[quote name=\'Michael Brandenburg\' date=\'Mar 28 2004, 05:51 PM\'] The other one was in 1969, the year after the show moved to ABC. This was during the time of all the anti-war protests over the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and some enterprising marketer of that time came up with an ugly stuffed doll that held its own protest sign, calling it a "Dawk." Jay Stewart read the ad copy for this very legitimate but not-so-valuable prize a contestant manages to win on the show ("It doesn't walk, it doesn't talk, it just stands there in silent protest."), and then Monty offers the contestant the chance to trade it away for another prize that was behind a curtain.
The contestant makes the trade, and the curtain opens to reveal… a giant-sized "Dawk" created by the show's prop department, holding a sign reading "ZONK!"[/quote]
The "Dawk" was created by Lloyd Thaxton, the host of his own syndicated dance party show in the mid-late 60s (and host of "Everyone's Talking" and "Funny You Should Ask" and producer-creator of "Pro-Fan") whose trademark was his lip-synch routines to hit songs. The doll appeared on camera in the opening and closing tapping his foot and holding a sign saying "Down With Thaxton." When the syndicator ordered a format tweak to "The New Lloyd Thaxton Show" in an attempt to get more adult viewers (with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass' "So What's New?" as the theme), the "Dawk" was dumped, although he continued to be marketed in toy stores.
And Jay's dialogue was usually something shouted if he talked, since, unlike Brian and Dean, he was never miked in his costumes (remember that he always had to borrow Monty's mike to do a plug if he had his tray with him).
