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The Bozo Show aired from 1980 through 1994 on WGN. Bozo’s Circus was renamed The Bozo Show and moved to weekdays at 8:00 a.m., on tape, immediately following Ray Rayner and His Friends. In 1981, The Bozo Show replaced Ray Rayner and His Friends at 7:00 a.m. The program expanded to 90 minutes, the circus acts and Garfield Goose and Friends puppets were dropped, while Cuddly Dudley and more cartoons are added. In 1983, Pat Hurley, from ABC-TV's Kids Are People Too, joined the cast as himself mingling with the studio audience and periodically participating in the sketches. The biggest change occurred in 1984 with the retirement of Bob Bell, with the show still #1 in its timeslot. After a nationwide search, Bell was replaced by Gong Show regular Joey D'Auria, who would play the role of Bozo for the next 17 years. In 1985, Frazier Thomas died and Hurley served as a semi-authority until 1987. Also that year, a synthesizer performed by Andy Mitran as Professor Andy replaced the three-piece Big Top Band. Roy Brown began suffering heart-related problems and was absent from the show for an extended period during the 1991-92 season. Since this coincided with the show's 30th anniversary, a reunion special was produced and Don Sandburg returned to play Sandy, filling in for Cooky for the first two weeks of the season. Actor Adrian Zmed (best known from ABC-TV's T.J. Hooker), who was a childhood fan of Bozo's Circus and former Grand Prize Game contestant, also appeared on the special and portrayed himself as a "Rookie Clown" for the following two weeks. Actor Michael Immel then joined the show as Spiffy (Spifford Q. Fahrquahrrr). Brown returned in January 1992, initially on a part-time basis, but suffered additional health setbacks and took another extended leave of absence in the fall of 1993. Brown's presence on the show remained as previously aired segments as Cooky and Cuddly Dudley were incorporated until 1994, when he and Marshall Brodien retired from television and the show was moved to Sunday mornings and rechristened The Bozo Super Sunday Show on September 11, 1994.
[edit] Characters
| Character |
Actor |
Years |
| Bozo the Clown |
Bob Bell |
1980-1984 |
| Bozo the Clown |
Joey D'Auria |
1984-1994 |
| Cooky the Cook |
Roy Brown |
1980-1994 |
| Spiffy the Clown |
Michael Immel |
1991-1994 |
| Wizzo the Wizard |
Marshall Brodien |
1980-1994 |
| Professor Andy |
Andy Mitran |
1987-1994 |
[edit] External links
United States
