The sketches were usually built around one of Red's many characters, including "Deadeye", an incredibly inept sheriff in the Old West; "San Fernando Red", a shady real estate agent (named for the San Fernando Valley, which was still a largely rural area when the show began); "Cauliflower McPugg", a punchdrunk boxer, "George Appleby", a hen-pecked husband, "Junior, the Mean Widdle Kid" (whose trademark line was, " If l dood it, l get a whippin'...l DOOD IT!"), "Clem Kadiddlehopper", a hick who was identified in at least one sketch as being from Cornpone County, Tennessee, and "Freddie the Freeloader". Freddie was a bum with a heart of gold, who was played by Skelton (and in one episode in 1961, by Ed Sullivan) in clown makeup reminiscent of Emmett Kelly but somehow not as sad. Freddie could be either a speaking character or totally pantomimed. While many of Skelton's other characters originated on his radio shows, Freddie was created for television in 1952. Skelton's father, Joseph, who died two months before his youngest son, Richard, was born, was once a clown for the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus. Skelton, who had spent some time working for the same circus as a youth, copied his father's clown makeup for Freddie.