Yesterday someone sent me a link to an amazing clip from an old local Philly kid's show called The Al Alberts Showcase. I had never seen it before, and according to YouTube stats, neither has the internet, so I asked one of my friends from Philadelphia to explain. This is what he said:
This was a variety show that ran in Philadelphia for like 20 years and I believe it aired on Saturday mornings before the cartoons would start. Even when I didn't know what "creeped out" meant, I was totally creeped out. You should see the joke portion of the show where these terrified little girls tell "Uncle Al" knock knock jokes.
So here are some videos from The Al Alberts Showcase. Judge for yourself whether they're "creepy." (Just kidding: they are, but in that "The '80s were a much more innocent time." kind of way.)
Al serenades a group of befuddled, crying little boys with a song about little boys crying because Johnny won their marbles or something. That's the best I can do:
[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]
Joke Time: A little girl tells a racist-ish joke, and a little boy, well, totally bombs and Al isn't shy about saying so (in fact, he never laughs at their jokes -- it's kind of funny.):
[videoembed size="full_width" alignment="center"][/videoembed]
Al Alberts was an entertainer prior to Showcase, and there's a lot of information about him on Wikipedia, if you're interested. (Personally, I'm just interested in strange, out-of-context creepy YouTube videos of ancient children's TV, of course.) (First video via Philebrity.)
