Name that Radio/tv show

To tell the story of 'Andy's Gang', we have to start with The Buster Brown TV Show with Smilin' Ed McConnell and his Buster Brown Gang (later the title was mercifully shortened to 'Smilin' Ed McConnell and his Gang').

This NBC Saturday evening children's series was sponsored by Buster Brown shoes starting in 1950, and was basically a TV version of McConnell's popular and long-running radio program (1944-1952).

The backdrop was a clubhouse, with kids in the studio audience. Produced on a very small budget, the show was a success - bringing the Buster Brown advertising characters to life and helping to sell millions of shoes based on icons that had existed for decades. It was also one of the first kid shows filmed in Hollywood.

The folksy broadcast was hosted by old-timer Smilin' Ed McConnell; music and stories from Smilin' Ed's Storybook were regular features. The show also featured "Gunga, the East India Boy," a serial set in India. Led by The Maharajah, Gunga Ram and his pal Rama set out on great adventures around the village of Bakore in filmed segments.

The most popular segment was the visit from Froggy the Gremlin who would appear when Smilin' Ed yelled his famous catch-phrase, "Plunk your Magic Twanger, Froggy!" Don't ask me what a 'Magic Twanger' was!

The Smilin' Ed Show was moved to Saturday mornings in 1951, where it ran on CBS and ABC (as 'Smilin' Ed's Gang') until 1954 when the Ed McConnell died suddenly of a heart attack.

Andy Devine was well-known to TV audiences as the raspy-voiced sidekick in a torrent of western movies from the forties. These films made up the bulk of local programming in the early days of television. Devine was also seen as 'Jingles' on the syndicated TV series, The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickock.

Devine was brought on as McConnell's replacement in 1955 and the show ran for several more years as 'Andy's Gang' on the New York City NBC affiliate.

...Let's say it's a being who ordinarily could not be contained by a closet.