Smilin’ Ed McConnell and His Buster Brown Gang was an endearing children’s show broadcast in the early 50s that featured puppets and a revolving cast of colorful characters to share stories and introduce film segments.

The star of the show, sponsored by Buster Brown shoes, was a fellow named Smilin’ Ed McConnell, a former radio personality who was beloved by children everywhere. Given a television show, he worked alongside such puppets as Squeaky the Mouse, Midnight the Cat, and perhaps the most popular character, Froggy the Gremlin. Whenever Ed would shout out “Plunk you magic twanger, Froggy!” the amphibian would make his entrance, much to the delight of the kiddies. Froggy, however, had a bit of a destructive personality and liked to play pranks on people, such as the time he wanted to alter the weather patterns in Alaska so he could hurt the Eskimos. When Ed wasn’t trying to reign in Froggy’s nihilist personality, he was introducing filmed segments such as Ghanga the Jungle Boy and Buster Brown.

Ed hosted the popular children’s show for four years, until his untimely passing in 1954. The network aired an entire season of reruns while trying to find a replacement, who they eventually found in the gruff-voiced Andy Devine. The show was promptly renamed Andy’s Gang and ran for one season on NBC. It remained on the air in the local New York area for a few years after that, before quietly endings its eight-year run in 1958.