The Old Rebel and crew during the 60's

Most kids of my generation remember growing up with Captain Kangaroo or Mister Rogers but if you happened to be a child in the Piedmont region of North Carolina during the 50’s, 60’s or 70’s then you had access to a very special bit of children’s programming known as The Old Rebel Show.

Aside from the fact that the host assumed the persona of a retired Confederate soldier and probable slave owner, something that surely wouldn’t fly in these more politically correct times, The Old Rebel Show was a treat for children for all races (NOTE: much like the television show in NC ethnicities only came in black and white at the time) as long as they lived within the limited range of the WFMY broadcast tower. That is to say you were pushing it if your house was further than a 20 mile radius from Greensboro.

Lucky for me, my father had a hobby of repairing television equipment. Not only did we have a TV in nearly every room but we also had a monster of a directional antennae jutting about 40 feet above our house. While my friends had to watch the Old Rebel through a snowstorm of interference, I enjoyed my kids programming with crystal clarity. Hell, the image on my 17-inch black-n-white was almost HD-like.

For nearly 30 years, the Rebel entertained audiences with a mixture of songs, skits, clowns, and cartoons.  The humor was kinda slapstick and certainly not pandering like the Barney Dinosaur dribble today’s kids are subjected to. And much like the show’s title the southern seditionist spirit carried over to the fan club theme song:

The massive antennae still towers over my childhood home.

“Some of us are rebels

And some are buckaroos

And we are very helpful

From our helmets to our shoes

And when we’re asked to lend a hand

We never do refuse.

‘Cause some of us are rebels 
and some are buckaroos.”

The Old Rebel also had a steady stream of guest appearances from just about every child in the Triad. In fact, I had my television debut on the show and got to play the “name game” with the Rebel. Though my only real memory of the filming was being annoyed at the studio crew blocking my view of the monitors showing the cartoons while we were taping. I clearly had my priorities straight.

Perhaps succumbing to the pressures of the civil rights movement in the 70’s, the show made an attempt to shed the Civil War connotation that it’s name suggests. Below is a rare video of the opening credits during the last few years the show was on the air. Notice the stock footage of African American children playing with fire hydrants in the urban streets (not within 300 miles of the broadcast area) interspersed with affluent white children raking leaves in front of their plantation-like suburban homes.

The Old Rebel Show went off the air in 1978 leaving a vacuum in local children’s programming that was quickly filled by the bizarre afternoon show Barney’s Army and it’s semi-interactive phone/video game hybrid known as TV Pow.

George Perry, who lived the role of Old Rebel for 3 decades passed away in 1980 and a large chunk of television history went with him. You can send those cardigan sweaters back to the land of make believe and put those marsupial-monikered naval officers out of service. For my money, there was nothing better than growing up watching the antics of The Old Rebel. George you are missed.

Links:

TV Party Site dedicated to The Old Rebel Show

Video interview with the Old Rebel’s Son and Co-host

Barney’s Army Site