Although his regular series never made the transition to television, Bergen made numerous appearances on the medium during his career. His first appearance was with Charlie McCarthy on NBC's pioneering television variety show Hour Glass in November 1946. In a filmed Thanksgiving special, billed as his official TV debut, sponsored by Coca-Cola on CBS in 1950, the new character Podine Puffington was introduced; this saucy Southern belle was as tall as a real woman, in contrast to Bergen's other sit-on-the-knee sized characters. On Christmas Day that same year, Bergen and McCarthy appeared as guests on Walt Disney's first television show, "One Hour in Wonderland".