instance_of channel chuckles
William Aloysius Keane ( ___MASK39___ 5 , 1922  November 8 , 2011 ), better known as Bil Keane , was an American cartoonist most notable for his ___MASK77___ on the long - running newspaper ___MASK44___ " The Family Circus ". It began in 1960 and continues in syndication , drawn by his son Jeff Keane . The ___MASK43___ ___MASK97___ ( originally The ___MASK43___ Circle , also ___MASK43___ - Go - Round ) is a syndicated ___MASK75___ created by cartoonist Bil Keane and currently written , inked , and colored by his son , Jeff Keane . The strip generally uses a single captioned panel with a round border , hence the original name of the series , which was changed following objections from the magazine " ___MASK43___ Circle ". The series debuted on February 29 , 1960 , and has been in continuous production ever since . According to publisher King Features Syndicate , it is the most widely syndicated cartoon panel in the world , appearing in 1 , 500 newspapers . Compilations of " ___MASK43___ ___MASK97___ " comic strips have sold over 13 million copies worldwide . Channel Chuckles was a television - themed ___MASK44___ panel created by Bil Keane which appeared in newspapers from 1954 through 1976 . Keane received the National Cartoonists Society ' s 1976 Special Features Award for his work on the strip . In its daily form , Channel Chuckles was a ___MASK53___ - panel gag on the general theme of television , or specifically relating to a popular television series or TV commercial . The Sunday version of Channel Chuckles consisted of several unrelated spot gags in color . Most of the Channel Chuckles gags were simple wordplay references to the titles of contemporary television programs . For example , one gag showed a small TV set on top of a larger TV set , each of them displaying on its screen the title of a current TV sitcom . While the upper TV set showed Love on a Rooftop , the one underneath blared Hey , Landlord ! . One Channel Chuckles gag was a caricature of Mr . Spock from Star Trek receiving letters requesting advice on child - rearing ( a reference to Doctor Benjamin Spock ) . Another Channel Chuckles gag depicted a mad scientist working in his laboratory while a nearby television intoned the slogan of a current DuPont ad campaign : `` Better Living Through Chemistry '' . Another familiar slogan was lampooned in a panel showing a little boy watching a General Electric commercial while his father said , `` And progress is our most important product . Do your homework ! '' Keane would sometimes subdivide the narrow space allotted to his Channel Chuckles feature in order to squeeze in two panels . One two - panel gag was based on the titles of two current TV series . In the first panel , a man asks his wife `` Why ca n ' t you be more like that show ? '' while pointing to a TV set as it displays the title Occasional Wife . In the second panel , the wife points to the same TV while asking her husband `` And why ca n ' t you be more like that show ? '' . Her TV screen showed the title The Man Who Never Was . Some gags featured `` Aunt Tenna '' , a matronly woman with her hair done in the form of a TV antenna , who spent all her time watching television or engaged in TV - related activities . The other recurring character in Channel Chuckles was `` Dim Viewer '' , a grumpy old man who always had something negative to say about television programming , commercials or reception . A cartoonist ( also ___MASK75___ creator ) is a visual artist who specializes in drawing cartoons . This work is often created for entertainment , political commentary , or advertising . Cartoonists may work in many formats , such as animation , booklets , comic strips , comic books , editorial cartoons , graphic novels , manuals , gag cartoons , graphic design , illustrations , storyboards , posters , shirts , books , advertisements , greeting cards , magazines , newspapers , and video game packaging . Jeff Keane is the youngest son of Bil Keane , and currently inks and colors the syndicated ___MASK75___ " The Family Circus ". The National Cartoonists ___MASK60___ ( NCS ) is an organization of ___MASK85___ cartoonists in the United States . It presents the National Cartoonists ___MASK60___ Awards . The ___MASK60___ was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops . They enjoyed each other ' s company and decided to meet on a regular basis .