The Morty Gunty Show, WOR-TV, Channel 9, NYC
- Monday, September 28, 1963 — Premiered as the “The Funny Company”
- Monday, June 1, 1964 — Renamed “The Morty Gunty Show”
- Friday, January 1, 1965 — Cancelled
Source: TV Party.com
New York TV had a lot of great kid shows. My favorite hosts were Soupy Sales, Chuck McCann and Morty Gunty. Sandy Becker was also great, and who could forget Sonny Fox’s show, Wonderama?
For some reason I particularly enjoyed watching Morty Gunty, who came on the air when I was only 8 years old. Gunty clowned around like Sales and McCann, but in a different way. I agree with the opinion on the TV Party.com link that Gunty didn’t seem to want to be a TV kid show host. And I guess maybe I liked that.
Towards the end of 1964 Morty offered free, autographed pictures of himself. Wow! Without delay I wrote a letter to the station, asking for my free autographed photo of Morty Gunty. And a week or two later it came!
The photo was on the front of an oversized postcard. That was fine with me. It was printed in blue ink, and that was all right, too. But the autograph was obviously only part of the printing process, and that wasn’t all right. I had expected Morty would sign his photo personally!
So I wrote back, expressing my disappointment. Keep in mind that I was all of 9 years old. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote, but I’m pretty sure I was nice about it. I was a huge Morty Gunty fan, and I was desperate for his autograph, so being nice about it was the only way to be.
Some weeks later, on a Friday, at the end of his show, Morty sat in front of the TV camera, looking rather quiet and somber. He said he wanted to read a letter he had received. It took only a few moments to realize it was my letter! I sat stunned, listening to my own words being read out loud by my idol, right on TV!
Then I sprang into action and ran to the stairs to call for my twin sister Jean to come downstairs. I remember yelling for her to hurry. When I got back to the TV I knew immediately that it was a bad idea to have left the set, because Morty had already finished reading my letter, and I had missed some of what he said. I don’t know if he gave my name over the air.
The gist of what I caught was Morty Gunty explaining that my letter had caused some trouble, and that day’s show would be his last. And it was. The Morty Gunty Show was gone forever from New York TV.
I don’t know where the postcard is. I’m pretty sure I kept it and didn’t return it with the letter, but I can’t find it amongst any of my childhood keepsakes.
After a few years, as I began to grow up, I wondered what had happened. Had I really been the cause of Morty Gunty losing his show, and being fired from WOR-TV? Then, after our family moved to Massachusetts, Morty confirmed that yes indeed, it had been my fault.
The story concludes in Part 4.
Yes, you made it downstairs before it was all over, to the best of my recollection. I was stunned by that event! “What have I done??” was how I felt.
Did I come downstairs? It would seem pretty obvious that you WERE in part, at least, the reason for the demise of “The Funny Company.” Oh, the SHAME, the GUILT!