Well, this is a fairly niche question, aimed mainly at folks who grew up in the Washington DC metro area and watched a lot of UHF television in the early 1980’s.
Before WDCA Channel 20 became a UPN affiliate, they did a lot of original programming. The station’s spokesguy/mascot was a guy who went by the name of “Captain Twenty”, he was a guy in his late 30s/early 40s with a moustache. Around Halloween, he would don a cape and become “Count Twenty”. It was real cheesy, but I was like 5 years old, and I dug it. He also hosted a kid’s program called “WOW”, where like 4 kids would get fed peanut butter and celery sticks and get told stories and such. He would show off all of the finger paintings the local 5 year olds sent in and such. Great “TV as Babysitter” programming.
Anyway, does anyone know what became of him? I think a friend of mine said he was a party DJ now or something, but I want more concrete info. Or at least validation that I didn’t make up Captain Twenty in my head to cover up a demonic possession or something.
You forgot to mention his jumpsuit Star Trekky outfit. Don’t know where he is now, but I do recall mention made of him every four or five years in the Post.
I believe he was also DC’s Bozo. In the early 70’s, Captain Twenty had gerbil races, with two mail-in contestants competing via a gerbil that was chosen for them.
His Captain Twenty salute was a ripoff of the Vulcan one - but separating the pinky and ring fingers rather than the ring and middle.
Ah yes! That was his name…er, monkier! I vaguely remembered him in a cape with fangs (or something) but twenty-odd years had obscured the details. I fondly remember staying up late and watching stuff like “Them!” and “Bride of Frankenstein”. Back before they were cheezy…
Incidentally, in an attempt to clear up the matter, I emailed UPN-20. They do at least mention Captain 20 on the site:
“WDCA signed on the air April 20, 1966 and viewers through the years remember such classics as Captain 20, Bozo, The Petey Greene Show, Barry Richard’s Rock and Soul Dance Show, WOW and Eye on Washington.”
A: We do not own the copyright for most of the shows we broadcast and can not legally provide copies. For specific shows, please call the UPN 20 programming department and we can give you the name of the distributor. Previous owners did not maintain a station library and all shows broadcast by the station before 1990 have been destroyed."
Dick Dyszel also played a key role in one of the silliest films of all time, The Alien Factor.
One of Don Dohler’s less-than-zero-budget screen gems, Dyszel was the “star factor” for both that film and another which I regrettably haven’t seen, Nightbeast.
Don Dohler is another Maryland auteur in the style of John Waters. If you can find his stuff, it’s worth a chuckle.
I wonder if Count Gore DeVol ever introduced his own films on Creature Feature?
Capt. 20 still has a pretty big following in the DC area and beyond. I ran into him at a science fiction con in DC in the late 70s/early 80s, recognized him, and he hushed me so that he wasn’t recognized.
As it is, I mention him (though not by name) in the intro to my book. I should find his email address and let him know that! Those movies in no small part made me what I am today: a major slacker.
I loved watching him as Captain 20 and The Count while growing up!
I’ve met him at a couple of conventions over the past year. He’s very nice and loves meeting and hearing from fans. I received an autographed pic from him after doing a book review for his site, and keep it tacked up on the wall with other horror stuff.
He also runs a Yahoo Groups list called horror hosts, I believe.
You know, one of the first things I thought of when I heard of the “Blair Witch Project” was “Alien Factor” because they spent half the movie running around the woods near Perry Hall Maryland
