January 24, 2004

Crap happens...

While we are on the subject of historical children's television shows, we bring some bad news: Robbers Allegedly Steal Romper Room Host's Magic Mirror From NBC News: bq. The former hostess of the Los Angeles version of "Romper Room" was mugged last week -- and she wants her mirror back. bq. Mary Ann King, who hosted the popular children's show from 1966 to 1976, was mugged near the Hometown Buffet, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported Thursday. bq. King suffered a broken arm and a punctured lung, the paper said. bq. The assailants got away with King's "magic mirror," which delighted kids of all ages on the show, which ran from 1954 to the late 1980s. bq. "I used my magic mirror on every show for 10 years," King said. "Now, anytime I make a speech everyone wants me to bring out my magic mirror and say 'Hi' to them, their children and their grandchildren." bq. Known on the show as "Miss Mary Ann," King would hold up the mirror -- actually an empty mirror frame -- each day and say "I see Mary and Tom and Jeff and all you boys and girls out there." bq. Millions of kids across the country watched the show religiously just to hear Miss Mary Ann mention their name as one of the kids she sees. bq. After the Dec. 17 attack, King was still trying to make sense of it all. bq. "Like I always said on the television show, do be a good bee and don't be a bad bee," she said. "I guess I ran into a nest of bad bees." Posted by DaveH at January 24, 2004 10:19 PM