WCVB "Five Turns Twenty" (1992) - selected segment #8

Peter Mehegan hosts a segment with Boston television legends Rex Trailer and Capt. Bob Cottle. From WCVB's 20 year anniversary special that aired on 3/25/92.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• WCVB
• News
• Boston
• Peter
• Mehegan
• Rex
• Trailer
• Bob
• Cottle

[gymnastix]

Does anyone, including the uploader of this video, know if "Captain Bob" Cottle is the father of or any relation to Dr. Tom Cottle, a psychologist who used to do the call-in portion of the Channel 5 midday news, as well appeared on the old WCVB morning show, "Good Day!"?

[bostonnewsarchives]

No relation as far as I can tell. Captain Bob's obituary (April '99) makes mention of a number of family members but not Tom. Dr. Cottle is currently a professor at BU.

[gymnastix]

@wb1f And, of course, Frank Avruch, Boston's "Bozo" (before Mayor Tom Menino), was also hired by Larry Harmon (who bought the rights to the "Bozo the Clown" character from originators Capitol Records) to be the beloved circus clown for the syndicated "Bozo" series, for locales not having their own "Bozo" program.

So Boston TV viewers may be quite proud of their pioneering children's television program hosts, who appeared on both the original WHDH and on WCVB, Boston's Channel 5.

[gymnastix]

@wb1f More than the teaching of drawing/sketching, for which he became more noted on his WCVB program of the 1970s/'80s, I most fondly remember the puppets ("Jasper & Gramps") that appeared on "The Captain Bob Show" of the early 1960s.

"Captain Bob" was so good he was hired to host wrap segments of the national "Ruff & Reddy" cartoon series.

[gymnastix]

@wb1f I used to watch your cousin's original program when I was a boy of between five and six years old. My sister had a poster of "Captain Bob," probably sent out from the old WHDH-TV, as it had the station's call letters above or below the photo of your cousin (wearing his captain's hat & suit) on the poster. I wish we had saved that poster.

[gymnastix]

@wb1f Do you know if any kinescopes or videotapes exist of your cousin, "Captain" Bob Cottle, hosting his original morning kids' show on the original Channel 5, WHDH-TV (not the Channel 5 of today, which is WCVB) ? Did your cousin ever show you any older films or videos of himself on his TV program? .

[miaaa823]

i have a few of his old pictures and props

[gl797]

Capt. Bob was also the inventer of those Fortune Teller machines you see at arcades. His voice was used in a few of them, like the Pirate one for ex:

[BlurryBear]

"Well, scupper my uppers!" Anybody got any of Capt. Bob's orig episodes?

[DragonLord1975]

One of my artwork was featured on Capt. Bob at one point. I was honored when I saw it posted live on TV that day.

[midsentence]

I haven't seen the show in over 20 years, and I couldn't have been more than 8 the last time, but I can still hear the Captain Bob theme like it was being played in this very room.

[ripley2006]

i'm with numerous posters here: Captain Bob's show was a weekly ritual. i used to look forward to it, love it, and consider it a major influence on my artistic/creative side as a kid. it was warm, inviting, endlessly entertaining - i so wish someone could find/post a few episodes. i used to love the part where he'd show drawings sent in by others. i think i sent one or two in, but i was pretty young and they were pretty terrible.