During my early years as a Catholic school student, I remember our teachers setting aside time in class for us to tune into episodes of Davey and Goliath. First off, I have to admit, watching TV in class had to be one of my most favorite things. Talk about a low-stress activity! No reading. No writing. No being called on. It was truly awesome. TV in school!
Davey and Goliath was produced by the Lutheran Church in America--now part of the Evangelic Lutheran Church. I guess it was the Christian message that attracted our teachers, which was fine with me. Hell, it didn't matter to me, I'd watch Shalom Sesame (the Hebrew school friendly versions of Sesame Street they showed on PBS around Passover) with gusto over doing those damn times table races with Mrs. O'Toole.
I know many of you FourthGradeNothing.com followers were born in the 1980s and 1990s, so before you comment with, "Davey and Go-who? Whattt? Never heard of 'em!" Chillax, I'm about to fill you in. I spent an hour searching YouTube but all I could find were Davey and Goliath Mountain Dew ads and spoofs, so sadly, I'm unable to include a clip.
Davey and Goliath was a 1960s religious clay animation or claymation television series produced by Art Clokey for the Lutheran Church for $1 million. Art Clokey had a successful run with the Gumby series -- stop motion animation was popular at the time... Remember the Rudolph holiday programs? Same idea.
Targeted to young viewers, each episode lasted about 15-minutes and provided a lesson in sharing, caring, loving thy neighbor and placing your trust in God. The show focused around Davey Hansen, his adorable wingman/talking pup Goliath (only viewers and Davey could hear him speak), his parents, blond-haired sister Sally and various friends.
I'm far from religious today, but still have a soft spot for the show. I used to love the organ and horn theme song, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" -- if I had thought of it sooner, I could have used it at our wedding. I was desperate for religious sounding music two years ago. It would have been awesome to see if anyone recognized it and hey my husband was raised Lutheran.
