# Memories of movies on local TV stations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2016, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443 "2016-05-23T06:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/21 "2016-05-24T04:30:45Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > How does a thread about local daily broadcasts of movies not mention _Dialing for Dollars_? > > The two “regular” movies I remember: one station had a running gag that it never rained when it aired _Picnic_, and another aired Abbott & Costello movies every Sunday morning. A couple of stations (one in San Francisco, the other in Sacramento) also aired “Creature Features” on Saturday night Was the station airing the A&C movies on Sunday morning KGO? Because they used to rotate their films with Francis the Talking Mule, Ma & Pa Kettle, and the Marx Brothers. Then, it was time for Bullwinkle. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/22 "2016-05-24T12:56:24Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Was that “Master of the Flying Guillotine?” I remember watching it on Kung Fu Theater, Saturday mornings around 11-12 on KTTV. Master of the Flying Guillotine! Kung Fu Theater! Yes and yes! Also, I am not surprised to learn that, according to Wikipedia, Master of the Flying Guillotine is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite films. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/23 "2016-05-24T13:28:55Z")
Sure there was the afternoon movie (old b films from the 30s), non-local stuff like NBC’s Friday Night at the Movies\* (plus various other nights), etc. But my favorite movies were shown on the local PBS station. French New Wave, 20s-30s German films, etc. Uncensored, too. Local stations now air a _lot_ of movies, but on their secondary digital channels and the programming is provided by various retro networks. I can’t stand to watch most of those due to the censorship. - Remember when the networks had at least one movie night/week? ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/24 "2016-05-24T13:50:11Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > But my favorite movies were shown on the local PBS station. French New Wave, 20s-30s German films, etc. Uncensored, too. And let’s not forget [Matinee at the Bijou.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matinee_at_the_Bijou) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/25 "2016-05-24T14:35:56Z")
In the Seventies, WGN (IIRC, might have been a different Chicago station) ran Marx Bros. movies on New Year’s Eve. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/26 "2016-05-24T15:56:09Z")
Channel 50 in Detroit used to have Bill Kennedy at the movies weekdays. He’d talk a bit about the film before the start and during some breaks and as I recall he was pretty knowledgeable and chose some pretty good films. Used to be the networks would have like Saturday Night at the Movies but that went out decades ago. All of this never to be seen again, we can get what we want when we want commercial free now. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/27 "2016-05-24T16:09:57Z")
The first time I saw _Dr. Strangelove_ and _Slaughterhouse 5_ was late night on local TV when I was a teenager (probably mid 80’s). I think it was probably WBRC-6 in Birmingham, AL. ---
**Author:** ![Chicken\_Fingers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Chicken\_Fingers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicken_Fingers)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/28 "2016-05-24T16:10:41Z")
Late 70s–bible belt city-- They showed “The Horrible Dr Hichcock” all the time. A movie about a necrophiliac. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/29 "2016-05-24T18:21:24Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Was the station airing the A&C movies on Sunday morning KGO? Because they used to rotate their films with Francis the Talking Mule, Ma & Pa Kettle, and the Marx Brothers. Then, it was time for Bullwinkle. No - KBHK (now KBCW). ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/30 "2016-05-24T18:37:12Z")
“Chiller Diller Matinee” during the day, “Creature Feature” at night. Channel 2 from Oakland. Bob Wilkens hosted the later. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/31 "2016-05-24T20:22:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I wonder how many different stations had “Million Dollar Movie” and/or “Creature Feature.” I wonder which station started each one? We also had Million Dollar Movie at 10.15 pm through the week and Creature Feature back as far as the mid to late fifties here. Early on it was “Gregore” who looked a little like the Charles Laughton Hunchback of Notre Dame as the Creature Feature host and later Dr. San Guinary (who was an account executive of the TV station) playing at 10.15 Saturday night ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/32 "2016-05-24T22:57:32Z")
We had Tales From the Crypt on Saturday nights… loved those cheesy old horror movies! I miss those days, when you could watch the oldies and be delightfully scared… ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/33 "2016-05-25T01:00:03Z")
Channel 9, KHJ back in the day, had some great weekend movie shows. They used to use fairly contemporary pop music as their “bumper” during breaks, playing it with still shots from various movies. To this day, every time I hear Van McCoy’s “The Hustle” I think of Peter Sellers and Godzilla. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/34 "2016-05-25T02:17:51Z")
It seemed like “Gargoyles” ran every Saturday afternoon for years in Dallas, and I think I watched it every time. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/35 "2016-05-25T02:26:23Z")
When I was growing up ('80s) my mom would record them so we could watch them over and over. My sisters (grew up in the '90s) watched those same tapes and my daughter (growing up now) still watches those exact same VHS tapes that I watched 30 years ago. The two that still get a lot of airplay are Annie (the one with Aileen Quinn) and Cinderella (the 1965 version with Lesley Ann Warren). I think there’s a few others in the mix as well, but I like those ones and will still watch them. Anyways, I always get a kick out of two things. 1)The 1980’s commercials and 2)I know every line of those movies backwards and forwards since I’ve seen them so many times, but they were shortened to fit in their time slot so if I catch them on TV now and they’re cut differently I’ll see parts that I’ve never seen before. It’s a bit, startling (I’m not sure that’s the right word) to see a part of (for example) Little Orphan Annie that I’ve never seen before even though I’ve sat through it, beginning to end, literally hundreds of times. Once I got older and started staying up really late, I’d watch USA Up All Night. IIRC it ran two nights, Rhonda Shear would play two cheesy horror movies one night and Gilbert Gottfried\* would play two ‘sexy’ movies the other night. They played a lot of forgettable movies but there were some good ones mixed in there as well, or at least memorable ones. \*I know there were a few different formats, but that’s how it was when I was watching it. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/36 "2016-05-25T02:33:45Z")
I Loved those local movie showcases. They’ve been gone for a while now. The nearest equivalent would be the digital sub-channels, the ones with numbers like 4.2., 7.2, 44.1, etc. They still show, many of them, classic movies and TV shows. **Million Dollar Movie** was a staple here in Boston for what feels like decades. There were also horror and sci-fi showcases, mid-day movies and various late movie showcases, with **The Late Show** being the most famous. I miss them all. Most stations were unique in having one or two old studio’s pre-1950 film library. The RKO General owned station had all the RKO films, plus the MGM library, while the Westinghouse owned station had all the old Paramount and Warners flicks of roughly 1929-49 vintage. Now we’ve got cable, streaming everything, DVD’s and all that, but there’s something about just “catching” a good movie on the early or late shows that was marvelous, and when the movie was good or great, miraculous. Those were the days! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/37 "2016-05-25T02:41:22Z")
_Nite Owl Theater_ hosted by [Fritz the Nite Owl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_C._Peerenboom). They would do theme weeks (MGM musicals, westerns, etc) and Friday night was _Double Chiller Theater_, which usually consisted of one horror movie and a monster movie. The same station would run movies on Saturday afternoons, after the cartoons were over. A different station ran _Kung Fu Theater_ on Saturday nights. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/38 "2016-05-25T05:20:23Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Master of the Flying Guillotine! Kung Fu Theater! Yes and yes! > > Also, I am not surprised to learn that, according to Wikipedia, Master of the Flying Guillotine is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite films. 🙂 I remember “Master of the Flying Guillotine”! I used to help out my farmer buddy, and after a day of farm work, we’d kick back with dinner and a few beers and watch corny/schlocky movies, laughing all the while. We went through a kung fu phase, and that was one of the movies we saw. Thanks–now I know what the title is. Thinking of all the posts that mention a Creature Feature, I recall that Buffalo’s Channel 29 used to have such a thing on Sunday afternoons. So many cheap monster and sci-fi films! I recall seeing such things as the original “Invaders from Mars” and “Island of Terror” on that channel. ---
**Author:** ![JpnDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@JpnDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JpnDude)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2016, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/39 "2016-05-25T06:39:52Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Channel 9, KHJ back in the day, had some great weekend movie shows. They used to use fairly contemporary pop music as their “bumper” during breaks, playing it with still shots from various movies. To this day, every time I hear Van McCoy’s “The Hustle” I think of Peter Sellers and Godzilla. 🆒 Also on KHJ during the 80s [Elvira, Mistress of the Dark](https://elvira.com/) and her **Movie Macabre** program featuring mostly B-grade horror flicks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443/40 "2016-05-27T00:26:53Z")
It was a great weekend when a local station was running a Godzilla movie on that saturday. Before Fox became a thing, every Halloween a local station (WKBD 50) would air Shocktober, a week of horror movies in prime time hosted by local host Count Scary (radio host Tom Ryan’s alter ego). But after the station became a Fox affiliate (later UPN, now CW) of course they had to stop doing that and run network programming. Before that Count Scary had hosted occasional specials on another station (WDIV 4, NBC affiliate). I think he made a few post Shocktober appearances on other stations, and he did show up on Ryan’s radio show around for Halloween until the station canned Ryan for stupid reasons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memories-of-movies-on-local-tv-stations/755443.md?page=3)