Buckskin Bill’s successors?

The program Buckskin Bill’s Storyland was the last locally-produced children’s TV show, which means no one in Baton Rouge under 35 has grown up with a hometown TV hero.

Enter two distinctly local costumed characters—Hollywood Hal and Rhinestone Al. They’re the goofy, affable singing duo of Hollywood Hal and Rhinestone Al and the Wannabees. They entertain preschoolers with jokes and educational video clips each weekday at 7:30 a.m. on Cox Channel 4.

“It’s educational, motivational and inspirational,” says Jim Hogg, the show’s co-creator and the man inside the Rhinestone Al suit.

Radio DJ Scott Innes plays Hollywood Hal. He was Hogg’s co-anchor on local radio station WYNK-FM for years. Hogg left the station last year to devote his efforts full-time to the kids’ show, while Innes still takes the WYNK mic for afternoon drive time.

Like most shows that target viewers under the age of eight, the show is short on plot. The pair doesn’t really do much except sing a handful of twangy tunes, which cover everything from barnyard animals to the importance of saying no to drugs. The Wannabees are their backup singers, a trio of fuzzy yellow jacket puppets.

“The Wannabees are really all the kids in America who want to be something when they grow up,” Innes says.

Hogg says he and his partner conceived of the show while watching an episode of The Andy Griffith Show in late 2005. “We realized we needed to come up with a wholesome show that showed some character,” he says.

Cox has ordered 10 more episodes.

“Everyone we’ve talked to from Disney on down has told us this is huge,” boasts Innes. “We’re taking this all the way to Barney status.”