The Whoopee Years - Cheeky Weekly Characters in the Popularity Polls - part 8

1983 would see a major refashioning of Whoopee!’s contents as the comic underwent a merge with failed stablemate (and fellow exclamation-mark-adorned) Wow! in July. However readers would have been unaware of the impending influx of Wowers (Wowites?) when they examined the latest set of poll results in Whoopee! dated 22 January 1983, just 7 weeks after the previous top ten had been announced.

Since that earlier set of results, no Top Ten voting coupon had been published, but due to the lead-time required for publication, the responses to coupons printed several weeks earlier were no doubt included, together with the small voting coupons regularly printed on the comic's letters pages, which readers were asked to complete and send in along with their amusing missives. The Whoopee! editor was undoubtedly scouring the results as he spent sleepless nights deciding which strips would be dropped to make room for the Wowees.

No features had started or ended since the previous results were published in the 04 December 1982 edition, so let's just remind ourselves what were the ongoing features in the comic at the time, so that we have an idea of the 'rivals' with which our ex-Cheeky Weekly chums were contending as they strove to maintain (or achieve in the case of Cheeky and Paddywack) a place among the most popular features...

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
09-FEB-80	25-JUN-83	Smiler
09-FEB-80	12-JAN-85	Cover Feature
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bookworm
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bumpkin Billionaires
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Calculator Kid
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Frankie Stein
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Lolly Pop
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Mustapha Million
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Paddywack
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Stage School
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Sweeny Toddler
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Toy Boy
16-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Chip
01-MAR-80	19-JAN-85	Top Ten voting coupon
10-MAY-80	09-MAR-85	Top Ten Results
01-NOV-80	27-OCT-84	Guy Fawkes Mask
09-MAY-81	25-JUN-83	Robot Granny
12-SEP-81	25-JUN-83	Tom Horror's World
31-OCT-81	05-NOV-83	Guy Fawkes Supermask
02-JAN-82	25-JUN-83	Teacher's Pets
27-MAR-82	25-JUN-83	Little Ed
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Beaky
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Kids of Class Five
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Smile-In
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Whoopee Winners
22-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Cheeky (second run)
23-OCT-82	30-MAR-85	Snack-Man
27-NOV-82	23-MAR-85	Calculator Corner
04-DEC-82	04-JUN-83	Rambling Rhymes
04-DEC-82	25-JUN-83	Quizmaster

These are the poll results as published in the 22 January 1983 issue...

Quizmaster art: Roy Mitchell

Calculator Kid, having reached a nadir in the November '82 poll, is slowly climbing again, reaching 3rd position, the second best placing he has achieved so far.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Calculator Kid	4
15/11/80	Calculator Kid	2
20/06/81	Calculator Kid	5
20/02/82	Calculator Kid	4
07/08/82	Calculator Kid	6
21/08/82	Calculator Kid	5
02/10/82	Calculator Kid	6
06/11/82	Calculator Kid	8
04/12/82	Calculator Kid	6
22/01/83	Calculator Kid	3

The kids of Stage School will be pleased with their performance, up from number 8 to 4th place.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Stage School	8
15/11/80	Stage School	6
20/06/81	Stage School	10
20/02/82	Stage School	7
07/08/82	Stage School	8
21/08/82	Stage School	10
02/10/82	Stage School	5
06/11/82	Stage School	3
04/12/82	Stage School	8
22/01/83	Stage School	4

Mustapha Million seems to be falling from favour, dropping from number 4 to 7th place, taking him back to his lowest ever position in November 1982.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Mustapha Million	1
15/11/80	Mustapha Million	1
20/06/81	Mustapha Million	1
20/02/82	Mustapha Million	3
07/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
21/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
02/10/82	Mustapha Million	4
06/11/82	Mustapha Million	7
04/12/82	Mustapha Million	4
22/01/83	Mustapha Million	7

Robot Granny is again absent, having last appeared in the November 82 poll in 10th place. Cheeky and Paddywack have failed to register in any polls whatsoever.

My examination of the fortunes of the ex-Cheeky Weekly funny folk in the Whoopee Top Ten polls continues in part 9.

 

Back to part 7

The Whoopee Years - Cheeky Weekly Characters in the Popularity Polls - part 7

Were the readers of late-era Whoopee the most regularly-polled (some might say mercilessly-polled) comic audience in history? I don't know, but I strongly suspect they were. However there's no time for further consideration of that now as we need to dive in to the next set of results...

The previous post in this series concluded with the Top Ten results printed in the 06 November 1982 issue.

As the editor promised, another voting coupon was printed in the 27 November 1982 edition, and the next results appeared in the comic dated 04 December 1982. Clearly votes sent in response to the 27 November coupon wouldn't be reflected in the 04 December results but presumably the frequency of the voting coupons (7 appeared in the comic during 1982) meant that there was a continuous background trickle of completed Top Ten coupons arriving at the Whoopee office, as well as the small voting coupons that featured on most of the letters pages.

What features had ended between 06 November and 04 December issues?

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
21-MAR-81	27-NOV-82	Whoopee It's Quiz Time

...this was something of a filler in which readers were presented with scenes from a selection of the stories within that week's edition and then set questions about the events which had transpired in those strips.

What new additions had there been?

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
27-NOV-82	23-MAR-85	Calculator Corner
04-DEC-82	25-JUN-83	Quizmaster
04-DEC-82	04-JUN-83	Rambling Rhymes

Calculator Corner, launched in the same issue that contained the final Whoopee It's Quiz Time, was of course a spin-off from Cheeky Weekly's Calculator Kid. This single-row-of-panels-per-week quiz concoction set readers puzzles which they could use their new pocket calculators to solve. Quizmaster was another brainteaser replacement for Whoopee It's Quiz Time (although unlike its full-page predecessor, Quizmaster was limited to a half-page per issue), the new feature hosted by different Whoopee stars each week. Rambling Rhymes was a series of strips featuring captions written in verse.

The following strips continued during the period under review...

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
09-FEB-80	25-JUN-83	Smiler
09-FEB-80	12-JAN-85	Cover Feature
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bookworm
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bumpkin Billionaires
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Calculator Kid
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Frankie Stein
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Lolly Pop
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Mustapha Million
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Paddywack
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Stage School
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Sweeny Toddler
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Toy Boy
16-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Chip
01-MAR-80	19-JAN-85	Top Ten voting coupon
10-MAY-80	09-MAR-85	Top Ten Results
01-NOV-80	27-OCT-84	Guy Fawkes Mask
09-MAY-81	25-JUN-83	Robot Granny
12-SEP-81	25-JUN-83	Tom Horror's World
31-OCT-81	05-NOV-83	Guy Fawkes Supermask
02-JAN-82	25-JUN-83	Teacher's Pets
27-MAR-82	25-JUN-83	Little Ed
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Beaky
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Kids of Class Five
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Smile-In
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Whoopee Winners
22-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Cheeky (second run)
23-OCT-82	30-MAR-85	Snack-Man

These are the 04 December 1982 results...

Robot Granny Art: Ian Knox

Mustapha Million re-enters the top 5, having fallen to 7th place in the previous results.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Mustapha Million	1
15/11/80	Mustapha Million	1
20/06/81	Mustapha Million	1
20/02/82	Mustapha Million	3
07/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
21/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
02/10/82	Mustapha Million	4
06/11/82	Mustapha Million	7
04/12/82	Mustapha Million	4

Calculator Kid has also fared better this time, up from 8th place to number 6.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Calculator Kid	4
15/11/80	Calculator Kid	2
20/06/81	Calculator Kid	5
20/02/82	Calculator Kid	4
07/08/82	Calculator Kid	6
21/08/82	Calculator Kid	5
02/10/82	Calculator Kid	6
06/11/82	Calculator Kid	8
04/12/82	Calculator Kid	6

Stage School have made a dramatic move in the opposite direction, dropping from 3rd place last time to number 8.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Stage School	8
15/11/80	Stage School	6
20/06/81	Stage School	10
20/02/82	Stage School	7
07/08/82	Stage School	8
21/08/82	Stage School	10
02/10/82	Stage School	5
06/11/82	Stage School	3
04/12/82	Stage School	8

Robot Granny, having edged back into the results in 10th place last time, is absent. Cheeky and Paddywack remain consistent in failing to trouble the typesetter of the poll results yet again.

My examination of the fortunes of the ex-Cheeky Weekly funny folk in the Whoopee Top Ten polls continues in part 8.

Back to part 6