Starting in 1974, the nationally syndicated version ran weekly and was rerun in the early hours of Saturday mornings by many television stations up until the 1990s.

As a representative alter-ego for children, Dirty Frank's inquisitive nature and his sloppy behavior drove the plot of most episodes.

Co-creators Fred Schilpp (Executive Producer) and Adam Villone (Head Writer) wrote many of the episodes along with Dewey Bergman and Joseph A. Bailey.

Peter Johnson, the puppeteer, was trained by Caroll Spinney (Big Bird) from Sesame Street and Children's Television Workshop.

However, WCVB did venture into original children's programming post-Jabberwocky; subsequent shows included The Nature World of Captain Bob, Pixanne, Rainbow, Rapmatazz and A Likely Story.