Fake interactive TV shows in the 50's

[wa2ise]

From today's NY Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/a...e=sectionfront
"The producers of children’s television know the key to holding a distractible audience’s attention: interactivity.

Dora the Explorer asks kids to repeat after her (“Swiper, no swiping!”). Mister Rogers broke the fourth wall to welcome them to his neighborhood. The hosts of “Romper Room” pretended to see them through a “magic mirror,” and read their names on the air."

Winky Dink was another one. From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winky_Dink_and_You
"The central gimmick of the show, praised by Micro$oft mogul Bill Gates as "the first interactive TV show, was the use of a "magic drawing screen," a piece of vinyl plastic that stuck to the television screen via static electricity. A kit containing the screen and various Winky Dink crayons could be purchased for 50 cents. At a climactic scene in every Winky Dink short film, Winky would arrive on a scene that contained a connect-the-dots picture that could be navigated only with the help of viewers. Winky Dink then would prompt the children at home to complete the picture, and the finished result would help him continue the story. Examples include drawing a bridge to cross a river, using an axe to chop down a tree, or a creating a cage to trap a dangerous lion."

Of course, if you didn't draw the bridge, draw the cage, and so on, Winky Dink would not be blocked from continuing the story. Many kids surely figured out that whatever they did had no effect on the show.

One thing that I like with the internet, is you get real interactivity. Even if it's a flame like "You idiot"...