▁send ▁copies ▁of ▁the ▁words ▁to ▁anyone ▁who ▁wrote ▁to ▁him . ▁ ▁He ▁was ▁in und ated ▁with ▁requests ; ▁it ▁took ▁weeks ▁to ▁deal ▁with ▁sending ▁all ▁the ▁rep lies . ▁In ▁addition ▁to ▁hosting ▁the ▁week day ▁show , ▁Thomas ▁wrote ▁all ▁the ▁scripts ▁and ▁produced ▁the ▁program . ▁The ▁local ▁chapter ▁of ▁the ▁Academy ▁of ▁Television ▁Arts ▁and ▁Sciences ▁did ▁not ▁begin ▁award ing ▁Em mys ▁until ▁ 1 9 5 8 ; ▁the ▁first ▁recip ient ▁of ▁the ▁Best ▁Male ▁Children ' s ▁Per former ▁was ▁Thomas ; ▁he ▁won ▁another ▁award ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 4 . ▁ ▁The ▁show ▁remained ▁on ▁W GN - TV ▁( channel ▁ 9 ), ▁which ▁bought ▁the ▁rights ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 5 , ▁for ▁over ▁two ▁dec ades , ▁most ▁of ▁this ▁time ▁running ▁in ▁the ▁late ▁afternoon ▁after ▁children ▁had ▁come ▁home ▁from ▁school . ▁In ▁ 1 9 5 7 , ▁Pat ▁We aver , ▁who ▁created ▁the ▁Today ▁and ▁Ton ight ▁shows ▁for ▁N BC , ▁had ▁hopes ▁of ▁starting ▁a ▁fourth ▁network . ▁ ▁W GN - TV ▁also ▁hoped ▁to ▁be ▁able ▁to ▁synd icate ▁some ▁of ▁its ▁more ▁popular ▁programs ▁through ▁it ; ▁one ▁of ▁them ▁was ▁Gar field ▁Go ose ▁and ▁Fri ends . ▁During ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 7 0 s , ▁the ▁program ▁slowly ▁lost ▁view ership ▁to ▁competition ▁and ▁was ▁moved ▁to ▁week day ▁m orn ings . ▁The ▁show ' s ▁long ▁run ▁ended ▁on