Above is a record album based on the TV show Treehouse that was hosted by Danny Coughlan. I received this record today (Dec 12, 2024) as a Christmas gift from my friend Liam, who in addition to being a puppeteer is also a huge puppet geek just like me! Liam said it was okay if I opened the gift early, which I'm glad for because I was super curious to find out what it was!
This past August while Liam was in town for the Puppets Up Festival, we talked about all sorts of different puppet TV shows and I briefly mentioned Treehouse to him, but as I was only 6 or 7 years old when I watched the show I didn't remember very much about it other than the title and the catchy theme song (which I still know the words for!), and that it was hosted by a blond guy who played the guitar along with two puppet pals.
So I'm quite surprised that a mere three months later Liam has sent me a record album based on that very show! Liam has the most uncanny ability to find rare and obscure puppet memorabilia. It happens so frequently that I honestly think it's one of his superpowers! He once found an original 1930's Charlie McCarthy hand puppet at a thrift store of all places! On other occasions he found a poster of Boot from TVO's Readalong, an antique hand puppet of Noddy that is in pristine condition, and an extremely rare plush toy of Barkley the Dog from Sesame Street that was made by the Applause toy company. And now this obscure record, which also happens to be signed by Danny Coughlan on the back cover!
I honestly don't know how Liam does it but I'm glad he does! I was so happy to see this record that I actually got quite emotional and may have got a little something in my eye. He literally sent me a piece of my childhood!
So now I know that the host of the show was Danny Coughlan who lived in Stratford Ontario, and that the show itself was recorded in Kitchener Ontario! It's awesome to know that it was a Canadian show! I did a little bit of searching online to see what else I could find out. Here is what I found:
Treehouse was produced from 1972 to 1990 at CKCO-TV, the CTV station in Kitchener, and ran for an additional three years in reruns. At first it was only shown locally but became so popular that it was shown all across Canada on CTV stations. It was also seen by Americans along the border. The program was created in Stratford Ontario by Ted Rooney who based it on his series of educational books. Rooney was also the show's producer with Betty Thompson as Assistant Producer. Prior to working on Treehouse, Thompson was in charge of CKCO-TV's version of Romper Room, which she continued to do while also working on Treehouse. Romper Room was for very young children up to age six, while Treehouse was for slightly older children.
The original version of the program began with an outdoor scene of Danny Coughlan with his guitar leading a small group of children Pied Piper style over the island bridge on the Avon River in Stratford, Ontario. Then they arrive at a treehouse and climb up the ladder to go inside. A newspaper article written by Jackie Hayes quotes Mr. Rooney as he explained the intro. "When we started, I mentioned at home that we needed a treehouse for the opening segment and my son Chris, who was six, led me to one in the neighbourhood which was just perfect. [...] I told him to round up his friends and we took pictures of them climbing up the tree and playing in the treehouse."
During the show Coughlan would play his guitar as he sang children's songs to the kids who were in the studio as well as to the camera for the kids at home. He wrote all the songs himself, which is also the case for all 12 tracks on the record album. Pat Ludwig was the show's organ player. Later in the program Coughlan would do a drawing as the kids in the studio followed along. He was always joined by two puppet pals who would banter with him throughout the show, Leroy and Ralph. They appeared together through a puppet theatre style window on the left side of the Treehouse set. The puppets were performed by Ken Copeman and Terry Thomas. One of the shows regular visitors was Lisa the mail girl, who delivered letters from viewers for Coughlan to read on the show, and she would also do exercises with the kids.
Later on in the shows run during the 80's, the program was updated with a completely new set, a new version of the intro and theme song, and the original puppets were replaced with new puppet characters, Jo Jo and Frank, performed by puppeteers Peter McCowatt and Mark Hodgson.
Some episodes included on location segments, such as when Danny Coughlan interviewed Wayne Gretzky who appeared on the show three times. One of their studio guests who appeared on the show in Sept 1984 was Stratford Ontario's own local legend, body builder Jim Morris. During his retirement in Waterloo, Ted Rooney created a two hour video featuring clips from Treehouse and made three copies, which he donated to the libraries in Waterloo, Kitchener and Stratford.
In addition to hosting Treehouse, Coughlan appeared on CKCO-TV's Canadian Bandstand with Wally Crouter and Reg Seller. In 1963 he recorded several singles with Capital records that were released on four 45rpm records, including the songs Beach Boy and Odd Man Out which have been posted on YouTube. From 1965 to 1972 he recorded seven more singles that were released with various labels. In addition to the Treehouse record album he released two more full length albums, Jelly Beans: A Collection of Fun and Inspirational Songs, and Show Time in Stratford at the Victorian Inn. A fourth album, Danny Coughlan: Jelly Beans II, was released on cassette tape in 1984.
Sadly, Mr. Coughlan passed away at the age of 57 on Nov 18, 1990 due to a poor recovery from a recent operation, he also had diabetes. His wife pre-deceased him by two years and he had four children. Due to his untimely passing the Treehouse show ended production. Treehouse was the longest running Canadian produced children's show featuring an all Canadian cast. Thank you for the wonderful childhood memories Mr. Coughlan!
And thank you Liam for such an awesome Christmas present!
