From the Inside: My Life As Bingo of the Banana Splits

by Terence Winkless

IN 1968, the famous cartoon kings Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, makers of The Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound, and Yogi Bear, set out to launch their first live action television show, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour. They brought in the athletic, comic talents of three brothers, Jeffrey, Terence, and Dan Winkless to be Fleegle, Bingo, and Drooper. Snorky the elephant would be played by Robert Towers, and to direct came Richard Donner, future director of Lethal Weapon and Superman. From the Inside… is the story of how the show came to be. It’s all about the adventures of shooting with wild animals, Banana Buggies, and Hollywood—a real inside look at the process only few ever get to see.

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 7, 2020

Reviews

[D Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Inside: My Life As Bingo of the Banana Splits (BearManor Media, 2020) is written by Terence H. Winkless who played Bingo on the Banana Splits Adventure Hour. The series originally ran September 7, 1968 to September 5, 1970, and in syndication from 1971 to 1982. The author explains how he and his two brothers landed the roles of Bingo, Drooper and Fleegle. The role of Snork was first played by James Dove and then Robert Towers. This book is a great read full of fun and interesting facts. There are stories about the costumes and props and doing their own stunts as well as information about the voice over actors and a famous director. The stories are entertaining, engaging and fun and the book contains numerous, wonderful photos. This book immediately brought me back to September 7th, 1968 and the excitement, joy and fun I experienced while watching the show. Fans of all ages will thoroughly enjoy this book. For some it will bring back many fond memories, while others will enjoy learning more about the show and details of what went on behind the scenes. This book is well written and engaging and worth every penny. As a side note, my granddaughter is now a fan of The Banana Splits after noticing the book I was reading and we now watch clips of the Banana Splits Adventure Hour on youtube. Do yourself a favor and get a copy of this book. You will be glad you did!

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty sure this is the most random book I’ve ever chosen…and I’m pretty sure that it was randomly and wantonly edited (if at all). But how else are you going to hear a chatty convo by one of the three brothers who played the Banana Splits? Okay so he wasn’t Fleegle, (don’t deny it -he was your favorite,) but it is everyone’s second fave-Bingo. Slap-dash look at making a respectable living making B movies in Hollywood.

[Lance Lumley · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a fan of the horror film The Banana Splits Movie, I was excited to read more about the famous kids show produced by Hanna Barbara. I figured this book would have a ton of behind the scenes stories about filming the show.
The basic tales told here are how hot the costumes were, along with a few stunts performed by the actual actors, including a few crashes of the character's car on the show. The rest of the book is about the writer going to USC film school (along with briefly mentioning a few shows he worked on afterwards like Pacific Blue). That is pretty much it. The book (at least my review copy), including the 20 page photo section is 100 pages if best, yet the price is high for a book with this little of text. Major disappointment in the lack of stories about the overall show and the author uses lengthy wikipedia text to pad up the book. This book was read in one sitting, within a hour.
For an in depth review, visit my page at : https://lancewrites.wordpress.com/202...

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished From the Inside by Terence Winkless (Bingo).

It was a short book - but that is good... it was not padded in any way. You get the feeling that you are in California, sitting in an armchair, and he's talking to you, telling you about what it was like to be him and work on this show you loved. How do you go from being a student in Illinois to being in a brightly colored gorilla suit in California? What's that like? The question is answered. We also learn what Hollywood was like at the time, particularly for a generation of film students.
Don't expect a bunch of sex-in-the-suit scandals and dirt on celebrities. It isn't that kind of book - it is a slice of life. I enjoyed it and the conversational style. I'd recommend it to any fan of the Banana Splits show.

[Rich · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a disappointment. I'm sorry, but this book is just a mess. Other than some accounts of driving the Banana Buggies there is no real behind-the-scenes narrative until chapter 8 (out of 10), and that is sketchy at best. In an attempt to sound chatty over a cup of coffee, there are so many non sequitur rabbit trails that serve no purpose and lead nowhere. The further one gets in the book the more misspellings, missing words and grammar/syntax errors. Copy editor, anyone? Thankfully, this is a short volume so the time investment is minimal. Not worth the time or effort.

I rarely give bad reviews and I rarely give a 5-star rating. This one was deserving of the vitriol and the 1-star is a gift.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Terence Winkless, the guy who played Bingo on the Banana Splits Adventure hour in the late sixties. It is interesting to hear what it was like with him and his two brothers who played Drooper and Fleagle on the show.