The Magic Land of Allakazam

The Magic Land of Allakazam
Cast at the show premiere in October 1960.
Created by	Mark Wilson
Starring	Mark Wilson Nani Darnell Bev Bergeron
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	98
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	CBS (1960-1962), ABC (1962-1964)
Picture format	NTSC
Original release	1 October 1960 – 26 December 1964

The Magic Land of Allakazam was the name of a groundbreaking series of network television shows featuring American magician Mark Wilson. It ran from 1960 to 1964 and is credited with establishing the credibility of magic as a television entertainment.^[1]

History

The origins of the series were in a locally broadcast show that Wilson arranged in Dallas, Texas, in 1955. That grew into other shows in Houston and San Antonio. With the introduction of videotape, Wilson created The Magic World of Allakazam as the first magic show to be videotaped and nationally syndicated. It debuted on 1 October 1960 on CBS and aired every Saturday morning on that network for two years. Wilson's wife, Nani Darnell, and their young son, Mike Wilson, assisted him and they were joined by Bev Bergeron who played the character Rebo the Clown. Other cameo appearances by Bob Towner, Robert Fenton and Chuck Burns played occasional characters on the show.^[2]^[3] The shows were in black and white and were sponsored by Kellogg’s Cereals. They followed a formula that Wilson devised and which he believed was essential for the success of magic on television. This was that there should be a live audience, that there should not be a cut from one view to another during a trick and that viewers should know they were seeing exactly what the studio audience saw.^[1]

In 1962, the show moved to ABC without missing a week on air. In 1965, the series left ABC and was internationally syndicated. The series was one of the top shows in the Nielsen ratings for Saturday mornings. It has been cited by a number of famous magicians as an early inspiration.

Videos

Wilson is currently marketing the first 24 shows on DVD in six volumes, as well as the 1970s Magic Circus episodes.^[4]

References

1 2 "Magic changes with the times 1930-1975". California Science Center. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
↑ "The Magic Land of Allakazam". Mark Wilson's official website. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
↑ "The Magic Land of Allakazam". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
↑ "Mark Wilson's Magic". Mark Wilson. Retrieved 2007-03-15.

External links

Magic and illusion

General	Assistants Clubs Conventions Equivocation Exposure Mentalists Misdirection Sleight of hand Stores

Genres	Bizarre Card Cardistry (history) Children's Coin Escape Gospel Mathemagic Mental Micromagic Platform Séance Stage Street

Tricks	Close-up magic Escapology Levitations Mentalism Platform magic Stage illusions

Lists	Conjuring terms Films about magicians Magicians Manufacturers Museums Publications Timeline Tricks

Magic history	Indian magicians Modern Magic Tarbell Course

Children's programming on CBS in the 1960s

First-run animated series	Mighty Mouse Playhouse (1955–67) Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963–66) Linus the Lionhearted The Heckle and Jeckle Cartoon Show Tom and Jerry (1965–72) The Mighty Heroes The Underdog Show (last few seasons) Frankenstein, Jr. and The Impossibles (1966–68) Space Ghost and Dino Boy (1966–68) The New Adventures of Superman (1966–70) The Lone Ranger The Road Runner Show (1968–71; 1975–78; 1978–85) The Beagles The Herculoids (1967–68) Shazzan Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor (1967–69) The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure Go Go Gophers Wacky Races (1968–70) The Archie Show (1968–69) The Batman/Superman Hour Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (1969–71) The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (1969–71) Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969–72, 1974–76)

First-run live-action series	Captain Kangaroo (1955–84) The Magic Land of Allakazam CBS Children's Film Festival

Rebroadcasts	Sky King The Roy Rogers Show My Friend Flicka The Alvin Show The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin The Quick Draw McGraw Show The Jetsons The Adventures of Lassie Jonny Quest The Monkees (1969–72)

Schedules	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

Related programming and topics	Animation in the United States in the television era

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