- Major Astro
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Major Astro was a local afternoon children's television show in Wichita, Kansas, played by Tom Leahy, Jr. as "Major Astro".
It consisted of lead-ins to blocks of popular cartoons of the time, with Leahy introducing them himself in his space suit, on a set designed to look like a base station on another planet.
Major Astro started out on KARD-TV and the Kansas State Network, airing from 1960-1973, and later moved to KSAS-TV in the late 80s, before ending altogether around 1989. Through the Kansas State Network, local TV stations in Great Bend, Kan., Garden City, Kan., and Oberlin, Kan.-McCook, Neb., aired the program.
In the mid-1960s Major Astro aired Astro Boy, the first anime syndicated for broadcast in the U.S..
Leahy ended each day's show by saying "Join me next time when everything will be a-okay, and all systems will be go. Happy orbits, boys and girls. I'll see you tomorrow". He would then put on his space suit helmet, and walk out the door of his base station, presumably to his waiting space ship,which could be seen during the program through a "window" at the rear of the base station. During the 80's, Major Astro used a space shuttle set.
Tom Leahy died June 18, 2010 at the age of 87[1].
External links
References
- ^ "Major Astro Dies At Age 87". Associated Press. June 21, 2010. http://www.kctv5.com/news/23977458/detail.html. Retrieved June 21, 2010.
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