Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for August 15, 2019

I wonder how many people reading this strip realize that the premise is based on a TV cartoon of the 1950s called “Winky Dink and You”. Kids were asked to draw things with crayons on a plastic transparency placed over the TV screen to help Winky Dink out of tight spots like this. (“Quick, kids, draw a soft fluffy mattress for Winky to land on!” and the smartass kids would draw a bed of nails instead, which still managed to save him.)

The show got in trouble with parents because a lot of kids were foregoing the transparent plastic cover and drawing directly on the TV screen instead.

d-r-i-n-k-o-v-a-l-i-t-i-n-e

I can’t remember the name of the children’s tv series, but it would use something like video feedback to make certain sections of the screen “interactive”, and if the kids had a specific light gun(purchased for them by their parents), and they “hit” the right areas during certain scenes, the gun (I assume), would make a noise.

So THIS is why we have to learn over and over again how to draw Doug!

Curious… why is tRump spelled with an “H” in the bottom left panel?