By Scott Buckner
Concluding our conversation with Bill Jackson.
– Part 1: The studio resembled the remains of a battlefield.
– Part 2: Twinkies and the FCC.
Beachwood: You drew huge crowds during your public appearances, and your backyard carnivals for muscular dystrophy made kids aware that there was such a disease before we knew what a Jerry Lewis telethon was. How did your involvement with muscular dystrophy begin, and where did it go over the years?
Jackson: Muscular Dystrophy representatives approached me shortly after Cartoon Town began climbing in the ratings. I was quite happy to support this worthy cause and promoted the Carnivals, even attended some. Later, when I no longer had a daily show and my weekly shows played at different times of the year, my affiliation with MD ended.
Beachwood: Because I just have to ask: What’s your favorite B.J. groupie story?
Jackson: I don’t have any stories, but I did receive a picture of an elderly lady in a bikini. The image is embedded in my memory.
Beachwood: What was the deal with the sideburns? And how long does it take to master the act of flipping a bowler hat off the end of your shoe onto your head?
Jackson: I originally sported the sideburns to fit the image of my role as mayor in a tiny, turn-of-the-century village. Long hair became the trend, so I just let ’em grow. Mastering the art of flipping one’s hat from foot to head never happened. After a long series of futility, the bowler actually landed on my head and I never attempted the repeat of such a wonderment.
Beachwood: When I was a kid watching BJDD, I kept thinking you were some sort of carnival barker who became a village mayor and started dressing better. Your Wikipedia entry says your father worked in a traveling carnival. Was there any influence or connection – conscious or otherwise – between your father and your “mayor” persona?
Jackson: My father, mother, and I all were part of traveling carnivals. The first chapters of my book, The Only Kid on the Carnival, relates the influence the carnies and my father had on me. The carnival clown became a dear friend and I adored Gorilla Man, the wrestler. It was during my carnival years that I learned to how to create excitement and “make something out of nothing.”
Beachwood: Come clean. What’s the recipe for Chocolate Muzzi? [Writer’s note: Chocolate Muzzi was a confection of legendary proportion on Jackson’s shows. The recipe was incredibly tough to come by. It’s easy to make and my own kids go wild over it.]
Jackson: Pressure, pressure, pressure.
INGREDIENTS:
One package chocolate chips
Two tablespoons peanut butter
One tablespoon butter
Two ounces shoestring potatoes
DIRECTIONS:
Melt chips, peanut butter, and butter in a pan. Pour mixture over shoestring potatoes. Drop by spoonful onto wax paper.
If you have any contacts at all, I expect to see this on Martha Stewart.
Beachwood: Where did the recipe come from?
Jackson: My thought was to give the kids something simple they could share doing with their mothers. Chocolate Muzzi came from a collection of simple-to-make recipes my wife had. I wanted Mother Plumtree to tout kitchen treats that kids and mothers could make together. Of the various recipes Mother Plumtree presented, Chocolate Muzzi was the super-yummy hit. Chocolate Muzzi got its name the way many things on my shows got their names: I just thought it sounded funny. Chocolate Muzzi was very successful.
Beachwood: So . . . how many “Fie on tailgaters” bumper stickers do you have left sitting in the garage right now? (To clarify, this is a tongue-in-cheek question.)
Jackson: Nod minny. Dey were preddy poblar (‘cuze me. Godda ton in mah cheeg).
Beachwood: Have you shown any of your B.J. & Dirty Dragon Show episodes still surviving to any of today’s kids, who we seem to believe are far more sophisticated than the kids of my generation? If so, what’s their verdict?
Jackson: I haven’t, but parents have told me that they’ve shown Gigglesnort to their kids and the reaction has been positive. I’m convinced, however, that viewers today, young and old, want everything faster. A wise adage for those creating programs is: there is what is written, what is shot, and what is edited. I am a big believer in editing and wish I’d had that luxury for my programs.
Beachwood: Gigglesnort is one thing and BJDD – which by some accounts is your favorite work – is another. Do episodes of BJDD exist outside the Museum of Broadcast Communications here in Chicago? If so, what are the chances they’ll ever see the light of day again on DVD?
Jackson: I have collected what little exists of BJDD and include highlights of that material in my documentary, Remembering … Cartoon Town and BJ & Dirty Dragon. I think the DVD will bring back fond memories to fans of those shows. There remains the possibility that I may be able to offer the complete serials, Blast off to Mars and Dirty Dragon Meets the Monsters at some future date.
Beachwood: All in all, what’s the one thing you think of from your run on Chicago TV that makes you think, “Man, I had a pretty good life?”
Jackson: The incredible, from-the-heart love I have received from my now grown-up fans.
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Bill Jackson’s memoir, The Only Kid on the Carnival: An Extraordinary Childhood and DVDs related to Cartoon Town, B.J. & Dirty Dragon, and Gigglesnort Hotel can be ordered directly from Jackson’s website.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on April 29, 2010