August 5, 2002

Thanks for visiting Axel's Treehouse! I recently added a couple of new entries to the Memories page. The Memories page also features a pop-up Quizlet, and it now has a new question. Here are the final results for the second Axel Quiz Question:

Mary Davies played Carmen the Nurse. What was Carmen's last name?
(of 265 respondents)
Harmon   17%  
Miranda   11%  
Kisselman   56%  
Charming   16%

Clellan Card allegedly came up with Carmen's last name of Kisselman -- and more than half of the respondents correctly chose that answer. The assonance of Carmen Harmon and the consonance of Carmen Charming together fooled about a third of the respondents, and 11% evidently think Carmen the Nurse is a Brazilian singer who wears fruit headgear.

 And here are the final results for the first Axel Quiz Question:

The first program featuring Clellan Card as Axel was broadcast in what year? (of 95 respondents)

1937   29%
1948   18%
1954   51%
1962   2%

It was kind of a trick question, because the TV show Axel & His Dog first went on the air in 1954 -- and half of the respondents chose that as their answer. However, the question doesn't specify a broadcast medium, and Clellan first played Axel on a radio program called Axel the Newscaster way back in 1937. Twenty-nine percent correctly picked that response.

I also added another page about the current local cable children's show "Captain McCool."

You can read the previous installment of "What's New at Axel's Treehouse" by clicking here.

I hope to add a bunch of really neat stuff to Axel's Treehouse soon (but don't hold your breath)! Get updates about Axel's Treehouse -- send your email address to towser"at"earthlink.net (Please put "Axel Updates" in the Subject line).

The "Axel and His Dog" play

In 1998, Old Log Theater director Don Stolz wrote a play called "Axel and His Dog." Based on his own experiences playing Clellan (Axel) Card's sidekicks Towser the dog and Tallulah the cat on the children's TV show Axel and His Dog, the play was a funny and fascinating look at the early days of local television ­ as well as a touching testament to Don and Clellan's friendship. Produced in October 1998 at the Great American History Theater, the play was directed by Ron Peluso and starred (left to right) Tom Stolz as Don, Sue Scott as Mary Davies and Carmen the Nurse, and Steve Shaffer as Clellan Card and Axel.

The first run of the play was so successful, it was remounted at the Old Log Theater in Excelsior, Minnesota, with most of the original cast during the summer of 1999. For more about the Axel play, click here.