It was a quick draw

Question: When I was about 6 years old I think I remember a television show where you sent in for a "magic screen" that attached to the screen of the set. You would draw things with a character called Winky Dink(?). No one else in the world remembers seeing this show. Did I dream this or was there such a show?

Answer: "Winky Dink and You" ran on CBS from 1953 until 1957 and was an "interactive" show way back before anyone had invented that word. Viewers sent for a "kit" that included a sheet of plastic, some crayons and a cloth. These would be used to draw a tree for the animated Winky Dink to hide behind, a bridge to help him cross a stream or a German Leopard 2A6 Main Battle Tank to help him crush his enemies. (Just kidding about that last one.)

Jack Barry, later of "The Joker's Wild," was the host of the series. Mae Questel provided the voice of the tank commander — er, Winky Dink.

Question: OK, Inman: The subject is "Wacky Races," the Saturday morning cartoon. The question — who were the participants? This is extraordinarily important!

Answer: Of course, it's important! What cartoon question isn't? We deal in matters of life and death here, mister! "Wacky Races," which ran on CBS from 1968 until 1970, included these participants: Penelope Pitstop (her car was the Compact Pussycat), Rufus Ruffcut (driving the Buzz Wagon), the Ant Hill Mob (driving the Bulletproof Bomb), Professor Pat Pending (who drove the Ring-a-Ding Convert-a-Car), Peter Perfect (driving the Turbo Terrific), the Gruesome Twosome (driving the Creepy Coupe), the Slag Brothers (driving the Bouldermobile), the Red Max (driving the Crimson Haybaler), Luke no-last-name (driving the Arkansas Chugabug), the Sarge and Pvt. Meekly (driving the Army Surplus Special) and villain Dick Dastardly, who drove the Mean Machine, accompanied by his dog, Muttley.

Question: I remember watching a TV show called "The Odd Couple" when I was a kid, but it's not the one with Tony Randall that gets rerun all the time. In fact, I think the odd couple was a couple of black guys. No one else remembers this, so I may be totally off-base. Your help is needed!

Answer: There, there, Little Leaguer. You're remembering "The New Odd Couple," which ran on ABC in 1982-83. This remake featured Ron Glass (who had been Detective Harris on "Barney Miller") as Felix and Demond Wilson (who had been Lamont on "Sanford and Son") as Oscar. It lasted about four months and then went away.

Question: I was wondering if you can help settle this argument between my daughter and I. She said the series "Stargate SG-1" has always been on the Sci-Fi Channel. I told her it was on one of the major channels before it went to Sci-Fi. Who's right?