Only the mind of Dr. Seuss could offer up a character such as Gerald Mc Boing Boing, the story of a child who only communicated through a series of sound effects.

Produced by United Productions of America and narrated by well-known radio announcer Bill Goodwin, the character first appeared in a series of Oscar-winning theatrical shorts before landing a television series in 1956. Acting as a showcase for a number of UPA cartoons, the show also featured Dusty of the Circus, Punch and Judy and the Twirlinger Twins. 

Airing at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday evenings, the show was rebroadcast on Friday nights in 1957, making it the first cartoon to ever appear in primetime – a distinction that is often given to The Flintstones. Of course, the famous prehistoric family last much longer than The Boing Boing Show, which, due to being very expensive to produce, only lasted a mere few months.

The show did manage a bit of a resurrection in 2005, almost half a century after its original broadcast, on the Cartoon Network as Gerald McBoing Boing, a newer incarnation that featured a boy named Gerald McCoy, who like his ancestor, prefers to speak in sound effects.