Niko Liko
Niko Liko was a clown-like TV character who appeared on XEJ-TV channel 5 from 1973 through 1992.
One of his main features was that unlike every other clown, he did not paint his face. Instead he would wear a mask (like a Mexican Lucha Libre/Luchador wrestler) with a red nose, A golden brown wig, a red round hat and a red suit coat with golden flap.
History
In 1954 at the age of 14, Antonio Gaytan started working at XEJ-TV performing multiple tasks like working the door to the studio, operating cameras, accommodating the audiences, answering phone calls, etc.
One day in 1973, Pedro Meneses Hoyos, owner and general director of XEJ 5 asked Antonio Gaytan to fill in right after clown Bim-Bon decided to quit the show at XEJ-TV.
After struggling with his own limitations as he had not received any proper training as an entertainer, Niko Liko was born to delight hundreds of kids who would tune in from Monday through Friday, or visit the studio with the hope of getting a prize such as a cake a toy or tickets for the circus that was performing in town.
At first, the show consisted of only thirty minutes with a brief introduction by Niko Liko for one minute followed by cartoons including The Real Ghostbusters and Once Upon a Time... Man until the end of the show where Niko Liko appeared again to wrap up. Later the show was expanded to 2 hour program which now included a talent showcase spotlight featuring youngsters from the El Paso-Las Cruces-Ciudad Juarez area.
Later the show turned more social-service–oriented. People would go to turn in documents found, or to try to locate missing relatives.
He recently returned to television in 2012 on XEJ canal 5 high definition (HD) broadcasting as The Niko Liko and Friends Show (El Show de Niko Liko y Sus Amigos) on Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. CentralStandard/Daylight Saving Time.