One of channel 8's most popular program hosts was John Chick, who joined the station (then KTVX) in 1955. From 1955 to 1963, Chick hosted the local afternoon children's program "Cartoon Zoo", a showcase of cartoon shorts on which he originated the character Mr. Zing, donning a fake moustache – which Chick had chosen for the purpose of maintaining anonymity when he was not performing the character – and zookeeper's uniform; the program was the highest-rated children's program in the Tulsa market for most of its run. The program would later evolve into "Mr. Zing and Tuffy", after station director Wayne Johnson (who was promoted by KTUL management to serve as its production chief in 1970) conceived the idea for the costumed tiger character Tuffy; he was also joined by another costumed animal character, Shaggy Dog (played by Tom Ledbetter and later, Mike Denney). After "Mr. Zing and Tuffy" was cancelled in 1969 due to a reduction in the station's talent budget, Chick began hosting "The John Chick Show", a live morning music program that featured local country music talent and square dancing. The weekday morning program proved to be a more popular alternative to network morning shows "Today" on KVOO and the "CBS Morning News" on KOTV that competed against it in the 7:00 a.m. timeslot; Chick ended his eponymous morning show in January 1979, following his diagnosis of early stage multiple sclerosis two months prior. KTUL replaced "Mr. Zing and Tuffy" in 1969 with another children's program, "Uncle Zeb's Cartoon Camp". For ten years, Carl Bartholemew hosted the show playing the titular gruff senior in the similarly formatted cartoon showcase, who was accompanied an array of rural characters including "Uncle Zip" (played by Dick Van Dera, who hosted a short-lived spinoff series, "Uncle Zip's Do-Da-Day"), "Uncle Zeke" (played by Al Clauser, who previously served as the puppeteer and voice of B.J. Bluejay on the station's iteration of "The Bozo the Clown Show" in the late 1950s) and "Cousin Zack" (played by Kent Doll) and featured various in-studio games in which a select member of the audience of around a dozen local children participated in between the three cartoon shorts. The program – which ended each episode with the audience members walking across a bridge in the studio to greet family and friends – was discontinued in 1979, as Bartholomew decided to focus his duties on his existing role as promotions director at channel 8.