Saturday Night Dead

Last updated

Saturday Night Dead [1] is a television program that hosted B horror films on KYW-TV, Channel 3, at that time the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program aired at 1:00am directly following Saturday Night Live , from September 29, 1984 to late October 1990, comprising 141 episodes. [2] The show was a cult favorite from the start, with Karen Scioli winning a local acting Emmy in 1985.

Contents

Stella

The program was hosted by Stella, [1] dubbed "the Man-Eater From Manayunk" (a section near the Schuylkill River, a working-class neighborhood) and the "Daughter of Desire". Stella’s haunted condo was a playground for celebrities and comics including John Zacherle (aka "Roland"), Jane "Pixanne" Norman, Bill "Wee Willie" Webber, Rip Taylor, Sally Starr, Bobby Rydell, Robert Hazard, Channel 3’s anchors, reporters, weather people, and many local comics and Philadelphia icons. Stella delighted in half-clad, gorgeous young men and often had one or two hanging in her dungeon awaiting her pleasure. According to her biography, Stella was "born in North Libido, New Jersey, a small village outside of Atlantic City. She is the only child of traveling hecklers. Her parents dropped her in a plastic basket at Fifth and Shunk in front of Guido's Hair Weaving and Plumbing Supplies, but for all intents and purposes she was raised by a flock of pigeons." Reincarnated 37 times, Stella was just your typical "ghoul" next door.

Stella was portrayed by Karen Scioli, a South Philadelphia-born actress, writer and homemaker who weekly donned a push-up bra, slinky black dress, feather boa, false eyelashes, and a mole on her right cheek. As clarified by Scioli in the 2006 documentary film American Scary , Stella was not a vampiress or monster, she was instead a traditional, non-supernatural vamp. In 2012, Scioli/"Stella" was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame. [3]

Many Philadelphia and New York City-based actors worked on the program. Stella's butler "Skeeves" was initially portrayed by Bill Brown; when Brown departed the show, he was replaced by Bob Billbrough who then played "Hives".

Glenn Davish played "Cousin Mel"; mad scientist "Dr. Schuylkill" (playing off the Schuylkill River); faceless dungeon monster "Iggy" who ate those Stella didn't like; talking "Portrait" that gave sarcastic responses about whatever Stella was wisecracking. Nerdy "Mel" was told by everyone, in tribute to a character on The Dick Van Dyke Show played by Richard Deacon, to "Shut up, Mel." [Davish had appeared in Mannequin with Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall and Estelle Getty.]

Other prominent regulars included Allen Fitzpatrick who appeared as Stella's love interest "Rhett Cutlet," a butcher from Manayunk who had been raised in the Old South. "Cutlet", a character devised by Fitzpatrick, was modeled on Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind . Fitzpatrick also portrayed Rhett's mother, "Veala Cutlet," and scores of other characters including a bimbo in the "LONESOME DIVA" story line (a parody of then-popular TV show Lonesome Dove ). Other highly-featured regulars included Donna Ryan as whacked-out psychic "Madame Tofutti"; and Kathy Robinson in a variety of roles. (Stella's canopied bed, "Beda Lugosi", also appeared; the bed was notable for its both speaking and vibrating.)

Saturday Night Dead often featured the talent from KYW's local news production, Eyewitness News , including Howard Joffe.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra's recording of "The Mooche" was used as the show's theme song.

Detroit version

There was also a film series dubbed "Saturday Night Dead" in Detroit, which likewise aired at 1:00am Sunday morning on the local NBC affiliate (WDIV-TV) after "Saturday Night Live". Unrelated to the Philadelphia version, the Detroit program had no on-air host and was less successful, debuting on September 16, 1979 [4] and airing its last episode on June 6, 1981.

Related Research Articles

<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> 1968 American horror film

Night of the Living Dead is a 1968 American independent horror film directed, photographed, and edited by George A. Romero, written by Romero and John Russo, produced by Russell Streiner and Karl Hardman, and starring Duane Jones and Judith O'Dea. The story follows seven people trapped in a farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, under assault by reanimated corpses. Although the flesh-eating monsters that appear in the film are referred to as "ghouls", they are credited with popularizing the modern portrayal of zombies in popular culture.

<i>Creature Double Feature</i> US syndicated horror television series

Creature Double Feature is a television show, syndicated in the Boston and Philadelphia area during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. It sometimes also aired under names like Sci-Fi Flix and Creature Feature. The show aired classic monster movies, with the name "Creature Double Feature" based on its airing two movies during its three-hour time slot. The movies broadcast were taken from the classic Universal Horror movies of the 1930s to 1950s, the Hammer Studios and American International Pictures films of the 1950s, Roger Corman's horror films of the 1960s, and Toho Studio's "giant monster" movies of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Zacherle</span> American TV host, voice actor, and recording artist (1918–2016)

John Zacherle was an American television host, radio personality, singer, and voice actor. He was best known for his long career as a television horror host, often broadcasting horror films in Philadelphia and New York City in the 1950s and 1960s. Best known for his character of "Roland/Zacherley", he also did voice work for films, and recorded the top ten novelty rock and roll song "Dinner With Drac" in 1958. He also edited two collections of horror stories, Zacherley's Vulture Stew and Zacherley's Midnight Snacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Savini</span> American actor, stuntman, director and makeup artist

Thomas Vincent Savini is an American prosthetic makeup artist, actor, stunt performer and film director. He is known for his makeup and special effects work on many films directed by George A. Romero, including Martin, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Creepshow, and Monkey Shines; he also created the special effects and makeup for many cult classics like Friday the 13th, Maniac, The Burning, The Prowler, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.

KYW-TV, branded CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent station WPSG. The two stations share studios on Hamilton Street north of Center City, Philadelphia; KYW-TV's transmitter is located in the city's Roxborough section.

Japanese horror is horror fiction derived from popular culture in Japan, generally noted for its unique thematic and conventional treatment of the horror genre differing from the traditional Western representation of horror. Japanese horror tends to focus on psychological horror, tension building (suspense), and the supernatural, particularly involving ghosts (yūrei) and poltergeists. Other Japanese horror fiction contains themes of folk religion such as possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yōkai. Media in which the genre of Japanese horror fiction can be found include artwork, theater, literature, film, anime and video games.

Rich Koz is an American actor and broadcaster best known for his portrayal of horror-movie host Svengoolie, as well as his early '90s children's cartoon showcase The Koz Zone. Koz is also the host of the syndicated Stooge-a-Palooza program. In 2021, he was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid Hall of Fame.

Schuylkill River Passenger Rail is a proposed passenger train service along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Reading, Pennsylvania, with intermediate stops in Norristown, King of Prussia, Phoenixville, and Pottstown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Chuck and Lil' John</span> 1979 American TV series or program

Charles "Big Chuck" Schodowski and "Lil' John" Rinaldi – together commonly known as Big Chuck and Lil' John – are a duo of entertainers who served as late-night horror hosts of The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show on television station WJW in Cleveland, Ohio from 1979 to 2007. In addition to hosting a movie with a live audience, they also performed original sketch comedy routines. At the end of each sketch was a very distinctive laugh voiced by comedian/actor Jay Lawrence, who was a disc jockey for KYW radio in Cleveland during the early 1960s.

<i>Commander USAs Groovie Movies</i> American movie showcase series

Commander USA's Groovie Movies is an American movie showcase series that ran weekend afternoons on the USA Network.

<i>Blackenstein</i> 1973 film by William A. Levey

Blackenstein is a 1973 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William A. Levey, and starring John Hart, Ivory Stone, Andrea King, Roosevelt Jackson, Joe De Sue, Nick Bolin and Liz Renay. It is loosely based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Released on August 3, 1973, it was made in an attempt to cash in on the success of Blacula; released the previous year by American International Pictures. However, Blackenstein fared poorly in comparison to its predecessor, with most reviews agreeing that the film was "a totally inept mixture of the worst horror and blaxploitation films".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Howard (news anchor)</span> American journalist

Marc Howard is a retired longtime Philadelphia news anchor. He last anchored at KYW-TV beginning in 2003 when he fronted the late newscasts, but soon only anchored the 4 p.m. news.

<i>Creature Features</i> Genre of TV format shows

Creature Features is a program of horror shows broadcast on local American television stations throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The movies broadcast on these shows were generally classic and cult horror movies of the 1930s to 1950s, the horror and science-fiction films of the 1950s, British horror films of the 1960s, and the Japanese kaiju "giant monster" movies of the 1950s to 1970s.

William Robert Cardille, also known as "Chilly Billy", was an American broadcast personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was well known to regional viewers as a late-night horror host, but is perhaps more widely remembered for his appearance in George A. Romero's landmark zombie film Night of the Living Dead (1968), portraying a fictional version of himself; he also appeared as himself in the 1990 remake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zombie</span> Undead creature from Haitian folklore

A zombie is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies are most commonly found in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magical practices in religions like Vodou. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods such as fungi, radiation, gases, diseases, plants, bacteria, viruses, etc.

<i>MonsterVision</i> 1991 American TV series or program

MonsterVision is an American variety series which aired on TNT from June 29, 1991 to September 16, 2000. The show underwent multiple changes throughout its over nine-year run. Initially, the program revolved around a mysterious claymation-style moon character who was featured in the bumpers alongside a creepy-sounding disembodied voice, who served as the narrator for the show and its promos. Additionally, the show was regularly paired alongside the series 100% Weird, which brought viewers even more bizarre films. Later, in June 1993, entertainment duo Penn & Teller guest-hosted MonsterVision marathons featuring mainly old B-Movies from the 1950s and 1960s. Then, by Saturday, July 31, 1993, the narrator of the series became solely a voice-over announcer.

<i>I Eat Your Skin</i> 1971 American film

I Eat Your Skin is a 1971 American horror film written, produced and directed by Del Tenney. It stars William Joyce, Heather Hewitt and Walter Coy. The film was shot entirely in Florida in 1964 under the title Caribbean Adventure to disguise from potential investors the fact that it was a zombie film.

<i>Midnight DJ</i> 2008 Filipino TV series or program

Midnight DJ is a Philippine drama horror television series about a Radio DJ who works at night and at the same time, together with his team, they work to find solutions to the paranormal problems of his listeners. The series aired on TV5 from August 11, 2008 to May 14, 2011, replacing Impact: Stories of Survival. One of the original Midnight DJ played by Paolo Contis, Oyo Boy replaced him after Paolo's character died on the last episode of Season 1. The show ended on Season 11 in a different format than the previous seasons.

Chiller Theatre was a Saturday night television series broadcast by Channel 11 WPIX New York that showed classic horror movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mummy (undead)</span> Undead monster

Mummies are commonly featured in horror genres as undead creatures wrapped in bandages. Similar undead include skeletons and zombies.

References

  1. 1 2 Watson, Elena M. (2000). Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed. Jefferson, North Carolina, United States: McFarland & Company. p. 265. ISBN   0-7864-0940-1. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
  2. ↑ Pfeiffer, John (October 26, 2009). "Shoreworld: Saturday Night Dead 25th Anniversary". The Aquarian.
  3. ↑ "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame". horror-host.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  4. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/image/99064219/
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.