His show was still running when I was growing up. My family loved it but I was not a fan. Of course, that could be said of most shows my family liked. That's why I spent so much time reading in my room.
Red Skelton was my favorite primetime show when I was like 6 years old.
But we only got 2 channels, one kinda fuzzy, on a black and white TV so there wasn't a lot to pick from.
I remember watching him as a kid in the late 60s/early 70s. Besides his own show, he used to show up on a lot of the variety shows of the time. I too thought his name was Red Skeleton, but I never thought he was a red skeleton.