Here's Irving
Encyclopedia
Here's Irving is a 1957 color television pilot
produced by Sid and Marty Krofft
featuring a wide array of their marionettes. The pilot never aired on television, but it was released in 2003 as a special feature on the H.R. Pufnstuf
DVD
boxed set (the title is cited as simply "Irving" on the DVD packaging and menu).
Next the camera zooms in on a traveling circus wagon, home to an aging circus lion named Irving. Once inside, Irving introduces himself to viewers and begins digging through a scrapbook, relating anecdotes about an ugly ballerina and a rollerskating bear. This segues into the tale of Barker the seal.
Barker is doing his circus routine with the horns one day when his mother is taken aback by the intricate jazz music emanating from the horns. Barker decides to make use of his newfound musical abilities, so he runs away from home and meets struggling jazz guitarist Billy McGuffey. Barker returns to the circus with Billy in tow and together, their act is an instant success.
The focus returns to Irving, who gives a teaser for the next story, "The Dragon and the Dragonfly." The picture fades out (as if to go to commercial) and that's the end. The pilot includes no cast/crew credits.
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
produced by Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft , are a sibling team of television producers who were influential in children's television and variety show programs in the USA, particularly throughout the 1970s and early 1980s....
featuring a wide array of their marionettes. The pilot never aired on television, but it was released in 2003 as a special feature on the H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf
H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's television series produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in the United States. It was the first Krofft live-action, life-size puppet program. The seventeen episodes were originally broadcast September 6, 1969 to September 4, 1971...
DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
boxed set (the title is cited as simply "Irving" on the DVD packaging and menu).
Plot
The show begins with a two-minute opening title sequence introducing viewers to a variety of characters on a circus stage.Next the camera zooms in on a traveling circus wagon, home to an aging circus lion named Irving. Once inside, Irving introduces himself to viewers and begins digging through a scrapbook, relating anecdotes about an ugly ballerina and a rollerskating bear. This segues into the tale of Barker the seal.
Barker is doing his circus routine with the horns one day when his mother is taken aback by the intricate jazz music emanating from the horns. Barker decides to make use of his newfound musical abilities, so he runs away from home and meets struggling jazz guitarist Billy McGuffey. Barker returns to the circus with Billy in tow and together, their act is an instant success.
The focus returns to Irving, who gives a teaser for the next story, "The Dragon and the Dragonfly." The picture fades out (as if to go to commercial) and that's the end. The pilot includes no cast/crew credits.