Shown here are .Mary Berry, left, and Barbara Wagoner, Greensboro
girls who arc producers of the "Barney and Boo" television show, one
of the most popular live TV shows in the Carolinas.
TV Puppeteers
Judging' from flu* mail that I host»
two Greensboro girls gel. I lieir ef¬
forts over television are appreci¬
ated liy a vast audience.
Bv i:i gi:\i: >in,n:it
PLAYING hookey from school
is an understandable but oft-
lamented practice. But playing
hookey to produce a weekly tele¬
vision program is something on
the unusual side.
That’s the novel background of
the "Barney and Boo" television
show produced weekly over sta¬
tion WFMY-TV in Greensboro by
two local girls. Mary Berry, and
Barbara Wagoner, former students
at Woman’s College.
Their television show which
started in December while the
girls were students in college now
goes out to some 30,000 listeners
in the Piedmont area and is one
of the few "live" video shows pro¬
duced in the Carolinas. And from
the fan mail the girls get weekly,
the show is an unqualified success.
Mary, who is 22. blonde, and
vivacious, is the script writer of
the team. She is a graduate of St.
Mary’s and the University of
Arizona, and has been a graduate
student majoring in art at Wom¬
an's College this year.
Barbara, who is 21 and a bru¬
nette, lends an air of quiet conserv¬
atism to the team, and designs
the props and costumes. Barbara
graduated this June from Woman’s
College and is an art education
major.
Their program revolves about
the trials and tribulations of two
puppets. Barney, a red-headed,
junior-sized version of Red Skel¬
ton. and Boo, his feminine com¬
panion, who is sweet, demure, and
is continually lisping.
In addition to Barney and Boo,
there are two supporting charac¬
ters. Lonkey, a cultured jackass,
who mispronounces word with
careless abandonment, and who re¬
cites Shakespeare when pressed
for something to say. and Dumb-
Dog, a gray-skinned, green-eyed,
buck toothed hound.
Usually, their 15-minute show
depicts problems that arise in the
lives of Barney and Boo. Other-
times, they have Barney and Boo
re-enact such fairy stories as "Han¬
sel and Gretel" and "The Three
Bears." Their program is slanted
for the 5 to 12-year-olds. However,
they have received glowing letters
from small-fry from four to 15.
The girls first got into puppet
work while they were trying to de¬
cide on a project for their art edu¬
cation course last fall. An instruc¬
tor suggested a puppet show, and
the girls agreed. It took months of
practice before they were ready,
but at last they came up with a
full-blown version of "Sleeping
Beauty."
It was so successful that the
girls were asked to do the show at
several local schools. They did. and
one night the program director for
the Greensboro television station
happened to be in the audience.
He liked the show and suggested
to the girls that they develop a
program suitable for television.
The result was "Barney and Boo."
Mary and Barbara do all the
work for their show, including
script-writing, props. scenery,
musical background, costuming,
and building their own portable
stage.
While at school, they were con¬
tinually hard-pressed to squeeze
in three rehearsals a week for their
show, along with their heavy
academic load. When the girls had
to choose between the two, tele¬
vision or school, television usually
got the nod. and studies were
caught up on by burning the mid¬
night oil.
One outgrowth of the program
has been the "Barney and Boo
Happy Club" composed of small-
fry who are regular listeners to
the program. Happy Club mem¬
bership cards are sent to all listen¬
ers sending a letter in to the girls,
telling why they listen to the show.
In addition to their television
show, the girls keep busy by en¬
gaging in the local Little Theater
group, and in other dramatic ac¬
tivities. They also have taken their
"Barney and Boo" show and pro¬
grammed it before local school and
civic groups. And in six months
time their fame has spread
beyond the state’s border. The girls
we're the subject of a feature story
in the July issue of Mademoiselle
Magazine.
Eventually. Mary and Barbara
hope to land their show on a na¬
tional television network. In the
meantime, they are coping with
the problem of determining how
many different ways a 24-hour day
can be stretched.
Ю
THE STATE. August 19. 1950
