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Q: How did you come up with the idea for Clubhouse 22?
M: I was working in the TV-22 sales department when TV-
22 lost its network affiliation (ABC). TV-22 had about 30
days to re-program the station as an "independent"
television station (i.e., no network affiliation) similar to the
old Channel 19 in Cincinnati. These were back in the days
before cable TV and everyone got their television
reception via antennas. As a UHF (vs. VHF) station TV-22’s
picture was not that strong and not that far reaching but I
knew that kids would watch "snow" (a bad picture) if it
was something they liked. I put together a presentation to
the owners of the station on how to program the station by
counter-programming against the afternoon soap operas
on the network affiliates by running kids programming in
the afternoon and progressing up the demographic ladder
right into prime-time. The idea was to get the preschool
children watching, then the grade school kids when they
got home from school, then the high school kids, college
kids, factory workers and so on, thus building an audience
in both size and age right into prime time. My concept had
a "host" to tie all the programs together...and out of
necessity I became the host. In our very first rating period
(Feb/Mar Nielsen & ARB) as an independent station, based
primarily on the kids programming, we were the number
one rated independent TV station in the country. The kids
programming and CLUBHOUSE 22 put TV-22 on the map.
My ideas and my success as a host wasn't a pure fluke. I
was a Miami University Speech & Drama graduate,
performed in college plays, hosted college events like the
Miss Miami Pageant and I traveled with a U.S. Army show
entertaining troops here in the U.S. I was NCOIC in charge
of entertainment for III Corps and IV Corps in Vietnam and
was a news correspondent in Hong Kong. I did all of these
things before I did CLUBHOUSE 22.
Q: How long were you on the show?
M: January 1, 1970 to July 1974.
Q: Was the show done live or was it taped?
M: Live.
Q: What was the format of the show on most days?
M: The basic show, although it changed at times, was live
and in-studio from 3PM to 4PM. This hour consisted of
opening monologue, guests (of all kinds), interviews,
projects (how to make things, etc,), films of my extra-
curricular activities (flying airplanes, racing cars, jumping
out of airplanes, etc.) sprinkled with some cartoons.
Between 4PM and 6 PM, I did show introductions, newsy
updates and contests at the beginning and end of the
shows. Shows consisted of programs like SPEED
RACER, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, LOST IN SPACE, HOGAN'S
HEROES, MCHALE'S NAVY, maybe STAR TREK...it's been
a long time and I can't remember all the various shows.
Q: Was it true that the person playing Duffy the Dog was a
female?
M: Here's the quick story behind Duffy. In the beginning
CLUBHOUSE 22 had little or no budget to work with and I
needed someone or something to playoff of in the studio.
Unable to hire anyone to work with me, I retrieved the dog
costume from MASK & WIG on 5th street in downtown
Dayton. In the very early days I recruited anyone I could
find at the Station to play Duffy. So early on Duffy was a
mix of male and female. Funny thing, as a result, Duffy's
height changed from day to day. My first full time assistant
was a girl...and she played Duffy. My second, and longest,
assistant was a guy...who also played Duffy. So Duffy,
over tho long haul, was played by a lot of people...both
male and female.
Q: How did Stan the Man come about and who was the
voice behind “The Man?”
M: I was working with foam rubber, flocking, etc.,
attempting to build some SESAME STREET-like puppet
characters for the show when a young guy named Curt
McGlocklin came in the door with string puppets and
asked if I would be interested in having him on the show. I
gave Curt the foam rubber and the orange flocking and
said go home and build me a "MUPPET" and come back
and I will try you out. Whala...Stan the Man. Stan the Man
started out a little "crude" looking but improved over time
as Curt got the hang of working with the foam rubber.
Q: What was Pick-A-Door and what prizes were given away
on a regular basis?
M: Pick-A-Door was a take off and cross between Monty
Hall's LET'S MAKE A DEAL and LAUGH IN. Viewers sent
in cards & letters with their choice of a door number. We
had different prizes behind the doors (toys, games, tickets
to events, etc.). We would pick a winning card/letter and
award the viewer whatever was behind the door he/she
chose. Prizes were donated by the various toy companies
that advertised on our show.
Q: Who came up with the idea of getting kids to sing the
BHA jingle while doing a head stand?
M: Beats me. It must have been Emmet Royer, the owner
of BHA at the time
Q: Duffy the Dog and Stan the Man were your side kicks.
Dr. Creep showed up quite a bit. Was there any other local
celebrities that appeared on the show on a regular basis?
M: Not on a regular basis...but Captain Russ Guerra of the
Dayton Police Department landed in the front yard of TV-
22, live, in the WHIO-TV helicopter and we talked about his
job as a police captain and as helicopter traffic reporter for
WHIO; Johnny Walker appeared on occasion as Famous
Fred Famey from Fostoria (Johnny was from Fostoria,
Ohio).
Q: What cartoons were played on Clubhouse 22?
M: What cartoons? Who knows...? I never watched the
cartoons.
Q: What segments were part of the show everyday, such
as Pick-A-Door and the BHA song, that some of us who
watched the show may have forgotten about over time?
M: I had the Clubhouse 22 dancers who introduced the
show. These girls were attired in red mini-skirts, go-go
boots, and white turtle-necks with either CLUBHOUSE 22
or MALCOLM written on them. The dancers were provided
compliments of a friend if mine who had a dance school in
downtown Dayton.
We also had lots of crazy ratings period contests with daily
stories with clues. The story characters were numerous
puppets that Curt McGlocklin made. I did all the voices for
the puppets because Curt was only able to do Stan the
Man's voice. One of our puppet vignettes was called
BANANAS and was a western themed puppet story based
upon the popular prime time show BONANZA.
We also did cooking shows. Dave Hulme, who is now the
owner of the Pine Club on Brown Street, came on the
show to talk about artichokes and show us how to cook
and eat them. Dave was the manager of the old Cork n'
Cleaver restaurant on S. Dixie Highway at the time
Q: Who came up with using the Manamana song and who
sang the “Its time for Malcolm” part?
M: I'm not sure who originally came up with the use of the
song MA-NA-MA-NA...might have been me. My dance
teacher friend is the one who came up with the idea of the
dancers and put words to the song. The song was from a
movie called SWEDEN...HEAVEN AND HELL if I remember
correctly. You might want to GOOGLE that one.
Q: Why did you leave Clubhouse 22?
M: I have always been somewhat of a jack of all trades. I
prefer to call it being a Renaissance Man." I didn't want to
get stuck doing just one thing for the rest of my life. And, I
didn't want to become a parody of myself ala "Uncle Al" (Al
Lewis) of Cincinnati TV fame. By the way, Al Lewis'
daughter Sherry Lewis (first name could be wrong) worked
as a news reporter for WHIO-TV back in those days. I was
friends with a lot of people in the broadcasting biz in
Dayton and heard that WHIO was looking for a new person
for their sales department. It was time to move along so I
moved from TV-22 to TV-7 as a salesman. Two years later I
went back to school at the University of Dayton and got a
law degree. I hosted THE MORNING SHOW, a daily, live,
morning talk show on WDTN my last two years of law
school.
Q: Did you know Joe Smith? Who picked him to follow you?
M: Joe Smith came to TV-22 as a very young guy from
Springfield, MA. TV-22 was owned at the time by a
company based in Springfield, MA. Joe had worked at the
Springfield station and they sent him to their Ohio station
(TV-22) to work. Joe's primary job when he came to TV-22
was behind the camera, working as a camera operator,
director and producer. Like many people, Joe was drawn
to on-camera work where he began by co-hosting a
weekend kid’s show on TV-22, followed with guest-hosting
gigs on CLUBHOUSE 22 when I was on vacations. When I
departed for WHIO-TV Joe was slotted in as my
replacement on CLUBHOUSE 22. Although Joe did
commendable job on-air in Dayton and subsequent
markets, Joe's real strength was as a producer/director.
Joe was a "natural" when it came to directing. The last I
heard, Joe was working (I believe) for a public television
station in Portland, Oregon.
M: I was working in the TV-22 sales department when TV-
22 lost its network affiliation (ABC). TV-22 had about 30
days to re-program the station as an "independent"
television station (i.e., no network affiliation) similar to the
old Channel 19 in Cincinnati. These were back in the days
before cable TV and everyone got their television
reception via antennas. As a UHF (vs. VHF) station TV-22’s
picture was not that strong and not that far reaching but I
knew that kids would watch "snow" (a bad picture) if it
was something they liked. I put together a presentation to
the owners of the station on how to program the station by
counter-programming against the afternoon soap operas
on the network affiliates by running kids programming in
the afternoon and progressing up the demographic ladder
right into prime-time. The idea was to get the preschool
children watching, then the grade school kids when they
got home from school, then the high school kids, college
kids, factory workers and so on, thus building an audience
in both size and age right into prime time. My concept had
a "host" to tie all the programs together...and out of
necessity I became the host. In our very first rating period
(Feb/Mar Nielsen & ARB) as an independent station, based
primarily on the kids programming, we were the number
one rated independent TV station in the country. The kids
programming and CLUBHOUSE 22 put TV-22 on the map.
My ideas and my success as a host wasn't a pure fluke. I
was a Miami University Speech & Drama graduate,
performed in college plays, hosted college events like the
Miss Miami Pageant and I traveled with a U.S. Army show
entertaining troops here in the U.S. I was NCOIC in charge
of entertainment for III Corps and IV Corps in Vietnam and
was a news correspondent in Hong Kong. I did all of these
things before I did CLUBHOUSE 22.
Q: How long were you on the show?
M: January 1, 1970 to July 1974.
Q: Was the show done live or was it taped?
M: Live.
Q: What was the format of the show on most days?
M: The basic show, although it changed at times, was live
and in-studio from 3PM to 4PM. This hour consisted of
opening monologue, guests (of all kinds), interviews,
projects (how to make things, etc,), films of my extra-
curricular activities (flying airplanes, racing cars, jumping
out of airplanes, etc.) sprinkled with some cartoons.
Between 4PM and 6 PM, I did show introductions, newsy
updates and contests at the beginning and end of the
shows. Shows consisted of programs like SPEED
RACER, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, LOST IN SPACE, HOGAN'S
HEROES, MCHALE'S NAVY, maybe STAR TREK...it's been
a long time and I can't remember all the various shows.
Q: Was it true that the person playing Duffy the Dog was a
female?
M: Here's the quick story behind Duffy. In the beginning
CLUBHOUSE 22 had little or no budget to work with and I
needed someone or something to playoff of in the studio.
Unable to hire anyone to work with me, I retrieved the dog
costume from MASK & WIG on 5th street in downtown
Dayton. In the very early days I recruited anyone I could
find at the Station to play Duffy. So early on Duffy was a
mix of male and female. Funny thing, as a result, Duffy's
height changed from day to day. My first full time assistant
was a girl...and she played Duffy. My second, and longest,
assistant was a guy...who also played Duffy. So Duffy,
over tho long haul, was played by a lot of people...both
male and female.
Q: How did Stan the Man come about and who was the
voice behind “The Man?”
M: I was working with foam rubber, flocking, etc.,
attempting to build some SESAME STREET-like puppet
characters for the show when a young guy named Curt
McGlocklin came in the door with string puppets and
asked if I would be interested in having him on the show. I
gave Curt the foam rubber and the orange flocking and
said go home and build me a "MUPPET" and come back
and I will try you out. Whala...Stan the Man. Stan the Man
started out a little "crude" looking but improved over time
as Curt got the hang of working with the foam rubber.
Q: What was Pick-A-Door and what prizes were given away
on a regular basis?
M: Pick-A-Door was a take off and cross between Monty
Hall's LET'S MAKE A DEAL and LAUGH IN. Viewers sent
in cards & letters with their choice of a door number. We
had different prizes behind the doors (toys, games, tickets
to events, etc.). We would pick a winning card/letter and
award the viewer whatever was behind the door he/she
chose. Prizes were donated by the various toy companies
that advertised on our show.
Q: Who came up with the idea of getting kids to sing the
BHA jingle while doing a head stand?
M: Beats me. It must have been Emmet Royer, the owner
of BHA at the time
Q: Duffy the Dog and Stan the Man were your side kicks.
Dr. Creep showed up quite a bit. Was there any other local
celebrities that appeared on the show on a regular basis?
M: Not on a regular basis...but Captain Russ Guerra of the
Dayton Police Department landed in the front yard of TV-
22, live, in the WHIO-TV helicopter and we talked about his
job as a police captain and as helicopter traffic reporter for
WHIO; Johnny Walker appeared on occasion as Famous
Fred Famey from Fostoria (Johnny was from Fostoria,
Ohio).
Q: What cartoons were played on Clubhouse 22?
M: What cartoons? Who knows...? I never watched the
cartoons.
Q: What segments were part of the show everyday, such
as Pick-A-Door and the BHA song, that some of us who
watched the show may have forgotten about over time?
M: I had the Clubhouse 22 dancers who introduced the
show. These girls were attired in red mini-skirts, go-go
boots, and white turtle-necks with either CLUBHOUSE 22
or MALCOLM written on them. The dancers were provided
compliments of a friend if mine who had a dance school in
downtown Dayton.
We also had lots of crazy ratings period contests with daily
stories with clues. The story characters were numerous
puppets that Curt McGlocklin made. I did all the voices for
the puppets because Curt was only able to do Stan the
Man's voice. One of our puppet vignettes was called
BANANAS and was a western themed puppet story based
upon the popular prime time show BONANZA.
We also did cooking shows. Dave Hulme, who is now the
owner of the Pine Club on Brown Street, came on the
show to talk about artichokes and show us how to cook
and eat them. Dave was the manager of the old Cork n'
Cleaver restaurant on S. Dixie Highway at the time
Q: Who came up with using the Manamana song and who
sang the “Its time for Malcolm” part?
M: I'm not sure who originally came up with the use of the
song MA-NA-MA-NA...might have been me. My dance
teacher friend is the one who came up with the idea of the
dancers and put words to the song. The song was from a
movie called SWEDEN...HEAVEN AND HELL if I remember
correctly. You might want to GOOGLE that one.
Q: Why did you leave Clubhouse 22?
M: I have always been somewhat of a jack of all trades. I
prefer to call it being a Renaissance Man." I didn't want to
get stuck doing just one thing for the rest of my life. And, I
didn't want to become a parody of myself ala "Uncle Al" (Al
Lewis) of Cincinnati TV fame. By the way, Al Lewis'
daughter Sherry Lewis (first name could be wrong) worked
as a news reporter for WHIO-TV back in those days. I was
friends with a lot of people in the broadcasting biz in
Dayton and heard that WHIO was looking for a new person
for their sales department. It was time to move along so I
moved from TV-22 to TV-7 as a salesman. Two years later I
went back to school at the University of Dayton and got a
law degree. I hosted THE MORNING SHOW, a daily, live,
morning talk show on WDTN my last two years of law
school.
Q: Did you know Joe Smith? Who picked him to follow you?
M: Joe Smith came to TV-22 as a very young guy from
Springfield, MA. TV-22 was owned at the time by a
company based in Springfield, MA. Joe had worked at the
Springfield station and they sent him to their Ohio station
(TV-22) to work. Joe's primary job when he came to TV-22
was behind the camera, working as a camera operator,
director and producer. Like many people, Joe was drawn
to on-camera work where he began by co-hosting a
weekend kid’s show on TV-22, followed with guest-hosting
gigs on CLUBHOUSE 22 when I was on vacations. When I
departed for WHIO-TV Joe was slotted in as my
replacement on CLUBHOUSE 22. Although Joe did
commendable job on-air in Dayton and subsequent
markets, Joe's real strength was as a producer/director.
Joe was a "natural" when it came to directing. The last I
heard, Joe was working (I believe) for a public television
station in Portland, Oregon.
| Malcolm as you remember him on Clubhouse 22 |
| Malcolm Now: Owns his own real estate company in Miami Beach Florida |
| We had the opportunity to speak with Malcolm MacLeod, the host of Clubhouse 22 and asked him a few questions about the show which many of you watched growing up in Dayton. |
| Malcolm (right) poses with Fess Parker (Center) in Vietnam (1968) |
| Malcolm and Stan the Man Clubhouse 22 |
| Malcolm getting ready for yet another Clubhouse 22 segment |
| FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20, 2009 |