Winky Dink and You
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"Winky Dink And You" was a CBS television children's show that aired from 1953 to 1957. It was hosted by Jack Barry, and featured the exploits of a cartoon character named, appropriately, Winky Dink (voiced by Mae Questel) and his dog Woofer. The show, which was created by Harry Prichett, Sr. and Ed Wyckoff, featured Barry and his sidekick, the incompetent Mr. Bungle (Dayton Allen), introducing clips of Winky Dink, noted for his plaid pants, tousled hair, and large eyes.
Hailed by Microsoft mogul Bill Gates as "the first interactive TV show", the show's central gimmick was the use of a "magic drawing screen", which was essentially a large piece of vinyl plastic which stuck to the television screen via static electricity. A kit containing the screen and various crayons could be purchased through the mail for 50 cents. At a climactic scene in every Winky Dink short, Winky would arrive upon a scene which contained a connect the dot picture. He would then prompt the children at home to complete the picture, and the finished result would help him continue the story. Some examples include drawing a bridge to cross a river, or a cage to trap a dangerous lion. Quite a few children would omit the Magic Screen and draw on the television tube itself, to the annoyance of their parents.
Another use of the interactive screen was to send secret messages to the viewers at home. A screen would appear, showing only the vertical lines of the letters of the secret message, which viewers at home would quickly trace onto their magic screen. A second screen would reveal the horizontal lines, which would complete the message.
Yet another use of the screen was to create the outline of a character, with whom Jack Barry would have a conversation. The conversation would often seem quite meaningless to those viewers without the screen, thus encouraging its purchase.
The show was wildly successful due to this pioneering interactive marketing scheme, and Winky Dink was one of television's most popular characters during the 1950s. The show was revived again in syndication for 65 episodes beginng in 1969 and ending in 1973. However, the show's production was halted despite its modest popularity due to concerns about radiation in television sets affecting children and because of parental complaints about children drawing on the screen.
In the 1990s, a new "Winky Dink Kit" emerged on the market, containing a magic screen, crayons, and all-new digitized Winky Dink and You episodes.
