Who was your local TV station icon?

[kryptosmaster]

I don't remember any horror hosts on Buffalo or Toronto TV stations. Do any of you Southern Ontario/Western NY folks know if there ever was any?

Don't recall any. There were fright night movies on fridays after the 11pm news but no host.
The closest to that I can recall was Barry Lillis in the 80's doing Barry's Cats Pajamas when CH 2 went 24 hours a day. He did different theme nights like Kung Fu night and he was the overnight host but he didn't dress up like a monster or have a weird tv name.
Rich

[cjefferys]

I don't remember any horror hosts on Buffalo or Toronto TV stations. Do any of you Southern Ontario/Western NY folks know if there ever was any?

[UnderdogDJLSW]

That's a cool picture, Sharry! Boy, try to explain that show and Mr. DooBee to the kids of today and you get stared at. lol

Steve

[HardyGirl]

When I was living in NYC, I got to meet Miss Louise from Romper Room. And I really didn't know that the teachers on the show were regional. I thought they'd show the same Romper Room all over the country. Anyway, check out my memory and photo:

Retroland | Romper Room: Memory from HardyGirl66

[thunderbolt]

Captain Jinks and Salty Sam in Peoria



Also got Garfield Goose with Ray Rayner out of Chicago.

Horror shows: Son of Svenghoolie, Dr. Paul Berrer and Acri Creature Feature.

[MeerkatMego]

In the Richmond area, we had Sailor Bob who hosted a kids show on Saturday mornings. Then there was Bowman Body who is somewhat of a local legend. From 1970 till 1976 he hosted B horror movies on the local ABC channel. It was some of the dorkest stuff you ever saw, but as a kid I loved it.

[johnnystorm]

This link was posted on Mark Evanier's NEWS FROM ME BLOG. Looks interesting, might have to pick this up:


American Scary

[Bill]

[tay666]

My brother and I watched Superhost almost every Saturday. He'd show some Three Stooges shorts and a couple of great old monster flicks.

Here's a YouTube channel devoted to Superhost --
Tribute to Superhost

Channel 43 also had Barnaby on every weekday morning. He talked to an invisible parrot and showed cartoons.

Here's a clip from his last show --
Barnaby

"If anybody calls, tell them Barnaby said hello."

Man, lots of people from my neck of the woods.
Here are some more SuperHost links.
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionC...superhost.html
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionC...superhost.html
Utter Trash--Superhost

Those were some great Saturday afternoons.

Then there were Friday nights with Hoolihan and Big Chuck (latter to have Little John replace Hooly)

WUAB was the best for kids though.
Mornings were Barnaby and Romper Room.

After school we had some good anime with Speed Racer and Marine Boy.
Followed with stuff like Adams Family, Munsters, Ultraman, Johnny Soko, etc.
But I lived for Saturday afternoons with SuperHost and the great horror/scifi.
And don't forget all the artwork posted on the back wall. All those pics sent in by viewers that got their 5 minutes of fame on TV.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

How can you mention Captain 20 without mentioning one of Dick Dyszel's other great alter egos? Count Gore De Vol

It was mentioned on his pages in the link so I just didn't type it out. He was also Bozo the clown for channel 20, too. I was at a taping of Bozo when I was 5 and when they led us into the seats I was front row center. They had trouble with the video so had to start taping again. They led us out of the studio and back in, but this time I was in a corner and couldn't see well, so I had to lean over to the left to see the show. The kid next to me took offense and yelled "stop pushing at me!" and promptly smashed his fist down on my leaning, left hand and hurt my thumb. I stuck my thumb in my mouth the same way someone who has an accident with a hammer would. I would later find out when the taped show aired (for all friends and family to see), that was the only close up of me on camera and it looked like I was sucking my thumb like a baby. I still hate that kid who sat next to me.

[shyndman]

Dick Dyszel

Over in Classic Toys with Rich and Brian talking about Commander Tom in Buffalo, got me thinking there must have been dozens of these guys all over 70's television introducing cartoons, shows, contests. Who were yours? These were who I watched in Washington and Baltimore:

Captain 20 host on WDCA - TV, Channel 20 in Washington, DC

YouTube - CAPTAIN CHESAPEAKE

Stu Kerr - BaltoCo

How can you mention Captain 20 without mentioning one of Dick Dyszel's other great alter egos? Count Gore De Vol and his Creature Feature Show! Great, cheesy stuff, and great cheesy horror movies. He's all over YOUTUBE but also has his own site: Vampire Horror Host Count Gore De Vol Creature Feature

[Goblin19]

Didn't realize there were so many Cleveland guys here. Superhost was classic. During the week, don't forget Barnaby. He was on for decades.

[johnnystorm]

Awesome, I remember Chilly Billy and Joe Negri! I was just mentioning the news casters (other than Rogers) This is a great thread. Remember Norman? He was pretty creepy. I do also remember Joe Negri hosting a kid's show on Saturdays that introduced cartoons but the specifics are a bit vague. Very cool.

Norman the Caretaker & Stefan the Castle prankster!

Chilly Billy works at a radio station in Pittsburgh these days. Awhile back I sent him a letter asking about Chiller Theatre returning, and he sent me a nice short letter back telling me how much he appreciated my liking the show. He also sent me a signed photo of the chiller cast which was great.
Here's a link to his bio page at WJAS:

1320 WJAS - Pittsburgh's Original Hits Station



Wish I could find some Paul Shannon clips, I'd like to see those. Paul is in the Stooges movie The OUTLAWS IS COMIN'! playing Black Bart I believe. All the villains in that movie were played by children's TV hosts who had helped promote the Stooges career revival in the 1960s.

I don't remember Joe Negri having his own show, but I'm sure he must have he used to be all over Pittsburgh media. I saw him once at a concert series, he's a very talented guitar player.

And my God, thanks for mentioning Myron Cope, creator of the Steelers' Terrible Towel! Yinz fellas with normal ex-jock sports announcers can only wish yinz had somebody like Myron Cope supporting your team!
Humm-hah! Double yoicks!

[hobub]

We had Chilly Billy Cardille doing Chiller Theatre back in Pittsburgh Channel 11on Saturday Nights. Bill you may know from Night of the Living Dead.
Here's a link to an old opening, it's kinda jumpy, but you not only get to see Chilly Billy, but also his sidekicks, the gorgeous Georgette the Fudge Maker (no, I don't know why she was called that, make your own dirty joke) & Terminal Stare, who drove us teenage boys just crazy (and you'll see why!). At the beginning there's some old promo spots including a great Star Wars public service announcement:

YouTube - WIIC TV 11 promos Chiller Theater 1981


We also had Adventuretime with Paul Shannon everyday after school on Channel 4 from Pittsburgh.Paul had the usual kids in the audience, and showed a lot of cartoons, I mostly remember watching Kimba the White Lion. Paul was one of those responsible for bringing the Three Stooges back in the '60S and they were on his show many times. I also fondly remember him collecting mail to Santa Claus and sending it in a rocket to the North Pole at Christmas.

Also Joe Negri, a fantastic guitarist was on that show a lot, Joe was on Mr. Rogers too as HandyMan Negri. Wish I could find a clip from AdventureTime, but I've never come across one. Anyone ever seen anything from this great old kid's show?

Awesome, I remember Chilly Billy and Joe Negri! I was just mentioning the news casters (other than Rogers) This is a great thread. Remember Norman? He was pretty creepy. I do also remember Joe Negri hosting a kid's show on Saturdays that introduced cartoons but the specifics are a bit vague. Very cool.

[hobub]

We had a few. Before cable, we had just a few stations. Steubenville, Wheeling and Pittsbugh. The ones that stand out are...

Red Donnely in Steubenville and in Pittsburgh, pioneer icons were Paul Long/anchor, Joe Denardo/weather, and Myron Cope/sports. We also had a guy on PBS named Fred Rogers who got to be pretty well known.

Steubenville and Pittsburgh that when Red Donnely passed away, the Pittsburgh news stations did a tribute to him. All were pioneers in TV in the local area.

Dino Crocetti got discovered because Pittsburgh had "blue law" which closed the establishments on Sudays. To get around it, they'd all scoot down to Steubenville since Ohio didn't recognize the law. Benefits of living in a tri-state area.

I remember getting up in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays and watching the vertical bars until the stations would come on the air. I also remember hating it when that Nixon guy would get on the TV and interupt all 6 channels. (WSTV, KDKA, WIIC, WTAE and WTRF and WQED) WSTV Steubenville was closest to us but they were all local to the viewing area.