Mr. Dress Up ran for thirty two years, and historian Ed Conroy says Ernie Coombs and puppeteer Judith Lawrence built entire episodes with no script at all. Ed contributed vintage television equipment and previously unseen behind-the-scenes footage to a new exhibit in Pickering, where Ernie lived for decades.
Ed traces that instinctive, script-free chemistry back to a single CBC executive who believed children deserved to be spoken to like people, not lectured at, a philosophy Ed argues most kids’ programming still has not learned. He calls Ernie simply “the Governor,” and after thirty two years on air, the nickname still fits.
He also details how Judith Lawrence’s puppet characters, Casey and Finnegan, exited the show over months rather than all at once, a slow goodbye designed so young viewers would not feel abandoned.
Topics: Mr. Dress Up, Ernie Coombs, Ed Conroy, Pickering exhibit, Judith Lawrence
GUEST: Ed Conroy | retroOntario.com | @retroontario
Originally aired on2026-07-09
