Clean & Bouncy

For months the horror programs that curdle the school-to-supper hours on the radio have been under attack from alarmed parents and teachers (TIME, March 24).*Last week radio was almost ready with its answer: a clean, bouncy transcribed program for children (aged three to ten), featuring Buddy Bear, "the most lovable and at the same time mischievous playmate a child ever had." Buddy's catch line: "Bobo ske deeton-dotten."

To make certain that every American moppet will become properly bear-conscious, Kasper-Gordon, the transcription agency, has promised to set off an overpowering display of promotional fireworks to coincide with the June 9 national premiere of the show.

Buttressing Buddy (an unprepossessing teddy bear) will be 65 Universal-International color movie shorts, 100,000 record albums, a newspaper cartoon strip drawn by the artists of Superman, Buddy Bear dolls, pull-toys, crayons, paint sets, wallpaper, pajamas, toothbrush holders, cereal bowls, lamps, storybooks--"and countless other items of merchandise . . . under the Buddy Bear name." Some parents suspected that the time might come when the afternoon horror programs would be remembered with wistful regret.

* In Columbus, Ohio, the Camp Fire Girls joined the battle. Their president, Mrs. James C. Parker, termed radio's children's hours an "unforgivable exploitation of childhood."

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