Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine
Encyclopedia
Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine was a children's television
show originating from WFSB
-TV in Hartford. The storyline involved Marlo Higgins (Laurie Faso
) who is a mustachioed and frizzy-haired computer programming
genius
working for the L. Dullo computer company. He was banished to the "sub-sub-basement" by his boss, Leo Dullo. By day Marlo works for L. Dullo. At night he builds, programs, and interacts with his Magic Movie Machine (Mert Koplin, voice) built using L. Dullo hardware. The waveform from a real-time audio spectrum analyzer
was displayed on the Magic Movie Machine's screen whenever it talked and it played short clips. The two (man and computer) traded tips and quips.
Marlo sat at a console with a slight resemblance to master control
consoles of the time. He would call up the various film clips featured on the show by entering codes using a numeric keypad
with round, yellow number buttons and pressing an orange rectangular Start button to start the selected film. In earlier episodes, a split-flap display
mounted on the console showed the code entered on the keypad. In later episodes, this was changed to an LED
display, and the buttons were made to sound like the DTMF tones made by a touch-tone telephone as Marlo pressed them. Most of the time, Marlo used a small keypad consisting of two columns of buttons flanking a CRT
, located in front of him when he was sitting at the console of the Magic Movie Machine. However, a similar but larger keypad located on the wall was sometimes used (see below).
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
show originating from WFSB
WFSB
'WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut. Syndicated...
-TV in Hartford. The storyline involved Marlo Higgins (Laurie Faso
Laurie Faso
Laurie Faso is an American television actor and occasional voice actor. In his career, he has held several bit parts on various shows, in addition to doing voices for several animated series and films, such as The Snorks, Monchichis, Darkwing Duck, Transformers and The Little Troll Prince...
) who is a mustachioed and frizzy-haired computer programming
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
genius
Genius
Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....
working for the L. Dullo computer company. He was banished to the "sub-sub-basement" by his boss, Leo Dullo. By day Marlo works for L. Dullo. At night he builds, programs, and interacts with his Magic Movie Machine (Mert Koplin, voice) built using L. Dullo hardware. The waveform from a real-time audio spectrum analyzer
Spectrum analyzer
A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown signals...
was displayed on the Magic Movie Machine's screen whenever it talked and it played short clips. The two (man and computer) traded tips and quips.
Marlo sat at a console with a slight resemblance to master control
Master control
Master control is the technical hub of a broadcast operation common among most over-the-air television stations and television networks. It is distinct from a production control room in television studios where the activities such as switching from camera to camera are coordinated...
consoles of the time. He would call up the various film clips featured on the show by entering codes using a numeric keypad
Numeric keypad
A numeric keypad, numpad or tenkey for short, is the small, palm-sized, seventeen key section of a computer keyboard, usually on the very far right. The numeric keypad features digits 0 to 9, addition , subtraction , multiplication and division symbols, a decimal point and Num Lock and Enter keys...
with round, yellow number buttons and pressing an orange rectangular Start button to start the selected film. In earlier episodes, a split-flap display
Split-flap display
A split-flap display, sometimes simply flap display, is a display device that presents alphanumeric text, and possibly fixed graphics, often used as a public transport timetable in some airports or railway stations, often called Solari boards, named after display manufacturer Solari di...
mounted on the console showed the code entered on the keypad. In later episodes, this was changed to an LED
LEd
LEd is a TeX/LaTeX editing software working under Microsoft Windows. It is a freeware product....
display, and the buttons were made to sound like the DTMF tones made by a touch-tone telephone as Marlo pressed them. Most of the time, Marlo used a small keypad consisting of two columns of buttons flanking a CRT
CRT
-Medicine:* Capillary refill time, the rate at with blood refills empty capillaries* Cognitive Retention Therapy, a dementia treatment* Cardiac resynchronization therapy, a treatment for heart failure** CRT-D, an implanted cardiac resynchronization device...
, located in front of him when he was sitting at the console of the Magic Movie Machine. However, a similar but larger keypad located on the wall was sometimes used (see below).
Segments
Regularly featured segments, in the form of films played by the Machine, included:- The Pre-fame Game: Marlo always used the code '5060' to call up this film. Baby pictures of famous people would be shown and the audience would be given a chance to guess who the celebrity's identity before a more current picture was revealed.
- The Birthday Game: A date would be chosen, possibly from letters sent in by fans having that birthday. Marlo would enter this month and day on the keypad. A film featuring famous people who shared that birthday would be shown.
- What do you see from A to Z: The code for this feature was '456.' A letter of the alphabet would be chosen, and film clips of things beginning with that letter would be shown. The clip would begin shown completely covered up, and gradually uncovered until it is completely revealed after 10 seconds. Presumably, the audience would try to identify what is being shown as quickly as possible.
- What do you see from A to Z Hidden Word Game: The code was '4560.' Similar to above, except that each word would begin with a different letter, and after the picture is uncovered, its initial letter would be placed in a blank in a final word. At the end of the segment, the final word would be completely filled in.
- Magic Year, Magic Month, and Magic Day: Using a chosen date or year as the code and utilizing a special keypad added in a later season to enter months, Marlo and the machine would feature events in history occurring on a particular day (the same day in different years) or in a particular month or year.
- Knock-knock Jokes: Marlo would use the larger keypad to enter the code '0000' to call up this film. A character on-screen would begin by saying "knock-knock," Marlo would answer "Who's There," and a knock-knock jokeKnock-knock jokeThe knock-knock joke is a type of joke, probably the best-known format of the pun, and is a time-honored "call and answer" exercise.It is a role-play exercise, with a punster and a recipient of wit.The standard format has five lines:...
would be told. - Riddles: In a later season, the knock-knock jokes were replaced by riddles, which Marlo would call up, again using the bigger keypad, by pressing '2222.'
Production information
- Executive producer: Sanford Fisher
- Taped at: WFSB-TV in Hartford
- Aired from 1977 (60 minutes), 1978-1980 (30 minutes), Saturday afternoons
- Channel: CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
/Syndicated - Production Company: Corporation for Education and Learning (who leveraged their enormous archive of footage)
- Music: Score Productions, Inc.