What happened to them? I remember, growing up back in Detroit, there was a guy called “The Ghoul” who hosted a show around midnight on Fridays, classic old B movies. Why don’t they show the old scaries anymore? (Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, etc…)
I think the shows which showcased them went out of vogue.
A goodly number of them have been given the MST3K treatment.
Actually, they’re still fairly common on AMC and Turner Classic Movies…
Wang Ka is right, you can watch alot of the on the AMC channel
In some cities I bet they could sell some advertising…tattoo parlors, head shops, nightclubs, fetish shops, stuff that goths are into. If they had some campy '00ies Elvira-equivalent, I bet they would get some viewers, even with a shitty timeslot.
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Most formerly independent stations have allied with the new networks (FOX, WB, UPN) or along with local network affiliates decided to fill up much non-network-programmed airspace with syndicated shows &/or infomercials rather than produce their own local shows.
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Most of the old horror films came in inexpensive rental packages quite affordable to small local stations at the time. Now the rights to show them on TV are mainly held by “classic movie channels” & the like.
My childhood horror host was Sammy Terry on Bloomington, IN’s WTTV-4 from the 1960s to the early 1980s. I think the OP is referring to Zacherley the Cool Ghoul. Of course, the last great one was Elvira.
USA Network made similar attempts with Captain USA on Sat afternoons & the Up All Night hosts of Fri & Sat nights (I would watch Rhonda Shearer & avoid Gilbert Gottfreid) while The Movie Channel & then one of the Turner stations had Joe Bob Briggs.
The operative word being ** old ** here,TCM’s your baby.Amc,in addition to running commercials is now cutting some to fit the slot.Couldn’t believe it last time I wanted to catch one there.Never again.
There’s also a possibilty of an oldie showing up on a Paramount station.The local station here usually has a 2AM movie.
Every studio by the 40s tried the horror genre,thanks to Universal.
Most of the Vincent Price/Edgar Allen Poe movies by Roger Corman from the early 60s are available on DVD or video, and are wonderful fun.
I read somewhere about a new network – satellite, not cable – called Scream. Anyone know anything definite?
Anyway, here’s hoping they’ll mix up the great old stuff along with the newer films.
I grew up with Claude and Igor from Gravesend Manor on the local TV station. Every Saturday night. Just watching the lead-in, the studio logo with the propellor airplane flying around the world is enough to get my heart rate up.
Ahhh, Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. That show was hilarious- our whole family loved it.
Now all Cassandra Peterson puts the wig and dress on for is beer commercials, I think. Too bad.
Well, and her movie Elvira’s Haunted Hills came out on DVD recently as well.
Nope, he was simply “The Ghoul”. IIRC, he started on channel 4, moved to channel 50 and then 20. I think he operated out of Cleveland for awhile too. I think it was channel 50 that showed tapes of a show with the “Son of Svengooli” (or something like that) who filmed in Chicago during one of The Ghoul-less periods.
Detroit also had Sir Graves Ghastly, who was on Saturday’s around noon. And there was another vampire host that was popular around the time of the “3-D movies on TV” craze of the early 80’s, but he didn’t have a regular show. I think the actor was also on a local radio morning show (Dick Purton’s (sp) maybe?).
The other vampire host was “Count Scary”, which, of course, I remembered as soon as I hit submit
SF Bay Area had Bob Wilkins, the anti-Elvira. Looked and talked like an accountant–horn-rimmed glasses, monotonous, high voice. And he was great.
>>I read somewhere about a new network – satellite, not cable – called Scream. Anyone know anything definite?<<
It would be a channel, rather than a network, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, there’s one in Canada:
http://www.screamtelevision.ca/
Heresy!
The Ghoul (aka Ron Sweed) was BASED in Cleveland…just syndicated to those lucky teevee viewers in Detroit. Why do you think all the Polish jokes specified Parma rather than Hamtramck?
Sweed was a protege of the great Ghoulardi (Ernie Anderson), the Pride of Cleveland Late-Nite 1963-1966.
Chicago had Svenghouli and, when I was younger, had Son of Svenghouli. For whatever reason their main target was Berwyn (i.e., the “Berwyn cube,” a Rubic’s cude with all six sides solid white). I still fondly remember, after weeks and weeks of Gamera movies, all the supporting characters staged a revolt, picketing the host and chanting such slogans as “Give the tortoise rigor mortis!”
Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) is very active in a number of social causes including AIDS funding and animal rights, and makes frequent appearances in and out of character at related events. She also does Halloween shows every year at IIRC Knott’s Berry farm.
That would be Knott’s SCARY Farm! It used to run just around the actual date of Halloween, but now I think it runs for about a month!