Davey and Goliath

In 1958, Franklin Clark Fry, president of the United Lutheran Church in America (ULCA), put aside $1 million to fund production of a future television program for children.[8] Soon after, the ULCA contracted with Clokey Productions, Inc., headed by Gumby creators Art and Ruth Clokey, to create a new children’s show: Davey and Goliath.[9] Scripts were written by children’s book author Nancy Moore in consultation with the church;[10] Moore would go on to pen several episodes of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The ULCA and Art Clokey teamed up to make the first Davey and Goliath episode in 1960, called "Lost in a Cave", which would be the first shown in syndication in 1961. In this premiere episode, the figures were entirely clay (with some latex/rubber clothing showing visible seams) and the scenery was also mostly clay. The early voices included Hal Smith (who did a number of voices including Davey's father), Dick Beals (who was Davey's voice) and Ginny Tyler (who did the voice of Sally's and Davey's mother). These three did many other voices as well.

After making "Lost in a Cave" in 1960, Clokey made "The Wild Goat", "Stranded on an Island" and "The Winner" in early 1961. In these episodes, the clay figures were now clothed with actual cloth, and more model buildings and trees were added, making the episodes look somewhat more realistic. In 1961, the series of these four episodes began airing free on local television stations nationwide, ranging from ABC, NBC and CBS Network affiliates to independent stations. Occasionally, two or more stations in the same market aired the show, at different times. Many stations ran these episodes leading into network Saturday-morning lineups. Other stations ran them in religious Sunday-morning lineups between various evangelists' programs. By 1964, the show was airing in over 90% of U.S. television markets.

By 1962, the clay figures had established looks and consistent sizes, and the scenery had become slightly more realistic. At the close of episodes, "The End" was now displayed in regular print, rather than the Davey & Goliath logo-type print. The background music used on this show originated from sources such as The Capitol Hi-Q Production Music Library, which could be heard on shows like The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, The Donna Reed Show, Dennis The Menace and other 1950s sitcoms. A few of these background tracks could also be heard on the late 1950s and early 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

By 1963, Nancy Wible was now providing voices for female characters such as Davey's mother. Norma MacMillan could also be heard as the voice of numerous child and female characters. Davey's personality had become slightly tougher and, within a couple of episodes, rebellious. Overall, Davey's character remained good-natured. Davey himself was older, but the scope of the show itself involved no big changes. By 1963, production on Davey and Goliath wound down. In some episodes, in addition to a placard showing "The End", a screen showed that the show was produced in association with the United Lutheran Church in America.

In 1965, a 30-minute Christmas special called "Christmas Lost and Found" was aired.[11] The episode was more overtly religious in nature and distanced itself from traditional Christmas figures such as Santa Claus and Rudolph, with religious Christmas songs included. This would also be the last episode featuring Dick Beals as the voice of Davey.

In 1967, three 30-minute holiday specials were aired: "The New Year's Promise" in January, "Happy Easter" in March, and "Halloween Who-Dun-It" in October.[4] By now the background music changed to an unknown music library. Davey was closer to junior high-school age and was voiced by Norma MacMillan. "Happy Easter" confronted the death of a loved one, as Davey's beloved grandmother dies suddenly (off-camera) within hours of a fun-filled visit.

After these four specials, the LCA and Clokey Productions began funding another series of episodes in 1969, to begin airing in 1971. At this point, only Norma MacMillan and Hal Smith did voices. In these episodes, Davey was junior high-school aged, and occasionally became rebellious, a very different characterization than the original. Norma MacMillan continued to do the voice of Davey.

During this period, racism, gangs, conservation, crime and other serious, timely issues became topics for the series. Episodes included "Blind Man's Bluff", "Finders Keepers", "Who's George?", "Who Me?", "Help!" and "The Stopped Clock". The openings were also changed, featuring updated music. Background music was changed back to The Capitol Hi-Q music of the 1960s series. Midway through this series, Davey's African-American friend Jonathan Reed was introduced. Jonathan came from a nearby city, and both characters went to school together.

In 1971, another 30-minute special, "School... Who Needs It?", was aired. Also that year, the final regular series of episodes was produced. Jonathan appeared in most of the episodes. 1972's episodes included "Whatshisname?", "The Zillion Dollar Combo", and "Chicken". In 1973, production on the series wound down once again, but in 1975 a 30-minute summer camp special called "To The Rescue" was aired. This special marked the official end of the production of the series.

After an almost 30-year hiatus, Davey and Goliath were next seen as part of a Mountain Dew soda commercial in 2001,[12] with the royalties from the commercial used to fund the production of the 2004 Christmas special entitled Davey & Goliath's Snowboard Christmas. The holiday special addressed both religious and ethnic diversity as Davey demonstrates his snowboarding expertise to two friends: Sam, a Jewish boy, and Yasmeen, a Muslim girl. During the course of the show, they get caught in an avalanche and end up in a cave. Goliath goes for help while Davey and his new friends find out that they really aren't all that different. The three children wind up learning of each other's holiday celebrations: Jewish Hanukkah, Christian Christmas and Muslim Eid.[13]

Because most of the original voice cast were no longer alive (Hal Smith died in 1994 and Norma MacMillan in 2001), new voice actors played the roles. This episode took advantage of advances in animation technology using updated graphics and scenery. It was 45 minutes long and aired during a one-hour time slot with commercials. Until that point, commercials had never aired during any episode.