Arab TV turns Howdy Doody into sick children's show

HEY KIDS, IT'S SAUDI DOODY TIME!
OUTRAGE: Arab TV turns Howdy Doody into sick children's show

By JENNIE MELNICK

SICK new kids show slated for Arab TV twists America's beloved children's puppet program Howdy Doody into a terrorist training series for Middle Eastern youth, reveals a source.

Called Saudi Doody, the program produced by the Al Jazeera network will teach Arab kids to admire suicide bombing and killing -- especially killing Americans, according to Rev. Lucas Spruce, who says he's seen the pilot episode.

And in one of the most sickening perversions of the classic '50s TV show, the Peanut Gallery -- where children attending the Howdy Doody show were seated -- is now called the Shooting Gallery and is filled with kids dressed to look like Americans, who, as the show's host is fond of saying, "are fit to kill."

"It's outrageous -- completely disgusting," fumes Rev. Spruce, head of the Friends for Nuking Iraq, a West Virginia-based prowar group.

"Howdy Doody was full of peace and love and educational stuff. One character, Indian Princess Summerfallwinterspring, was named for the four seasons so kids could learn them just by knowing her name.

"But Saudi Doody teaches hate and killing, especially the killing of Americans."

Instead of warm and friendly Buffalo Bob Smith, Saudi Doody's host is Camel Bob Salaam -- a terrorist wearing a black hood and toting an AK-47.

Horn-honking clown Clarabell is now Clara Boom -- a goat with a ticking time bomb strapped to its back and a clanging warning bell around its neck.

Even the puppet Saudi Doody is armed with a pair of pearl handled, silver-plated .45-caliber automatic handguns similar to those ex-Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein liked to waste friends and relatives with.

Arab children who want to join the live audience are only allowed in if they dress like American children. They are then herded to the Shooting Gallery where, at any moment, Camel Bob or Saudi Doody might whip out a gun and pretend to blow one of them away.

"Basically, this show is just a nursery school for terrorists," says the Rev. Spruce. "In one skit, they have an arts-and-crafts lesson in which kids are taught how to make garrotes at home.

"With this kind of programming on Arab TV, I don't know how anyone can call my organization -- the Friends for Nuking Iraq -- a hate group.

"By eliminating the monsters who make TV shows like this in a mushroom cloud of retribution, we will be making the world safe for all children."

A spokesman for Al Jazeera declined comment on the new Saudi Doody show other than to say Rev. Spruce "ought to lighten up."

"This isn't 60 Minutes -- this is a kiddie show," says the spokesman. "It's all in good fun."

source