If you grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, chances are part of your educational experience came in the form of short musical lessons from “Schoolhouse Rock.” It might not make the list of ’70s shows that defined the decade, but the series became a beloved educational staple during its run on ABC. However, that’s not how its creators originally envisioned it. In fact, they never intended for it to be on television at all.
It all started when the president of the McCaffrey and McCall advertising agency, David McCall, asked creative director George Newall to create a musical version of the multiplication tables. McCall was frustrated that his children could remember pop lyrics but not school-related information. Newall brought the idea to musicians Bob Dorough and Ben Tucker, who began working on a song called “Three Is A Magic Number.” But in an interview with NPR’s “Fresh Air,” Dorough said television wasn’t even on the agency’s radar. “They were thinking of a phonograph recording and a book,” he said. “The idea of television wasn’t remotely in their heads.”
When no book publisher was interested in the idea, the agency looked elsewhere. “One of the executives up at McCaffrey and McCall said, you know, one of our clients is ABC television … Why don’t we present it to them?” Dorough recalled. “And they presented it as an animation film to ABC, at which point suddenly we were in that business instead of the book business.”
Michael Eisner helped greenlight Schoolhouse Rock for ABC
Once the McCaffrey and McCall advertising agency had that first video animated and ready to go, they sat down with executives at ABC to pitch the idea. The man in charge of the meeting was, at the time, the head of children’s programming for the network — Michael Eisner. Eisner would, of course, go on to become the head of Disney, but he wasn’t the only prominent name in children’s television that sat in on that meeting. Chuck Jones, the legendary Looney Tunes animator and director, was there as well and gave his stamp of approval for the idea.
That first multiplication song, “Three Is A Magic Number,” was followed by more multiplication songs. Season 2 featured videos about different parts of grammar like “Conjunction Junction.” That was followed by Season 3, which came out in 1975 and featured American history and civics lessons to coincide with the Bicentennial, including the most famous episode, “I’m Just a Bill.” In all, over 40 videos were produced during the series’ initial run from 1973 through the mid-1980s, earning the show four Daytime Emmy awards. While “Schoolhouse Rock” may not appear on every list of best animated shows of all-time, its educational cartoons remain some of television’s most recognizable.
