-
The
gerbil gimmick had played out, so "Monkey Races" were born. Instead of
galloping gerbils, a randomly chosen tape of racing chimps would air.
Dyszel
recalls: "The animals were 'The Saboo Chimps'.
They had a nasty habit of pulling-down zippers. I couldn't hold one
for more than a minute before they would unzip my uniform to get at my
mic. We often suspected that they were initially trained as part of a strippers
routine! Kinky!"
WDCA
scored a coup in '74 when Walt Disney Studios allowed their pre-recorded
cartoon characters to race. Thus, began the Disney Races.
-
Dick
Dysel as Captain 20 in 1975 on the
bridge
of his new and second spaceship set.
-
In 1975,
station founder and General Manager Milt Grant
came-up
with the "Channel 20 Club Card" promotion.
(A similar
promotion for Grant's own "Record Hop" on WTTG-TV
5
in the
late '50s and early '60s had been a huge marketing success.)
Cards
were distributed to kids by mail (self-addressed, stamped envelope) or
through local retail outlets and Captain 20 personal appearances.
During
the 3 years they were valid, some 250,000 cards were handed-out.
-
-
Each
card's number matched a numbered stub in the contest drum. Five
times
a day, Captain 20 picked a number at random to read on the air.
When
a winner returned their card to WDCA, they'd receive the prize.
(The
very first Grand Prize was "Christmas in Disney World".)
-
Capt.
20 & the Banana Splits cruise the Potomac.
--
'Til
'77, his bits aired various times each weekday. But when TV stations were
pressed for a commitment to "quality" (meaning educational) kid's programming,
Captain 20 got his first real show. His alien features were softened and
"Captain 20's World" hit the air.-
.
Dick
Dyszel as Captain 20 the bridge of his
third
and last spaceship set. (1977)
---
The
show was produced with close cooperation of the DC school system and focused
at first on preschoolers. Over the next year, it evolved into the
"Channel 20 Club" and was expanded to cover early school age kids.
Captain
20 (Dick Dyszel) Gets His 1st Real Show
Captain
20 continued to run contests and awarded different prizes using a variety
of methods. By 1979, he was also doing public safety PSAs.
-
Captain
20 in a new uniform and without "alien ears" greets
Diamond
Elementary School students from Gaithersburg. (c.1979)
-
A mainstay
of WDCA kid shows was the ongoing display of viewer's
artwork.
Introduced in 1972 as "Bozo's Art Gallery", the display
became
Captain 20's "Space Gallery" when Bozo's Circus departed
in 1977.
The feature ran 15 years altogether... until May 1987!
(Dick
Dyszel still gets mail from folks who say how
much
it meant to them to see their drawings on TV.)
-
Host/producer
Dick Dyszel would soon also be responsible for
WDCA's
innovative local educational shows "WOW!"
and "Kids' Break".
