The basic format of the show was simple: Fran Allison stood in front of a small stage and interacted with the characters. The format was derived from the puppet act Tillstrom performed for the RCA Victor exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Acting as an en­ tr'acte for the RCA Victor Puppet Opera at the fair, Kukla and Ollie would comment on the activities, sometimes heckle the announcer, and coax the actresses and models acting as exhibit spokespersons to come up onto the stage and talk with them. Never working from a written script, Tillstrom improvised more than 2,000 performances at the World's Fair, each one different because of his personal dislike of routine. During World War II, Tillstrom and his Kuk­lapolitan Players performed in United Service Organization (USO) shows, at army hospitals, and for bond drives, where he met radio personality Fran Allison.

     In 1947 the majority of television sets were located in taverns and saloons. Network executives were looking for a television show that could be watched at home and decided the Kuklapolitans would be the perfect "family fare." The group was contracted for U weeks on daytime TV and stayed for the next ten years.

     The first episodes were aired daily from 4:00 to 5:00 P.M. on local Chicago television station WBKB, which was later acquired by NBC. When the network completed its New York-Chicago transmission lines in 1948, Kukla, Fran and Ollie began to air nationwide. By its second season, the growing adult audience prompted the network to move the show to a 7:00 P.M. half-hour time slot. By its third season, the show had 5 million viewers. In 1951 NBC cut the half-hour formEt to 15 minutes, which, ironically, caused the ratings to soar even higher because audiences craved more of their favorite characters, and NBC was deluged with letters of outrage from fans. After several seasons, the daily program was shifted to a weekly program on Sunday afternoons. When the series switched from NBC to ABC in 1954, it returned to a daily broadcast. Before being canceled in 1957, the series had been one of the longest-running programs on television, second only to Kraft Television Theatre.

     With few exceptions (e.g., elaborately staged versions of The Mikado and an original operetta of St. George and the Dragon, which aired in 1953), all of the shows were improvised. Pre-show preparation consisted of a meeting of Tillstrom, Allison, director Lewis Gomavitz, musical director Jack Fascinato, costume designer Joe Lockwood, and producer Beulch Zachary to discuss the basic premise for that day's program.

     The immense popularity of the show stemmed from how it created its own unique world of make-believe. The characters were not caricatures, but rather fully developed, three-dimensional individuals with distinct histories, personalities, eccentricities, and foibles. In the show's initial episodes, the Kuklapolitans were strong characters, but not individuals. Through the simple banter between Allison and one of the "kids" (as Tillstrom, Allison, and others referred to the puppets), audiences learned more of each characters' individual history: where they went to school; their relatives; how an ancestor of Ollie's once swam the Hellespont (Dardanelle Strait) and took in too much water, thereby drowning the family's fire-breathing ability; and the time Buelah Witch was arrested by Interpol for flying too low over the United Nations building.

     The leader of the troupe was Kukla, a sweet-natured and gentle clown who was something of a worrywart. Oliver J. Dragon (Ollie), atypical of traditional puppet show dragons, was a mischievous, one-toothed dragon with a penchant for getting into trouble. Other members of the Kuklapolitans included grand dame Madame Ophelia Oglepuss, Stage Manager Cecil Bill (who spoke a language comprehensible only to the other Kuklapolitans), debonair Southern gentleman Colonel R.H. Crackie, floppy-eared Fletcher Rabbit, Buelah Witch (named for producer Beulah Zachary­ with the intentional misspelling), Ollie's mother Olivia Dragon, his niece Dolores (whom audiences saw grow from a noisy infant into a typical teenage dragonette), and many others. The human qualities of these characters endeared them to their audience.

     It could be said that Allison acted as "straight man" to this cast of characters, but her role was much greater. A quick wit in her own right who could maintain the pace set by Tillstrom, Allison served simultaneously, according to Tillstrom, as "big sister, favorite teacher, babysitter, girlfriend, and mother." Allison was equally responsible for adding to the characters' histories. She was the first to mention Ollie's mother, inspiring Tillstrom to create the character for a future show.

     The Kuklapolitans returned briefly for one season in 1961 for a daily five-minute show without Fran Allison. Kukla, Fran and Ollie was revived for two seasons (1969-71) for PBS, and from 1971 to 1979, the Kuklapolitans with Allison served as hosts for the Saturday afternoon CBS Children's Film Festival. The characters continued to appear in syndicated specials throughout the early 1980s. In all of these series and formats,  the essential elements of the original series remained the same.

     During its run on television, Kukla, Fran and Ollie  received a total of nine Emmy nominations for Best Children's Program but won only once, in 1954. It was awarded a George Foster Peabody Award as the Outstanding Children's Program of 1949. In a tribute to creator Burr Tillstrom, co-worker Donald Corren stated in 1986, "The acceptance of television puppetry as a form of entertainment and communication exists because Kukla, Fran and Ollie was as much a part of the original television vocabulary as were 'station identification,' 'the six-o'clock news,' or the chimes that identified NBC." Because the Kuklapolitans were such vibrant characters, Tillstrom requested in his will that they never be put on display inertly unless they are moving and speaking as he intended them to be seen.