''Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins'' was a CBC

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

series which ran three afternoons a week from 23 September 1974 to 14 April 1975. Although the show was cancelled after one season, it was notable for the number of cast members who went on to successful careers. Some of the cast members were also seen in the following season on the CBC Television series ''

Coming Up Rosie ''Coming Up Rosie'' was a Canadian children's sitcom TV series on CBC Television, aired for three seasons from 1975–1978. Premise The show focused on a group of tenants in an office building located at 99 Sumach Street, Toronto. Rosema ...

''.

Cast

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...

* Robin Eveson (as Billy Meek) *

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

* Bob McKenna *

Rosemary Radcliffe Rosemary Radcliffe (born 1949) is a Canadian comic actress, writer, composer and painter. She graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, then began her television career on ''Sunday Morning'' at CBLT Toronto. Career She perf ...

Gilda Radner Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In h ...

Fiona Reid Fiona Reid, CM (born 24 July 1951) is an English-born Canadian television, film, and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as Cathy on the TV series ''King of Kensington'' and Harriet Miller in the film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding''. E ...

* John Stocker

Premise

The show centered on scenes set in the bedroom of a young boy named Billy Meek with

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

-like

puppets A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move ...

called Zunkins named Zooey and Dunkin who would come to life each episode out of a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

featuring the adventures of the never seen

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Dr. Zonk. The rest of the cast were featured in randomly themed comedy sketches that the Zunkins would show to their human friend.

Reception

A survey of 600 potential viewers found that the series was deemed childish and that viewership was being lost to competing American sitcoms. This led the producers to feature several of the performers in an entirely new series, ''Coming Up Rosie'', based on a more conventional sitcom concept.

References

External links

Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series
via archive.org) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Zonk and the Zunkins 1974 Canadian television series debuts 1975 Canadian television series endings CBC Television original programming Canadian television shows featuring puppetry 1970s Canadian children's television series