four years). The Supremes and the Motown Sound visited the Skelton hour in 1965. Other musical guests included Bobby Rydell, the Lettermen, Vikki Carr, Horst Jankowski, Gloria Loring, the New Christy Minstrels, the Doodletown Pipers, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, the Association, Lulu, Johnny Mathis, Tom Jones, Matt Monro and Lou Rawls. Comedy sketches The sketches were usually built around one of Red's many characters, including "Deadeye", an incredibly inept sheriff in the Old West; "San Fernando Red", a shady real estate agent (named for the San Fernando Valley, which was still a largely rural area when the show began); "Cauliflower McPugg", a punchdrunk boxer, "George Appleby", a hen-pecked husband, "Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid" (whose trademark line was, " If l dood it, l get a whippin'.........l DOOD IT!"), "Clem Kadiddlehopper", a hick who was identified in at least one sketch as being from Cornpone County, Tennessee, and "Freddie the Freeloader". Freddie, regarded by many as Skelton's signature character, was a bum with a heart of gold, who was played by Skelton (and in one episode in 1961, by Ed Sullivan) in clown makeup reminiscent of Emmett Kelly but somehow not as sad. Freddie could be either a speaking character or totally pantomimed. While many of Skelton's other characters originated on his radio shows, Freddie was created for television in 1952. Skelton's father, Joseph, who died two months before his youngest son, Richard, was born, was once a clown for the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Skelton, who had spent some time working for the same circus as a youth, copied his father's clown makeup for Freddie. During the sketches, Skelton and the celebrity guest star would sometimes break character and make good-natured wisecracks at one another. In its later years the show generally finished with "The Silent Spot", with Skelton pantomiming Freddie or another silent character. (It was hard for some younger viewers to accept that such an overwhelmingly visual, physical performer had once been a staple of radio.) After "The Silent Spot", the show closed with Red looking into the camera and saying sincerely, "Good night and may God bless." The Tom Hansen Dancers would return in their costumes from the pre-opening song-and-dance number and invite the audience to join the show the following week, singing to the tune of "Holiday for Strings" as the closing credits appeared. While the vast majority of Skelton's skits were comedy, there were