Bozo Tapes Final Show

CHICAGO — Bozo has left the building. The clown with the bright red hair and members of the cast of what was once one of the most popular shows in television history — and the longest running locally produced Bozo program in the country — taped their final show Tuesday in front of about 200 people at a WGN-TV studio.

“Bozo: 40 Years of Fun,” will be aired July 14. Adults brought their children to see firsthand a show that was a big part of their own childhood, and recounted the days when the wait for tickets to “Bozo’s Circus” stretched as long as a decade.

“To anybody 20 years or older, especially in Chicago, the show was a big part of our lives,” said Billy Corgan, formerly the leader of the rock group Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan was such a fan that he put a group together to sing a song for the show, Bob Dylan’s “Forever Young.”

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