I remember reading someplace years ago where the purpose of The Fun Factory was only to showcase the talents of the late Bobby Van ( one reason why he sang on the show ). Of course it didn't work and it would be a few years until Van "found his hit", when he hosted Make Me Laugh, sadly ( and talk about bad timing ) Bobby Van was actually dying of cancer/brain tumor while doing that show.
Bobby Van was an incredible, underrated, underappreciated talent. He could sing, dance, and tell jokes with the best of them. His "pogo stick dance" in 1953's Small Town Girl is still one of the most incredible things I've ever seen on film. Let's see Fred Astaire pull that one off. It has to be seen to be believed.
Maybe he was a victim of bad timing. He arrived on the scene in the early 50s, right when a big downturn in movie production began, and the beginning of the end of the so-called studio system. If Bobby Van had started say, in the early 40s, he might have become a major star. He had what it took.
You know, it occurs to me, I used to work with someone who was a writer on The Fun Factory. I should have thought to ask him about that show, but I didn't. (shoulder shrug) Oh, well...
