WSVN Channel 7 - Gigglesnort Hotel - "Vanity" (Part 1, 1987)

Here's Part 1 of an episode of Bill Jackson's Gigglesnort Hotel (entitled "Vanity", which was Episode #17 of the series, and whose original airdate was Sunday, May 11th 1975.)

This aired on Channel 7 - WSVN Channel 7 in Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that is. (The station was an NBC affiliate at the time; it is today an affiliate of the FOX television network.)

This program - the last major show to feature Mr. Jackson's parade of puppets including the Dirty Dragon, the Old Professor, Mother Pearl Plumtree, Weird, the Blob, and the hotel's owner Old Man Gigglesnort - had originated from Chicago's very own WLS Channel 7 where it aired first-run from 1975 to 1977 for a total of 78 episodes, and was syndicated to many local stations across the country which ran them usually every Saturday or Sunday morning. (Another station that ran Gigglesnort Hotel for many years, starting around 1977, was WPIX Channel 11 in New York City - sister station to our own WGN Channel 9, where Jackson produced the final season of B.J. and the Dirty Dragon in 1973-74 after being dropped by WFLD Channel 32. He and his gallery of puppets were also reasonably well-known in the Big Apple by the time WPIX picked up Gigglesnort Hotel, as contemporaneous with that final B.J. and the Dirty Dragon season he also produced a weekly Saturday afternoon show, B.J.'s Bunch, that aired through 1974 on WNBC Channel 4 - whose own Windy City sister station, WMAQ Channel 5, aired a Christmas special from B.J., A Gift for Granny, on December 14th 1974. Ah, connections.)

This part includes:

Station ID / promo for The People's Court (voiceover by ??)

Gigglesnort Hotel opening titles, with the array of puppets (in order of appearance: The Blob, Myrtle and Maynard Thumptwanger, Captain Gigglesnort steering the Good Ship Gigglesnort, the Old Professor and Mother Plumtree, Weird, W.C. Cornfield, and the Dirty Dragon)

Bill Jackson (at the hotel's front desk) welcoming viewers to another edition, and suggesting they stay in the lobby, after which house detective W.C. happens near the front desk with a magnifying glass looking for a place to sleep; Blob then enters with mail, using them as fans for dancing, after which Mother Plumtree and the Old Professor enter bickering about the hat she bought not quite 15 minutes before. Blob complains of not having anything to dance with, but then B.J. decides to put some of the hat's feathers onto Blob, after which an Indian (Native American) dance comes up.

B.J. then sorts the mail (for the Professor, Maynard, Mr. Gigglesnort, and a letter with no address that smells like bananas - probably for Gus-Gus the gorilla); then happens onto a letter addressed to "D. Dragon, Vice-President in Charge of Climate Control for Gigglesnort Hotel," which the Dragon explains is for a contest for "Hollywood's Most Handsome Man" (in which he submitted a picture of his "schnozz"), the winner of which would star in a picture opposite Gloria Glotz. As B.J. marvels over this contest, we see Dirty below opening the mail (from Seymour Karp of Paltry Productions) and then emerging back up to advise B.J. that he won (to stock fanfare music accompaniment). B.J. shakes his hand to congratulate the Dragon on his fortune, only to find that Dirty has acquired the ego of a Hollywood star.

B.J. starts with calling the Professor and Mother Plumtree on the hotel phone with the news (they are seen with her piggybacking on him at the time), but has trouble getting through to Gus-Gus and Gertrude, and has similar luck (or lack thereof) with Mr. Gigglesnort (who picks up a carrot instead - thinking it was "for Bugs Bunny" - and doesn't actually answer the phone). He then notices it's getting cold inside and tries to get Dirty, but the Dragon is too busy preparing for being a star to notice.

The elevator plummets precipitously from the 9th floor to the lobby, after which the Professor, Mother Plumtree and Weird emerge from the elevator, joined thereafter by Maynard, Blob and W.C. - all of whom likewise notice how cold the hotel is getting. B.J. tries to convince Dirty to send up heat, but the Dragon is too busy rehearsing to respond.

Afterwards, an earthquake begins to rock the hotel, to the horror of the residents. When, after the quake subsides, B.J. asks if everyone's all right, they all collapse.

"Vanity" / Gigglesnort Hotel bumper

Commercial: Miami Museum of Science & Space Transit Planetarium - with a "Classic Moment in Sports" where cavemen are playing an early baseball game (with a caveman holding his club like a baseball bat, and another using a rock like a ball, at the bottom of the ninth inning) - as a promo for the "Dinosaurs Roar!" exhibition to be held from February 6th through April 30th (voiceover by ??)

Promo for Today show with Jane Pauley explaining what goes on every weekday morning, and Live at Five with Frank Robertson and Denise White describing what goes on every afternoon

Promo for Hour Magazine with Gary Collins for weekdays at 9am, with brief clips of interviews with Frank Sinatra, Tom Selleck, and other parts including major news issues, lifestyles, etc. (main voiceover by ??) (ending voiceover by ??)

This aired on local Miami / Fort Lauderdale, Florida TV on Saturday, February 28th 1987 during the 7:30am to 8am timeframe.

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