Forty Years of The Three Ronnies

This’ll take about seven minutes, so indulge me here.

The clown who’s always eating hamburgers is, let’s be honest, an easy target, so I make no apology for what follows. And anyway, his evolution from a clown clone into an icon who is recognised by an incredible 96% of American kids really is nothing short of fascinating. Now thanks to the miracle of YouTube, it’s possible to travel back in time and see for ourselves exactly how he first started…



"Wow. That is one creepy clown. His face is made of trash. Did you wonder if that VW Beetle was trying to run him over at the end?"


Thank you Herschel – our resident clown expert on today’s show.

Yes, it’s easy to snigger at the over-friendly style, but let’s not forget that this was 1963, when things were different. People lived differently then, and did different things. For example, just watch this next one from the same era, and ask yourself honestly whether it would ever be allowed on television today…


Have you watched it? Have you? Good. Then I don’t need to put into words here what you’re thinking. Yes THAT thing. Just like the White Witch in C S Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, the friendly clown appears to be luring the kids in with food before whisking them away to his own cold nightmarish world:


Really – we have to wonder what’s going into those burgers. (sigh) I miss those more innocent days when clowns could be trusted with children.

“Errrghhhh, me too.”






Clearly someone in the 70s balked at what was going on however, and suddenly it was time for a brand new image. By the 80s Ronald was out on his clown-nose, and ad execs were left scratching their heads trying to find a new icon. They needed someone clean-cut and genuine, who would retain the image of trust and sincerity, and whose integrity was as solid as a Bible. So they picked… George Costanza???



"This is something only George Costanza could possibly bumble into. I wish Kramer had appeared as one of those dancers, knocking the others out the way to get to the front/camera."

And finally to this decade, and Japan has actually found a way of making the same viewers – now all grown up - want to be taken away by a clown and fed. They’ve made Ronald sexy. Heck, they’ve even gone as far as making him female.



"Wow! She looks good enough to eat! What was she advertising again?"

(related post here)