Left to Right: Kukla, Burr Tillstorm, Fran Allison, Ollie
Kukla, Fran, and Ollie was an American television series that starred puppeteer Burr Tillstrom as the roles of Kukla and Oliver J. "Ollie " Dragon (among others) and radio comedienne Fran Allison as herself. The show ran altogether from 1947 to 1957 on on the channels WBKB (as the hour-long "Junior Jamboree," 1947-48), WNBQ (1948-49), NB
C (1948-54 [15 min., 1951-52 ]), and ABC (15 minutes, 1954-57). The show was entirely ad-lib bed, and was created just for children but soon adored by adults.
After the series ended the trio made guest appearances on various TV series and on stage. From 1967 to 1979, the puppet duo and their human friend hosted The CBS Children's Film Festival, an anthology series showcasing family films from around the world. Two later series were made by NET (later PBS) in 1970 and Martin Tahse produced 13 additional episodes in 1975.