Call It Macaroni is an American children's television series that premiered on January 24, 1975.[1] It was produced by Group W (Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, Inc.) with executive producers Gail Frank and Stephanie Meagher.[2] [3] Prior to its release, Donald McGannon, the chair of Group W, announced the show was a call to action for children to have a specific slot for their television.[4] Intended to be a 12-part series of children's specials to be aired once a month, due to its popularity, another 12 specials were produced.[5]
Its goal was to show 10–12-year-olds different things they could experience in the United States.[6] It follows a different group of children each episode as they go to different places within the country, learning about a culture, city, environment, job, or hobby.
The first season was sold to 100,[7] [8] 103 or 104[9] [10] stations in syndication.[11] It was well received[7] [9] [12] and won a Peabody Award in 1975.[13] [14]
There are 24 half-hour episodes of Call it Macaroni.[9] Air dates listed below may be later than the first airing. One episode, "Gym Dandys", is viewable on YouTube.
| Episode | Air date | Synopsis | |
|---|---|---|---|
| It's a Long Way Up | January 24, 1975[15] | Three teens climb Mount Hood in Oregon.[16] | |
| Give the Circus a Tumble | February 19, 1975[17] | Three 11-year-olds spend a week with Circus Vargas as it tours and performs in Colorado. | |
| Fly like a Bird | March 19, 1975[18] | Two San Franciscans take glider and hang gliding lessons. | |
| Once Upon a Horse | April 20, 1975[19] | Two 12-year-olds get horse riding lessons and participate in a riding competition.[20] | |
| Sail on the Winds of Time | April 24, 1975[21] | Teens learn aboard a replica of a 19th century schooner. | |
| Texas Tenderfoot | May 30, 1975[22] | Three teens from the San Francisco Bay region become wranglers, helping to drive horses from Big Bend National Park in West Texas to a ranch away. | |
| Exploring Yesterday | June 6, 1975[23] | Three children get to experience how the Native Americans of northern Minnesota lived.[24] | |
| A Seaful of Adventure | July 22, 1975[25] | Three youngsters from the Boston area take a cruise on the Florida shrimp boat Lady Gin.[26] | |
| The Boys and Girls of Summer | September 4, 1975[27] | A boy and a girl from Philadelphia go to the Philadelphia Phillies spring training camp in Florida. | |
| Path of Papagos | November 16, 1975[28] | Three youngsters experience the Native American way of life. | |
| Puppets and Other People[29] | December 6, 1975[30] | Three children from Boston construct a puppet under the supervision of puppeteer Kermit Love.[31] Kevin Clash, the best known puppeteer to perform as Sesame Streets Elmo, saw this episode as a teen and asked his mother to help him contact Love;[32] she succeeded, and Love eventually became his mentor. | |
| Where Do we Sign Up, When Do We Leave? | December 15, 1975[33] | Three kids from the San Francisco area spend a week on a racing schooner exploring the Channel Islands of California.[34] | |
| Nashville: Over the Rainbow | April 18, 1976[35] | In the first episode of the second year,[36] a 13-year-old Dobro guitar player goes to Nashville and gets to perform with Bobby Bare.[37] | |
| Lights, Camels, Action | May 21, 1976[38] | Three New Yorkers join a production company working on the film Hawmps!, a comedy about the United States Camel Corps, on location in Arizona and become extras in one scene.[39] | |
| And That's Jazz | June 11, 1976[40] | Two budding musicians from New York go to New Orleans and join a jazz session.[41] | |
| Rogue Runners | July 23, 1976[42] | Some youngsters go on a five-day rafting trip on the Rogue River. | |
| Some of My Best Friends are Dolphins | August 20, 1976[43] | Two children work with dolphins at the Miami Seaquarium.[44] | |
| It's Really Magic | September 21, 1976[45] | Two 11-year-olds from New York travel to Hollywood to work with the magician Shimada and perform at the Magic Castle.[46] | |
| How Do You Make a Moose Smile? | October 1, 1976[47] | Three New York 11- and 12-year-olds are taught by a professional how to photograph wildlife in the wilderness.[48] | |
| North of the Arctic | December 4, 1976[49] | Two youngsters from Portland, Oregon, become acquainted with an Eskimo family in Alaska.[50] | |
| Dance to the Music | December 5, 1976[51] | Two teens spend a week at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York.[52] | |
| When Bold Knights Lanced | January 10, 1977[53] | A boy and a girl attend the annual Medieval Festival at Fort Tryon Park in Manhattan. | |
| Gym Dandys | February 11, 1977[54] [55] | Two kids from San Francisco receive lessons from gymnasts training for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. | |
| Sing, West Virginia, Sing | March 15, 1977[56] | Two young Philadelphians learn about the music and culture of Appalachia. |