The Friday Flashback: Kidding Around

By Prescott Carlson in Miscellaneous on Mar 20, 2009 7:20PM

While children of the early 70s grew up with the likes of Ray Rayner and Gigglesnort Hotel, as the decade ended the golden era of kids TV in Chicago started to wane and we were left with WMAQ's Kidding Around. Airing Saturday mornings from 1978 to 1985, Kidding Around was hosted by Steve Smith and a revolving door group of teen girls (one of whom is now the executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!), and featured segments such as children demonstrating the art of candle making, junior high rock bands, animals from the Brookfield Zoo, and interviews with mega-superstars like Todd Bridges and Lou Ferrigno. In this clip, a young Marcus Gilmer Michael Sheehan shows off one of his many collections: