Kukla, Fran and Ollie

Kukla, Fran and Ollie is an American children's television program created by puppeteer Burr Tillstrom, broadcast live and largely unscripted on NBC beginning in 1947, built around the interactions of Tillstrom's hand puppets Kukla and Oliver J. Dragon, known as Ollie, with human host Fran Allison. Performed without a written script, the program relied on improvised, gently humorous conversation rather than plotted stories, and it was praised at the time for an adult wit that appealed to viewers beyond its nominal child audience. It is regarded by television historians as one of the pioneering programs of early American network television and an early demonstration of puppetry's suitability to the live broadcast medium.