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"It's
great reading the letters from other Winky Dink fans. How many remember
that Winky Dink had a couple of friends named Merton the Mouse and Poo
the Indian Boy? I confess - the only reason I remember them is, I have
one of those fabled deluxe Winky Dink kits. I have heard rumors that
a pristine kit will bring several thousand dollars in the marketplace.
Sorry, mine is anything but pristine. A couple of the crayons and some
if the little plastic geometric shapes are missing, and the box shows
some wear. But it's priceless to me, and it's a small miracle that it's
lasted all these years."
- George Pirkle |
Barry lamented
the loss, but said at the time, "It (Winky-Dink) strictly didn't rate
that well. Winky-Dink
was
on for almost four and a half years, but it never got the kind of audience
the straight cartoon shows started pulling."
Twenty-one,
on the other hand, was riding the crest of popularity that game shows
were enjoying on Fifties' prime-time schedules. Twenty-one was as popular
in 1957 as 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' is today.
Jack Barry
(as host and producer of the show that broke the industry wide
practice of prompting some contestants) took the brunt of the bad publicity,
his career went into freefall.
Because of
the immense scandal and moral outrage that ensued when people found out
their favorite quiz shows were rigged (the end of innocence in America,
it might be argued) it was another ten years before Jack Barry worked
on American television again. Instead, he went to Canada and hosted a
kid's game show called "The Little People".
Barry also
hosted a syndicated children's version of the 'The Joker's Wild' In a surprise development,
as I was preparing this, I got word that the Winkster was about the undergo
a revival.
"Kids have never
needed Winky Dink more than today." That's what renowned media psychiatrist
Dr. Carole Lieberman thinks and she's spent the past decade working to
bring Winky back." believe that Winky Dink is the best TV show ever
produced, because of its unique ability to empower children. Each time
a child creates something that helps Winky and Woofer solve a problem,
they get that 'I can do it!' feeling which builds self-esteem. And this
generation of children, facing problems that are tougher than ever --
from divorce to terrorism -- need to feel they can find the creative solutions
inside themselves!"
Makes sense, if the
Ford Thunderbird can make a comeback, why not Winky Dink?
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Save money! |
Fresh from his daytime successes, in 1956 Jack Barry began
hosting
a wildly popular prime-time game show (that he also co-produced) called
In
the fall of 1958, Twenty-one (and almost every other network game
show) was driven off the air when it was revealed that 'Twenty-One's big
$129,000 winner Charles Van Doren was given some of the answers in advance.
(The story was told in the 1991 movie 'Quiz Show'.) The stakes were high
- $129,000
was worth well over a million in today's dollars.
In 1969, Winky-Dink was revived (without Barry
and Enright), this time as a stand alone five-minute cartoon feature,
complete with a new Winky-Dink kit for kids to send off for. Consumer
groups argued that kids shouldn't be playing with their eyes so close
to the television sets, and the character was quickly withdrawn.
Jack
Barry was the host of the long-running CBS daytime and syndicated game
show The Joker's Wild, a show he hosted from 1972 until his death
in 1984.
called
Superbly
produced by Adam Snyder, of Rembrandt Films, and distributed by Vanguard
Cinema, the new 'Winky Dink and You' kit comes in an adorable clear lucite
suitcase and includes a magic plastic screen, magic crayons, a cloth eraser
and a video with 9 Winky Dink episodes. The new character design harkens
back to the 1969 version, but the packaging also has a small picture of
the original Winky. Kids who like 'Blues Clues' will absolutely go crazy
for this!
