Timeline

1810 - I'm sorry, this timeline only covers the twentieth century...for previous or future centuries please try The Time Machine.

October 1918 - Kenneth John Joseph Kennedy is born in Chicago, Illinios and raised on the vaudeville circuit by parents Tom and Gertrude Kennedy (The Dancing Kennedys).

July 13, 1928 - Ladimir Kwiatkowski is born in Cleveland, Ohio to Walter and Florence Kwiatkowski. Walter was a Cleveland juvenile police detective, and the family were devout Catholics.

December 18, 1931 - Bill Thompson is born in New York City to William and Marie Thompson. William was an investment manager who worked on the second floor of the Empire State Building, the irony of which drove young Bill nuts! Bill is the first of 3 children for the Thompsons, to be followed by brothers Boyce and Tony.

1934 - The Thompson family moves to Bronxville, 20 miles north of New York City in Westchester County. Soon after, Bill starts his lifelong hobby of collecting toy soldiers. This picture from 1936 shows Bill with his mother and his brother Boyce (hmmm....somewhere out here is the Boyce Thompson Arboretum....I wonder?).

? - John Patrick McMahon is born in Leavenworth, Kansas (his mother's home town) to Jack and Adelaide McMahon, vaudeville performers known as "McMahon & Adelaide". He lives on the road with his parents until age 13 when he is enrolled in a college preparatory boarding school in Des Moines, Iowa.

1946 - Ken Kennedy moves to Phoenix after performing for troops around the world in the USO.

1947 - The Lew King Show debuts on local radio, showcasing local talent and encouraging kids to open savings accounts. Every Saturday morning, a "meeting" is held at the Fox Theater, where kids could audition to be on the radio show. King and his sidekick, Chief Savumwampum, make regular personal appearances around the Valley, including store openings, community events, and the Arizona State Fair.

? - As near as I can figure, Micheal Condello was born sometime between 1946 and 1948 in New York City. When his parents divorced, his mother, Mae Pepper, brought young Micheal to Phoenix.

? - Bill Thompson starts writing kids' stories featuring a character named Wallace Snead sometime in the late '40s. He even draws pictures of what Wallace Snead looks like, down to the last detail.

December 4, 1949 - KPHO becomes first local television station in Phoenix.

? - Ladimir Kwiatkowski leaves Cleveland along with a few high school buddies to attend Arizona State College where the climate will allow them to play baseball year-round.

1950 - Bill Thompson graduates from Bronxville High in New York.

1950 - The Lew King Show becomes a weekly television program. The Saturday "meetings" continue to find local talent for the show, and King discoveries include Wayne Newton and Tanya Tucker.

? - Ken Kennedy is hired by KPHO after a chance encounter with one of the owners. Kennedy shines as a talented writer, producer, director, photographer, reporter, and actor. One of his assignments is to write, produce, and direct Lew King's "First Federal Rangers" with King.

? - The Stapley Caravan, a western musical program produced and directed by Ken Kennedy, introduces Goldust Charlie character. Kennedy is cast in the role of Goldust after one of his bosses overhears him acting out the character for the performer originally hired to play it. The character caught on, but The Stapley Caravan didn't. It went off the air soon after.

? - The Goldust Charlie Show airs weekdays from 4 - 5 p.m. showing Our Gang comedies and old Western films. Charlie ran a general store that had been bypassed by the freeway and thus did very little business, so Charlie entertained the local kids by showing the films on an old projector. There was no script for the show, just a format.

? - Bill Thompson begins entertaining another life-long passion... Civil War re-enactments.

1951 - Lad Kwiatkowski leads Arizona State in hitting with a .358 average, including a triple, two doubles, and a single against the University of Arizona.

March 31, 1951 - Ladimir Kwiatkowski marries Patsy Killough. They eventually have 3 boys (Kim, Robin, and Jamie) and 2 girls (Debra and Shari).

1952 - Lad Kwiatkowski is made captain of the baseball team at Arizona State, brings respect to the program at a time when official statistics were not even kept. Around this time Lad starts writing a column on football called Kwiat's Kwikies for Arizona State's daily newspaper, The State Press.

1952 - Bill Thompson marries Donna Cope and heads west to Arizona. Eventually, they have three kids: Carrie, Annie, and Tony. Bill's first job in Phoenix was in the circulation department of The Phoenix Gazette, but he was determined to get a job at KPHO so he stopped there every other month to see if there were any openings.

1953 - Ladimir Kwiatkowski graduates from Arizona State College with a journalism degree and is offered a chance to play for a Cleveland Indians farm team, but Lad "saw the future in television". The next morning he applies at KPHO, and starts working 4 hours later. Lad helps produce live shows, and eventually becomes a cameraman.

January 1954 - Bill Thompson hired by KPHO as studio hand. By this time, Bill has been collecting toy soldiers for 18 years and has over 1,000 figures. At some point he gets to show them on t.v.

June 1954 - Wallace Snead makes his first appearance on the Goldust Charlie show.

? - Wallace ad-libs the line "You don't like me!" during a scolding by Goldust, which brings production of this live show to a halt for 5 minutes until the crew could stop laughing. The line becomes a catch-phrase (remember The Simpsons episode where Bart knocks over props on the Krusty show and blurts out "I didn't do it!"?) and Wallace becomes the talk-of-the-town.

? - Wallace starts making personal appearances at schools and stores throughout the Valley, giving out prizes and holding contests.

September 1954 - Wallace makes his first appearance on the cover of local publication T.V. Views magazine, with his catch-phrase beside him.

October 1954 - Wallace does a stage show with Goldust Charlie at the Arizona State Fair.

? - Program director Bob Martin buys a package of cartoons which includes Krazy Kat and Scrappy from the '30s and '40s, and Jay North's Crusader Rabbit.

January 1955 - It's Wallace? premiers, airing Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:30 - 7 p.m.

? - Surveys reveal that adults account for 20 percent of It's Wallace?'s audience.

? - Near as I can reckon, this is about the time that Pat McMahon enters St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa. He studies theater, radio, and television. While still in school Pat, on a whim, applies for a job at local radio station KSTT for a clerical position, but the program director likes his outgoing personality and hires him as a disc jockey, giving him the enviable afternoon drive time slot. Pat plays his favorite records, which include Fats Domino and Little Richard, and becomes a hero and revolutionary for the times to his fellow college students. Eventually, Pat ventured out to do commercials in other Midwestern cities, including Chicago.

Summer 1955 - Lad begins a summer pee-wee and rookie baseball league at Tempe High School which keeps Tempe's kids busy weekdays from 8 - 10 a.m.

January 1956 - Thompson talks Kwiatkowski into joining him on-camera for a skit. Lad forgets his line, becomes an immediate hit! Thus is Ladmo born.

? - The Toy Cottage debuts.

? - Ladmo and Wallace start doing personal appearances together every weekend, decide that every appearance should be a show so they add a ventriloquist, a magician, and two young country singers to their live show.

? - Ken Kennedy builds a western set in Cave Creek, Wallace and Ladmo start using it to make their own short films for the television show.

? - The Goldust Charlie Show and It's Wallace? are combined into It's Wallace? With Goldust Charlie, airing weekdays from 4 - 5 p.m.

? - A 4th-Grader named Michael Condello appears on It's Wallace?, presumably to pick out a toy from the Toy Cottage. I don't know what he chose.

? - The Lew King Show and It's Wallace? start cross-promoting each other as Lew appears frequently on It's Wallace? and Wallace and Ladmo appear frequently at King's "meetings".

June 1956 - It's Wallace? has the highest rating of any daytime show in Phoenix and is the only local show in Arbitron's Top 10.

Summer 1956 - Wallace Watchers Fan Club is organized, reaching 4,023 members within a month.

September 1956 - Wallace and Ladmo appear at Shamrock Dairy's Grand Opening Celebration in Phoenix. Shamrock becomes the largest sponsor of It's Wallace? and quickly develops a solid relationship with the show.

December 1956 - It's Wallace? can now also be seen on weekends from 6 - 7 p.m.

1957 - Wallace and Ladmo do weekly stage shows at the Fox Theater in downtown Phoenix without Lew King. They also start taking their stage show out of the Valley to other Arizona towns. By now, they were doing as many stage shows as broadcasts.

1957 - Wallace and Ladmo work hard on further developing their characters, get new costumes. Wallace trades his beanie for a straw hat, then gets a haircut. Ladmo starts wearing a HUGE tie.

September 1957 - 2500 kids and parents mob the first of two shows at the grand opening of Diamond's department store, while the second show drew another 2000. This appearance was only mentioned twice on-air during the previous week. KPHO's sales staff starts using stories of chaos at stage shows as a selling point to potential sponsors.

? - More characters are developed to add interest and spontaneity to the show.

? - KPHO aquires the Warner Bros. library of cartoons for It's Wallace?

1958 - Pat McMahon is drafted into the army, but manages to get assigned to one of the Army's touring theatrical groups and spends the next two years travelling around the world entertaining military personnel and civilians.

Summer 1958 - Wallace and Ladmo appear at the Paramount Theater every Wednesday morning to give away toys from the Toy Cottage. It's Wallace? adds 30 more minutes to weekday broadcasts, now on from 3:30 - 5 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., Wallace and Ladmo host 30 minutes of Woody Woodpecker cartoons sponsored by Kelloggs.

? - Wallace and Ladmo drive-in restaurants start appearing around the Valley.

1959 - Wallace and Ladmo host Laura Scudder's Junior Auction, broadcast Saturdays from 4 - 4:30 p.m.

Late 1959 - It's Wallace? reaches over 45,000 fans daily.

? - Wallace and Ladmo's costumes start evolving as Ladmo starts wearing boots and striped shirts, and Wallace eliminates his striped clown coat.

Early 1960 - It's Wallace? reaches 65,000 fans daily.

1960 - Cannonball Junction is filmed over two weekends and features nearly 100 people. Running 8 minutes long, it is one of the first Civil War reenactments filmed in Arizona.

? - Wallace and Ladmo's costumes continue evolving as Wallace starts looking more like the Hawaiin Punch guy with a shirt that normally matched his hat band (or vice-versa). Both Wallace and Ladmo start favoring solid-colored shorts and slacks over the striped ones they used to wear.

? - Pat McMahon winds up in Colorado at the end of his military tour-of-duty and plans to head to New York to try to break into broadcasting there, after a quick trip to Phoenix to soak up some sunshine. On his first day in Phoenix he happens to turn on the t.v. when It's Wallace? is on. Before he can change the channel, he immediately realizes that he's found something special, and decides that he wants to be a part of it. He applies at all 4 television stations that now exist in Phoenix, and as luck would have it, manages to get hired on-the-spot at KPHO to replace a longtime news anchor who had just left to become a legislator. Whenever he could, he made his way to the set of It's Wallace?, "Just to sit in the wings again and watch".

May 1960 - It's Wallace? wins 2 Emmy Awards: Best Local Entertainment, and Best Children's Show.

August 1960 - Pat McMahon appears on It's Wallace? for the first time.

1960 - Aunt Maud (pronounced "mod") makes her first appearance on the show.

1961 - Lad was coaching night baseball leagues for kids 10 - 18, and he also became active in the Jaycees. The Tempe Junior Chamber of Commerce presents him with the "Man Of The Year Award" for outstanding community service.

Early 1961 - Aunt Maud appears with Wallace and Ladmo at the grand opening of Park Central Mall.

Spring 1961 - Wallace and Ladmo Park opens at 27th Avenue and Osborn, featuring about a dozen rides and a picnic area for Birthday parties.

1961 - Pat McMahon is finally added to the It's Wallace? payroll.

May 1961 - It's Wallace? wins 2 more Emmy Awards: Best Children's Show and Best Local Entertainment.

October 1961 - The Wallace Sunday Show premiers, broadcast 4 - 5 p.m. Sundays. Family-oriented, the show features comedy sketches and the best of the Warner Bros. cartoons.

1961 - Pat McMahon is called to active duty by the Arizona National Guard after the Berlin Wall is erected, and his sendoff is one of the only times he appears on the show as himself.

December 1961 - The Wallace Sunday Show goes off the air.

January 1962 - The Wallace Sunday Show returns as a monthly adult-oriented program showcasing local acts, broadcast 7 - 8 p.m.

1962 - Mr. Grudgmeyer makes his first appearance while McMahon is still away.

1962 - Wallace meets 15-year-old North High sophomore Mike Condello, a successful local musician, while scouting local acts for the Sunday Show. Mike had actually appeared on It's Wallace? 6 years earlier.

May 1962 - The Wallace Sunday Show wins an Emmy for Most Outstanding Achievement in the Field Of Local Entertainment.

May 1962 - Wallace is named producer of new show Teen Beat, a 30-minute showcase of live local music. Wallace names Pat host of the new show, but since Pat is still overseas with the National Guard, Wallace fills in as host until Pat returns. Wallace hires Condello's group as house band for the new show.

1962 - Mike starts appearing on It's Wallace? as himself wearing a vest, striped shirt, and a funny Robin Hood/Pinnochio style hat. Wallace names him music director.

Later in 1962 - McMahon returns! (Unfortunately, the Berlin Wall remained standing for a few more years.)

? - Legend City opens, and Wallace and Ladmo are there every weekend, doing stage shows and hosting Birthday parties. This relationship continued through multiple owners and financial difficulties for the park until the park finally closed in 1978 (Web Author's Note: this is according to "35 Years Of Laughter", the book by Richard Ruelas and Michael Sweeney. However, I recall going to Legend City while in High School (Class of '83). Part of my confusion lies in the fact that part of Legend City, yet separate, was Compton Terrace. Owned by Jess Nicks (Stevie's father), Compton Terrace was an outdoor ampitheater where some of the biggest concerts were held. I went to many concerts there during the early '80s, and I'm pretty sure that Legend City was still open. As a matter of fact, I'm sure of it. I saw Fleetwood Mac there on their Tusk tour in 1980 (Christopher Cross opened the show) and I'm pretty darn sure that I rode some rides that day. And I remember July 4, 1983. I had just graduated and had just started dating the girl of my dreams. We were at Legend City which was having a special fireworks show that night. Glowsticks were brand spankin' new as necklaces, and I bought a bunch of them in assorted colors for my girlfriend and her best friend, who was hanging out with us. The three of us slipped into the empty ampitheater just before sunset and I'll never forget climbing onto the stage and thinking of all the people who I had seen perform on that stage, including or maybe especially Wallace and Ladmo, and I remember telling my girlfriend that someday I would play on that stage. Then we laid on the grass and watched fireworks exploding directly overhead and I distictly remember thinking that I had never been directly underneath exploding fireworks before and how truly cool it was. That was definitely a Legend City event and not a Compton Terrace event, and I'm 100% sure it was July 4, 1983. As far as seeing Wallace and Ladmo there after 1978, well...I'm not sure, but I really think so. At any rate, I'm pretty sure that the last concert that I ever saw at Compton Terrace was Stevie Nicks And Friends, with the same girlfriend in mid-1984. Soon after, Compton Terrace moved to Firebird Lake and Legend City closed for good (and my girlfriend married someone else, and that's how I remember the dates). -end of WebMaster's notes).

June 1963 - Gerald makes his debut on It's Wallace? during the last week of June, causing trouble every day that week.

July 3, 1963 - Gerald makes his first live appearance at a special 4th of July stage show at Papago Plaza. 1000 kids rush the stage, forcing him to run for his life. He ends up locking himself in the cab of a pickup truck. As the mob of kids rocked the truck back and forth, Wallace said to Ladmo, "I think we're on to something!"

1963 - Lad is named one of the state's "Outstanding Young Men" by the Arizona Junior Chamber of Commerce.

? - Gerald gets a monster!

? - Wallace and Ladmo airs weekdays from 4 - 5:15 p.m.

1964 - Hub Kapp and the Wheels make their first appearance on It's Wallace?

February 1964 - Wallace and Ladmo celebrate their 10th anniversary.

February 1964 - Pat McMahon hosts new show, Take Five, airing Monday nights at 9:30 p.m. This show covered jazz and country music along with rock 'n' roll and featured comedy routines between acts.

Early 1964 - Hub Kapp and the Wheels record their first 45 single, "Let's Really Hear It" with "Work, Work", which sells 5000 copies in the Phoenix Metro area and replace the Beatles in the #1 spot on the local charts. Capitol Records immediately signs Hub to a record deal.

April 1964 - The Kersten Brothers create a comic strip for Wallace and Ladmo that runs in Valley newspaper The Evening American. The strip is appropriately called "Wallace and Ladmo".

May 1964 - Pat McMahon is awarded an Emmy for Most Outstanding Local Television Personality.

June 1964 - Take Five goes off the air.

July 21, 1964 - The Ladmo Show premiers, airing weekdays from Noon - 1 p.m. Joining Ladmo on the show are Mike Condello, Mr. Grudgmeyer, and It's Wallace? regular Harvey Trundle (played by Brian Donohue). The format was similar to It's Wallace? with cartoons and comedy sketches. Much of the action took place in a park setting. Mike started writing parodies of popular songs and formed "The Ladmo Trio" with Ladmo and Harvey, performing about three songs a week on the show for the next year.

1964 - The Ladmo Trio pops up from time to time on It's Wallace?, and Mike starts writing The Ladmo Civic Operas with Ladmo for It's Wallace? These little musical segments parodied Broadway musicals and usually contained about 5 songs each.

1964 - Captain Super makes his first appearance on It's Wallace?

August 6, 1964 - Wallace and Ladmo host the Sealtest Snowball Fight at Phoenix Municipal Stadium at 7:00 p.m. Tons of crushed ice were trucked in for the event. 12,000 kids showed up and each recieved a free Sealtest ice cream bar. 100 kids were selected for a special snowball fight against Gerald, who was protected by a snow fort built out of the crushed ice. The kids destroyed Gerald's fort, and he had to be sheltered by security guards as he tried to flee the stadium. The whole event was free, as were rides at nearby Legend City for the rest of the night.

January 18, 1965 - I was born at St. Joseph's Hospital on 3rd Avenue and Thomas Road in Phoenix at 7:02 p.m., and adopted by Bud and Sande Davidson of Glendale. My two-year-old brother Keith made sure that I never missed either show

1965 - The Ladmo Bag debuts, replaces The Toy Cottage as the primary prize-distribution method. The Ladmo Bag was actually Pat's idea.

1965 - Marshall Good and Boffo the Clown make their first appearances on It's Wallace?, drawing more adult viewers. Ratings soared and stage shows continued to be packed.

? - Occassionally, Wallace dresses like Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp, complete with Derby. But normally he still dresses like the Hawaiin Punch guy. Ladmo now wears a striped shirt and polka-dotted tie almost exclusively.

1965 - Pat McMahon tries to sell the show to other markets without the knowledge of KPHO management, gets fired when management finds out. Pat starts singing with Mike's group at the Band Box, a rock-and-roll go-go club on 19th Avenue and Campbell in Phoenix. Soon after, local radio station KRIZ hires McMahon as a disc jockey, and he quickly ascends to program director. Pat took the station to number 1, and in fact, Billboard magazine named KRIZ "Station Of The Year".

1965 - Inspector Blitz, played by Red McIlvane, appears on It's Wallace? and The Ladmo Show to help fill the void created by Pat's absence. Blitz was a kid's show cop who put a stop to all the fun just as it was getting good.

? - Pat McMahon is allowed to return to It's Wallace? after 9 months (and he does, but he still keeps the radio gig).

? - The Munchkins debut as Mike, Lad, and Pat parody around 3 popular songs each week.

July or August 1966 - It's Wallace? becomes the first local television program to be broadcast in color in Phoenix...beating Channel 10 by only an hour or two. (Isn't it funny how nobody kept track of specific details back then?)

1966 - The Ladmo Trio releases the Blubber Soul album.

1966 - There was a strike at KPHO and a lot of good people lost their jobs. A few months later the entire management team lost their jobs, too.

1967 - Bobby Joe Trouble and The Wizard start appearing on It's Wallace?

1967 - The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

1967 - Mike's Mini-Album featuring Commodore Condello's Salt River Navy Band is the most amazing Beatles' parody ever! With the help of Tim Ramsey at A/V Recorders in Phoenix, six parodies were recorded in 8 hours, completely capturing the spirit of the Sgt. Pepper's album (and permantly warping my and other childrens' minds).

? - Commodore Condello Makes A Comeback is released, parodying 2 Bee-Gees' songs and Purple Haze by Hendrix. The disc also contains an original, Soggy Cereal, which was my absolute FAVORITE song when I was a kid.

1968 - It's Wallace becomes Wallace & Company. Mike Condello writes a new theme song, and a new set is created. Wallace begins wearing a sportcoat and tie with no hat, while Ladmo started wearing a tee-shirt with a painted-on tie and a tux jacket with tails. Even Gerald got a new outfit, changing from Wallace's original striped clown jacket to a crushed red velvet ensemble that Angus Young later copied.

1968 - KPHO tries syndicating the show. It was sent to WPIX in New York where it was cut up and aired Sunday mornings. Comedy routines were taken out of context and dropped into adventure series for no apparent reason. The kids in New York were not getting the whole picture. Still, letters came in by the bagful. All the same, the show was dropped from New York syndication in less than a year.

1969 - Wallace and Ladmo's 15th anniversary show.

June 15, 1970 - Wallace and Company officially becomes The Wallace and Ladmo Show. Most people had been calling it that all along.

1970 - Pat McMahon wins the national "Program Director Of The Year" award for his work at KRIZ radio.

? - Wallace adds a derby to his costume, while Gerald gets a new "page boy" haircut to replace his formerly curly locks. The idea was to make him look more like Little Lord Fauntleroy.

? - Ladmo Waffos are introduced. They were a type of traditional Mexican snack pastry with a marketing plan. I ate quite a few of them myself, and still buy those types of pastries whenever I go to Mexico.

1971 - KPHO moves to a new building at Indian School and the Black Canyon Freeway (I-17). The Wallace and Ladmo show gets a new set, new fan clubs, new contests, and new cartoons, including Roger Ramjet.

1971 - The Low Budget Talk Show is created for possible syndication aimed at adults.

1971 - The Wallace and Ladmo Show is briefly syndicated to Los Angeles on KTLA-TV. The show aired in the early afternoon before kids were out of school, and parents complained about Gerald's nastiness. KTLA dropped the show very quickly.

? - The Ladmo Toy Store opens.

1972 - Ladmo's Clubhouse airs from 8-8:30 a.m.

1972 - The Wallace and Ladmo Show reaches 26 percent of Valley television owners, a number that continues growing quickly, just like Phoenix.

1973 - KPHO becomes the country's top-rated independent television station. Every Arbitron or Nielson rating book listed Channel 5 as number one nationally among independents from sign-on to sign-off. So, of course, there was a complete change of management, and positions were filled from out-of-state. The new team had money and freedom, and they decided to experiment with The Wallace and Ladmo Show, which was being broadcast from 4 - 5 p.m. at that time.

July 1, 1973 - KPHO adopts a new self-regulatory code prohibiting children's television show hosts from doing commercials or personally endorsing products during their broadcasts. This code was suggested by the National Association of Broadcasters to all of its member stations. This had been an important element of kids' shows everywhere, and the number of children's show hosts nationwide quickly plummeted. Hey, the last of the Baby Boomers were teenagers already. Who cared about us? (Wallace and Ladmo cared, that's who!)

September 1973 - The Wallace and Ladmo show is split in half and begins airing twice a day, from 8 - 8:30 a.m and 3:30 - 4 p.m. Wallace is quoted in the press calling the reason for the split "demographic double-talk". An advertising salesman for KPHO noted that a lot of children's shows were going by the wayside at that time, and that KPHO could save the expense of three salaries if they just bought pre-produced cartoon packages. I was just starting 3rd grade and I don't remember the split broadcast.

October 1, 1973 - the 8 - 8:30 a.m. broadcast of The Wallace and Ladmo Show was the first show not aired live. It was just impossible to get a studio audience full of kids at 8 a.m. The morning show was videotaped immediately after the 3:30 - 4 p.m. "live" broadcast and shown the next day.

1973 - With no more on-air spots for advertisers, Wallace and Ladmo started revealing "What's in a Ladmo Bag?" in a public service format rather than as commercials.

? - Carney Barker makes his first appearance as the show begins to make more use of the set's bulletin board.

April 3, 1974 - Wallace and Ladmo celebrate their 20th Anniversary, becoming the longest-running children's television show in the country. KPHO broadcast a twentieth anniversary special which was a nostalgic review of characters, guests, and memorable routines. Governor Jack Williams proclaimed that day (a Wednesday, by the way) Wallace And Ladmo Day, while Phoenix Mayor Timothy Barrow officially designated April 1 through 7 to be Wallace And Ladmo Week.

April 6 & 7, 1974 - Legend City held special stage shows to accommodate as many fans as possible. It was the biggest event in the history of Legend City.

August 19, 1974 - The show completes its shift to the morning time slot, airing from 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. The show remained in this time slot for the rest of the '70s. I was just starting 4th grade, and just becoming aware of the world around me beyond my vision, so I never experienced having to run home after school to see the show, but that was certainly a significant change. I grew up having to run TO school AFTER the show. BTW, The Flinstones was on from 7 - 7:30 a.m. at this time.

? - Prisoners in Arizona correctional facilities start refering to their lunch sacks as Ladmo Bags, and to this day the term still sticks.

January 11, 1975 - Wallace, Ladmo, and Pat are honored by the Metropolitan Phoenix Broadcaster's Association at their Fifth Annual "Copper Mike" Awards dinner for their "outstanding contribution to the quality of Phoenix television" during their twenty years of service in the industry. This was a very formal, elite, dignified, black-tie affair with nearly 500 people attending, but it quickly turned into a roast when speakers which included Bil Keane and Erma Bombeck took turns tossing barbs at the trio. After briefly acknowledging the honor, the three subtly began wrestling for possession of the single trophy. By the time they were finished, their tuxedos lay scattered in pieces all over the stage in the Grand Ballroom of the Arizona Biltmore, Arizona's only 5 Star, 5 Diamond hotel. The Copper Mike was never awarded again.

1975 - My Mom took my cub scout troop to the show. I didn't win a Ladmo Bag (but my cousins did!)

? - The FCC starts requiring broadcasters to prove they were providing a service to the local community. While most stations simply started providing free commercial time to charitable organizations, KPHO elected to put guests on the most popular show in the state. Sergeant Harry Florian of the Phoenix Police Department discussed safety and welfare issues whenever he could stop laughing long enough, Fireman Bob Walp of the Phoenix Fire Department talked about fire safety, and Marge Wright of the Arizona Humane Society brought pets that could be adopted. In addition, KPHO was part of the LOVE network broadcasting the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon and of course, our heroes pitched in and did their part. Ladmo became the official MDA "ambassador" whose name went on the carnival kits which kids used to raise money for MDA. During the telethon, Wallace and Ladmo would man a giant "fishbowl" outside the studio where we were encouraged to drive down, drop in some money, and "meet" Wallace and Ladmo. Sometimes, Ronald McDonald would be there, too, handing out free hamburger coupons. Inside the studio, Pat was the go-to man in the eleventh hour. Our local telethon ran half an hour after Jerry signed off, and in the last 5 minutes Pat would tell the story of his son asking him what Polio was, and an impassioned plea to allow his future grandchildren to be able to someday ask his son what Muscular Dystrophy was. It never failed.

May 13, 1978 - The Wallace and Ladmo Show won an Emmy for Best Regularly Scheduled Program.

April 3, 1979 - KPHO has a prime-time celebration for the show's silver anniversary. I was just about to graduate from 8th grade, so you would think I'd have outgrown the show. Nonsense! I watched that show with a friend and his parents, older brother, and grandmother. By this time the show had shattered every longevity record in television history, broadcasting every single weekday for 25 years. The state legislature passed a resolution in honor of the show.

September 15, 1980 - The Wallace and Ladmo Show moves into its final programming slot: 7 - 8 a.m. (bye bye, Flintstones).

Early 1981 - KPHO art director Greg Brannan and staff artist Forrest Richardson design a new, elaborate set for the show as new Warner Brothers' cartoon packages are added. The new set features a staircase, an antique phone booth, and a new Time Machine. Brannan also created a new animated opening sequence for the show which was similar to the opening to Monty Python's Flying Circus.

1981 - ventriloquist Dan Horn first appears, and eventually adds many puppet characters to the show.

Summer 1982 - Wall, Lad and Pat begin hosting a Sunday morning show, The Comedy Greats, showing classic old-time movies with comedy skits that reflected the plots of the films shown. This show aired for several months.

? - Wallace starts cutting back on personal appearances, citing health concerns (sounds like he needs a vacation). Ladmo and Gerald continue to do 5 or 6 personal appearances every weekend. I saw the show once in late 1983 and it really wasn't the same without Wallace but it was still a good show and there were at least 200 people there. I think at this time Wallace had even stopped doing the State Fair appearances, but he was still in charge of the show.

Early 1984 - Local competition heats up when Scripps-Howard purchases KNXV-15 and puts more money into the station, and KUTP-45 is opened by Chris Craft United, who target the children's morning television audience. At the same time, higher cable subscriptions brought new channels with more for kids to watch, including Nickelodeon and USA Network's Cartoon Express. Disney also was making more of their programs available to viewers. The Phoenix television market suddenly becomes one of the most competitive in the country. And more people were moving here from other states, who didn't have the emotional attachment to Wallace and Ladmo. But KPHO met the challenge and increased the budget for the Wallace and Ladmo Show.

April 1984 - KPHO airs a ninety-minute, prime time special honoring the 30th Anniversary of the Wallace and Ladmo Show, on which the Ajo Reperatory Company, featuring Cathy Dresbach and Ben Tyler, make their first appearance. Mary Hart came to Phoenix to interview the trio for Entertainment Tonight.

Summer 1984 - The Wallace and Ladmo show is expanded to 90 minutes, Ajo Reperatory Company joins the cast. Dresbach's main character, Jodi of the Pink Berets, quickly becomes an audience favorite and soon is making personal appearances with Ladmo and Gerald.

1985 - Management trims the show's budget. Cathy Dresbach is retained, but the rest of the Ajo Reperatory Company is let go. Cathy brought an important element to the show that had been missing thus far: a female voice. Cathy brought several characters to the show including Perky the Clown, perhaps the most annoying character in all of television history (well, except for maybe that purple dinosaur). Other Dresbach characters were Dottie Flube (described as a "kinder, gentler Aunt Maud"), Penny Dauberfall (a Martha Stewart - type character who just couldn't make things turn out right), and the Science Lady.

September 1987 - Park Central Mall holds a celebration for its 30th anniversary. Wallace appears, and Commodore Condello's Salt River Navy Band reunites after nearly 20 years. Goldust Charlie appears as do many faces and characters from days past. The show was PACKED! And a month later, my 18-year-old cat Morris died. Time marches on...

October 15, 1988 - The cast of the Wallace and Ladmo Show are inducted into the Arizona Hall of Fame Museum by former Senator Paul Fannin (whose son burgaled our house in the mid-1970s).

April 1, 1989 - A 35th anniversary party was held at Encanto Park (where two of my friends and I got jumped by a large gang of Hispanic teens in November 1980). Between 40 to 50 THOUSAND people showed up in what we now lovingly refer to as "Wallstock", and the parade of friends and characters from 35 years was overwhelming. Classic sketches were revisited, and "a neat time was guaranteed for most" (Mike Condello, 1967).

April 4, 1989 - A one hour prime time special is broadcast. Alice Cooper won a Ladmo Bag, and Mike Condello performs a new song written especially for this show called 1954, which he keeps revising until the last minute. Carrie Thompson, Wallace's daughter, played keyboard and sang back-up vocals. Governor Rose Mofford proclaimed April Fool's Day 1989 to be "Wallace And Ladmo Day" in Arizona, citing the millions of dollars they had helped raise for charity. Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard gave Wallace and Ladmo the key to the city. Steven Spielberg sent a personal video message. Even Barry Goldwater made a special appearance.

November or Early December 1989 - KPHO announces that The Wallace and Ladmo Show was being taken off the air. Bill Thompson was ready to retire, concerned with health problems. He wanted to leave while still on top, with the audience still wanting more.

Friday, December 29, 1989 - The final episode of the Wallace and Ladmo Show is aired. An era comes to an end. Ladmo gives the last Ladmo Bag to his "good buddy and good friend for 35 years, WALLACE!!!!!" and gives him a big hug and a "Thank YOU, Wallboy". And it was over. Sort of.

To Be Continued...

web hosting • domain names
web design • online games