The show was immensely popular in the Puget Sound area and southwestern British Columbia; at the peak of its run, the program had a daily local viewership of over 100,000.

[9] Two generations of Pacific Northwest viewers grew up as "Patches Pals", sharing the joyful zany antics of J.P. with their kids.

In 2011, due to declining health, Wedes announced that his final public appearance as J. P. would be on September 17, 2011, fifty-six years after first donning the face paint.

[16] On December 14, 2011, a prime time special was aired on KCTS-TV titled J. P. Patches: Last Night at the City Dump, which was meant to serve as a farewell to the character.

On July 22, 2012, at 84 years of age, Chris Wedes died after a long battle with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

He welcomed frequent guests: Seattle boy scout and girl scout troops, various local and national celebrities (see below), and his cast of supporting characters: Sturdley the Bookworm (a puppet), Esmerelda (portrayed by a Raggedy Ann doll), Ketchikan the Animal Man (a sort of Jack Hanna character), Boris S. Wort (the "second meanest man in the world"), LeRoy Frump (a character obviously based on Art Carney's Ed Norton), Tikey Turkey (a rubber chicken), Grandpa Tick Tock (a grandfather clock with an elderly face where the pendulum would be), The Swami of Pastrami, Ggoorrsstt the Friendly Frpl (a one-eyed brown shag carpet), Miss Smith (a motorcycle riding delivery woman who told mostly awful jokes), Superclown (a JP like superhero), J. P.'s evil counterpart P. J. Scratches (per official site I.M.

The show's entire supporting cast, male and female, human or non-human, was mostly played by the versatile actor Bob Newman.

[9] Bob Newman (born January 24, 1932, on Mercer Island, Washington) initially started at KIRO-TV as a film-editor and floor director in 1960, two years into J.P.'s run.

Wedes was as surprised as everyone else, and from that day forward Newman became Gertrude, with his falsetto voice, frumpy dress and a wig made from a mop dyed red.

Besides J.P., his most notable character was Joe the Cook, a sidekick to host Roger Awsumb as Case Jones on WTCN's Lunch with Casey.