Editing Garfield Goose and Friends (section)

===WGN===
Roy Brown created, built, and/or performed numerous puppet characters for other WGN-TV children's shows; one of the first of Brown's new characters to be introduced to ''Garfield Goose'' was Romberg Rabbit, after the show moved to WGN-TV. Romberg had been featured on another children's show, ''Quiet Riot'' (hosted by Buddy Black) and after that show left the air, Romberg joined ''Garfield Goose'', where he was introduced as an "unemployed magician's assistant."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chicagotelevision.com/friends.htm|title=Forgotten Friends|publisher=Chicago Television|access-date=18 February 2011}}</ref> With the addition of Romberg Rabbit, Thomas began calling the program ''Garfield Goose and Friends'' (pluralizing the title) and Romberg began "translating" for Garfield.{{sfn|Okuda|Mulqueen|2004|pp=3, 51, 56}}
{{multiple image
| direction=horizontal
| align    =right
| width1   = 180
| image1   = Garfield goose card roy brown 1.jpg
| caption1 = Roy Brown created items like this greeting card for young viewers.
| image2   = Wgn tv 1959 coloring book front.JPG
| caption2 = WGN-TV coloring book, 1959. Garfield, Frazier and friends.
| width2   = 150
}}
Other characters were also introduced. They included: bloodhound Beauregard Burnside III, who was the chief of Garfield's secret service and who readily fell asleep, prompting Thomas to pick up one of Beau's ears and call out "hot dogs, hamburgers, spaghetti and meatballs!" to rouse him;<ref name=TV/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://a1.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/123/6e6569aa9b9bef76fc9b0b45d130304c/l.jpg|title=Garfield Goose Secret Service code card|access-date=26 June 2011}}</ref>  Macintosh Mouse, who was in charge of the castle's mailroom.<ref name=TV/>  Some of Garfield's relatives visited regularly, including nephew Christmas "Chris" Goose and seasonal visitor "Mama" Goose (actually the Garfield Goose puppet with a wig and granny glasses).<ref name=Garfield>{{cite web|url=http://www.tvacres.com/puppets_birds_garfield.htm|title=Garfield Goose|publisher=TVAcres|access-date=15 February 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130205195808/http://www.tvacres.com/puppets_birds_garfield.htm|archive-date=5 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Roy/><ref name=Timeline70/> Since only Thomas could understand what Romberg and the other characters communicated, Thomas would repeat what the puppets "said" for viewers to understand. Garfield would also go down into his castle and type a note (viewers would hear the sound of a typewriter), bringing it up for Thomas to read aloud.<ref name=TV/><ref name=Thomas/>{{sfn|Okuda|Mulqueen|2004|pp=54-55}}

The program was both entertaining and subtly educational.  Guests from the [[Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]], [[Lincoln Park Zoo]], and the show's own viewers with their hobby projects made learning interesting and also fun.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/09/20/if-the-face-looks-familiar-think-back/|title=If the face looks familiar, think back 25 years to...|last=Mueller|first=Jim|date=20 September 1998|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=18 February 2011}}</ref> In 1968, the understated educational aspect of the program saved a four-year-old boy's life. He and his older brother had fallen through ice at a creek near their home. The boys' mother responded to her older son's cries for help; after rescuing them, her younger son was not breathing. The mother knew how to respond to this emergency because of a ''Garfield Goose'' segment about scouting where a short film about life saving was shown. Remembering what she had seen in the film when she watched the program with her sons, she was able to revive her four-year-old.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D22cMPattCkC&dq=garfield+goose&pg=PA8|title=Dear Reader|editor-last=Barber|editor-first=Alden G.|date=May 1968|publisher=Boys' Life|access-date=17 February 2011}}</ref> The show also had a quiet moral tone, as Thomas would explain to Garfield why something he had done or wanted to do was wrong.<ref name=Frazier/><ref name=Stroke>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/04/02/frazier-thomas-suffers-stroke/|title=Frazier Thomas Suffers Stroke|date=2 April 1985|last=Schneidman|first=Dave|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=18 February 2011}}</ref>

Thomas' performances with a [[Jew's harp]] either drove the King of the United States to find a place in his castle out of earshot or to simply hit his Prime Minister and Admiral of his navy on the head.{{sfn|Okuda|Mulqueen|2004|pp=51-66}}<ref name=Thomas/> When Thomas sang "Jingle Bells" in [[Latin]] on the program during the holidays, he explained the meaning of the words to his young audience, and offered to send copies of the words to anyone who wrote to him.  He was inundated with requests; it took weeks to deal with sending all the replies.<ref name=Minister>{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/05/19/the-childrens-prime-minister/|title=The Children's 'Prime Minister'|date=19 May 1985|last=Best|first=Patricia|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=12 February 2011}}</ref> In addition to hosting the weekday show, Thomas wrote all the scripts and produced the program.<ref name=Thomas/><ref name=Popular/><ref name=Visit/> The local chapter of the [[Academy of Television Arts and Sciences]] did not begin awarding [[Emmy]]s until 1958; the first recipient of the Best Male Children's Performer was Thomas; he won another award in 1964.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://chicagoemmyonline.org/files/2013/04/1958-1959.pdf|title=Chicago Emmy Awards|date=1958–1959|publisher=Chicago chapter-National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences|access-date=13 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://chicagoemmyonline.org/files/2013/04/1964-1965.pdf|title=Chicago Emmy Awards|date=1964–1965|publisher=Chicago chapter-National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences|access-date=13 February 2011}}</ref>

The show remained on WGN-TV (channel 9), which bought the rights in 1955, for over two decades, most of this time running in the late afternoon after children had come home from school.{{sfn|Hollis|2001|p=97}} In 1957, [[Sylvester "Pat" Weaver|Pat Weaver]], who created the ''[[Today (NBC program)|Today]]'' and ''[[The Tonight Show|Tonight]]'' shows for [[NBC]], had hopes of starting a fourth network.  WGN-TV also hoped to be able to syndicate some of its more popular programs through it; one of them was ''Garfield Goose and Friends''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vh0EAAAAMBAJ&dq=garfield+goose&pg=PA2|title=Weaver Near WGN-TV Deal|date=27 May 1957|magazine=Billboard|access-date=12 March 2011}}</ref> During the early 1970s, the program slowly lost viewership to competition and was moved to weekday mornings. The show's long run ended on September 10, 1976.{{sfn|Okuda|Mulqueen|2004|p=175}}