The Legend Begins...

April 29, 2008 2:24 PM

In 1963 Willard Scott pulled on a pair of striped yellow pants, put a food tray on his head, and became one of the world's most recognizable clowns.

Do we have an acronym for a single-link YouTube post that has a Wikipedia link for added flavor? Because we should.

posted by JDHarper (32 comments total)

Yes; it is called a "dp" for "deleted post".
posted by yhbc at 2:39 PM on April 29, 2008

Because we should.

Super Size Pepsi Blue?

Willard Scott was kind of creepy even without the costume. With it, he's kinda the archetype of creep.
posted by ten pounds of inedita at 2:40 PM on April 29, 2008

What the heck was that thing on his nose?
posted by Wonderwoman at 2:41 PM on April 29, 2008

wonderwoman, looked like a paper cup. ...
posted by wantwit at 2:45 PM on April 29, 2008

I like the way he breaks the fourth wall there.
posted by mr_roboto at 2:47 PM on April 29, 2008

Huh. Willard Scott? I had *no idea*.

Yeah pretty thin post, but still. Huh.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 2:47 PM on April 29, 2008

Like Yhbc, this post doesn't do much for me. Old hat video. And not even in terms of the date but old on the internets...
posted by saxamo at 2:47 PM on April 29, 2008

And in 1973 Sid and Marty Krofft set the legal wheels in motion which would ultimately rip Mayor McCheese, Big Mac, and Captain Crook from McDonaldland and send Ronald back into the real world.

RIP.

Now can we talk about the Far Out Space Nuts?
posted by mazola at 2:49 PM on April 29, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Like Yhbc, this post doesn't do much for me. Old hat video. And not even in terms of the date but old on the internets...

Really? I had never seen it before. I searched the Metafilter archives too, and I didn't see any references to it.
posted by JDHarper at 2:50 PM on April 29, 2008

Looks the like the bar for "TV weatherman" is set pretty low, doesn't it?
posted by tommasz at 2:53 PM on April 29, 2008

C'mon, now -- Willard is respectable, not like that plagiarizing (Fat) Al(bert) Roker.

It was Willard that has the meterological degree and Willard that came up with "Here's what's happening in your neck of the woods". Willard is from Virginia, he's folksy. Mr. Roker is from Queens -- there are no Southern colloquialisms in Queens that I'm aware of.
posted by vhsiv at 2:56 PM on April 29, 2008

there are no Southern colloquialisms in Queens that I'm aware of.

there are, they're simply more... anatomical than geographical.

also, that has to be the last time that mcdonald's ever put its food in any of its advertisements without making it look different than it does when you buy it.
posted by shmegegge at 3:05 PM on April 29, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

This is my favorite Willard Scott Moment evar.
posted by rooftop secrets at 3:15 PM on April 29, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Huh. Those burgers haven't changed much since then, have they?
posted by starman at 3:18 PM on April 29, 2008

starman: They have - they've become even LESS healthy.
posted by LSK at 3:50 PM on April 29, 2008

I could swear this was a double, but maybe I saw these on Screenhead back in the day.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:57 PM on April 29, 2008

I talk about this ALL THE TIME and no one believes me. Interesting side note: He owns exactly 0% of the character. You know how many old people's birthdays you've got to call out to equal even a fraction of the dough he missed out on?
posted by kristinahoge at 3:58 PM on April 29, 2008

I'll tell you what I get at the McDonalds, a cheeseburger order of fries, and a vanilla shake. That is the meal I am most like to purchase when dining at the McDonalds. That or a Happy Meal™
posted by nola at 4:02 PM on April 29, 2008

MacDonaldland Ad
posted by doctor_negative at 4:02 PM on April 29, 2008

It must have been pre-1963 that Willard Scott had a radio program in Washington, DC, with another guy. Absolutely all I remember about it is their theme song, which they sang in unison: "We are The Joy Boys of radio, we chase electrons to and fro...". Those were the days. It was good to be alive.
posted by Hobgoblin at 4:25 PM on April 29, 2008

Now can we talk about the Far Out Space Nuts?

I said lunch, not LAUNCH!
posted by tristeza at 4:59 PM on April 29, 2008

How could we discuss Ronald McDonald without mentioning Uncle O'Grimacey?
Oh, the pain...the pain...the pain...
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:14 PM on April 29, 2008

Cosmic. I just came accross this very spot last night, browsing though the assorteted YouTube effluvia that came up after a Sid and Marty Krofft search (I know, go easy on me). My favorite memory: human actors meet groovy music, man (more YT).
posted by scatman at 5:22 PM on April 29, 2008

See the magical clown? His boots and gloves are made to hide his claws. The red around his mouth, and in his hair? That is the blood of those he makes a meal of, he calls them happy meals, in the hope that that is what they will do. He even took away his own grimace, and put it aside and outside of himself, to follow him but not be part of him, and now he always smiles and smiles.

But it does not work. He will never be happy, however much he eats, and one day, he will suffer for all that he has eaten. His yellow pants have so much room in them, you see. They are so very big, and they are made so against the coming of that day. But they have not enough room in them, not nearly enough. All that he has eaten will burst forth, and the world will shake and fry.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 6:08 PM on April 29, 2008 [6 favorites has favorites]

The story is that before the days of national advertising for McDonald's, the local franchise in Washington, DC sponsored the local version of the Bozo the Clown show. Bozo was played by, you guessed it, Willard. The show was cancelled, but the company still wanted a clown doing its commercials, so Ronald was born.

When national advertising started, the company redesigned the Ronald character. Scott was given what he's called a "token" audition -- it seems they wanted someone more... athletic.

Some years later, though, apparently the local franchise once again talked Willard into squeezing into the Ronald costume, with rather grotesque results.
posted by evilcolonel at 6:45 PM on April 29, 2008

Oh, here's Willard as Bozo.
posted by evilcolonel at 7:10 PM on April 29, 2008

Willard Scott? I had *no idea*.

Yeah pretty thin post

Not with Willard Scott! Nyuk nyuk.

I'll be here all week....

The first one is kind of interesting because it opens on a McDonald's sign that still, back then, incorporated the Speedee character they had used up until then. Rumor has it they didn't like the inevitable comparisons with the Speedy character used by, you guessed it, Alka-Seltzer.
posted by dhartung at 11:05 PM on April 29, 2008

Some people's careers peak early.
posted by telstar at 12:36 AM on April 30, 2008

I talk about this ALL THE TIME and no one believes me.

Had you told me this five minutes ago, I wouldn't have believed you, either. I had absolutely no idea he created the character and am still a little dumbfounded.

Some people's careers peak early.

Maybe if he fought for some meager percentage of royalties... even fractional percentage points and his career could have peaked early. But instead...
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 3:52 AM on April 30, 2008

Willard's radio partner Ed Walker still has a program every Sunday night on WAMU the NPR station from American University in Washington. He plays all the old time favorites like Gunsmoke and Dragnet and everyone's favorite, the show with possibly the worst (and most distant from reality) prmise for a program in history, the man with the action-packed expense account, Johnny Dollar.
posted by Pollomacho at 5:46 AM on April 30, 2008

Ronald McDonald....45 years young.
posted by inigo2 at 6:47 AM on April 30, 2008

Metafilter: assorteted YouTube effluvia
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 7:10 AM on April 30, 2008