DA-237 Kukla, Fran & Ollie Show ADA-240

Kukla, Fran and Ollie was an early television show using puppets, originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. Like many other early shows, it did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It was first aired from 1947 to 1957.
Fran was Fran Allison, a radio comedienne and singer who was usually the only human to appear on screen, filling the role of big sister and cheery voice of reason as the puppets engaged each other concerning their foibles. The design style of puppets was in the style of Neapolitan puppet shows, or Punch and Judy without the slapstick, but their personalities were less caricatured. The puppet cast included Kukla, the earnest leader of the troupe; Ollie, or Oliver J. Dragon, a roguish one-toothed dragon (who would slam his flat chin on the stage in frustration or roll on his back to be endearing); Madame Oglepuss, a retired opera diva; Beulah Witch, a liberated witch; Fletcher Rabbit, the troupe’s mailman and resident fussbudget; Cecil Bill, the troupe’s union stagehand who spoke in “tooie talk”; Colonel Crackie, a Southern gentleman; Dolores Dragon, Ollie’s younger cousin, and a number of others.