Life with Snarky Parker (TV series)
A puppet Western serial with no human cast.
Life with Snarky Parker is an American children's television series that aired on CBS in 1950. It was a puppet serial with a Western setting, notable for having no human performers on screen, unlike other early TV puppet shows.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Yul Brynner
- Voices
- Bil Baird
- Country
- United States
- Network
- CBS
- First aired
- 9 January 1950
- Last aired
- 13 October 1950
Facts from the source article.
Premise
The series was set in the town of Hot Rock and followed Snarky Parker, a deputy sheriff studying detective work by correspondence. He loved Miss Butterball, the schoolteacher, and rode a talking horse named Heathcliffe. The villain was Ronald Rodent, and other regulars included Paw and Slugger, a piano player at the Bent Elbow Saloon. The show featured approximately 40 characters.
Production
Yul Brynner served as producer and director. Puppeteers included the Bairds, Frank Fazakas, and Frank Sullivan. Bil Baird voiced Snarky Parker and co-wrote the scripts with Tom Murray and Paul Peterson. The show aired live in black-and-white from CBS studios in Grand Central Station, with broadcast times varying across three periods in 1950.
Critical response
Columnist Alice Hughes called the puppets 'fiendishly clever marionettes' that were 'bafflingly lifelike' and noted she extended her son's bedtime for the show. Critic John Crosby praised the marionettes as 'probably the most ingenious puppets to be seen anywhere on television,' citing a character that played piano, smoked, and talked from the side of his mouth, but found the dialogue 'fairly elementary' and the pace slow. Variety described the format as 'fetching' and the puppet operation as 'excellent,' though the premiere had too much talking.
Snarky Parker short films
The first, 'Gardening Is Fun,' promoted growing North American vegetables. The second, 'A Boy and His Cow,' was a Wild West story glorifying dairy cows. Bil Baird wrote the scripts, directed, arranged music, and played instruments for these films.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Life with Snarky Parker (TV series) first air?
Life with Snarky Parker first aired on 9 January 1950.
When did Life with Snarky Parker (TV series) end?
Life with Snarky Parker last aired on 13 October 1950.
More in 1950s American Children's Television Series
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced