus near the end of the show) and singing, accompanied by Al himself, who often played either a banjo, a guitar or his trademark accordion singing simple ditties like this one:
"When we sing together songs are such delight..
Har-mo-nee makes the melody right.."
Each day the show would end with Uncle Al, Wanda and the kids all singing a prayer on the air before the kids made their way off the stage:
(they sang the first three lines of the prayer)
"Help me, God, to love you more,
Than I ever did before,
In my work and in my play,
(the last five lines they spoke)
Please be with me through the day,
Thank you for the friends we meet,
Thank you for the food we eat,
Thank you for the birds that sing,
Thank you, God, for everything!"
The cast and the kids would then say their goodbyes and the kids would walk off the set as the closing credits ran. The show's closing theme was the last few verses of the Disney standard It's a Small World written by Robert & Richard Sherman.
Throughout the years The Uncle Al Show remained a perennial ratings champion in Cincinnati, especially when the show ran three times a day. Personalities from competing stations knew they were in trouble when their shows were rescheduled opposite Uncle Al. The show ran an estimated 15,000 episodes, with an estimated 440,000 children having appeared on the show throughout its run.
By 1975, the show had adopted a more educational base, with guest appearances by members of the Cincinnati Police and Fire departments, representatives from the Cincinnati Zoo, educators and many others. But despite the educational enrichments, The Uncle Al Show continued to hold fast to the values the children came to love from day one.
By the early 1980s, demographics were changing, and The Uncle Al Show was not immune. The show was first cut down to a half-hour, and then moved from its weekday slot to an early-morning weekend show. The show was renamed Uncle Al Town with the final episode taped on May 29, 1985. Despite the show coming to an end, both Al and Wanda remained at WCPO to the end of the 1980s.
Al and Wanda both retired to their home, a large farm near Hillsboro, Ohio. But in retirement, the Lewises remained active in their community, and on occasion made personal appearances at festivals and other functions in Cincinnati. Surrounded by his family, Al Lewis died at his Hillsboro home on February 28, 2009 at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife Wanda, his four daughters and his 13 grandchildren.
