The green puppet, Froggy the Gremlin, appeared in a puff of smoke ("Hi Ya, Kids, Hiya, Hiya, Hiya!") and was always interrupting the story and causing trouble.
•
Buckner & Garcia paid tribute to Smilin' Ed McConnell and Froggy the Gremlin on a 1982 novelty song "Froggy's Lament" about the Sega arcade game Frogger from their album Pac-Man Fever with its lyrics "Hiya kids" and "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!".
The character of Froggy, together with his own catch phrase "Hiya Kids! Hiya! Hiya! Hiya!" and the associated command "Pluck your magic twanger, Froggy" (his signal to appear from a puff of smoke together with a twanging sound effect) are actually remnants from a much earlier children's television show Andy's Gang where an identical rubber frog toy made appearances as Froggy the Gremlin.
McConnell grabbed children's attention when he created the character Froggy the Gremlin, performing with Irma Allen on the organ or Del Owen on the piano.
•
There was an adventure story to open the show, plugs for Buster Brown shoes, and Froggy the Gremlin might sing a song or annoy a guest, such as Shortfellow the Poet or Alkali Pete the Cowboy.
In the mid-1950s, Scotti played the antagonist against Froggy the Gremlin on Andy's Gang.
One Froggy Evening | Froggy the Gremlin | Charlie Strap, Froggy Ball and Their Friends | Froggy the gremlin | Charlie Strap and Froggy Ball Flying High | AMC Gremlin |
His most famous television credit was as announcer, and the voice of "Froggy the Gremlin," on Smilin' Ed's Gang (he had also served in both capacities on the radio show) and its successor, Andy's Gang.