9/22/2009 4:28:00 PM
Harlow Hickenlooper back
on TV in new DVD
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Newspapers are often accused of missing a huge demographic, a significant portion of the population. Ink and paper types are told we don't reach folks who aren't old enough to remember the dimmer switch on the car floor.
Boy, am I going to reinforce that one today.
Sorry, kids.
For the Baby Boomers, especially the ones who grew up around central Indiana, I'll bet you remember Harlow Hickenlooper. Harlow, otherwise known as Hal Fryar, could be found every Saturday morning on WFBM, Channel 6. He and sidekick Curley Myers were the happy hosts of the Three Stooges Show.
Hal, now 82, lives in Franklin with his lovely bride Henrietta. But back in the 1960s, he was found on the small screen with a snappy straw hat and a striped sport coat. I couldn't tell you what color the stripes were. After all, who had a color TV back then?
TVs without color? That's the way it was.
Sorry, kids.
There we sat each week in the 1950s and '60s, watching the regular Saturday morning lineup. Harlow and Curley, the Three Stooges, Roy Rogers, Sky King, Ruff and Ready, Heckle & Jeckle . . . the golden era of TV, indeed.
For the fans of Harlow, who can forget the songs, the skits, the slapstick, the pies in the face, the famous Happy Birthday song (which always ended with aforementioned pie)?
You can have the 1080 pixels, the LED, the flat panel, any of the high-fallutin' didjamafloppers. I'll take a Saturday morning sitting on the floor in front of the 20-inch Philco any day.
And for those like me who want to remember the good ol' days, there's a new DVD that details those years and Harlow's career.
The DVD, Friends and Fans of Hal Fryar present Harlow Hickenlooper is only $10 (plus $2 shipping and handling). And the money goes to the SCI (Spinal Cord Injury) Hope Fund (www.scihope.org). I'd be the first to admit I'm biased, but it's a good cause and it's Harlow Hickenlooper. Where else could you get a bargain like that for $12?
Hal is no stranger to Noblesville either. He and Curley were here at least a couple of times in the 1960s for the annual Christmas parade. Heck, I think I remember him making an appearance at the Diana Theater (Sammy Terry also did a Halloween show on the old stage at the Diana).
The DVD runs about an hour and three quarters. It'll bring back lots of memories.
"I kind of tell the story of what happened behind the scenes," Hal said recently. "We'll talk about some of the things that happened, when they happened, why they happened.
"I'm happy to say that Curley is on quite a bit, too."
In 2008, Hal was inducted into the Indiana Broadcasters Hall of Fame. He's enshrined there with notables like Tom Carnegie, Cole Porter, Red Skelton, Chuck Marlowe, Hoagy Carmichael, Jane Pauley, Mike Ahern, Chris Schenkel, Jeff Smulyan and others. The 2008 induction ceremony is on there as well, including Hal falling off the back of the stage (even at 81 he was OK, thus beginning the story that it was just another of his famous pratfalls).
"The gentleman who did this is just a Harlow fan," Hal explained. "He's been very good in raising lots of money for charities."
That man is Steve Pyatte, a self-described child of the '60s and a long-time fan of Harlow Hickenlooper. According to Hal, he's much more.
"Steve is a dear, dear man. He's just been wonderful."
Pyatte said that the DVD took about two years to completely put together.
"(Hal's) got so much to offer, he gives so much . . . something needed to be out there," Pyatte explained. "I just wanted to make something to leave for his grandchildren, their grandchildren and all of us who watched him. He is just an amazing individual. He's such a kind man. Such a good man."
(Speaking of Hal's grandchildren, one of them works right here at Riverview Hospital.)
By the way, Hal is still pretty busy. He played a small part in the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon" with producers Ron Howard and Tom Hanks. He's been on the advisory board for the Central Indiana Council on Aging and worked part-time for Community Development, Inc. He is active in church and still makes appearances as both Harlow Hickenlooper and a character named Grandpa Zwerner at the Indiana Historical Society.
He also still sings his famous song.
"I sing Happy Birthday almost ever week - and 90 percent of those people live out of state," Hal chuckled. "If they all still lived around here, I'd be doing appearances all the time."
Many of us would show up, Hal. Many of us would.
The Harlow Hickenlooper DVD is available by clicking on www.scihope.org. Or you can send $12 to Harlow c/o Box 813 Franklin, Ind. 46131.
Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears most Wednesdays in The Times if he isn't too busy watching Harlow Hickenlooper and Three Stooges reruns. Timmons is the publisher of The Times and can be contacted at ttimmons@thetimes24-7.com.
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