Mr. Dressup
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Mr. Dressup was a Canadian children's television series which was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1967 to 1996.
The series starred Ernie Coombs as Mr. Dressup, a character who had started on the earlier series Butternut Square. The show aired every weekday morning, and each day Mr. Dressup would lead children through a series of songs, stories, arts, crafts and imagination games, with the help of his friends Casey and Finnegan, a boy and a dog who lived in a treehouse in the back yard. Judith Lawrence was the puppeteer who brought Casey and Finnegan, along with other occasional puppet visitors, to life.
Mr. Dressup's most famous segment involved reaching into the Tickle Trunk to pull out a costume. It might be an animal costume, or a policeman's or fireman's uniform, or some other outfit in which he could dress up and play whatever role was suggested by the costume.
In later years, Lawrence retired from the show. A new puppeteer brought in new characters such as Annie, Alex, Chester the Crow and Lorenzo the Raccoon, although these characters never became as famous with the general public as Casey and Finnegan had been.
The final episode of Mr. Dressup was taped on February 14, 1996. However, repeats can still be seen on the CBC. Ernie Coombs passed away in September 2001.