Editing Howdy Doody (section)

==Smith's absence==
[[File:Ted Brown as Bison Bill Howdy Doody Show.jpg|thumb|left|Ted Brown fills in for Bob Smith as "Bison Bill".]]
In September 1954, Bob Smith suffered a heart attack and was ordered to recuperate at home. NBC managed to keep the show going with guest hosts, including Gabby Hayes and New York disc jockey [[Ted Brown (radio)|Ted Brown]] as Bison Bill, explaining to kids that Smith was vacationing at Pioneer Village.<ref>[http://www.howdydoodytime.com/hdshow.htm Howdydoodytime.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102135058/http://www.howdydoodytime.com/hdshow.htm |date=November 2, 2006 }}</ref> While kids generally were satisfied with the explanation, show sponsors insisted they wanted Smith himself to hawk their products. In response, NBC set up a special studio at Smith's home so he could appear live "from Pioneer Village" to do commercials. During Smith's absence from the show, Howdy was voiced by [[Allen Swift]]. Swift continued to voice the character for the remainder of the show's run, even after Smith's return in September 1955.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/31/arts/buffalo-bob-smith-howdy-doody-creator-is-dead-at-80.html The New York Times], Buffalo Bob Smith, a singing piano player and chatty radio disk jockey who created Howdy Doody and then teamed up with the puppet on one of early television's most enduring children's shows, died of cancer yesterday at a hospital near his home in Flat Rock, N.C. Mr. Smith was 80.</ref>