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wHO COULD FORGET wALLACE & lADMO i COULD NOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT
SHOW. tHEY MADE LIFE BETTER FOR SO MANY, AND THEY GAVE SO MUCH TO THE COMMUNITY.
WE MISS THEM SO MUCH. bE SURE TO WATCH Pat McMahon ON KAZ tv AS HE
SHOWS SOME GREAT STUFF FROM SHOWS IN THE PAST. YOU CAN WATCH IT ON cHANNEL
27 IN THE PHOENIX AREA.
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Information from the KAZ TV web site Wallace (Bill Thompson) and Ladmo (Ladimir Kwiatkowski) were born three and a half years and 408 miles apart from each other, but arrived at the studios of KPHO-TV in Phoenix only a few months apart from each other in the early 50s.
Both worked behind the scenes, but it was Bill Thompson (as Wallace Snead) who found himself on the air first, as a character on the "Golddust Charlie"Show. Within a year, the bit part spawned personal appearances and a new show: "It's Wallace". Packed with old cartoons of Krazy Kat and Crusader Rabbit, ratings show 20% of the supposed kids' show audience is adults.
A year after "It's Wallace" debuted, Wallace asked Lad to do a bit on the show. Lad forgot his line...and was an immediate hit. The show's name didn't change to "Wallace & Ladmo" for another decade or so...but there was no doubt that this was a team...a team with the highest-rated show in town!
In 1960, the team added a third member, the amazingly versatile Pat McMahon, who created memorable characters like Aunt Maud, Captain Super, Marshall Good, Boffo the Clown and (seen here in his earliest incarnation) Gerald.
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Combining fun for kids and sly, often topical, humor for adults, the Wallace & Ladmo show rolled on for 35 years...ultimately becoming the longest-running show in TV history.
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