Your Television Babysitter

Your Television Babysitter
Presented by Pat Meikle
Don Hastings
Country of origin United States
Production
Running time 30 minutes
Release
Original network DuMont
Picture format Black-and-white
Audio format Monaural
Original release November 1, 1948
Chronology
Related shows The Magic Cottage

Your Television Babysitter, also billed as Your TV Babysitter, was a daytime live television children’s series which debuted November 1, 1948, on the DuMont Television Network, and was hosted by Pat Meickle and created by her husband Hal Cooper.

Broadcast history

Your Television Babysitter was hosted by Pat (Mary Patricia) Meikle. In each episode, Meikle would tell a story using her “magic chalkboard”, from which colorful fairy-tale characters would appear, including Maxwell the Mouse. The series was produced by Hal Cooper (February 23, 1923 - April 11, 2014[1]), Pat Meikle's husband. They married on December 21, 1944, had two children Bethami (b. August 16, 1954) and Pamela. Meikle and Cooper divorced in 1970.[2]

Your Television Babysitter, which aired Monday through Friday 8:30am to 9am ET, led to a spin-off, Meikle and Cooper’s The Magic Cottage, which was aimed at slightly older children, and aired on weekday evenings from 6:30 to 7 pm ET.[2]

According to the book The Forgotten Network, both series were well received by television critics at the time. Meikle was described by Variety as "the answer to a mother’s prayers. She’s already being touted as a new TV star."[3] The Magic Cottage continued on DuMont’s flagship station WABD until 1955. Meikle continued to work at WABD after both series had finished their runs.

Episode status

As with most DuMont series, no episodes are known to exist.

See also

References

  1. ↑ IMDB entry
  2. 1 2 Davis, Jeffery (1995). Children's Television, 1947-1990. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 163. ISBN 0-89950-911-8.
  3. ↑ "(Review for Your Television Babysitter)". Weekly Variety. 1948-11-10. p. 38. Retrieved 2018-09-18.

Bibliography

  • David Weinstein, The Forgotten Network: DuMont and the Birth of American Television (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2004) ISBN 1-59213-245-6
  • Alex McNeil, Total Television, Fourth edition (New York: Penguin Books, 1980) ISBN 0-14-024916-8
  • Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows, Third edition (New York: Ballantine Books, 1964) ISBN 0-345-31864-1
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