The Great Foodini (1948–1951) User Reviews

One of the first TV shows for kids

[emmayne · 9/10 · 25 November 2008]

This show was produced in New york, & sent to various other cities from there. The name of the show was "The adventures of Lucky Pup" & later became known as Foodini & Pinhead. There was also a character, a clown, called Jojo, I think. The show began in 1948, and ran into the 1950's. The presenters had been touring puppeteers for many years before starting this show, and it made them famous. It was shown every evening at about 6:30, Monday thru Friday, with kinescope repeats on Saturday. I remember that TV was such a novelty in 1948, with very little on in 1948 (I think there was CBS, NBC, and the Dumont network, broadcasting for several hours a day), that we sat & watched "Lucky Pup" from our dinner table. Considering that we had a 12 inch TV (the largest there was), we must have had great distance vision to see the TV in the living room from the dining room. That TV/radio/record player cost my father $1000 in 1948. A great deal of money back then! So it wasn't just a kids show. People would watch whatever was on, and were astounded. But I remember we were all amused, and that it was a really entertaining half-hour show.

Additional info on "Lucky Pup" from childhood recollections

[bjmitchell · 7/10 · 30 October 2007]

This show, one of the very first I saw, supposedly starred a dog who inherited I think it was a million dollars. By the time I came onto the viewer scene (early 1950), the pup was long gone from the show--roadkill perhaps?--and Pinhead and Foodini had become the principal characters by public demand. Foodini was an incompetent Svengali and Pinhead was his good-soldier-Schweik-type sidekick and mark. The program opened to music from "The Nutcracker" and Pinhead & Foodini later starred in a comic book series of their own.

One episode of this program (maybe two) is available for public viewing in NYC and Beverly Hills at the offices of the recently renamed institution formerly known as The Museum of Television and Radio. Kinescope quality is terrible not to mention the sound, but the lead characters' Punch 'N Judy antics come through five decades quite clearly. (Or think Moe and Curly antics.)

Very Early Children's Show from the Dawn of TV

[barontroll-1 · 23 March 2007]

Return to the days of yesteryear, with Foodini the magician and his assistant Pinhead. Lucky Pup was a TV show, I think 15 minutes in length on Saturday mornings in the early 1950's and one of the first TV shows I ever saw.

In addition to the characters Foodini had a magic talking portrait that inspired the line "Portraits should be seen and not heard."

Although the show was officially entitled "Lucky Pup," many of my generation (war babies) called the show Pinhead and Foodini. If it were not for the IMDb I was about to doubt the existence of this show and thought it might have been a figment of my imagination. However finding it on IMDb restored my faith in my memory of early TV.

great memories

[stanneus · 10/10 · 13 November 2010]

I, too, have fond memories of this show, and would like to add a few here. (1) Foodini had a wicked and evil laugh. (2) When Pinhead displeased or disobeyed him, Foodini would extend his arm toward Pinhead and say "rigid!", and Pinhead would freeze in place. (3) Pinhead had a twin brother named Birdbrain. A few years back, I saw an excerpt of an old kieniscope on the net; the show had very primitive production values, the puppets were poorly crafted, there was no scenery to speak of, and the lighting was basic. But what kid noticed that 60 years ago? I loved that show, which I watched on a Dumont (?) TV, a huge piece of furniture (to house the huge vacuum tubes of the era) with a tiny screen

My favorite show while it lasted - some specific memories

[bdberman · 10/10 · 1 December 2017]

I was about 10 years old when Foodini and Pinhead came into my little life. It quickly became my favorite TV show (Milton Berle and Tom Corbett Space Cadet being tied for second). To add to a comment of another reviewer, I remember that, when Foodini wanted to control Pinhead, he would yell: "Concentrate, Concentrate - Rigid".I also remember that Pinhead had a brother - Tinhead. I was madly in love with Doris Brown. Finally, though I hate to admit it, one of my classmates, Paulette, gave me Pinhead as a nickname, and, even worse, my closest lifelong friend still insist on calling me that (in other ways he is a mature physician). I would kill to find one of the old kine scopes.

Ond of the finest of the TV puppet/marionette shows of that era.

[arakaczky · 2 November 2009]

The Lucky Pup Show theme music was from "The Nutcracker", specifically, the "Trepak". It became one of my favorite pieces of classical music. I was always amused by the constant battle between Foodini and his arch-enemy, Superhetrodini. And, of course, Foodini's constant blackmailing of Pinhead for the latter's run-up of a massive bill for hair restorer at the local drugstore. I seem to remember that Lucky Pup had a butler called Hotchkiss. The puppet shows of that era were my best entertainment, including Snarky Parker; Kukla, Fran and Ollie and others. Lucky Pup was my favorite show, because of the unique special effects, such as Foodini's habit of disappearing in a puff of ectoplasm.

Music. Kinescopes.

[dubin-2 · 15 July 2007]

I loved this when I was a child. I seem to recall it used classical music as its intro? Does anyone else remember this? Does anyone know of FULL kine-scopes that are available? There are some short clips on YouTube, but nothing complete. In many ways Lucky Pup was like Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and both have a bit of the humor of the subsequently developed Rocky and Bullwinkle. I find it interesting to look back at the old TV I watched as a child. It allows me to get a sense of what influenced my development. I recall that my mother thought Captain video was violent, but when I found parts of a few episodes online, they were not only tame but appropriately moralistic for the late 40s.

Lucky Pup, Doris Brown, and Foodini

[bberthol · 22 June 2009]

Doris Brown, the actress who conversed with the puppets, died several years ago. I believe her son lives in Southold, NY. As children, my brother and I had matte 8 1/2 by 11 photos the show sent out, and I hazily recall our own Pinhead puppet. Foodini was supposedly insultingly named after Eugene Fubini, an engineer at the CBS network, who gained prominence during the war jamming Nazi radar and later did outstanding work for the Department of Defense and IBM.

Here's a review of "Lucky Pup" from Time Magazine: "In Lucky Pup CBS has the most literate children's show on Eastern TV. A considerable part of its adult-appeal is supplied by telegenic Doris Brown, who introduces the various characters: Lucky Pup, a dog playboy with a $5,000,000 inheritance; Foodini, an evil but outstandingly inefficient magician; Pinhead, an amiable stooge, and Jolo, a clown."