This Monday - Rob Sherman on The Dave and Dave Show

Atheist Activist Rob Sherman appears on The Dave and Dave Show to talk about the repeal of the "Moment of Silence Ban", a school board member who uses his military dress uniform on his campaign web site for political purposes and many more controversial items in the news.

Santa visits The Dave and Dave Show

This Monday at 620 PM 

Bill Jackson to appear on The Dave and Dave Show Monday December 13th at 6 PM

WFLD followed up with "Cartoon Town with Bill Jackson." Now WGN-TV had something to worry about. Jackson, a talented cartoonist, writer, and producer with a stable of puppet characters (all voiced by Jackson himself) was the first person to shake up the WGN-TV kingdom. His characters are just as memorable today as any that appeared on WGN-TV. Who can forget "Dirty Dragon" and "Mother Plumtree"? "The Lemon Joke Kid" and "The Old Professor"? Not to mention "The Thumptwangers!" Arguably the most popular character on the show wasn't a puppet at all but just a mound of molding clay! "The Blob," as he was affectionately known, would rant in unintelligible (except to Jackson) outbursts, who would then proceed to mold Blob into whatever he wanted to be that day. Today more people remember "The Blob" than any other character on the series.




Jackson cut his teeth on live television in Ft. Wayne Indiana as host of a show called Popeye & The Little Rascals Club. After two years he moved to Indianapolis where he stayed for three years. It was at this station that Jackson created the character of "Dirty Dragon" fashioned after a dear friend of his. In 1965 he came to Chicago and hosted Clown Alley (as "Freckles" the clown) on WBBM-TV where "Dirty Dragon" made his first Chicago appearance. It ran for less than two years against brutal competition from WGN-TV's Ray Rayner & Friends.



An additional problem with Clown Alley (and it's weekend counterpart Here Comes Freckles) was that WBBM-TV, in all their wisdom, scheduled Jackson's show to start five minutes after the hour (at 6:35 am) and ended it five minutes before the hour (6:55 am) . Naturally no one thought to tune in because of the odd time. Jackson referred to the show as "the best kept secret in Chicago!" Interestingly, Ted Turner would try this idea starting his programming five minutes after the hour, on his WTBS super station with much better results.



In 1968, with sponsor Maurice Lenell Cookies in tow, Cartoon Town with Bill Jackson premiered over WFLD. And it's audience struggled to find it. WFLD had only been on the air for less than two years when Cartoon Town premiered. Many homes did not have sets that received the UHF channels- so the folks that did have UHF became the most popular people on the block! After awhile the series found it's audience and eventually managed to beat out WGN's Garfield Goose & Friends.



WGN-TV, aghast at being one-upped by a lowly UHF'er, moved "Garfield" to mornings. In it's place, they scheduled reruns of The Flintstones and Batman. With competition like that, a locally produced kids show didn't have a chance. Jackson then convinced WFLD to change the format to a stage revue with life size characters and a studio audience. The title was changed to The B.J. & Dirty Dragon Show. and moved to the most coveted spot for a kids show in Chicago, 12 noon, up against the mighty Bozo! The idea looked like a winner based on the success that Jackson had with his live stage shows around the Chicago area.



However the idea bombed on television and the show soon reverted back to the original format but retained the new name. The timeslot changed one more time and away from the big B. Jackson did manage to keep two of his dancers from the live show, Nancy Wettler and Ian Harris, and used them as puppeteers in the third and final version. With the new talent and a crack production crew, Jackson considers this version of the series as his favorite. It was on this series that Jackson and his crew produced the extremely popular cliff hanger serials and the MTV-like videos of "The Thumptwangers." The ratings improved but then Field sold the station to Kaiser Broadcasting. Kaiser, with it's own agenda, quickly bounced the show from it's schedule.



After a short break and moving to New York to do a show called B.J.'s Bunch at WNBC, he commuted back and forth to Chicago to do another version of Cartoon Town set in Carefree Corners for none other than former rival WGN-TV. The show aired for one year, but Jackson felt out of place and the station really didn't know what to do with him. Unwisely, his show was scheduled in the old Romper Room timeslot, but Jackson's show was not really geared for pre-schoolers and the humor went over it's audience's heads.



Jackson managed one more hurrah when he sold Gigglesnort Hotel to WLS-TV where the show aired Sunday mornings. The show, complete with all the "Cartoon Town" characters as well as a few new ones designed especially for the series, eventually was sold into national and international syndication. In it's short three years on the air (Jackson was again victim to a change in management when new management at WLS-TV cancelled the series) Gigglesnort won two (long overdue) Emmy awards as well as a program director's award for best locally produced children's show in the nation.

Jackson then left the windy city and children's television and took a job teaching at California's Cal-Arts Institute where he stayed for 11 and half years. The 78 episodes of Gigglesnort Hotel series can still be seen in several markets including at one time in the early 1990s, in South America.

For those who just can't get enough of Bill Jackson and his characters, help is only a click away! Jackson's web site offers videos of Cartoon Town and Gigglesnort Hotel as well as photos, original comics, and paintings recently done by Jackson himself. Check it all out at: www.dirtydragon.com and tell him The Video Veteran sent you!

Gary "Radar" Burghoff on The Dave and Dave Show

Gary will will be joining the Dave and Dave Show for a talk about his new autobiography, GARY BURGHOFF: TO M*A*S*H AND BACK - MY LIFE IN POEMS AND SONGS. To millions of faithful television viewers, Gary Burghoff will always be Walter "Radar" O'Reilly, the lovable telepathic assistant to Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H. But the man behind the bespectacled TV Land icon is a true Renaissance man. He's a classically trained stage actor, a jazz musician, an environmentalist, a poet, a songwriter, an inventor, a wildlife artist, and now - a writer.
In this intensely personal memoir, the author takes you on his journey from his family's home in Wisconsin to his successful carreer on the New York stage, from the Hollywood film version of M*A*S*H to the hit television show, from the challenges of married life to the rewards of single fatherhood. Often funny, occationally poignant and always honest, To M*A*S*H and Back is an account you will long remember.

Is it too soon to talk Holiday Movies?

From the Movie Show on The Radio, Film Critic Mike Mayo talks movies, from Harry Potter  to Tron Legacy and more. We will also talk pet peeves and when is the best time to run Christmas Music. That and your phone calls at 847-931-1410.

Tonights show- 11/08-2010

My concession speech to America.   Can Boys dress like girls on Halloween without parents disaproval and Rock and Roll will never forget, especially when being taught in a class room.. all that and Hot topics on The next Dave and Dave Show..

On tonights show..Judika Illes- author

Judika Illes is the author of non-fiction books of folklore, folkways and mythology about the subjects of the occult, magic, divination, spiritualism, fairies, witchcraft and the paranormal. A certified aromatherapy consultant, she has taught introductory courses on the subject at Australasian College (2000–2002), and practices taromancy.



Judika Illes (2009)On her personal website, Judika explains that her interest in divination began while playing with a Tarot deck at the age of six. Her first Tarot deck was the Builders of the Adytum (BOTA) deck, which she described in a 2005 interview as "formidable and very esoteric," an unusual starter for a child of her age.[1]



In an interview with Facing North, she attributed a childhood spent in the culturally diverse Queens borough of New York City as a significant influence on her writing career. During her teen years, Judika frequented New York bookstores such as Magickal Childe and Samuel Weiser's, known for their metaphysical and occult collections, and Latino botanicas[2]



She worked as a "telephone psychic" for Psychic Friends Network from 1991 to 1993.



Judika Illes has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications from Rutgers College and earned a Graduate Certificate in Aromatherapy[3] from the American College of Healthcare Sciences (previously known as the Australasian College of Health Sciences) in 1999. Her writing interests include mythology, folklore, astrology, spellcasting, spirit-working, herbalism and traditional healing.



Her last name, Illes, is pronounced as you would with the "Ph" omitted from "Phyllis." Judith Illes was used as the byline for some of her Tour Egypt articles, rather than her Hungarian name, Judika.