Mr. Pix
From The TV IV
Mr. Pix was a local Atlanta TV children's show airing on CBS (now Fox) affiliate WAGA/channel 5. It aired weekday mornings from 1966 to 1970 and Saturday mornings from 1967 to 1971.
Mr. Pix was played by WAGA news anchor Dave Michaels. He was called "Mr. Pix" because he would sketch out pictures of well-known cartoon stars and he gave pointers to young viewers on how to draw them. On the weekday show, he would interact with puppets Mouse and Scribbles, screen Batfink and Porky Pig cartoons and acknowledge birthdays. The weekday show had no studio audience.
The Saturday morning show (replacing the previous season's Ronald and Batfink) had a studio audience. The first season's Saturday show aired for a half hour. It expanded to a full hour from 1968 to 1972. The studio audience of children watched Mr. Pix's antics with Mouse and Scribbles, watched cartoons, saw Mr. Pix draw, and participated in contests. The most popular contest had selected children on the stage floor, each child with a balloon tied to one foot. The object was to step on and break everybody else's balloon. The lone child with an unbroken balloon still tied to his or her foot was the winner and received prizes.
The Saturday show aired where CBS usually ran its cartoon programming, so WAGA would air those shows at 2 PM in the afternoon on a tape delay. The shows by season:
- 1969 - Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines (WAGA did not clear The Perils of Penelope Pitstop*, which followed on CBS)
- 1971 - Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch! (WAGA did not clear The Harlem Globetrotters, which preceded on CBS)
Mr. Pix was not WAGA's first local kids show. From 1960 to 1964, the station had an afternoon show, Dooley, Morgus and the Three Stooges, which was an attempt to compete with WSB/channel 2's Popeye Club.
(*--In March 1970, The Perils of Penelope Pitstop was moved to 12:30 by CBS. It switched times with Wacky Races, which was now uncleared by WAGA.)
