| 24 - WMET-TV Pogo's Cartoon Circus "Pogo's Cartoon Circus" was the name of a low-budget, long-forgotten afternoon kid's show from low-powered WMET-TV, Channel 24. No photos from the show are known to exist. The program aired around 1969-71 and was broadcast live from studios in the old Avalon Theatre on Park Heights Avenue. Like all WMET local shows, it was broadcast in glorious black and white. Pogo was a clown who, according to Stephen Appel, a former WMET employee, was played by station announcer Bob Acton. Occasionally Pogo was replaced by a guy with sunglasses and a sombrero. That was WLPL-FM morning man Randy Hilton, who in July, 2001, offered these memories: "The only times I replaced Pogo was when he didn't show up for work that day. I don't recall the Mexican character having a name. Pogo would always refer to me as 'Uncle Randy' who filled in for him while he was out. Those were the days. It was a lot of fun and I'll always remember those experiences in radio and TV. Pogo had a following with kids. Even though it was a small TV station, not much else was on those days for kids in the afternoon." Your obedient webmaster remembers once seeing Pogo lose it with a studio full of cub scouts, bawling them out on camera. Ah, live television! WMET went dark in the early 1970's. |