Kukla, Fran, and Ollie was a televised puppet show that ran from 1947 through 1957. The puppet show was first shown on the NBC television (see entry under 1940s—TV and Radio in volume 3) network. For its final three years, the show appeared on ABC-TV. Kukla and Ollie were the names of two puppets created by Burr Tillstrom (1917–1985). Fran Allison (1907–1989) was the human who chatted with them as they performed on a tiny stage. Kukla (his name is the Russian word for "doll") was an excitable fellow with a huge round nose and receding hairline. Ollie (Oliver J. Dragon) was a self-centered but good-natured dragon. In the show, Kukla never talked, making himself understood by rapid body movements, but Ollie had a falsetto voice. These two puppets were the most prominent of the Kuklapolitans, a group of Tillstrom's puppets that included Madame Ooglepuss, Fletcher...