Rotten Ink That’s Where You’ll Find Diver Dan!

Posted on November 9, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! Are you as shocked as I am that we are already in November 2022? This year has flown by and crazy to think Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away! The 10 Year Anniversary for this blog has been in full effect and we have looked at many classic things that I am sure brought back memories for many of you readers as well as maybe even acted as you first introduction to some of the update topics, and todays update is one that many of you might have grown up watching while others of you reading have no idea about and that is Diver Dan a very cool and yet also cheesy kids show from the 1960’s and when chosen topics for this year I just knew he had to be one of them. As I did not grow up watching Diver Dan but once I was introduced to the show I quickly became a fan and knew we had to go on a deep-sea dive adventure with him! So lets get our deep dive suits on and check our oxygen tanks as its time to enter the water and see what we can find.

Diver Dan was created by cartoonist J. Anthony Ferlaine in 1960 as a spin off of his comic strip “Fish Tales” and was the show was made by Brian Cartoons, and distributed by ITC Entertainment and was aired mostly on NBC stations during its original run. And each episode ran around seven minutes long and it would normally be paired with other cartoons like Felix The Cat and be apart of children shows that were hosted. The show would have 104 episodes and would last until 1970 given it a good ten year run. The under water scenes were shot through an aquarium with the fish on the showing being a mix of real ones as well as puppets that was mostly voiced by Allen Swift who also played the voices of the Narrator and the off screen character Captain Murphy. The lovely Suzanne Turner played the mermaid Miss Minerva. Diver Dan was very well loved by young viewers and would even have many years life after it ended thanks to reruns. And while Diver Dan was not for everyone as lots of kids wanted animated shows and not live action ones, it’s legacy of being a beloved 1960’s kids show is still strong and was one of the favorites shows of my Ex-Girlfriends dad who is the one that introduced me to the show. The show can be found originally on grey market VHS tapes and now can be found on DVD via Alpha Video as well as other budget labels and can also be watched on YouTube. I also have to point out that the shows theme is very cool and catchy, look it up and give it a listen and see what you think.

Diver Dan is a deep-sea diver who is studying fish and is a good guy and a hero to the aquatic life that makes up the waters he is in. A true good guy character who is likeable and noble and is truly that classic kid show standard of who you should grow up to be like. Diver Dan was played by actor Frank D Freda who was known for being a writer for the animated show “The Smokey Bear Show” as well was Ronald McDonald in some early McDonalds commercials. He was also a Broadway actor and was a sales person for HBO and Cellphones and is the first person to cell a car cell phone in New York. But back to Diver Dan who 100% is a true iconic character in the world of kid shows and has inspired many people over the decades to be a good person, to want to study bodies of water and fish and even helped fuel creative minds. On a side note I would love to see Diver Dan return to TV and do it as the next generation and the show could follow his Grandson who has followed in his grandfathers footsteps and is going on adventures in the same sea. Also if he was in public domain I would totally write a comic mini series based on Diver Dan for Sparkle Comics!

Ok lets take a moment to chat about Miss Minerva the blonde mermaid who was friends to the fishes and would keep her distant from Dan who she just would call The Diver. She as I said was played by actress Suzanne Turner who was a very good stage actress as she was featured in the play “Auntie Mame” and as for other TV or Movie roles she had no other as Diver Dan was he only work in that field. Miss Minerva had long blonde hair and would wear a crown and speak to the fish who would warn her of the dangers coming or tell what they have seen. She was a kind mermaid who would watch after her friends as well was the target sometimes of the fish of the ocean that are not so kind. After he work on Diver Dan not much else is known about Suzanne Turner as she seemed to drop off from acting, and during her time on the show she was the crush of many young viewers. And when trying to look up information on her it looks like she might have passed away, but sadly not much is out there about her after the show ended.

The shows two main baddies was the fishes Baron Barracuda and Trigger Fish who acted as stooges and help set up the dastardly plots the plans they had cooked up in their cave hideout by Teetering Rock. You see even in the deep ocean we have gangsters that want to cause harm to the people or should I say ocean dwellers. They are your typical kid show baddies as they have silly plans to just ruin peoples fun and to cause just annoyance to all around them. And to be honest the show really needed Baron Barracuda and Trigger Fish to add that villain element to the show and they both are the spice needed to make the show more enjoyable.

Diver Dan like all good kids shows of the time had lots of amazing merchandise for fans to collect and own! Besides the comic books they made a board game, vinyl record, coloring book, fanzines and later episodes was released on DVD and before that on VHS with many of those being from the grey market. I think the odd thing about all this is that Diver Dan never got an action figure and I for one think he should have. And thinking about it Super7 should do a Diver Dan ReAction figure and Funko should do a Pop! of Diver Dan as well as Clutch Cargo. But if you are a fan of Diver Dan there is some cool stuff for you to collect and I myself besides the comics own the DVD sets from Alpha Video.

So now that we have chatted about Diver Dan and the characters that made up his show as well as the merchandise he spawned I think we should now move onto his comic adventures and see what Dell Comics has in store for him. I also want to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So if you are ready like I am lets go on a deep dive adventure with the one and only Diver Dan!

Diver Dan # 1 **1/2
Released in 1962 Cover Price .15 Dell Comics # 1254 of 1354

Diver Dan is helping Miss Minerva and the fish to set up and have a Masquerade Ball, and as they all go to get ready Baron and Trigger as well as Rocky who is the nephew of Trigger go to the party and break everything down and destroy things as they have a plan to finally take down Diver Dan. When Minerva, Diver Dan and the fish return to find the party ruined they are sad as the ball seems like it will not be taking place, but our dastardly fish baddies show back up dressed up pretending to be party goers and acted shocked that the party has been attacked, and suggests a new location that they have a trap set at via a octopus. When Diver Dan and the party guests get there they set back up as Baron and Trigger even try to get Dan in trouble with his Captain when they snap a picture of Diver Dan and Minerva with the party lights behind them and deliver it above to the Captain who is mad as Dan is supposed to be looking for hidden treasure. But when Baron and Trigger’s plan goes wrong and the octopus gets trapped they decided to try and kidnap a young female fish and get ransom for her safe return, but that backfires when Rocky returns her to her friends and the baddies are chased off by Rocky’s angry mother. And the Ball happens and all are happy as Diver Dan wonders off to find the treasure.

This first issue of Diver Dan is really a kid friendly fun read that has Diver Dan in trouble with his boss as well as trying to help his fish friends to get a Masquerade Ball to happen after it was sabotaged. Diver Dan is a good spirited human who does what he can to bring joy to all his friends that live in the waters and is helping set up a party when he is being paid to find a treasure, and this fact also gets him in trouble with his boss and Dan still just continues to help his fish friends and even gets his boss on the boat to send down a camera! The one flaw of Diver Dan in this issue is that he is way to trusting as he does not see that Baron and Trigger are right in front of him luring them all to a trap and dismisses the concerns of fellow fish who alert him that they think the two are at the Ball! Baron and Trigger are such fishy little jerks as they get joy of breaking and ripping down the Ball decorations all because they want to lure everyone into a trap, and for what reason…cause they dislike Diver Dan and want to ruin his day. Sadly mermaid Miss Minerva really does not do much in this issue and that stinks, but the one thing they do show is that almost all the fish respect and love her. The story is as basic as can be and is very much kid friendly and the message is being mean, a trickster and bad never pays out and that good will always find a way and that friendship and community is important. And with a few odd elements like Dan and Minerva being around each other when in the show that was not the case for the most part, I do feel that it captures the mood and feeling of the show. The cover is great and features Diver Dan, Baron and Trigger and is eye catching for fans of the show, and the interior art is done by an Unknown Artist and is really good and has that classic Dell look but I think this is even slightly better art then the average Dell Comic. Over all I would say this is a super fun and silly Kid Comic read that does Diver Dan justice, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next issue.

Diver Dan # 2 ***
Released in 1962 Cover Price .15 Dell Comics # 2 of 1

Carolos is leading a band of gypsy fish to find a new queen as his daughter the current one has been kidnapped and Baron and Trigger send them the way of Minerva and the gypsies have chosen her to be the new Queen, and without telling her this news they set up a show for the area to enjoy first, and with tea they knock out Minerva by acting as if they are reading her fortune and flee fast from the area. But not before Carlos also hypnotizes Baron into being a nicer fish to others after he and Trigger tried to rob his wagon. The fish go and get Diver Dan in order to save Minerva and he along the way runs into Baron who goes along to help. But before Minerva can be made Queen the old one shows up as she has escaped and her captor a fellow bands Prince who is after her as he wants to marry her! The gypsies would rather have Minerva as the Queen but after some arguments she is able to kind of get away and to Diver Dan. In the end Baron gets punched by accident when Carlos and the Prince get into a fight and this snaps him out of his trance, and as Diver Dan and Minerva get away the Queen and Prince ride off and Trigger is almost forced into marriage before Baron saves him.

This second issue of Diver Dan is one great read as it has a fun kid friendly story, the artwork is fantastic and I feel that it did a great job of capturing the feel of the show its based on. This one has a band of gypsy fish kidnapping Minerva to make her their Queen, only for Diver Dan and the unlikely ally of Baron coming to her rescue. This issue also is mostly about the mermaid Minerva as she is the target of the gypsy and is the one who has to try and tell them she does not want to be anyone’s Queen and that her home is were she is at in the ocean, I also like that even with her kidnappers she tries to be kind and not hurt their feelings as while they did something bad they are more misguided then evil. Baron and Trigger as well have bigger parts as the Baron is under the trance he turns into a good guy and forces his goofy henchman to go along with him. The Gypsies are cool characters who have Queens and Kings and will do sneaky things in order to honor their culture, but as I have stated I do not feel its to be mean. Diver Dan kind of takes a backseat in this issue as he does not come around until the end of the comic and even then he does very little and I like that as this gave other characters from the show a little time to shine and be the focus of a story that was really entertaining. I also have to say that the cover for this issue is great and features both Diver Dan and Minerva and is super eye catching for fans of the show. The interior art is done by Sal Trapani and is 100% fantastic and he captures the characters likeness so well. Over all a great series Diver Dan was and it’s a shame that the comic series only lasted two issues as it should have lasted way longer on the comic racks as well as on TV. Check out the artwork bellow as I think it showcases the work that went into this series.

Diver Dan is one of those classic 1960’s kids shows that I feel just never gets the respect in these modern times like it should as it was a simple concept that made oceans, fish and a deep sea diver cool! And sadly in 2022 I am sure many of you younger readers have never heard of Diver Dan and his show and I hope this update has at least sparked your interest in getting the Alpha Video or Digiview releases or even look them up on YouTube. That is one thing that I hope that Rotten Ink is able to do and that’s help keep vintage and old school stuff like this alive and not only bring joy to fans who remember but also I hope bring new fans into the topic. And with that said I would like to let you know that Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Celebration continues as we head back to the Rotten Ink Theater to chat about Silent Cinema and it will be 1921’s one time lost German classic “The Island Of Lost”! So until next time read a indie comic or three, watch a Diver Dan episode or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you soon and make sure to be ready to travel to an island filled with mystery and horror!

Horror Host Icon: Sammy Terry

Posted on October 31, 2022 by bloodlinematt

The state of Indiana was blessed with a true icon in the world of Horror Hosting that spawned a legacy that is still felt to this day, and almost every Host that has followed in this icon’s footsteps credit him for inspiring them to become one. And for those of you who have not pieced this together yet, I am talking about Sammy Terry of Nightmare Theatre who is one of my all time favorite Horror Hosts! I can only imagine growing up in Indiana, rushing to the TV set at 11:00pm and turning to Channel 4 to watch Sammy deliver the chills of his segments as well as the frights of the night’s movie. It must have been something very magical and spooky for those lucky viewers who got to experience it. And let’s be honest, Sammy Terry is the perfect topic for this Halloween update and is a very long overdue Horror Host Icon update. So if you are ready, let’s take a spooky ride with the one and only Sammy Terry. And keep in mind this update is about Bob Carter, the original Sammy Terry; in a future update Mark Carter’s Sammy Terry will get covered, as he as well is fantastic and is keeping his Dad’s character alive for fans.

Sammy Terry is a ghoul who sleeps in a coffin and hosts films from his dungeon. He has green and greyish skin, wears a hooded cloak, a skull necklace as well as yellow gloves and has a creepy spooky voice and an iconic laugh that sent shivers down the spine of viewers for decades. Sammy Terry was way different from many other Horror Hosts as he would not be a jokey, silly kind of host. He would treat the night’s films with respect (well most the time) and would also mostly gleefully tell you about the horrors, thrills and chills that awaited you. Sammy Terry also evolved over the years and went from a cigarette smoking creepier flamboyant ghoul to the ghoul we all know and love. Sammy Terry was well loved by his fans, and he would be a massive attraction at his public appearances as both young and old fans would come to see him. In the state of Indiana he was one of the most recognized and iconic TV personalities of all time and remains the state’s top and most respected Horror Host who has inspired many creative minds over the decades. Sammy Terry is a ghoul with charm and a sinister touch that truly is one of the best in the business. Sammy Terry is a Ghoul whose legacy will always live on in the Horror Host community.

Bob Carter was born on December 4^th, 1929 in Decatur, Illinois to Russell and Phyllis Carter, and all through his life he was true to the state of Indiana as he was a graduate of Millikin University where he studied Radio Communications and got a major in the field. Bob would get his master’s degree in New York from Syracuse University and would return to Indiana when he started working as a radio DJ in Fort Wayne and even filled in once for Dick Clark as the host of American Bandstand in 1959. Bob would then move to Indianapolis in 1961 and started working for WTTV Channel 4 as a jack of all trades as he would produce, direct and would host a talk show called “Coffee With Carter” that would be a three hours long. In 1962, he would become the host of Shock Theater (later changed to Nightmare Theater) and would become the one and only Sammy Terry! Bob would play the character for decades and would become one of Indiana’s most iconic TV personalities and would also become one of the biggest Horror Host Icons of all time. Bob would marry Phyllis Ann Eaton Carter and they would have four kids together. Besides being a celebrity, Bob was also well loved by the community and received honors for all his achievements in helping others. Bob was also very much into music and was the owner of “Family Music Center” and would use this love to also help start music programs for schools. Bob would be “Sammy Terry” up until around 2010 when his son Mark took over. Sadly Bob Carter passed away on June 30, 2013 at the age of 83 and the world lost not only a great person but also one of the best Horror Hosts of all time.

The show started in 1962 as Shock Theatre and was only hosted by the voice of Sammy Terry over a graphic. this chilled the blood of viewers who wanted to know who the ghoul was behind that creepy voice and would write letters to the station asking to see this ghoul! And with that Channel 4 decided to give the viewers what they wanted, the ghoul Sammy Terry was introduced to them, and a true icon of Horror Hosting was born. The show would have a name change to Nightmare Theater during the early days of its run and would have Sammy mostly hosting a double feature of Horror and Sci-Fi films and would be a staple for viewers from the early 60’s all the way to the early 80’s and was one of the area’s most watched local shows. In the late 80’s, the show would air very sporadically as specials, and this change annoyed viewers who wanted their Sammy Terry fix every week. And like every classic Horror Host show, the original version of Nightmare Theater would end…but a new era would begin around 2010/2011 when Sammy Terry (II) would comeback with Halloween Specials and an online version of the show. The original run of Nightmare Theater is still looked back on very fondly by fans and the show still remains popular on Horror Host Trade Lists and on sites like YouTube.

On Nightmare Theater Sammy Terry has had a great share of co-hosts with the first being Ghoulsby, an undead zombie who does not talk but helps around Sammy’s dungeon and gets into all types of trouble. He shuffles around and is well loved by fans and is still on the show from time to time to this day! But while Ghoulsby is super popular, on a whole other level is George, the spider who is Sammy’s best friend who comes down from the ceiling and to talk to Sammy, and while fans could not understand what George was saying with his high squeak voice, Sammy did and would respond and even alert the viewers to what he was saying. In the history of Nightmare Theater, both George and Ghoulsby have made the show even more special and these are just two of many that have showed up on the show with many guests also making appearances and adding to the show’s legacy. And I would say this: if co-hosts ever get a branch in the Horror Host Hall Of Fame, both George and Ghoulsby would 100% be inducted, and I want to thank them both for being awesome cast members on Nightmare Theater. And I have to also just say this name, and fans of the show will know it: Cowboy Bob.

Sammy Terry is one of my all time favorite Horror Hosts as I find him to be a true master of the art who brought a friendly sinister touch to the art of hosting and had a way of capturing your attention with every word he spoke. While he sometimes poked fun at the films being shown, he did it more cleverly than most. For me, his laugh is pure iconic and is one of the most imitated laugh among my friends who enjoy Horror Hosting only rivaled by the likes of Dr. Creep and Sir Grave Ghastly. And when I started collecting and trying to archive Horror Host shows, one that was early on my list to try and get as many of them as I could was Sammy Terry. The thing about Sammy Terry is that he is just something very special in the world of Horror Hosting. He has gone beyond Indiana in having a loyal fan base, and he has inspired so many creative minds not only in the world of Horror Hosting but also just in the Horror genre all together. I also feel that Sammy Terry captures the magic of the Halloween season and is a great example of what a classic Horror Host is and what the modern host should aim to be as iconic as. I know many of my friends grew up watching Sammy, and they all will tell you the same thing that he is one of the best to ever grace TV screens. If you have not seen classic Sammy Terry, make sure to look him up on YouTube or track down some of his episodes on trade lists and see just how awesome he was.

On March 26, 2011 the first class was inducted into The Horror Host Hall Of Fame at Horrorhound Weekend in Indianapolis, Indiana and among such iconic names as Vampira, Zacherley, Morgus The Magnificent, Ghoulardi and Dr. Creep, the one and only Sammy Terry took his place among the immortals. Captain Crypt and Fenriz Fatal of the Horror Dungeon inducted Sammy Terry into the Hall of Fame, and they did a great job as his son Mark who plays the character Sammy Terry now accepted the plaque. The crowd in attendance loved seeing their hometown host get this honor and their claps and cheers proved that Sammy Terry is 100% an icon in the world of Horror Hosting and entertainment. It was amazing being there for this introduction and because of this, I got to meet Sammy Terry (Mark) for the first time, and I have to say he is a class act and such a nice and great guy. Sammy Terry is at the top of the names in my book who should have been inducted into the first class of The Hall Of Fame.

Like all true icons of Horror Hosting, Sammy Terry has had his fair share of very cool merchandise over the years with many of it being created in the last 10 years or so. Sammy’s ghoulish face has graced products like Trick or Treat Halloween bags, t-shirts, magazines, newspaper articles, trading cards, buttons, cocktail sauce, hats, posters, comic books, statues, action figures, hoodies, home media and so much more! Sammy Terry is a Horror Host who has always done the right thing when it comes to his fans and still delivers some amazing items for them to collect. I for one have a hat, home media, comics, shirts, posters, buttons, trading cards and even a statue…as you can tell I am a big fan of his. So if you are a fan like myself and want to collect some Sammy merchandise, there is lots of amazing stuff released for you to get.

The Dungeon was a very cool vintage toy store in Indiana that was located in the Washington Square Mall that also was a place that you could buy Sammy Terry merchandise and had its own little Sammy Terry museum! And the really cool thing about the shop is that behind the walls hides the current set for Sammy Terry (Mark Carter)! Upon learning about this store, I knew I had to visit it so along with Juliet and my friend Scott Scarborough on July 28, 2019 we made the trip to visit The Dungeon! When entering the mall we noticed that it was suffering the fate of so many indoor malls as at the start was so many empty shops or ones filled with churches or flea market booth type stores, but as we found the aisle were The Dungeon was we knew this was clearly the coolest part of the mall as beside them was a movie store and the other side housed a comic book shop. Once inside the shop, I made a beeline to the back of the store, as I had to see the Sammy Terry museum and merchandise and right off the bat I noticed a very cool statue of Sammy next to a replica of the coffin, and the owner of the shop was so nice he allowed Scott and I to get our picture with the statue, We looed around at all the props, art and plaques in the room. I got some great Sammy Terry items including DVD’s, Button, Trading Cards and even bought a Ghoulsby long sleeve t-shirt! And then something very cool happened as the owner allowed Scott and I to see the set and see the original coffin as well as so many more amazing pieces of Horror Host history! Being able to see and touch the coffin was very magical and hard to explain just how amazing it really was. Once back out I checked out all the action figures and the Mad and Cracked Magazines he had in stock and ended up also buying a couple of issues of Cracked Magazine as well as a killer monkey figure from the movie Congo. This was a great time and was one of the coolest Indie Toy Stores I have ever seen inside a mall, and it also gets major props for having the Sammy Terry museum as well as all the cool merchandise. Also it was a great time seeing the set and all the history that was there. Check out some of the pictures below to see the store from that day. Since our visit the Dungeon has move from the indoor mall to a new location in an indoor shopping center. I have yet to visit their new location, but hope to soon!

One thing that I felt I had to do as a massive fan of Sammy Terry was visit his final resting place and pay my respects to his legacy. So on December 29, 2019 Juliet and I decided to make the over 2hr drive to Greenwood, Indiana to Forest Lawn Memory Gardens to do so, and crazy enough the day we picked had rain storms and high wind making it feel like that day was the right day to visit. When we first got to the cemetery we noticed that all the doors to the mausoleums were locked and after driving to every building in the cemetery it looked like we might not have gotten to pay our respects as we were not able to get in! But after calling the main office of the cemetery they were nice enough to give me the pass code, and Juliet and I made our way into the mausoleum and we were the only two people in the massive tomb. After looking around trying to find him, we finally did and as we approached his marker a very loud boom echoed out and made us both jump as the wind outside knocked over a metal rack that held flowers. I feel this was Sammy giving us a good scare! Juliet and I stood around and talked about Sammy’s legacy and even shared what our favorite moments of his show was before we left I made sure to thank him for all his years of being not only a great person but also all the years of entertainment he left us all to enjoy. As we were leaving Horror Host Slash Cooper and his bride Foxi Roxi of Graveyard Tales were pulling in to also pay their respects. On the car ride home, my mind was filled with all the great moments from Nightmare Theatre and all of Sammy’s classic lines ran on a loop. So I want to say a big THANK YOU to Bob Carter aka Sammy Terry for being one of the world’s best Horror Hosts and for influencing a whole new generation of Hosts. Rest In Peace Sammy Terry, you truly are missed.

Nightmare Theater and Sammy Terry are still very popular that to this day are looked back upon with very fond memories and are ingrained to the history of Indiana. And you have to give his son Mark so much credit as he is doing an amazing job of keeping Sammy Terry and his father’s legacy alive. It’s now at the point in this review that we take a look at the DVD copies of classic Sammy Terry shows that I own, and I would like to thank so many people for making this update possible from Stumpy Disks, B-Videos 101, Toby Long and so many other friends and tape traders. I would also like to remind you all that I will not be giving these episodes star ratings and will take the film’s write up from our friends at IMDB and I myself will write about the host skits. So with that, let’s head into the Dungeon and see what Sammy Terry and his friends have in store for us.

Nightmare Theater: Batman Returns
Starring – Michael Keaton & Michelle Pfeiffer PG-13 1992

Host: Sammy Terry starts off coming out of his coffin and greeting the viewers with his classic laugh and then talks about the villains of the movie and how they have bad plots in mind to bring down Gotham and only Batman can stop them. We next see Sammy as he pulls a string and blood comes from the ceiling of the Dungeon and into his cup as he is making his take on a Christmas cocktail. He then talks about how Catwoman fell out of her bosses window and that that drop was larger then falling out of his. We next join him as Sammy talks about Penguin and makes a joke about sushi. And next Sammy talks about lovers, tombstones and the nights movie and even says Batman Returns is Blood Chilling. Sammy and George then talk about the Sammy Terry Fan Club and what you get with membership as well as how to sign up. Next Sammy Terry talks about the umbrellas that Penguin uses and then makes a joke about George having to use one. We then hear Sammy talk about the sewers of Gotham City and the minions of Penguins that include clowns and real life penguins.

Movie: While Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.

Note From Matt: This episode is sadly cuts off not only the end of the film but also Sammy Terry’s closing as well as I would guess one more of his segments.

Nightmare Theater: Black Sunday
Starring – Barbara Steele & John Richardson Not Rated 1960

Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin filling the air with his iconic laugh and alerts the viewers that tonight’s his night to howl as he says this wolves outside start howling. He then says that even Vampires and Witches like to celebrate the holidays and mostly at night as they can do their deeds, and says that the viewers need to lock the doors and windows as its Black Sunday. Sammy and George take us into commercials a few times before we next join Sammy who tells us that Black Sunday’s start off with things bad and throughout it things get worse and then he and George talk about bratwurst as well as bad neighbors and how to write to Sammy. Next Sammy is sitting in his rocking chair with a spooky cocktail and talks about vampires before sending us back to some commercials and then the movie. At the end Sammy asks you if you would rather be a with options of being vampire or witch, he sets up next weeks movies and gets back into his coffin and as it closes he once more lets out his iconic laugh.

Movie: A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch’s beautiful look-alike descendant, with only the girl’s brother and a handsome doctor standing in her way.

Nightmare Theater: Brides Of Dracula
Starring – Peter Cushing & David Peel Unrated 1960

Host: Sammy comes from his coffin and welcomes us to the show and says we are going to have a bloody good time with glee, he then talks about the nights film like he is telling you a creepy story about Dracula and dorms of beautiful women, and then ushers us into the film. We next see Sammy and even George as they usher us in and out of the film for commercial breaks. Sammy Terry and George then talk about love, Dracula, blood, spring and how to send away for a Sammy Terry order from for shirts and posters. Sammy then talks about being at a Parade and he hopes to see the viewers there. Later Sammy Terry makes a blood cocktail and talks some more about Dracula and his way of getting blood, and he even ends up sharing some of his drink with George. We then join Sammy as he tells us this is the time of the year that vampires love as this is when people’s blood is warmer and more people are out of their homes more often and the shadows are lasting longer and this is also the start of the baseball season. Sammy Terry ends the show by telling us to join him next week for a Gamera film and then goes back into his coffin as he wishes us “Unpleasant Nightmares”.

Movie: A young teacher on her way to a position in Transylvania helps a young man escape the shackles his mother has put on him. In so doing she innocently unleashes the horrors of the undead once again on the populace, including those at her school for ladies. Luckily for some, Dr Van Helsing is already on his way.

Nightmare Theater: Corridors Of Blood
Starring – Boris Karloff & Christopher Lee Not Rated 1958

Host: We start with Sammy coming around the corner and talking about Proms as well as what films will be shown next week, he even hints a trip to the zoo to look at the animals. He then chats about the next film that will be airing tonight and talks of the horrors of hospitals. We next see Sammy Terry and he is hanging up with George and they are talking about a race track being opened in Indiana for the season and that Sammy has a race track special coming soon and George can not be apart of the pit crew because he is going to the track in order to watch the fans as he finds them funny. Sammy then makes word connection on the word blood and its sinister and he laughs before we see commercials. In the end Sammy talks about the ending of the film and then reminds the viewers about next weeks double feature before heading back into his coffin to end the show.

Movie: In an effort to relieve the suffering of surgery patients, Dr. Thomas Bolton painstakingly develops an opium-based anesthetic, to which he gradually becomes addicted. In order to provide a continual supply of chemicals to continue his experiments and support his addiction, he falls in with a den of murderers who use his signature to sell cadavers to the local hospital.

Note From Matt: This is clearly the second film of the night as the opening credits and such are missing and we jump into the show already in progress.

Nightmare Theater: Crimson Cult
Starring – Boris Karloff & Christopher Lee Rated R 1968

Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin and starts talking about witches curses when a strange looking witch enters and shuts his coffin for him, as Sammy keeps on talking about the effects of a curse. He also talks about the fate of witches being burned at the stake and then ushers us into the Crimson Cult and during the start and end of his segment a blonde woman ghost appears. We are also treated to Sammy Terry telling and showing us what Horror Movies are now on VHS and able to rent at Indy Video. Sammy and George usher us in and out of the movie and commercials a few times before Sammy and George start talking about Halloween that is only seven days away! Sammy then gives a list of all of the public appearances he will be making during this time and its a lot, and he ends it with saying he will have posters and shirts for sale as the ghostly blonde woman once more shows up and we got to commercials. We next join Sammy who talks about October and the masses that witches have on this day, and really gets a kick out of talking about the sacrifices and the ring of fire. In the end Sammy Terry and the strange looking witch alert us that the next show will be on Halloween and he will host the movie Halloween! The Witch then opens Sammy’s coffin and once in closes it for him.

Movie: When his brother disappears, Robert Manning pays a visit to the remote country house he was last heard from. While his host is outwardly welcoming, and his niece more demonstrably so, Manning detects a feeling of menace in the air with the legend of Lavinia Morley, Black Witch of Greymarsh, hanging over everything.

Nightmare Theater: Curse Of Frankenstein
Starring – Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee Not Rated 1957

Host: Sammy exits his coffin and talks about the horrors of being sick and wasting away, he then talks about the fear of being the victim of someone else’s mistake and monster before he lets out his laugh and takes us to the night’s film. Sammy and George then quickly take us in and out of movie and commercial until Sammy then tells viewers how to get shirts and posters and give the P.O Box address to get his catalog. Next time we join Sammy and George they talk about Dr. Frankenstein and how George as an idea to use body parts to make Sammy look better and they two go back and fourth and at one point Sammy turns into a blonde bikini woman. We next see Sammy back to normal sitting with tombstones and talking about Dr. Frankenstein as well as other who find themselves on death row and the feelings they must have knowing death is coming. He then ends the episode talking about what is next week on the show and then ushers the viewer into the second film of the night “Baron Blood”.

Movie: While awaiting execution for murder, Baron Victor Frankenstein tells the story of a creature he built and brought to life – only for it to behave not as he intended.

Note From Matt: This was the second film of the night with “Baron Blood” being the next movie that I sadly do not have.

Nightmare Theater: Curse Of The Black Widow
Starring – Patty Duke & Donna Mills Unrated 1977

Host: We get several segments that is Sammy and George quickly taken us in and out of the movie as well as commercials. Next we join Sammy and George as they are arguing about George’s snoring and George is tired already again because he made new cobwebs around the dungeon, while Sammy says that he was at a station baseball game. Sammy then talks about being at a High School Prom next week as it falls on Friday The 13^th, and then George gives the address out again so viewers can get shirts and posters. Next Sammy makes a blood cocktail and tells a spooky story in the cemetery patio under the blue moonlight. Sammy ends the show talking briefly about the nights movie and then talks about next weeks fright feature before getting into his coffin and ending the show.

Movie: A private detective named Mark Higbie is on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons. He eventually tracks the killer’s path to Los Angeles, where he discovers her true identity: a woman who was bitten by black widow spiders as a child. However, that’s only the beginning of the story.

Note From Matt: The opening segment and credits are missing from this episode.

Nightmare Theater: Deathmaster
Starring – Robert Quarry & Bill Ewing PG 1972

Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin and makes a cocktail and builds up the nights film as well as talks about blood and vampires before taking us to the film. We next visit Sammy who is reading what they will be having for Christmas Dinner to George and Ghoulsby and its all types of weird and foul dishes, they then start talking about guests they will be inviting including The Wolf Man, Phantom Of The Opera, The Blue Beast, a Witch, The Mad Doctor and Yogi Bear and the rule is they all have to wear a Sammy Terry t-shirt and they then tell viewers how they can order one as well as a poster, they then remember they have to invite Skull to dinner as well but George thinks he will eat to much cause he ain’t got no body! We next join Sammy who is sitting in his rocking chair and reads the viewers a creepy Christmas tale that is about him and his friends. Sammy ends the show talking about the foulness of dying vampires as well as that of man made smog with pollution and say that is fitting for next weeks film “Godzilla vs. Smog Monster” and ends the show with is iconic laugh.

Movie: Quarry is a mysterious, articulate stranger who draws a cult like following of local hippies. Rather than showing them peace and love, he has more sinister plans for them, as he is a vampire.

Nightmare Theater: Devil’s Own
Starring – Joan Fontaine & Kay Walsh Not Rated 1966

Host: Sammy opens up talking about The Mummy hugging people…to death before he goes into next weeks film’s announcement. He then talks about the second film that is showing tonight and talks about black magic and tells viewers to get ready to be scared by The Devil’s Own! We next join Sammy as he talks about curses and voodoo and does so like a twisted nursery rhyme and of course each have spooky outcomes, and he then talks about how he once used a voodoo doll on a teacher when he was a kid and how he paid for it with a paddling. Next time we catch up with Sammy he talks about his love for baseball and how you can get hurt playing and then talks about how he loves being in the stands with the lovely ladies. Sammy ends the episode reminding us about next week’s movies and then gets back into his coffin and wishes us Unpleasant Nightmares before giving his iconic laugh and the lid shuts.

Movie: An English school missionary assigned in an African village has a run in with the local witch doctor and suffers a nervous breakdown. After recovering back in England she takes a job teaching in a small country town hoping to make a new start for herself. All goes well at first, until she starts to hear some disturbing stories about the town. She soon discovers the town is home to a coven of witches and they plan to sacrifice a local girl in one of their rituals.

Note From Matt: This was the second film of the night so no opening credits for the show and this picks up at the end of the first film The Mummy.

Nightmare Theater: Die, Monster, Die!
Starring – Boris Karloff & Nick Adams Not Rated 1965

Host: Sammy comes from his coffin and talks about the chills of the fall season and wants the viewers to get warm as they are in for a night of fright! He then talks about the monsters of the world werewolves, vampires, quicksand and politicians. He then takes us into the nights film and say be ready to scream! We next join Sammy Terry who is outside and the leaves are falling on his head as he talks about the joys of the fall season and they talks about Halloween being his birthday and then tells viewers about all his public appearances he will be doing in the month of October. Next Sammy brings out his scary book and has a cocktail and tries to read us a spooky story but has to stop as George is not feeling good and is upset about the MLB strike. Sammy ends the show by telling us about next weeks film and they heads into his coffin for the night.

Movie: A young man visits his fiancée’s estate to discover that her wheelchair-bound scientist father has discovered a meteorite that emits mutating radiation rays that have turned the plants in his greenhouse to giants. When his own wife falls victim to this mysterious power, the old man takes it upon himself to destroy the glowing object with disastrous results.

Nightmare Theater: Fear No Evil
Starring – Stefan Arngrim & Elizabeth Hoffman R 1981

Host: Sammy starts off by asking us if we would like to be driven insane or even travel back to the time of the Spanish Inquisition, as he says they both sound like fun. He then talks about time travel, other dimensions, voodoo and witchcraft and then takes us into the film. Next Sammy is talking the black arts and the benefits of it and that magic mirrors help in magic and looks at the painting of himself that turns into a woman who talks about her beauty. The woman in the mirror then starts playing mind games with Sammy as she appears and disappears before him. Next he and George are in front of the painted picture and talks about what you see in the mirror and as he does so monsters appear in the picture including Phantom Of The Opera, a Dragon, Satan and even Ghoulsby as he says we all have dark images! The Woman appears again and this time George falls for her as Sammy tells George he as a one-track mind.

Movie: 18-year-old high school student Andrew looks human in every way but in reality he is the Incarnation of Satan himself. Two archangels name Mikhail and Gabrielle (who are in human form) are sent from heaven to stop him before his evil takes over the world.

Note From Matt: Sadly this episode just ends without finishing the movie and that means also no last segment from Sammy

Nightmare Theater: Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Starring – Zandor Vorkov & Lon Chaney Jr. PG 1971

Host: Sammy Comes out of his coffin with his iconic laugh and welcomes us to the show as well as to the month of September, he then goes into talking about Frankenstein’s monster as well as Dracula and how when the two meet that it will be deadly combat! We next join Sammy as he and George talk about next Friday being the 13^th and how it’s the night of the witches as well as Mr. Video’s tape sale at the locations and Sammy will be at the stores for these sales. And he then talks about a few more places he will be appearing and warns that monsters will be loose in the audience, plus he says he will have posters and shirts for sale at all these places. Next George and Sammy talk about lost loves and then George talks about a bikini model that makes men’s blood run hot and how women dislike her cause of her beauty. In the end Sammy talks about Dracula and then reminds viewers that next week is Friday The 13^th and then speaks about the Evil Eye and says to tune in next week before heading into his coffin.

Movie: Judith Fontaine is looking for her sister Joanie, who has disappeared into the hippie community of Venice, California. It turns out Joanie has become the victim of Groton, an axe-wielding homicidal maniac working for Dr. Durray, who is really the last of the Frankensteins and is now running a house of horrors by the beach and is performing experiments on Gorton’s victims. One night Count Dracula visits the doctor, showing him the original Frankenstein creation that was buried in a nearby graveyard. The doctor revives it and uses it to take revenge on his professional rivals.

Nightmare Theater: Dracula’s Dog
Starring – Michael Pataki & Jan Shutan R 1977

Host: Sammy comes from his coffin with his iconic laugh and welcomes the viewers to his home that was built with terror. Sammy then talks about all things that could be considered bad days and things that could cause it, and then talks about the curse of Dracula and his pet dog! We next join Sammy who is sitting in his rocking chair and is talking about back to school time and how he and is classmates use to torment the teachers, and then says that the kids need to get Sammy Terry shirts and posters for school. He then pulls the noose and it fills his Frankenstein mug with a tasty cocktail and the sings a spooky school song. We next join Sammy Terry as he and George notice that Ghoulsby is jerking around like something is wrong with him, and George then says that Sammy is also jerking around and that an old witch is making them look like a couple of jerks. George also starts jerking around and Ghoulsby finally puts a stop to it by sticking out his tongue at the witch. Sammy ends the show by saying that Dracula’s Curse has gone to the dogs before talking about next weeks film, get gets into his coffin and wishes us all unpleasant nightmares.

Movie: Communist soldiers accidentally unleash the part-vampire servant of Dracula, as well as his vampire dog, during excavations in Romania. Together, they set out for America to find the last living direct descendant of the great Count. Meanwhile, said descendant, unaware of his true heritage, goes on vacation with his family and their dogs, not knowing they are in great danger. Fortunately, a vampire hunter is also on the case and is tracking down the servant and his dog, as well as the descendant, in order to destroy the former and protect the latter.

Nightmare Theater: Frankenstein The Monster From Hell
Starring – Peter Cushing & David Prowse R 1974

Host: Sammy Comes from his coffin and talks about emotions and how they can erupt in many ways with some being very sinister, and that leads him to the nights movies as sometimes these people end up in a asylum. We next join Sammy who is looking at his posters and shirts that he has hanging on the dungeon wall, and he tells viewers how they can order their very own. Just then George and Ghoulsby arrive and are worked up over wanting soup as they both want different kinds to serve at the Super Bowl that is happing that weekend. Sammy next is relaxing and makes himself a cocktail and once more is talking about emotions as well as disorders that people get and explains the actions those who have these disorders have and then says that everyone in Congress is insane. In the end Sammy asks if you would like to stay in the Asylum of Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster From Hell, he then talks about next weeks film before entering his coffin with his classic laugh and once more wishes us Pleasant Nightmares.

Movie: The last of the Hammer Frankenstein films, this one deals with Baron Victor Frankenstein hiding out in an insane asylum so that he may continue his experiments in reanimating the dead along with fellow inmate Dr. Simon Helder, who has been institutionalized for conducting such experiments.

Nightmare Theater: Freaks
Starring – Harry Earles & Olga Baclanova Not Rated 1932

Host: Sammy comes from his coffin and welcomes us to the show and talks about the creepiness of night and how your mind can play tricks on you or even that a madman could sneak up on you and get you, or maybe it’s a UFO in the sky coming after you or does your drinking water have a virus in it…he then takes us to the film. We next join Sammy Terry as he sits among the tombstones and is eating a meal of a salad and behind him Ghoulsby is digging up a grave to get bones of the dead in order to make a soup later tonight from it. Later Sammy is still among the tombstones and he is talking about how quiet cemeteries are and how frightful they can be, and how even spirits can rise from the grave to get you and two ghosts come from the grave and they dance and have fun before returning to their graves. Sammy ends the show by asking of the viewers will be able to sleep for the night, and then talks about next weeks movie before wishing us Pleasant Nightmares before going back into his coffin.

Movie: A circus trapeze artist, Cleopatra, takes an interest in Hans, a midget who works in the circus sideshow. Her interest however is in the money Hans will be inheriting and she is actually carrying on an affair with another circus performer, Hercules. Hans’s fiancée does her best to convince him that he is being used but to no avail. At their wedding party, a drunken Cleopatra tells the sideshow freaks just what she thinks of them. Together, the freaks decide to make her one of their own.

Nightmare Theater: Fright Night 2
Starring – Roddy McDowall & Julie Carmen R 1988

Host: Sammy Terry comes from his coffin and talks about things that go together including the words Fright and Night and as well talks about things that bring fright including politicians as well as all the classic monsters. Sammy then says that vampires are one of his favorite monsters and then takes us to the nights film. Next Sammy is standing by the window as lightning strikes and he laughs and says bye to a bat that is leaving. Sammy then talks about the curse of the vampire and how it effects it’s victims and then George chimes in and tells Sammy to be quite as he is on the coffin with a small amount of rocks and says that the rocks are there for a rock concert. Next Sammy is out on the storm and talks about the vampire party from the film and makes a bat joke before back to the film. Sammy then talks about the risks for vampires when attacking as well as in general and does so over one of his cocktails, and then brags about his dead rose garden before back to the movie. Sammy talks about Halloween night and the yellow glowing eyes in the night, and does so with gruesome glee. In the end Sammy and George end the show by talking about vampires and George has a cure for boredom and that’s to watch the next movie for next week and its “Night Of The Living Dead”!

Movie: Charley Brewster comes to terms with the freakishly improbable incident that scarred his adolescence. Still struggling to convince himself after countless sessions of therapy that the undead creatures of the night were only figments of his imagination, Charley carefully stays away from his former vampire-slaying companion, Peter Vincent. However, when the cryptic and mysteriously alluring actress, Regine Dandrige, and her motley crew of oddballs arrive in town, suddenly, Charley’s past creeps up on him to haunt him. Is history repeating itself?

Nightmare Theater: Ghost Of Frankenstein
Starring – Bela Lugosi & Lon Chaney Jr. Not Rated 1942

Host: This is Sammy Terry’s Birthday special and it opens with actor Vincent Price coming out of a coffin and wishing him a Happy Birthday, they dancing girls come out to entertain as the opening credits roll, and then our host TV Cool Guy greets Sammy Terry and Horace The Hunchback to the dungeon and he alerts Sammy that this is a Birthday Party for him and from here Sammy is treated to guests like R.K Skull, Dick The Bruiser, Tom Collins, Cowboy Bob and many more Indiana based celebrities. Plus Jeeves The Butler makes his return and even a crazed Superman appears. And they bring out Sammy a Birthday cake and ghouls sing him Happy Birthday. The final guest via a video is The Cool Ghoul the classic Ohio based Horror Host! In the end, Sammy Terry gets into his coffin and he is loaded into a hearse and is set for a weekend out at spooky places around town.

Movie: Ygor resurrects Frankenstein’s monster and brings him to the original doctor’s son, Ludwig, for help. Ludwig, obsessed with the idea of restoring the monster to full power, is unaware that his various associates all have different ideas about whose brain is to be transplanted into the monster’s skull.

Note From Matt: This episode is a fan reproduction and does not include any commercials, but to be honest it was really cool to see all the footage of this episode.

Nightmare Theater: Godzilla 1985
Starring – Raymond Burr & Ken Tanaka PG 1985

Host: It’s Halloween and Sammy is very happy as it’s also his birthday and he is visited by the Ghosts Of Halloween Past who sing Happy Birthday to him as does Ghoulsby and a werewolf chef named Larry Battson who has brought live lizards for dinner! Sammy then talks a little about the bombs in Godzilla and as George and Ghoulsby bring Sammy Terry his gifts that are posters and shirts of himself and then Sammy tells the viewers how they can get their very own via mail order or at his appearances. Next Larry shows Sammy what is on the menu for dinner and it’s such things as snake and spiders, Sammy’s guests are playing tickle tag and this causes him to head to his patio graveyard for some peace but his guests follow and when a pretty blonde woman tickles him he decides he will play. In the end Sammy hopes the viewers had a good Halloween and then tells next weeks film before entering his coffin.

Movie: Thirty years after the original monster’s rampage, a new Godzilla emerges and attacks Japan.

Nightmare Theater: Godzilla vs. Smog Monster
Starring – Keiko Mari & Haruo Nakajima PG 1971

Host: Sammy welcomes us to the show and talks about how he loves to bring fright, and that tonight right before a loving couple will make out he will free the vampire Count Yorga to cause mayhem and fear. He then says but before that he will unleash a lighter horror and says that man has created his own monsters with cars, TVs and rock n roll music among other things. He then ushers us into the first film of the night. We next join Sammy as he talks about loving a good cold winter as its gloomy, and how things like grass dies in this season. And then tells viewers that they are part responsible for pollution and that it will bring death, George then appears and reminds everyone that they can get a Sammy Terry poster and shirt to make the winder even worse. After the film Sammy gets a phone call and just keeps letting the phone ring as he tries to think of who might be calling him. After it keeps ringing and he keeps guessing voices from the graveyard behind him scream for him to just answer the phone as they are sick of hearing it ring. When he finally answers it the operator is on the other end and tells him that the phone company is disconnecting his services

Movie: An ever evolving alien life-form from the Dark Gaseous Nebula arrives to consume rampant pollution. Spewing mists of sulfuric acid and corrosive sludge, neither humanity or Godzilla may be able to defeat this toxic menace.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing some of the bumpers as well as commercials as the person who taped it off TV edited them all out when recording it. To be honest I am not sure that this isn’t a fan reproduction.

Nightmare Theater: Horror Of Party Beach
Starring – John Lyon & Alice Lyon Not Rated 1964

Host: Sammy starts by telling us about the horrors that you might find in the ocean as well as at resort hotels and that you can find terror even at the beach while you are there to have fun, and monsters await in the waters. We next join Sammy as he enjoys a cocktail and talks to us about pollution and all the bad stuff that is happening to our Earth that is causing sickness and death, and how we dump toxic waste into our oceans. Next we see Sammy as he is sitting on his coffin and is giving football teams his idea of a new diet that would help them win more games, and that’s to eat toxic seaweed salad that will turn them into monsters and makes a joke about jocks always chasing the ladies anyway just like monsters do. At the end of the movie Sammy Terry tells us about next weeks movie before getting into his coffin and wishing us unpleasant nightmares.

Movie: Sea creatures created from radioactive sludge terrorize a beach community.

Nightmare Theater: How To Make A Monster
Starring – Robert H. Harris & Heather Ames Not Rated 1958

Host: Sammy Terry starts talking about classic monsters and how to be prepared to face them and that’s by making your own monsters that Sammy is going to teach you how with the nights movie. We next join Sammy, who is sitting by his coffin when George informs him that he wants to make a monster just like instant coffee, and they decided to use black magic in order to make one…but George drops a black magic marker and Sammy uses magic to make George into a big mean spider. But after talking Sammy brings George back and even the monster spider stays, but George is sad as he wishes the other spider was a female. Sammy then tells use that the world is filled with monsters like bankers, police officers, waitresses, politicians, cooks and bosses as he says they are the real monsters, and says your wife or girlfriend is the true monster! In the end Sammy says he hopes we learned how to make a monster, and then says his show will be delayed due to a football game but they will have fun watching a spooky dinosaur film. Sammy then enters his coffin for the night and wishes us unpleasant nightmares.

Movie: When a master monster make-up artist is sacked by the new bosses of American International studios, he uses his creations to exact revenge.

Nightmare Theater: King Kong
Starring – Fay Wray & Bruce Cabot Not Rated 1933

Host: It’s Halloween and its Sammy Terry’s birthday and we open the show with Ghoulsby sitting on Sammy’s coffin playing with a whip, Sammy comes from his coffin and thanks the viewers for watching as this episode is live! George appears and tells Sammy that they have a surprise birthday gift for him and it’s a new used coffin and Sammy loves it. He then sees the in studio live audience and insults them with love telling them they are truly horrific. He then tells them about the nights film that is King Kong.

Movie: Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location: Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This ‘soon-to-be-unfortunate’ soul is Ann Darrow. No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann in its grasps. Carl and Ann’s new love, Jack Driscoll, must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts.

Note From Matt: This was a live episode and sadly the original taper cut out all of Sammy’s bumpers besides his opening. We get small clips throughout but nothing whole. It’s also missing the end segment. While it only has the opening still a very cool and fun watch.

Nightmare Theater: King Kong Escape
Starring – Rhodes Reason & Mie Hama G 1967

Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin and starts talking about the fall weather and the amazing things that come with it like burning leaves as well as blisters on your hands from racking those said leaves. We next join Sammy who is with George and they talk about all the public appearances that Sammy has made this far, and Sammy even summons Ghoulsby as he tells more places he will be all through the fall, and plus his posters and shirts being for sale. Next Sammy is enjoying a cocktail and sits in his rocking chair as George tells him that things will be going crazy tomorrow and that’s because of baseball as the World Series is starting. In the end Sammy tells you about next week’s film before getting into his coffin and ending the show.

Movie: Inspired by the Rankin/Bass cartoon, the evil Dr. Who captures King Kong to dig for Element X when his mechanical doppelganger, Mechani-Kong, is unable to do the task. Kong escapes and soon confronts his mechanical double.

Nightmare Theater: King Kong vs. Godzilla
Starring – Rhodes Reason & Mie Hama Not Rated 1962

Host: Sammy exits his coffin and hopes we are all feeling terrible, he then starts talking about the cold winds of March and the sounds it makes at night! He then talks about the epic fight that we will see between King Kong and Godzilla but says next is the most scary thing…commercials! We next see Sammy who talks about epic boxing matches and how they do not compare to Kong and Zilla’s brawl, George then shows up to remind everyone that you can get Sammy Terry shirts and posters. George then tells folks to run away from fights, so you can have more time making out with your partner! We next join Sammy who is bouncing a basketball and talks about the NCAA games coming up as it’s that time of the year and he talks about records that can be broken this season. He then says that sports will change but some things will not, before he sends us to commercials. Next Sammy and George take a moment to try and sell you a wall crawling toy spider! We later join Sammy who is once more talking about the winds of March and the howls it makes and really talks about how spooky it sounds.

Movie: Eric Carter, a reporter for the United Nations, reports on a submarine which collides with an iceberg and frees Godzilla. The news of this soon leads to Mr. Tako, the chairman of a pharmaceutical company, to seek a monster of his own to generate publicity. He sends out an expedition to Farou Island where they discover the god of the island in the form of King Kong. The giant ape is capture and returned to Japan, upon which it escapes and heads off on a collision course straight towards Godzilla. The two rivals soon clash in a giant climatic battle.

Note From Matt: This is the first movie of the night with the second being The Terror, and with that this episode does not have the last segment.

Nightmare Theater: The Mummy
Starring – Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee Unrated 1959

Host: Sammy exits his coffin with his trademark laugh and welcomes us to the show and starts talking about fright can make you feel so good and then talks about voodoo and how it strikes fear and fright. But then starts talking about The Mummy and the rituals of there curses and then takes us to the first part of the nights film. We next join Sammy who is caring a box of strawberries and talks how much he likes them and digging them up is easier than digging up a Mummy, then George asks Sammy if he has ever seen a Mummy and they chat about it with George and him then talking about how to get a Sammy Terry shirt and poster to freshen up a tomb. Sammy next is hanging around and wants the viewers to help focus on seeing a image of Sammy Terry’s mother so that she will appear, instead it’s a beautiful woman’s image that appears and then George introduces Sammy and the viewers to his Mommy a very large spider! Sammy is hanging around the cemetery and tells a spooky Mummy tale to frighten the viewers. After the movie he talks about being hugged to death before talking about next week’s film and then the second film of the night.

Movie: In the 1890s a team of British archaeologists discover the untouched tomb of Princess Ananka but accidentally bring the mummified body of her High Priest back to life. Three years later back in England a follower of the same Egyptian religion unleashes the mummy to exact grisly revenge on the despoilers of the sacred past.

Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night with the second being Devil’s Own.

Nightmare Theater: Navy vs. Night Monsters
Starring – Mamie Van Doren & Billy Gray Not Rated 1966

Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin with his signature laugh and says we are just in time for a fright, he then starts talking about the night and how scary it can be and what evils await us in the darkness. Sammy then says he knows all about the things that go bump in the night and talks about them and then takes us into the nights movie. Next we join Sammy and George talking about May flowers blooming, but then start talking about some local sporting events as well as how to get Sammy Terry shirts and posters, and then tells them he will be a guest at the Indiana Indians baseball game. We later join Sammy in the graveyard as he is having a meal and Ghoulsby is behind him is digging up grave for some bones, and he talks about his salad before he go back to the movie. At the end of the episode Sammy tells us about next weeks movie before getting into his coffin and wishing us unpleasant nightmares.

Movie: Operation Deep Freeze, a scientific expedition to Antarctica discovers unusual tree specimens. When specimens are shipped out for further study, the trees are accidentally introduced to a south seas Navy base, soon revealing themselves to be killer, acid-secreting monsters that live by night.

Nightmare Theater: Phantasm
Starring – Angus Scrimm & Reggie Bannister R 1979

Host: Sammy exits his coffin with his legendary laugh and welcomes us to the show and talks about the mind and how it can go wrong and cause fear and figments of your imagination and how if can drive you mad, he then takes us to the movie. Sammy is talking to George and can not choose what color of his shirt to wear for the Pan American Games that is the following day his choice is blue or black, Ghoulsby shows up and models the shirts for Sammy who ends up reminding the viewers that they can get a shirt as well as posters from him. Sammy can not choose the color so decides to wear them both! Next Sammy is in the cemetery and talks about things that can rise from the cemeteries as well as ghosts and that no one has 100% proved that they are not real and that they could only be in your mind. Sammy ends the show talking about caskets going into the ground, and if that is truly what they will do at the graveyard with the bodies…he then tells us about next weeks movie before getting into his coffin and ending the show.

Movie: Mike, a young teenage boy who has just lost his parents, afraid to lose his brother follow him to a funeral, where Mike witnesses the Tall Man lifting a coffin on his own. Mike decides to investigate, and discovers that the Tall Man, protected by his flying spheres, is shrinking dead bodies down to half their normal size and reanimating them as slaves. It is then up to Mike, his brother, and Reggie the ice cream man to stop the Tall man.

Nightmare Theater: Re-Animator
Starring – Jeffrey Combs & Barbara Crampton R 1985

Host: Sammy as always comes out of his coffin with his laughter filling the air and chats about the unknowns of the world and how scientists still to this day learn about all types of things from earthquakes to the human bodies, and then promises how to show how to bring something back to life and even George says he will later as well. We next see Sammy who is hanging out in the dungeon with Ghoulsby and George who are hanging up Sammy Terry posters on the walls and then they talk about shirts and how the viewers can get their own…they even make a young lady appear out of thin air wearing one. The young lady ends up going over to George and given him a hug. We later join Sammy who is with Ghoulsby and George and on the coffin is some skull and bones and Sammy uses black magic to bring flesh back to the bones to revel that the bones belonged to a The Wolf Man and this scares George and Ghoulsby as Sammy is delighted! At the end of the show Sammy talks a little about the films sending and then talks about next week’s film before getting into his coffin, as Ghoulsby walks around smacking a rubber chicken.

Movie: After an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.

Nightmare Theater: Silent Running
Starring – Bruce Dern & Cliff Potts G 1972

Host: We start off with two radio guys by the coffin of Sammy Terry with one crying, but Sammy rises up and talks about how he is teaming with them for the 11 o’clock movie before going to the movie. Next time we join them Sammy is talking about Bruce Dern and one of the radio guys makes a cheesy joke about knowing them. Next up the two guys chat about buying cemetery plots as Sammy laughs that they are telling the truth. They end the show with the Dj’s thanking Sammy for having them as guests, Sammy snaps his fingers and they are gone and he tells the viewers he will see them next week.

Movie: In a future Earth barren of all flora and fauna, the planet’s ecosystems exist only in large pods attached to spacecraft. When word comes in that the pods are to be jettisoned into space and destroyed, most of the crew of the Valley Forge rejoice at the prospect of going home. Not so for botanist Freeman Lowell, who loves the forest and its creatures. He kills his colleagues taking the ship deep into space. Alone on the craft with his only companions being three small robots, Lowell revels in joys of nature. When colleagues appear to “rescue” him, he realizes he has only one option available to him.

Nightmare Theater: StarCrash
Starring – Caroline Munro & Marjoe Gortner PG 1978

Host: We first join Sammy in the cemetery and he is sitting with George and they are chatting about the stars and planets in the sky and how some of the planets are named after classic Gods and Goddesses, George then talks about a woman that he found beautiful that visited the dungeon and then it starts the talk of the shirts and posters that fan can buy. Next Sammy, George and Ghoulsby are in the dungeon and Sammy is confused as his friends are marching around with Ghoulsby waving a checker flag…he soon finds out that they are doing it for Flag Day and he tells them that this holiday is for the American Flag and Ghoulsby grabs one and with Magic they place it on the old witches castle.

Movie: An outlaw smuggler and her alien companion are recruited by the Emperor of the Galaxy to rescue his son and destroy a secret weapon by the evil Count Zarth Arn.

Note From Matt: Sadly the opening credits and segment are missing from this episode as are the end ones. But it contains the two middle ones as well as the commercials and bumpers.

Nightmare Theater: Swamp Thing
Starring – Dick Durock & Louis Jourdan PG 1982

Host: All we get is a get seconds of Sammy’s bumpers taking us in and out of the nights film, sadly this one is very edited.

Movie: Dr. Alec Holland, hidden away in the depths of a murky swamp, is trying to create a new species – a combination of animal and plant capable of adapting and thriving in the harshest conditions. Unfortunately he becomes subject of his own creation and is transformed . . . Arcane, desperate for the formula attempts to capture the Swamp Thing. An explosive chase ensues that ultimately ends with a confrontation between Holland and a changed Arcane.

Note From Matt: This episode is a mess as the opening and closing segments are gone and who ever taped it off TV edited out the commercials and the breaks and what you get is just a few small clip moments. I hate when people cut out the commercials and host segments!

Nightmare Theater: Terror In The Crypt
Starring – Christopher Lee & Ursula Davis Not Rated 1964

Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin with his laugh and welcomes us to the nights film and starts talking about torture and all the different kinds, but is quickly cut off. We next see Sammy who is talking to George and Ghoulsby who tell him what they want for Christmas this year and they are making their list, they were joined by a talking Skull for a moment…but then they all say that what makes great gifts are Sammy Terry shirts and posters! We then join Sammy who before getting into his coffin tells us what he has in store for us next week.

Movie: Count Karnstein sends for a doctor to help his sick daughter Laura. Her nurse believes she is possessed by the spirit of a dead ancestor, Carmilla. A young woman becomes intrigued by the mysterious deaths surrounding Laura after a carriage accident outside the castle forces her to stay. They become close friends until Laura becomes convinced the spirit of Carmilla is forcing her to kill.

Note From Matt: It looks like some of the host segments were cut short by the original recorder, but most of them are there.

Nightmare Theater: Terror Of Mechagodzilla
Starring – Tomoko Ai & Akihiko Hirata G 1975

Host: Sammy as always comes from his coffin and lets out his iconic laugh and welcomes us to his show and introduces himself. Sammy then talks about his coffin and how comfortable about when George comes down for a visit as they talk about basketball as George says that he plans that turns out to be we wants to go to Florida for spring break…as he wants to see the ladies in bikinis! Sammy then starts talking about the true horrors that await in the ocean for people that include sharks and monsters. We next join Sammy as he watches as George and Ghoulsby packing for spring break and this of course includes Sammy Terry posters and shirts along with towels and bandages. A little later Sammy is in the cemetery and talks about technology as well as space and the horrors that could await for us, as who knows what aliens have as weapons. This one is a little dark as Sammy tells us all that we will all end up in a cemetery someday!

Movie: Attempts to salvage Mechagodzilla are thwarted, causing an INTERPOL investigation that uncovers the work of a shunned biologist and his daughter, who’s life becomes entwined with the resurrected machine.

Note From Matt: Sadly this episode is missing the end segment.

Nightmare Theater: Theatre Of Blood
Starring – Vincent Price & Diana Rigg R 1973

Host: This episode is not really a Sammy Terry episode and only starts with a clip of the ending of his show, so in other words this one is not what it seems on many trade lists.

Movie: A Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.

Note From Matt: This one is a total scam when grey marker dealers as well as tape traders try and pass it off as an episode of Sammy Terry…I for one was burnt with this one as it has nothing to do with the classic Horror Host show.

Nightmare Theater: The Thing
Starring – Kenneth Tobey & James Arness Not Rated 1951

Host: Sammy once out of his coffin delivers his laugh and welcomes us to the show and tells us that we are unlucky tonight as horrible things are happing as winter is here and making dark and cold. He then talks about the horrors of the nights film The Thing that comes from another world and has super human strength that can kill you with its bare hands! Later Sammy talks about the strange things that can be found on Earth and how much land that is still unknown, George then shows up to listen about the spookiness of the arctic ice and waters. George then starts talking about Christmas and Santa Claus and what makes great gifts are Sammy Terry posters and shirts. Sammy returns this time a head that is his Head Cook and him are talking about ideas that have for Thanksgiving dinner and the main item will be turkey of course as it’s a joke to say George is a turkey! When Sammy returns he talks about a lost seaman that was found frozen in ice and this makes him wonder if more will be found and why they were that far into frozen waters for him to get lost. At the end of the show Sammy makes you think that if the jell-o in your refrigerator is real or is it a thing, he then speaks about life in space before he then tells us what is in store for us next week.

Movie: Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.

Nightmare Theater: Tower Of London
Starring – Vincent Price & Joan Camden Not Rated 1963

Host: Sammy comes out of his coffin and starts talking about all the ways to torture someone including being tickled! And talks about how some are just so bad they will drive you insane including water torture and being buried up to your neck. And this ties into the night’s film as it is said to have the worst torture! Sammy and George are talking about the nights film and George starts talking about Pizza when one is thrown at Sammy who barely catches it and the two start chatting about the Sammy Terry shirts as the pizza sauce will blend in with the color if the blood red ones, they also talk about the posters as well as a public appearance. Sammy Terry next is hanging out in his cemetery and talks about the leaning tower in Italy and how terrible it would be if it was used as a place of torture. Sammy closes the show by getting into his coffin and talking about real tower of London and they talk about the next film they will be showing next weak.

Movie: The twisted Richard III is haunted by the ghosts of those he has murdered in his attempt to become the King of England.

Nightmare Theater: Track Of The Vampire
Starring – William Campbell & Marissa Mathes Not Rated 1966

Host: Sammy is sitting on the coffin and wraps up the last film and says he hopes that we are truly scared as the next movie is something that could happen to you even in the cold nights of winter and how monsters and killers like to stalk their prey late at night, and that vampires are truly dangerous as they can appear normal and get you this night. Sammy is looking out his window and then starts talking about collage basketball in Indiana and how that fever is spreading to everyone and how the sport has grown over the years. The next time we see Sammy he is still talking about winter and show and how animals leave tracks in the snow, and wonder have you ever seen tracks that you can not trace nor identify of a man and realize that he could be stalking prey and if you ever seen human prints that disappear those are of a vampire! Sammy ends the show by talking about the vampire of the film and how it’s a shame he could not get his prey, he then talks about the next week’s film before entering his coffin and ending the show.

Movie: A crazed artist who believes himself to be the reincarnation of a murderous vampire kills young women, then boils their bodies in a vat.

Nightmare Theater: Valley Of Gwangi
Starring –Gila Golan & James Franciscus G 1969

Host: Sammy Terry comes out of his coffin and introduces himself and it’s very late at night as he talks about mangled bodies, wars and big bombs that would strike fear into hearts of the people. He then chats about the start of time and dinosaurs before ushering us into the film. Sammy looks out his window and sees fireworks as George says that he is the one that set them off as he is running a test for the fourth of July and talks about the food he will be fixing for that holiday and its all gross spider food, they both then talk about the posters and shirts of Sammy Terry that you can buy. Later the fireworks are still going off and Sammy and George watch them and this time they do now know who is setting them off as the fireworks are now going off in the dungeon and it was the old witch that is doing that to them. Later Sammy uses a black magic spell to force the fireworks out of the castle and the battle goes on until he finally is able to make them go back outside, and George says that he spied on the witch and she plans up her attack as she wants to stop the night’s show! Sammy fights back by creating a thunderstorm with lots of rain that stops the fireworks.

Movie: Cowboy James Franciscus seeks fame and fortune by capturing an Allosaurus living in the Forbidden Valley and putting it in a Mexican circus. His victim, called the Gwangi, turns out to have an aversion to being shown in public.

Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night and is missing the opening credits but not segment and sadly there is no end segment either.

Nightmare Theater: Vampire Lovers
Starring –Ingrid Pitt & Peter Cushing R 1970

Host: Once out of his coffin Sammy welcomes the viewers as a monster man comes out of the shadows and crawls into his coffin, Sammy is confused but keeps going as he talks about the weather, lovers and vampires all the while the blonde ghost woman can be seen during his talk. When Sammy comes back he talks about his love of the fall and the month of October and talks about some of his pubic appearances coming up throughout the month. Later in the show George and Ghoulsby want to leave the dungeon as Ghoulsby wants to find a woman to kiss and hug and George as well wants to do the same, Sammy warns them that love can also be very dangerous as they all lust over the blonde ghost woman.

Movie: Seductive vampire Carmilla Karnstein and her family target the beautiful and the rich in a remote area of late eighteenth-century Germany.

Note From Matt: This is missing the end segment, and that stinks as this was a fun episode.

Sammy Terry is really one of my favorite Horror Hosts of all time and his style of hosting is a lost art as he is both creepy and also funny when he needs to be, and I love that his son has stepped into the role and is keeping the legend and character alive for the next generation of viewers. I also want to say that for those wondering, I also do have the official released DVD’s of Sammy Terry, but for this update wanted to focus on the original broadcast ones I have. For me the Halloween season is a time that I look back at the Horror Host of my past that helped make me into the monster kid I am today. Well as you can see, this update is coming to an end as is our Halloween 2022, but before we part and head out into the dark for that one last trick or treat I would like to tell you our next update will be about that 1960’s kid show Diver Dan! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Film or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next time for a deep-sea adventure complete with a sexy mermaid!

The Cartoon Icon Known As Yogi Bear

Posted on August 24, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! I have a question for all your readers and friends, and it’s this: growing up who was your favorite cartoon character? And I am not talking about a character that was created to sell a toy like He-Man or Optimus Prime, I am talking names like Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, Mighty Mouse, Popeye, Porky Pig, Betty Boop and Huckleberry Hound! For me one at the top of the list is Yogi Bear as I can remember watching his cartoon at my house as well as at my Grandparents and enjoying every silly moment as something about Yogi Bear always drew my young mind in. And that is why I feel that for Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary I had to cover Yogi Bear as this update is long overdue and is one that I have been planning for over 8 years and saved for this Anniversary as this iconic cartoon character needs his time to shine here on Rotten Ink. So with that let’s head to Jellystone Park and have a picnic of some honey fried chicken and hope that a bear who’s smarter than your average one and his short sidekick don’t show up and steal it, or wait I think that is what we want!

Yogi Bear is smarter than your average bear and loves to sneak around and steal picnic baskets from park goers and is always trying to think of ways to do so and not to be caught, and that is what he has that iconic catchphrase. While he is a bear he is fun loving and is well liked by most of the other animals and rangers at Jellystone Park were he lives, even though he does get on many of their nerves with his ways. His best friend is Boo-Boo Bear and his lady is Cindy Bear and they a lot of times get stuck going along with his plans. While Ranger Smith gets annoyed by Yogi he as well is sort of his friend and goes out of his way to protect and help him when he gets into trouble. But Yogi has many friends outside of Jellystone Park as well like Huckleberry Hound, Doggie Daddy, Quick Draw McGraw and even Top Cat all who have as well went on adventures with him in the cartoons as well as the comics. Yogi was based on the Ed Norton character from the TV Show The Honeymooners and his name was a play off the baseball player Yogi Berra. Daws Butler was the voice actor for Yogi Bear from 1958 to 1988 when he sadly passed away from a heart attack at the age of 71, but while he was the main and original and most iconic voice actor to play Yogi many others have like Mel Blanc, Greg Burson, Billy West, Dan Aykroyd and Jeff Bergman to name a few. Paste Magazine rated Yogi Bear the 40^th best Cartoon character on their top 50 Countdown while CNN ranked him # 36 out of 50 and Screen Rant ranked him # 30 out of 30 for their countdown. Yogi Bear is a truly iconic character that ranks in my top 10 for sure.

Jellystone Camp is filled with other great characters that help make Yogi’s adventures more entertaining. First up of course is his best friend Boo-Boo Bear who is a small bear who at times acts as Yogi’s voice of reason and tries his best to talk him out of some of the more mischief plans he makes. Growing up Boo-Boo was always a popular cartoon character among my friends as I remember kids talking about him on the playground. We then have Cindy Bear is the southern belle on again and off again girlfriend of Yogi who as well gets into the same trouble as they do, and is a good supporting character in the cartoon series. And last of course is Ranger Smith that poor park ranger who has to deal with all the craziness of the park and is always having to run Yogi off as he tries to steal picnic baskets. But while Ranger Smith is annoyed with Yogi, they also kind of have a weird friendship as he looks out for the pain in the butt bear. All of these characters help make the Yogi Bear cartoon series great and help add to why Yogi is one of my favorite classic cartoons of all time.

The Yogi Bear show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and was a syndicated cartoon series that would first air on January 30, 1961 and would each episode would be 22 minutes long and would also feature cartoons of Snagglepuss and Yakky Doodle and would last for 33 episodes a total of two seasons and would end on January 6, 1962. But the show would continue on in reruns and even would get re-packaged under the name “Yogi Bear & Friends” that would show Yogi cartoons mixed with others like Huckleberry Hound, Pixie and Dixie among others. This version of the show would run for 98 episodes and would run from September 16, 1967-1968. Well in 1972 a TV movie special called “Yogi’s Ark Lark” aired on ABC and had Yogi along with other Hanna-Barbara animal characters in search of land that is not polluted, and this special would spawn a very short lived series called “Yogi’s Gang” that ran for only 15 episodes and would last from September 8, 1973-December 29, 1973, his next series “Yogi’s Space Race” would be released in 1978 and would have well Yogi in space with a new sidekick named Scare Bear and they would have a Space Race team, this would only last 13 episodes and would go into the next series called “Galaxy Goof-Ups” and would have Yogi still in space this time as a patrolman and would start in 1978 and would last until 1979 for a total of 13 episodes. And many more series would follow like “Yogi’s Treasure Hunt” that ran from 1985-1988 lasted 27 episodes, “The New Yogi Bear Show” lasted 45 episodes and was in 1988, “Yo Yogi!” that lasted 13 episodes and ran in 1991 and was one of my favorites as a kid as Yogi was young, hip and cool! And lastly “Jellystone!” started in 2021 and airs on HBO Max. And this is just the TV Shows as Yogi has also been a part of many TV Specials, Animated Movies as well as two live action films, showing that Yogi Bear is a true icon of the cartoon character world!

I really did truly grew up watching Yogi Bear and just like so many other cartoons, it was must watch TV for me as I would never turn the channel when Yogi was on as for some reason this food stealing bear had always captured my attention, even if I had seen the episode many times before I would watch it again. While some I watched in re-runs like the classic Yogi Bear Show others I caught as they aired like The New Yogi Bear Show and Yo Yogi! both I watched when released and I can remember even having rubber stamps and some toys of Yo Yogi! that I got cereal boxes and fast food kids meals. Most of the classic Yogi shows I remember watching mostly on the USA Network as away of the Cartoon Express and have many great memories of sitting at my Grandparents house on my Dad’s side by the fireplace and watching Yogi Bear cartoons as snow fell outside and the warmth of the fire made my brother and I toasty as we watched the TV, and I also seem to remember that they also had some old VHS tapes of Yogi that we would watch as well when he was not on TV. At home as well we had VHS tapes of Yogi cartoons and one I am pretty sure we got via Jolly Time Popcorn as it was a send away, and it took forever for the tape to come but when it did I watched it a bunch. I always wanted to win a Yogi Bear stuff animal from Kings Island, but sadly never was that lucky to be able to. And while in modern times those who talk about Hanna-Barbra Cartoons will go on and on about Scooby-Doo (another amazing cartoon from my childhood) being the best and the main character from the company, I am here to tell you that back in the 60’s-80’s it was Yogi Bear who was the companies mascot and main character. And with that I will sum it up by saying Yogi Bear is a true Icon of Cartoons and will always be one of my favorites.

Really quick, here is an old ad and coupon I found online about the Jolly Time Popcorn VHS that was from around 1994 and I was a teenager and movie collector at the time this was offered. And we ate lots of popcorn on weekends as my brother and I would eat it as a snack while we watched Horror Movies and Horror Hosts on TV. But after finding it I just wanted to share this with you all, and I also found a scan of the VHS cover! And I think at some point I am going to buy a copy of this tape so that I can have it back again.

A very cool thing that fans of Yogi Bear can do is stay at a “Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park and Camp-Resorts” that are located in many starts including Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, California, New York and so many more states and each have their own charms and events! Besides camping in tents and cabins many of these Jellystone sites also have live music concerts, water parks, fishing ponds, gift shops, pools and of course walk around versions of the characters! The parks are a family friendly good time with some locations even allowing pets! Each location also has different styles of comfort from RV Hook Ups, to cabins of all types to even just land that you can use a tent to rough it for the night. I first discovered the Jellystone Park Camps when going to Chicago, Illinois with my ex-girlfriend Jennifer as we drove by one and I was hooked when I seen Yogi on the sign. Sadly, since I saw the sign I never have stayed at the park, but that is about to change as sometime soon I plan on staying at one of the camps and when I do I will update you all about it on a future Rotten Ink update.

Did you readers know that Yogi Bear has his own themed restaurant called “Yogi Bear’s Honey Fried Chicken” that is located in South Carolina and is a landmark and attraction for the area? And did you know that it was originally a fast food franchise that had stores all around America in the 1970’s and was created to enter the growing and popular fried chicken fast food boom created by KFC at the time and Yogi Bear was used as the mascot because he was super popular with kids and adults who enjoyed a good cartoon? Did you know many of the restaurants had very cool fiberglass statues of Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith? And sadly they are all now rotting in dumpsites as they were all disposed of when the restaurants closed, and that’s a shame as I wish that people would have rescued them and gave them places to live at their homes. Sadly the franchise was bought by Hardee’s very early in opening and by the mid 70’s all of them had been closed with the one that’s still opening being the last standing, as it was clear that Hardee’s had no idea how to push fried chicken as hamburgers was their main money maker. It’s sad to think that only one of these cool themed restaurants are around as I would love for them to be closer to Ohio as I would have loved to try a meal from them. Oh and for those wonder the restaurants was created by Eugene Broome who originally wanted to theme them around actor Jackie Gleason and Yogi Bear was his second choice after watching his cartoons on TV.

Yogi Bear also has made his way into the world of video games and has delivered some fun adventures for fans to play through and allowed them to have their favorite cartoon character be the hero they all knew he was. “Yogi Bear” was released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 in Europe and had you play as Yogi as he had to save Boo-Boo who was kidnapped by a circus. In 1990 in Europe and for Commodore 64 came “Yogi’s Great Escape” a game based on the 1987 film. “Adventures Of Yogi Bear” was released in 1994 and was for the Super Nintendo had you play as Yogi to stop Jellystone into becoming a chemical dumping ground. And lastly “Yogi Bear’s Gold Rush” was released on the Game Boy in 1994 has Yogi going after a ghost who stole money from the park. And those where the classic games based on the animated Yogi Bear and I can remember playing both the Game Boy and Super Nintendo games and loving every second of them as they were fun adventure games. I should note that Video Games for the WII was made based on the live action film. Do you readers have any memories of playing any or all of these Yogi Bear games? And I am not going to lie when I say I wish a Yogi Bear game would be made for PS5 in the future and that it’s based on the classic cartoons and features all our favorite characters like Boo-Boo, Cindy Bear and Ranger Smith, but I don’t see this happening but one can wish.

Yogi Bear being such an amazing cartoon character that has been so popular over many decades he has lots of amazing collectibles for fans to collect over the years as his face has graced things like Toys, Board Games, Home Media, Books, Video Games, Comics, Shirts, Posters, Buttons, Fast Food Items, Spoons, Cups, Glasses, Halloween Costumes, Masks, Lunch Boxes, Puppets, Statues, Stickers, Magnets, Christmas Ornaments, Valentine Day Cards, Patches, Hats, Cups, Rings, Plastic Eggs and so much more, basically if you can think of an item Yogi Bear probably was featured on it! Growing up I really loved a stuff doll I had of Yogi Bear and a kids paperback book called “Ghost Of A Chance” that was a spooky kid friendly take featuring Yogi and Boo Boo! In fact for my Birthday this year my lady Juliet will be making me a cake that looks like Yogi Bear from a vintage metal Yogi cake pan. So in other words if you are a fan of Yogi Bear you can collect so many cool items to add to your collection. Growing up I remember having a sticker of Yogi Bear that I am pretty sure I still have to this day packed away, as it was my favorite sticker I had as a kid next to the WWF Wrestler Ultimate Warrior one. And I had many more cool merchandise over the years like toys and shirts and even a poster and the video games. Oh and I had this plastic Egg that featured Yogi Bear on it that I got from a Vending Machine that had Fred Flintstone in the middle and he would spin around and an egg would come down and inside it was a prize, that was such a cool machine.

Kings Island is an amazing Amusement Park located in Mason, Ohio and when I was a kid, it was one of the must go to attractions for kids on summer vacation even more so then Fantasy Farm and Americana Amusement Park that where the two I visited more in my youth as both us kids and our parents liked them. But besides rides like King Cobra, The Beast and Adventure Express for me one of the cool aspects of the park was “Hanna-Barbera Land” the kid friendly part of the park that featured rides and attractions that were all tied into the cartoon characters made by that animation studio. And also all around the park they would have merchandise and prizes that as well had the likeness of Scooby-Doo, Huckleberry Hound and Fred Flintstone to name a few. And one big attraction for many was the dark ride that featured the Smurfs as well as the Smurf Blue Ice Cream as still to this day both are talked about with great fondness by fans. But one awesome thing was that they had walk around versions of the cartoon characters and one that was always awesome to see was Yogi Bear and every time I went to Kings Island I would look for him as Yogi Bear is a true icon and I am shocked I never got a picture with him as back then I was a fool for taking pictures to capture the memories, but for me spotting him became almost like a real life “Where’s Waldo” book and added to the fun of being at the park. But sadly starting around 2001 Hanna-Barbera Land started to be phased out and by 2005 it was gone all together minus one Scooby-Doo ride. You see Kings Island went with a Nickelodeon theme instead and that made sense as Paramount Pictures ended up buying the theme park for a few years and wanted to brand areas with their own properties hence why rides like Top Gun, Face Off, Tomb Raider and Italian Job were all added. While gone, for those of us who grew up with Hanna-Barbera Land at Kings Island, the memories and fun time had will always live on. And I have heard a rumor that in one of the areas in the park that is the “Ride Graveyard” is filled not only with old ride parts, carts and signs but also many of the Hanna-Barbera stuff including the Smurfs from the Enchanted Forest as well as the walk around suits!

Really quick I have to also point out that Yogi Bear once had a guest cameo on one of my favorite Horror Hosts shows “Nightmare Theater” with host Sammy Terry! It’s on a Christmas episode that has Sammy Terry along with his friends George The Spider and Ghoulsby the zombie talking about the big meal they will be having for dinner of Christmas day and of course its all gross stuff like poison ivy salad and brains, but when they start talking about the guests they want to invite that of course are all monsters and ghouls it’s George who wants to invite Yogi over for the dinner! Sammy is at first puzzled by this but goes along with the request and our classic cartoon icon is on the guest list. And the best part is when they say his name is image even appears making his cameo legit even if it is for only a few moments. Very cool to see and just wanted to share this with you readers, oh and the movie he hosted that night was the vampire film Deathmaster.

Before we get to the review part of this update, I want to say that back in the 1970’s a cool team up happened when Marvel Comics and Hanna-Barbara came together and made some amazing kids comics based on their popular cartoons like Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Dynomutt, Laff-A-Lympics as well as spotlight issues. And this was a very cool thing for comic readers as well as cartoon watchers as it gave fans of these characters new adventures to enjoy before the next episode would air. And when Marvel and Hanna-Barbara came together the comic company made a big deal about it as both companies came up together in the 60’s and even some of Marvel Artists over the years had worked for the cartoon company. This was very cool and I can remember growing up that I enjoyed the Marvel Comics versions of Hanna-Barbara characters more then the Dell and Gold Key Versions that I as well had. In these modern times Marvel Comics could never make comics based on these characters again as Hanna-Barbara is owned by Warner Brothers who also own DC Comics…so yeah it will never happen again. Check this very cool piece of art below that Marvel released to announce the team up.

Well we are at the review part of this update, and as you can see, Jellystone Park is packed with campers and visitors and that means Yogi and Boo-Boo have to be creeping around looking for food to steal. And I am really looking forward to reading these comics as some are ones I will be revisiting from my youth while others will be first time reads. I want to thank Mom Young, Lone Star Comics, Ebay Seller and Dark Star Comics for having these comics in stock and making this update possible. And I would like to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So with that let’s find a quit place to sit back and relax eat some food and read some comics, and see if our picnic basket will go missing along the way.

Yogi Bear # 1 ***
Released in 1977 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #1 of 9

“The Secret Of Ghastly Grotto” in this story Yogi and Boo-Boo are exploring an off limits cave with a metal detector when they run into a dragon, and after running away Yogi notices that Boo-Boo is missing and he runs to Ranger Smith for help. Meanwhile inside we find that a crook has captured Boo-Boo as he has been hiding out in the cave for over 6 years as it’s almost 7 years and when that happens he can not be arrested for the million dollars worth of gold he has stolen! Yogi and Ranger Smith return to the cave to look for the missing bear and find the dragon and with the metal detector they find that it’s fake, and they rescue Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith arrests the crook when Yogi speeds up the clock to make him think he is protected by the statue of limitations law for his crime! In the end Yogi and Boo-Boo instead use the metal detector to find cans around the park as they feel its safer. “The Goodies Inspector” Yogi is hungry for food and is drawing mustaches on all the signs that warn camper not to feed him, but Yogi also has another idea and tells some campers that he is the Goodies Inspector and that their sandwiches have been banned by the government. As Yogi runs off with the basket the people start eating berries off the trees for lunch and when Ranger Smith walks by they tell him about the inspector and he knows this is a Yogi trick. Ranger Smith finds Yogi asleep with a belly full of sandwiches and wakes him up claiming that there really is a ban on the sandwiches and they need to find the campers who have them, Yogi thinks he is sick now and after a few moments Ranger Smith lets him in on the prank. In the end with some cut fur Yogi is now walking around with the mustache that he drew on the do not feed signs. “The Chummy Dummy” while in the park Howard Uvula gives Yogi five dollars and takes his picture and makes a comment on how they are worth a lot to him, so Yogi follows Howard and finds that he made a ventriloquist dummy that looks like him! Yogi sneaks in and takes the place of the dummy and during the show scares the audience and steals the dummy. You see Yogi was not about to be viewed as a dummy and this was his payback.

This first issue of Yogi Bear by Marvel Comics is fantastic and they creative team did a fantastic job of capturing the characters and making it feel just like the cartoons it’s based on. The issue has three Yogi Bear adventures and also has a backstory about The Flintstones and really are a great kids comic that is also must reads for fans of the character. Yogi Bear in all three stories is the normal conning and charming bear we all love and even when down and out he still ends up being ahead in some way. Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith add great backup to the stories and do their parts well. The villains of the comic is The Crook who is a robber and Howard Uvula who is just a jerk and bases his new Dummy on Yogi, I mean how rude is that. If I had to pick the best story from this issue I would say it has to be “The Secret Of Ghastly Grotto” as the haunted cave, fake dragon and a Crook looking to get away with his crime is a lot of fun and the fact that Yogi tricks the crook into give up his gun by speeding up the clock is a good cartoonish way to save the day and its perfect. Picking my least favorite is a little hard as I liked them all, but I guess I would have to say “The Chummy Dummy” just because the pay out of Yogi scaring the audience of the performer was just an ok ending for him to get revenge. The cover is very eye catching for fans of Yogi Bear and the interior art is top notched and is done by an Unknown Artist and whomever did it really draws all the characters so well and it really does help add to the enjoyment of the comic. This first issue is very cool and is one of the better kid comics based on a classic cartoon character we have covered here on Rotten Ink, so lets see what issue two is all about.

Yogi Bear # 2 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #2 of 9

“The Trillionaire’s Bear” Jellystone Park has been sold to the rich Filthy McLucre who is wanting to turn the park into a massive shopping center. Yogi stops the bulldozer from starting the destruction of the park by acting as if Boo-Boo has been infected by sickness and that no noises and bulldozers can be around via doctors orders. Yogi then sneaks off and heads to the mansion of Filthy McLucre and acts as a teddy bear in order to get inside but soon meets Luke McLure the bratty grandson of Flithy and after being disrespected by Luke he says he would give anything in order for Luke to learn respect and discipline, and after the bratty kid torments Yogi by knocking him out of a window and even trying to run him down in a train, Yogi finally snaps and threatens to spank the mean little kid who claims he will be good! In return for teaching the kid a lesson in respect Filthy grants Yogi’s request that the park is safe and that the shopping center will be built someplace else. “Movie Madness” Yogi and Boo-Boo are walking near a cinema when they notice all the Horror Movies playing and one is about a killer bear and this makes everyone scared of the two friendly bears, and when Yogi goes to talk to the maker of the film he soon finds that the man is not very nice and kicks him out of his office. So Yogi to get revenge makes his own Horror Movie about the moviemaker and now people are scared of him! But in the end the film maker and Yogi team up and make a movie that pits both their horror film characters together and they make lots of money. “Signs Of The Time” Huckleberry Hound is visiting Jellystone Park with a picnic basket in hand and Ranger Smith tells him to make sure to please obey the park signs as its important for park safety and to help keep in clean. Yogi over hears this and decides he is going to have some fun and leaves silly signs in the path of Huckleberry like to walk on your hands, meow like a cat and of course to give your food to him! At the end of his park visit Huckleberry complains to Ranger Smith about the signs, meanwhile Yogi has eaten all of the food and is shocked when he finds out that other park goers are following his fake signs including Ranger Smith who is doing so cause he is leading by example.

What another fun issue that as well does justice to the cartoon as well as just Yogi Bear in general. This issue as well has three stories featuring Yogi and has one back-up story that is The Flintstones, with all three Yogi stories once more being very fun reads that has him saving the park to even conning the park goers for food! And like before the creators of the comic do a great job of making Yogi Bear the lovable character we all love as he is funny, silly and also even kind of a hero. My favorite story is “Movie Madness” as come on its everything I enjoy as it has Yogi Bear, Movie Theaters and of course Horror Films! Plus I love that its taking a jab at the Nature Run Amok Horror films that flooded the theaters in the 70’s like Jaws, Grizzly and Day Of The Animals to name a few. Plus I love that instead of the Moviemaker and Yogi pulling their films from theater they instead team up and make a crossover film for movie goers to see, the true nature of indie horror. And again selecting a least favorite is hard as all three were good stories but if I have to pick on I would say “The Trillionaire’s Bear” as while it’s a silly take it also is kind of just basic of a bratty kid with no manors being taught a lesson. The cover like before is really cool and has Yogi on a fishing pool being dunked in water while the kid rides on the front of a train! The interior art by Unknown Artist is once more very cool and well done and captures everything Yogi Bear. Let’s not also forget that we have a big guest star in this issue as Huckleberry Hound stops by Jellystone and is robbed of his tasty food and made to look silly by his pal Yogi in the process. Over all a great issue even if the copy I have is missing part of a panel due to a kid clipping a coupon. But lets see what issue three has in store for us!

Yogi Bear # 3 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #3 of 9

“Below-Zero Bear” Yogi Bear has made a mistake and has hidden on a airplane that he thought was going south for the winter but it was really heading to the South Pole and worse he has been dropped off along with the supplies for a very angry man who wants to takedown Yogi for his fur to help keep him warm. Meanwhile Boo-Boo tells Ranger Smith about what Yogi has done and the two leave Jellystone to try and save their friend who they are sure is freezing and needs help getting home. Meanwhile Yogi escapes his attacker and finds the travel agent and tries to buy a ticket to get back home but is short on money, when a man offers to buy the ticket if Yogi and get a photo of the Abominable Snowman who has a summer home in the South Pole. Yogi ends up getting the picture and is shocked when the ticket he bought is not good for another six months so finds a warm bed to hibernate in, but is found by Ranger Smith and Boo-Boo and is going home. “Sheriff Yogi” has Yogi Bear going to visit his friend Quick Draw McGraw and by accident Yogi with a banana peel helps arrest Little Luke and by doing so the Mayor makes Yogi the new town Sheriff and this goes bad when Large Leo the brother of Luke comes to down and uses Yogi as a punching bag, and its Quick Draw who takes down and brings in Leo and once more becomes the Sheriff. “Swami Bear” has Yogi coming up with another plan to try and steal picnic baskets by dressing as a ranger and making park goers go through a metal detector so he can see what is in their baskets and then they visit him as a fortune teller who knows what they have brought for lunch and tells them its cursed, and of course Ranger Smith catches him and stops this scheme.

Yogi Bear in this issues goes from a Yeti photographer to sheriff to a fake swami and all the while he is bring us readers around for the fun and silly ride and of course Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith are caught up in many of these goofy plans and adventures. And what was also very cool in this issue is seeing Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey in the cameo spot and they are used well as Yogi and Boo-Boo visit them in the old west town. You also cannot go wrong with a comic that features Abominable Snowman who is on vacation in the South Pole. This issue as always features three Yogi stories and one Flintstones back up story and each of the Yogi stories are solid and I would say my favorite is Sheriff Yogi as I like the humor in it plus the adding of Quick Draw was awesome, and my least favorite is Swami Bear just cause the story is supper short and is pretty much a set up for Ranger Smith to but Yogi through the metal detector to show that his brain is hollow…silly and fun stuff. The cover for this issue is lots of fun and has Yogi in a tuxedo acting like a penguin while the Snowman is looking for him. And the Unknown Artist who does the interior art once more did fantastic work and all the characters look like they do in the cartoons. Over all yet another solid issue if you enjoy Yogi Bear like I do.

Yogi Bear # 4 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #4 of 9

“Don’t Give Up The Sheep” has a farmer getting permission from the government to allow his sheep to graze as Jellystone while his land is getting re-seeded. But following the farmer is Hokey Wolf who steels the farmers eyeglasses as well as a sheep and does so acting as if he is Yogi Bear! The Farmer and Ranger Smith confront Yogi and do not believe him when he says he did not steel the sheep and rushes to the city to try and make things right when the Farmer threatens him if he does not bring the sheep back, so Yogi ends up entering a boxing contest and lasts 10 rounds with a heavy weight to get money to buy a sheep from a girl names Mary who is mad cause the sheep followed her to school! Once he buys the sheep he brings it to the farmer the same time Hokey shows up returning the glasses and sheep he stole as he felt bad for stealing and framing Yogi! In the end Yogi clears hi name and the Farmer goes after Hokey Wolf for causing all this drama. “The Ranger Stranger” Yogi is being annoying and out of control when Ranger Smith finally snaps and quits, and the new Ranger is mean who makes Yogi pick up trash all day around the park. Yogi escapes Jellystone and finds Ranger Smith and makes it seem that everyone that Smith see’s is him, so he thinks he misses Yogi and returns to his job at Ranger of Jellystone. “Going To Waist” Yogi is getting chubby and decides to loose a few pounds and goes to a workout instructor who pushes Yogi to the limit, but during lunch as Yogi has to eat one celery stock, he finds the instructor wears a girdle and is eating chicken! In order to hide his secret he gets Yogi a bear suit and a girdle and it now makes him look as if he lost weight.

This is another fun and silly comic that has three Yogi Bear adventures and of course is backed up by a short Flintstones one. Yogi in this issue boxes, picks up trash and gets chubby and all the while use readers are having a laugh with him. For me the best story in the issue is “Don’t Give Up The Sheep” as it not only guest stars Hokey Wolf but also has Yogi having to box a heavyweight to get money to buy a sheep from Mary who is from the Nursery Rhyme, and its also fun to see Yogi try and convince Ranger Smith that he did not steal the sheep. And the weakest story in this issue is “The Ranger Stranger” as while a fun story and some humorous gags are pulled off, I just feel the story is the weakest and the payout of getting Ranger Smith to return to his post is way to fast. One thing I have noticed as well this far in the series is that Boo-Boo while around is never fully focused on and that is a little shocking as he has always been a very popular cartoon character. The cover is pretty cool and has Hokey Wolf stealing a sheep as Yogi is bring a sheep and Boo-Boo is stuck in the middle. The interior art is good as always and one story has artist Dick Bickenback credited, the others do not and could be Bickenback or are Unknown Artist. Over all this is a good issue and truly does capture the silliness and mood of this cartoon, and with that let’s see what issue five has in store for us.

Yogi Bear # 5 **1/2
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #5 of 9

“The Jelly Jam” Ranger Smith is mad at Yogi for trying to steal picnic baskets and runs him off, and hungry and wanting pizza he decides that he and Boo-Boo should try and mine for gold in Jellystone and head into the caves to start mining. After awhile they do not find any gold or silver but they do find all kinds of jelly flavors…in fact it’s the best jelly ever and it was made by Mother Nature, and Yogi tries to sell his jelly find to the local jelly company who in turn is mad about this tasty treat and blows up Yogi’s mine to try and stop this jelly from getting into eaters sandwiches. Yogi figures out that the Jelly Company Owner is who caused the jelly to flood the area and tricks him into falling into a ditch filled with the gooey stuff. The owner admits to Ranger Smith that he caused the jelly flood and this ends the mining, as well as Yogi every wanting to eat jelly again. “Wrap Session” it’s Cindy Bear’s Birthday and Yogi has forgotten until he overhears her telling her friend about how Yogi every year makes her day special. Yogi rushes to the toy store and after begging the owner is able to get her a plush toy, and after trying to wrap it he destroys it as well as the wrapping paper is now all around him! So in the end he gives himself as the present for Cindy for her Birthday. “The Defective Detective” has Yogi and Boo-Boo showing up to the office of Snooper and Bladder as they were going to go get lunch and catch up, but the detective pair are running late and Yogi decides to take a case from a rich woman who is paying a grand to find her lost dog. And of course Yogi fails in his attempts to find the dog and ends up on the bad end of the hunt by being bitten and trampled on by attack and stray dogs. Finally Snooper and Bladder show up and put Yogi in a mailman outfit and they find the missing dog who is biting him.

And this is another good issue but I do have to be honest this one is not as good as the others that came before it as the best story in the issue is “The Jelly Jam” as its funny and silly as Yogi mines and uncovers natural made jelly and a owner of a jelly company tries to sabotage it and causes a jelly flood and eruption in Jellystone! The other two stories are good and entertaining but do seem a little rush and the stories do not have great payouts in the end. I think that “The Defective Detective” is my least favorite as it’s a shame as it even has cameos from Snooper and Bladder. Yogi is great and it’s a shame that this issue is just an average read and again I feel two of the three stories are rushed. This issue has another backup story of The Flintstones and the cover is good and has Yogi and Boo-Boo digging for jelly. The interior art is good and done by Unknown Artist and once more captures the characters well. I want to say keep in mind this is still a fun and good issue it just does not capture the magic like the past four issues did. But with that said let’s see what issue six has in store for us.

Yogi Bear # 6 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #6 of 9

“Surfer Bear” Yogi and Boo-Boo are in Hawaii and are looking forward to surfing, but when they get there they find that the ocean is frozen and is solid ice and this is running many peoples vacation as well as putting shops out of business. Yogi and Boo-Boo decided to get some skates and ice skate on the ocean when the ice cracks and Yogi is taken away by a monster who takes him to his cave and wants Yogi to tell the world for stop over fishing the area and Yogi is given the task to really try and stop one greedy Captain who has been bad for taking way to many fish. We also learn that the Sea Monster used icebergs to freeze the ocean, and after getting back topside and meeting the Captain a plan is in place that has the Sea Monster scare away the greedy fisherman and all is back to normal in Hawaii. “The Sinister Scheme” Yogi is dressed as Captain Yogi a superhero and is trying to nab a picnic basket when he is caught by Ranger Smith, and this causes Yogi to go into his full plan that has him acting super nice for nine days even helping around the park and not doing one thing bad, this of course makes Ranger Smith think he is planning something big and as the days go by the Ranger snaps and begs Yogi to go back to his normal ways and to not do whatever it was he was planning…and this of course is what Yogi wanted all along as he goes back to stealing the baskets from park goers. “The Homemade Hero” Yogi is in the city when he runs into his friend Top Cat and his gang of street cats and the word on the street is that Officer Dibble is in trouble and might be replaced on the street, and this would mean an officer who would be stricter on Top Cat could be assigned! So they come up with a plan to dress Yogi up as a wild bear and have Dibble capture him in front of one of his supervisors, but in the end with the help of Yogi, Top Cat and the other cats Dibble is able to capture two bank robbers and show he is a hero.

Ok this is a really fun issue of Yogi Bear by Marvel Comics as one of the stories even has Yogi teaming with one of my other favorite Hanna-Barbara cartoon characters Top Cat! And of course “The Homemade Hero” is my favorite story of the three presented in this issue as it’s a fun and silly tale of how Yogi and T.C. have to help Officer Dibble prove he is not a cop who has no results on a street that is overran by cats who eat from garbage cans and dumpsters. I also have to say I really do like how in these comics they play up the fact that Yogi is friends with all the other characters that make up the Hanna-Barbara universe. And picking my least favorite is hard as I do find both the other stories to be entertaining but if forced to pick I would say that “Surfer Bear” would be the one as its silly and a good read it also takes Yogi to Hawaii and that just seems weird. The Sea Monster and the Greedy Fisherman Captain are cool side characters and as I have said seeing Top Cat and his gang in the issue helped make it ever better. The cover on this one is also good and the use of pink makes it standout and I mean you cannot go wrong with a smiling Yogi with a surfboard. The first story has artwork by Dick Bickenback and the other two I am not sure so Unknown Artist it is and all looks great like always. Marvel Comics is back delivering another great issue for fans of Yogi with this one.

Yogi Bear # 7 ***
Released in 1978 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #7 of 9

“The Business Typhoon” Filthy McLucre is sick of all the headaches his money and business is given him so he heads to Jellystone to relax when he runs into Yogi and Boo-Boo who make him and honorary bear! And with that Yogi is selected to go run all the businesses and to take care of all the money! But soon Yogi finds that being rich is not great as Boo-Boo and Cindy Bear love living at Jellystone and have to interest in living or even visiting the McLure mansion. And worse one of McLure’s old workers wants the money and wants to ruin Yogi Bear in order to get it all. Finally Yogi has had enough and leaves the mansion and returns to Jellystone only to find that McLure is stealing picnic baskets and with the help of Ranger Smith and only the idea of eating berries and nuts Filthy McLucre returns to his mansion and his no good worker finds out just how hard it is to be in charge of that much money. “Exit Snagglepuss” Yogi is walking down the street when out of the TV Studio Snagglepuss is thrown out by the director who does not want to hire him for a commercial, and its then that Yogi figures out that what Snagglepuss needs is an agent and Yogi will be just that for only 10% of what he earns…but they soon find that the Director just wants nothing to do with them no matter how good Snagglepuss is! In the end after being thrown out, chased around and when he finally does get the parts its being dunked into water over and over…and he is not happy with Yogi and wants to dump water over his head.

The seventh issue in this series only features two stories with a backup The Flintstones one and each of the stories seem to be given a little more time to grow. And the guest star in this one is Snagglepuss another of my favorite characters even though I have to say his story “Exit Snagglepuss” is the weakest of the two as it just lacks something to make it full standout, again its not a bad tale just lacking something as the joke of them being kicked out of the station over and over is classic cartoon stuff. The best story is “The Business Typhoon” as it was cool to see billionaire Filthy McLucre return to Jellystone and remember Yogi as well as just be sick of being rich! And even when Yogi gets all the power and money he soon sees that the headaches are not worth it. What makes this issue also work is that the two stories are very simple and are filled with goofy jokes and as well places Yogi into odd situations that re somehow very fitting for him. The cover for this issue is good and while not it is in my opinion not the most eye catching of the series this far the art on the front and the blue color I am sure made it stand out at the newsstand. We got Dick Bickenback and Unknown Artist back on interior art and like a broken record I have to say its great stuff. Another fun issue and showed that Marvel and Hanna-Barbara should have kept working together to make these fun kids comics that are great reads for all ages.

Yogi Bear # 8 ***
Released in 1979 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #8 of 9

“Big Top Bear” Boo-Boo leaves the cave to go get some water when two men kidnap him and as Yogi tries to save his friend he his tossed away by one of them. And even with the help of Ranger Smith the bad guys get away with Boo-Boo, and all Yogi and Ranger Smith have to go by us a weird saying one of the men said and after calling Snooper Yogi discovers that the saying is circus talk and they are who have his friend captive. Yogi gets to the circus and finds that its full of corruption and Yogi is also kidnaped once found and thrown in the cage with Boo-Boo, but Yogi gets an idea and tricks the Circus owner to let them out of the cage and they trick the owner and the circus strong man into a cage and with that the corrupt circus is brought down and Yogi and Boo-Boo return to Jellystone. “Frontier Father” Doggie Daddy is taking his son Augie Doggie camping and Yogi watches as Doggie Daddy fumbles at camping like setting up a tent and even fishing, all the while Augie is ashamed of his dads failed attempts. Yogi tries to help Doggie Daddy and ends up almost going over a waterfall and has to really be saved by Doggie Daddy whose son now is very proud of his dad the hero.

This is another only two adventure issue that delivers a fun read that like always captures the feel of the cartoon, and for those wondering yep it has The Flintstones back up story. Yogi Bear in this issues brings down a terrible circus and even helps a father get the respect of his son and all the while does this all in typical Yogi fashion and also of course does it with his own charm. The cameo guests in this issue is Doggie Daddy and Augie Doggie and it was great seeing them in this issue as they are characters that all us Hanna-Barbara cartoon watches know and love, and they are used really well in this issue as it was great having them camp at Jellystone Park. I also have to say that I like the Circus Strongman who is said that he can rip Phone Booths in half…not Phone Books…Booths! I can not choose witch story I like better as both are really good and solid and to be fair are pretty much dead even so I am not going to choose and just say they are both great! The cover is great and has Yogi and Boo-Boo being fired out of a cannon and is eye catching and interior art (or at least the first story) is done by Dick Bickenback and is great stuff and again I can not stress how well this Marvel Comics captures the cartoon and its characters so well. Over all another amazing issue and continues to deliver great reads for fans of Yogi Bear.

Yogi Bear # 9 ***
Released in 1979 Cover Price .35 Marvel Comics #9 of 9

“Bearly Robin Hood” Jellystone Park is being forced to close do to a bill not passing that would help fund the parks of America and Yogi even goes to the congress man to try and get him to change his vote to help the park stay open, and he refuses and Yogi sits day and night trying to find a way to save the park. One night before bed he reads the story of Robin Hood and then has a dream about himself being Robin Yogi and with his Merry Men Boo-Boo, Doggie Daddy, Huckleberry Hound and Wally Gator and they robbed the rich like Snagglepuss and were being hunted by the Ranger who wanted to stop the crime wave. And after winning a archery contest he gets the Ranger off his back and wins a kiss from Cindy Bear…and then he wakes up he has a plan and when the Congress Man shows up to shutdown the park Yogi takes him around the park to show how hard life is at the park and it’s a good thing for it to go away and that all of the animals are happy that they now will be living with the Congress Man in his home, this ideas scares the government man who rips up the shutdown notice and says they will find the money to budget for the park and runs off…Yogi has saved the park again. “The Lonely Ranger” Huckleberry Hound is trying to get a job at being a park ranger at Jellystone and this is good news for Yogi who goes on a picnic basket stealing rampage and almost sets the world record and only needs one more to do so! Yogi sets out to get that record and picnic basket and ends up stealing one form Rancid Rob a bank robber who just robbed a bank and has the money hidden in his basket. Unknown to Huckleberry Hound that the basket is tied to a robber he goes after Yogi to get it back and enters Yogi’s cave…but just then the Police show up and surround the cave as the money has a tracker, in the end Rancid Rob is arrested, the money is returned, Huckleberry decides to not become a ranger and Yogi keeps on stealing picnic baskets.

This is the final issue of Yogi Bear from Marvel Comics and I have to say this is a great series and that all the creators behind it did a fantastic job of capturing the cartoon perfectly on the comic pages and delivering fun adventures of Yogi and Boo-Boo and do a fantastic job of working in Ranger Smith, Cindy Bear as well as many other Hanna-Barbara characters like Huckleberry Hound and Top Cat to name a few. This issue has two Yogi stories with one having him trying to save Jellystone Park from being shutdown by government greed and the other he stops a bank robber by accident and is able to return the money and get the robber behind bars. Both stories are great but I would say that “Bearly Robin Hood” is the better of the two as I really enjoy the Robin Hood dream and this opens the door for many cool cameos including Wally Gator and Magilla Gorilla two characters that are first time seen in the series and again two of my favorites. The worse part of this issue is that it’s the final issue as I had a blast covering this comic series and I wish that it would have lasted longer as again next to some of the Star Comics and Whitman Comics this is one of the better kids comics based on a cartoon. The cover for this issue is lots of fun and has Yogi dressed in his Robin Yogi look and is pretty eye catching if you’re a fan of Yogi’s. The interior art at least for this first story is done by Bickenback again and is great stuff and that’s the thing about this comic series as well all the art is great and really does look like the characters from the toons. Over all if you are a fan of Yogi Bear and enjoy comic books I say check out the Marvel Comics series as they truly are fun reads that does Yogi justice. Checkout the art below to see the style used in this comic series.

Cartoons was a big part of my youth as watching them after school and on Saturday Morning was a wonderful time as much like a good Horror Host a good cartoon character ended up feeling like your friend that you would watch have fun, humorous and exciting adventures. Many of you my age grew up with Yogi Bear, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and so many others in reruns as well as new cartoons, and that’s the thing doing this update made me feel like a kid again and brought back the joy of watching Yogi on TV. But for the next update we will be leaving Jellystone Park and cartoons behind and will be heading to the world of Horror Films (or Dark Comedy) as we will be chatting about the 1982 film Mary Eating Raoul and the promo comic released alongside it. So until next time read a comic or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time as we have a dinner date with the Blands!

Horror Host Icon: Alistair Cookie

Posted on August 14, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink! This update is going to be a fun one as it’s a “Horror Host Icon” update all about Alistair Cookie, the host of Monsterpiece Theater…now I need you all to relax and just have fun with this one as I am sure some of you are saying out loud “Alistair Cookie is not a Horror Host he is an educational kids show character.” You are not wrong in your thoughts, but hear me out: some of the segments he hosted had kid friendly horror themes, he himself is a monster and again just sit back and have fun with this one. While he might not be a full fledged Horror Host, he is a Host of a parody themed movie show and much like Count Floyd was a gateway for young kids to discover the wonderful world of Horror Hosts. So grab some cookies and milk, and let’s talk tales with Alistair Cookie of Monsterpiece Theater who is coming to you from Sesame Street.

Alistair Cookie is a blue monster that wears a smoking jacket, with early episodes even having a pipe that he would eat at the end of the show (this was done away with not to make smoking look cool to kids) and sits in a massive wingback chair in a study with a fireplace surrounded by books and photos of his friends from the past. He is a cool and calm host and loves cookies and milk as he showcases a short segment that is based on a book, fable or film and is done to teach the viewers a lesson of education as well are done in a silly nature to deliver a chuckle. And Alistair loves himself some cookies and will devour them and at time even gleefully talk about the cookies. Alistair not only during an episode would interact with the viewers at home but also those Muppets that appear in his sketches, and even at times Alistair himself will be in one of the spoof segments! Alistair Cookie started being the host for Monsterpiece Theater in 1978 that was a part of the classic educational series “Sesame Street” and was a take off of the PBS show Masterpiece Theatre and its host Alistair Cooke. Monsterpiece Theater lasted for around 36 episodes (within the main show) and came to an end in 1999 as part of the Sesame Street segment lineup. During its run, Monsterpiece Theater would spoof books, shows and movies like NYPD Blue, Chariots Of Fire, Dances With Wolves, Dr. No, Gone With The Wind, Hamlet, West Side Story and The 39 Steps to name a few. While Alistair Cookie and Monsterpiece Theater might not be on the air anymore with new episodes, kids of the time like myself loved the show and enjoyed every time it was apart of Sesame Street. And I should say that Monsterpiece Theater aired on PBS during its run, and for those of you who grew up in the late 70’s through the 90’s you know just how cool Alistair Cookie was and just how zany and crazy he was to eat cookies and share a tale with us all. I want to also say that the shows opening theme is great and has a regal sound with later seasons even having Alistair eating and talking about a cookie he is eating.

Cookie Monster is the Muppet behind Alistair Cookie and he is one of the biggest stars in the history of Sesame Street on TV. Cookie Monster is a Muppet who was created by Jim Henson and played by Frank Oz from 1969 to 2004 and David Rudman helped from 2001-2004 before taking over the role that he is still doing to this day. But Cookie Monster first appeared in TV Commercials for General Foods as he would steal and eat snack food along with fellow monsters and he was called Wheel-Stealer, but oddly enough his commercials never would be aired and the future Cookie Monster would not get his big break until 1967 when he would be used in a IBM training film and a few years later he would be called Arnold The Munching Monster and would be used in commercials for Munchos a potato chip from Frito-Lay. But then Cookie Monster took a role on Sesame Street starting in 1969 and his career was set and would lead to him being a featured cast member and one of the most loved Muppets of all time. He would go on to star in movies as well as shows like Saturday Night Live, Martha Stewart, All Things Considered and The Colbert Report and so many more. Cookie Monster who is called that cause he loves to eat cookies also later would tell kids that cookies are good but they should also eat veggies, but keep in mind he has not lost his love for cookies and is still appearing on the show to this day! And growing up indeed Cookie Monster was one of my favorite characters from Sesame Street and I had books, a patch and toys that featured him and one year my Birthday Cake had Cookie Monster on it. When you think of Icons of the Muppet world Cookie Monster has to be at the top of your list. And come on you know reading this Horror Host Icon update the song “C Is For Cookie” that he sang is going through your head. And on a side note Alistair Cookie was suggested to the Horror Host Hall Of Fame Board to be on a ballot and sadly did not get the vote to make it on in around 2021.

Like all good “Horror Hosts” Alistair Cookie has had a really cool doll made of him that was sold by PBS and come complete with his chair as well as smoking jacket. And this is one doll that I wish I would have known about as I would have 100% bought it. Now you can only find it via third party sellers on sites like Ebay and they are going for high prices. But fans of Alistair Cookie I wanted to make you aware that this doll was made and is out there for you to collect.

Monsterpiece Theater was a staple on Sesame Street for a few decades and Alistair Cookie was a Host that kids always enjoyed seeing on their TV Sets. And we are now at the part of this review were we will take a look at show and what I have here is a Best Of DVD set that I was able to get thanks to my brother and because there is so many of them I will be picking my favorite 8 episodes. And keep in mind the “movies” he showed was all part of the host segment and at times Alistair himself would be the star of the short he was hosting! So with that grab a cookie or two and pour yourself a very tall glass of milk as we are going to talk Monsterpieces with the one and only Alistair Cookie.

Best Of Monsterpiece Theater Vol. 1
Starring – Mel Gibson & Grover Not Rated 1978-1999

Host: “Upstairs, Downstairs” Alistair is sitting in his wing backed chair with a pipe and welcomes viewers and the short has Grover going up and down stairs and getting winded doing so. Once back to Alistair he thanks us for watching and then eats the smoking pipe! “Gone With The Wind” Alistair starts the episode by welcoming us to the show and saying he is very happy to bring us his favorite film today…but then says that he has never seen it but heard it was good. The short has a mansion being hit by a windstorm and inside Kermit and a female Muppet watch as things are being blown around and are both confused to what to do to stop it, and while doing match they both end up being blown away by the wind. And when we join Alistair his library is also now being hit with wind and he ushers us out by thanking us for watching. “1 Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” Alistair with book in hand is sitting in his library and welcomes us to the show and builds up the show as being a showcase of the number 1’s historic flight over the cuckoo’s nest. The segment goes wrong at first as number 3 flies over a chicken coop, and four falls from the sky into a pig pin than finally number 1 fly over the nest. In the end Alistair is relieved that they finally showed the right segment and bids us farewell and relaxes back into his chair. “Twin Beaks” has Alistair himself going toe the strange town of Twin Beaks that is populated by birds and he is trying to figure out why the town is called that and even talks to the bird with a log to try and get the answer, and does notice that all the birds do have two beaks. Once back in the library Alistair takes a pie and eats it down and ushers us once more out of the show. “Lethal Weapon 3” once more Alistair welcomes us to the show and says tonight’s feature is packed with danger and the mega movie hit Lethal Weapon 3. We then join Mel Gibson and Danny Glover standing by a Danger sign and they are looking around when all of a sudden a giant # 3 falls from the sky. And in the end as Alistair ends the show a giant # 4 falls from the sky and lands on his chair. “Hamlet” the show starts with Alistair in his chair and the moon is out and he says tonight’s episode is very classy and is very proud to bring the viewers Hamlet! The segment then has a castle and Mel Gibson as Hamlet who is reading a book when Elmo enters the scene and watches as Hamlet goes through emotions reading the book and when asked how he can get a book Hamlet tells Elmo to go to the library. In the end Alistair eats a Danish pastry as well as the plate it was on. “Dances With Wolves” Alistair once more is happy to bring the viewers a blockbuster film that is filled with action and buffalos and ushers us into the short that is set at a ball that has farm animals dancing and a young female big has no one to dance with, so enter the wolf. And just because they are different they still have a great time dancing together. Alistair ends the episode shoving cookies into his mouth. “Dr. No” Alistair is once more in his chair and tells the viewers that the night’s episode stars the master spy James Bond! The segment takes place in a eye doctors office and James Bond needs Dr. No’s help in order to read. In the end Alistair eating cookies tells the viewers that next episode will be another James Bond adventure.

That was such a fun Horror Host Icon update that I know has many of you readers split on if he is a “Horror Host” or not, and believe me I have heard that same debate over even the likes of Count Floyd, The Crypt Keeper, Miko Macabre and the cast of Dinner & A Movie as many do not look at them as full fledge Horror Hosts. And I myself say that all mentioned are indeed Horror Hosts and while they are not your traditional style hosts they all have their own styles, fans and creative ways to be a Host. And in the case of Alistair Cookie I think he is a gateway Host for kids that will help them to discover other movie hosts, as lets be honest many of the parody segments are based on cult films and TV shows from Twin Peaks all the way to Hitchcock’s 39 Steps and even a Lethal Weapon 3 in between. Also to be honest I loved all the episodes on this disc and just picked some of the more fun and silly ones. So to wrap it up I want to thank Alistair Cookie for all his years on Monsterpiece Theater that has lead to so many great memories for me as well as thousands of others who grew up with his antics on select episodes of Sesame Street. For the next update we will be leaving Sesame Street as well as the world of Horror Hosting and will be heading to Jellystone Park to visit one of my all time favorite cartoon characters Yogi Bear! So until next time eat a cookie or three, enjoy a glass of milk or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next time as we go on the hunt for some picnic baskets.

Marvel’s Star Police Academy

Posted on June 23, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink. It really is hard to believe that this little blog of mine is 10 years old; what started out as just a silly way to feel nostalgic for things that I grew up loving has now turned into a way for many of you readers as well to take trips down memory lane about the topics covered. With that said, today’s update is no exception as growing up my brother and I loved the Police Academy films and we would watch them all the time, but in 1988 they also made an animated series…that was not watched all the time and this update is about that animated series and the Marvel Comics under the Star Comics branch comic series based on it. Who would have ever thought that Police Academy would get a cartoon and comic book series? I know growing up it seemed like Marvel and DC Comics did more oddball releases like this, and now they play it way too safe. So if you are ready let’s head to the station and see what is going on with Mahoney and his friends.

The Police Academy Cartoon series started airing on September 10,1988 and was a syndicated show that was based on the movie series that was being released by Warner Brothers at the same time. The cartoon would follow Mahoney and his fellow Cadet friends as they bust crime and try to take down the evil Kingpin who is a member of the Council Of Crime and other baddies include Mr. Sleaze, Claw, Numbskull and Big Burger. The cartoon was made by Rudy-Spears and was released by Warner Bros. Television and would last for two seasons and a total of 65 episodes, as it would end on September 2, 1989. None of the movies cast would voice their cartoon counterparts and names like Dan Hennessey, Ron Rubin, Greg Morton and Frank Welker would lend their voices to help make the characters come alive. Growing up very few of my friends at school watched this cartoon as it really was not popular at all and to be honest while I did watch it from time to time it was not must see TV for me, and looking back this is a little odd as I was a big fan of the movies. I will say that the animation for the cartoon was good and that classic 80’s style but I do always remember not being a fan of the voices of the characters, as they sounded nothing like they should and even the kid friendly humor fell flat. The series would get some home media releases with select episodes making it to VHS and part of the series would get a DVD release. Now keep in mind while I was not a major fan of the cartoon I will say I enjoyed if even with all its flaws.

While I was not a mega fan of the cartoon series, I was a fan of the action figures based on it that was released by Kenner that started in 1988 and ended in 1989 and only lasted three series. The first wave of figures featured Mahoney with Samson the dog, Tackleberry, Hightower, Jones and Zed for the heroes and for the baddies you could get Cat with Mouser Cat, Numbskull and Mr. Sleaze with FooFoo Dog. Wave one also had some cool play sets like the Precinct Police Station that was really just the Real Ghostbusters fire station re-done. Wave 2 had new versions of Tackleberry and Jones and then added baddies Flung Hi and Kingpin to the mix, and a mail away figure was Captain Harris that is very rare. The third and final wave that is called “Special Assignment Rookies” the cops added was House, Sweetchuck with new versions of Zed and Mahoney and no new baddies were added. They also had vehicles released that included Crazy Cruiser and Crash Cycle. And growing up I had several of these figures like Jones, Tackleberry, Mr. Sleaze and Cat and got them from of course Big Bear and Hearts. The one I always wanted was Hightower as he was at the top of my favorite characters in the films series as well as the animated one. Its weird as very few of the kids I grew up with had the Police Academy figures and I knew no kid who watched the cartoon, I do however knew a few classmates who had the Marvel Comics based on it. And to be honest I do not even remember Harts stocking them for very long and can not even remember them being at Hills Department Store, though I am sure they were as Hills was the place for Toys!

And when I became a teenager I got ride of my Police Academy figures and regretted it later in life, so I did what any nerdy adult would do and I bought many of them back plus the ones I didn’t have when I was a youngster! And below is a group shot of the figures I have in my collection and I wanted to share it with you readers. No as you can see I do not have the full set as some figures are way over priced like House, Sweetchuck and Captain Harris as they are rare and while I had a chance to buy Sweetchuck at a local store I decided not to pay the price they were asking. But as you can see I do have a good amount of them with my two favorites being Hightower and Tackleberry as I do think they are good figures and are two of my favorite characters from the whole Police Academy series. But check below to see the figures I have, and yes over time I do hope to get more and complete the set, and when looking at them I really need to get more of the bad guys as I need Claw and Mr. Sleeze back.

The Police Academy film series started in 1984 and followed Mahoney who is a cadet at the Police Academy who is a prankster and a ladies man who is hated by Lt. Harris, and worse his fellow cadets would follow his lead and they would become good cops who worked well with the people they are protecting. The series would spawn five sequels a cartoon and even a short-lived live action TV Show. The film series would star names like Steve Guttenberg as Mahoney, Bubba Smith as Hightower, Michael Winslow as Larvell Jones, David Graf as Tackleberry, Marion Ramsey as Laverne Hooks, Bobcat Goldthwait as Zed McGlunk to name a few. The first film in the series was the biggest success bringing in $81,198,894.00 at the Domestic Box Office but with each sequel the profits dropped hard as the sixth film in the series “Police Academy 6: City Under Siege” only did $11,567,217.00 showing that the series did not have much legs behind it in the end, but to be fair to the later sequels they did do great on home media and the rental market and did their job of keeping the series alive. I have worked for several used media stores over the years and have had many of customers ask if we had Police Academy films in stock, and mostly they are looking for the sequels so that’s a sign at least that they do have a fan following. I think that if I had to choose my top three films in the series I would say that for me “Police Academy”, “Police Academy 4: Citizen’s On Patrol” and “Police Academy 3: Back In Training” make up that list with my least favorite film in the series being “Police Academy 7: Mission Moscow” a barely in the theater film that had hardly none of the original cast and had many jokes that just fell flat, but to be fair the film did star Christopher Lee and Ron Perlman as Russians. Rumors of an eighth film have been floating around for years and Steve Guttenberg has also fueled those rumors in 2018 by claiming talks are taking place, but I think sadly this sequel will never happen and if anything a remake will be made that will go direct to streaming. Say what you will but Police Academy in the 80’s was a big comedy franchise that sparked so much other media and helped make Warner Brothers some money and brought laughs to movie watchers around the globe.

I want to also take a moment before we take a look at the score for the first Police Academy film that was done by Robert Folk who is also know for his music work on such films as “Toy Soldiers (1991)”, “Beastmaster 2: Through The Portal Of Time (1991)”, “Rock-A-Doodle (1991)”, “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)”, “Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)” and “Beethoven’s Big Break (2008)” to name a few. But while all the above mentioned and even the none mentioned scores are good it really is his work on the Police Academy film series that is his crown jewel as the Main Title for the series is so iconic and when it starts to play almost everyone knows that its from the film and still even more will hum along to the catchy tune, and funny enough I still even hum this song at random from time to time. And my niece plays in a marching band and my brother use to try and get her to ask her teacher if they would play the Police Academy Theme at football games, he of course said no but it was worth a try. The soundtrack was released for a limited time on CD and I was lucky enough to nab a copy before it went out of print and to be honest the whole score by Folk is really good and if you can find it cheap enough and enjoy movie score soundtracks give it a listen.

And yet still before we review these comics we should talk about my three favorite characters in this series with my first being Hightower who was played by Bubba Smith in the films and voiced by Greg Morton in the cartoon, and the reason he is my favorite is he is as strong as a bull, is fair when busting crime, is as big as a pro wrestler and just is a very cool character. Next would have to be Tackleberry who is Rambo with a badge and carries a massive handgun and is really unstable who comes from a family of cops who all act just as intense as he is, Tackleberry is played by actor David Graf in the films and was voiced by Dan Hennessey. And my third favorite is Zed who was a one time criminal who turns a new leaf and joins the Police Force, but he is just as crazy as he was when he was a bad guy he is played by the awesome Bobcat Goldthwait in the films and voiced by Dan Hennessey in the cartoon. And now that you know who my top three favorite characters are I want you to take a few moments to think who yours are as I think every fan of this series has their most as well as least favorites.

Well as you can see we have somehow found ourselves in Comic Book Jail all because we said we enjoy old Marvel Comics over old DC Comics in a Warner Brothers part of town and now we have to wait for Mahoney to get here to straighten this mess all out, but while we wait lets take a look at the comic book series from Marvel Comics in connection to the Star Comics brand that of course is based on the super kid friendly animated series of Police Academy. I want to thank Bell, Book And Comic as well as Lonestar Comics for having these issues in stock and making this update possible. I also want to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So with that let’s find a bunk and see what this comic series has in store for us. And on a side note I do remember reading the first issue as a kid and the rest will be first time reads for me.

Police Academy # 1 **1/2
Released in 1989 Cover Price $1.00 Marvel # 1 of 6

Mahoney and Jones are acting as a two man parade for all of the higher officers at the academy, and this is bad news as they the higher ups showed up a day to early and this annoys many of them and worse when Hooks, Zed and Sweetchuck have made a float head that looks like criminal computer and tech mastermind Mad Byter! This gets Mahoney and his friends in hot water and they are sent on duty in a terrible part of town and while directing traffic Mad Byter and his henchmen drive by and the cops give chase, but the criminal makes it to his base that is a massive movie sound studio! Mahoney gets an idea and as he and the rest hide inside of the Mad Byter float head that they will have Sweetchuck drop off as a gift to the criminal and this will allow them to be inside the hideout…and it works! Once inside Mahoney and his fellow officers find that Byter is using props from movies against them and when he makes his escape Mahoney uses one of the props to capture him and get back into the graces of the higher ups. “Little Boy Blue” is the second story and is about Buster a kid who won a contest to be a police officer for a day, the downside is that he is a brat and Mahoney and Jones are the ones who end up having to take him out for the day. Buster is running wild and Mahoney comes up with a plan for him and Jones to wear ski masks and fake kidnap Dusty to teach him a lesson about manors, but a pair of real kidnappers beat them to it and this causes Mahoney and Jones to save the day and in the end they do teach Buster a life lesson on how to act.

This first issue of Police Academy is pure silly stuff and has one longer story as well as a small back up and both pack the same silly humor and jokes and while it is entertaining it does have lots of flaws including characters being in spots they should not be and jokes that are eye rolling bad, you know the type like a bad dad jokes. The first story has Mahoney and company screwing up a parade and being forced on a terrible part of town that they end up saving the city from a very bad man who is a computer hacker that robs places. And that baddie is Mad Byter and he does rob a place and even uses movie props to stall and keep the cops at bay as he and his goons try to escape, they do fail but at least he tried. The second story is shorter and has Mahoney and Jones having to watch the Mayors nephew and have to save him from kidnappers, and the odd part of this plot is that Mahoney himself has a plan to kidnap the kid to calm him down…very odd coming from a cop. Mahoney is clearly the leader of the cadets and is as snarky as ever and while he saves the day often he still is a joker who does so by falling backwards into being the hero as really in this comic he is very bad at his work! Jones is kind of the sidekick to Mahoney and because they are friends he seems to be roped into helping, even when the idea is a bad one. The rest of the characters like Sweetchuck, Zed, Hooks and so on are around they do very little in the stories and play background to Mahoney and Jones. So far this comic held up to what I remember it being as a kid and while the jokes are bad and I cannot stress that enough it was a very entertaining read and while the characters act nothing like they do in the film series they do act like their cartoon counterparts. The cover is eye catching and features the whole cast and the art by Howard Post is good kid friendly art, I do have to say that his Mahoney in some panels looks like an old woman. With that lets see what issue two has in store for us.

Police Academy # 2 **1/2
Released in 1989 Cover Price $1.00 Marvel # 2 of 6

While on a date at the beach Mahoney sees a sea monster and rushes back to the station to warn his coworkers of this danger, and unlucky for him and his normal bank of fellow officers they get sent to the beach to stakeout and capture the creature! But when the sea monster eats Zed while he was surfing, it’s Mahoney and Jones that have to go after him in a tiny submarine that looks like a goldfish. They soon find themselves out of the sub and diving toward a sunken ship that is being robbed by diver, and Mahoney and Jones get caught in a net and captured by a Captain who is holding them and Zed prisoner as the sea monster is really a submarine that he and his crew are using to scare people away as they steal the safe from the boat! And when the criminals get the safe and try to escape, its Mahoney and Jones that escape the net and use the gold fish sub to attach onto the creature sub and crash them onshore! As the Captain and his men make a run for it with the safe to get to a van our officers go to work as Hightower makes one faint and Callahan uses her martial arts to take down another. As the Captain and one of his goons make it to the van it’s Tackleberry armed with an ice cream bazooka and Sweetchuck that brings the Captain down. The second story is “The Cookoo Commandant” and has Mahoney and his fellow officers being yelled at and sent on strange missions by Commandant Lassard who is acting very different and this has lead to The Chief to force the now missing Lassard to step down and Harris to take his place, but Mahoney thinks something is going on and after seeing an old year book he thinks he might have figured it out. Mahoney along with Jones, House and Sweetchuck head to a live taping of a kids show and soon find that the host was a former cadet at the academy at the same time as Lassard and was jealous of him because he got promoted and while the real Lassard was on vacation he wanted to show up and ruin his reputation. In the end all goes back to normal as Lassard returns from vacation and is just as laidback and silly as before.

The second issue in the Police Academy comic is slightly better than the first issue as the two stories just flow better and had less flaws in the art and character placement. The first story has Mahoney at the beach with his fellow officers and they put a stop to a sneaky Captain who is using a fake sea creature in order to rob a safe from a ship that had sunk, and in this story we see that Mahoney is a jerk as he is one a date trying to be smooth with the woman that he keeps forgetting her name. And the Captain is kind of a goofy bad guy for the story as his goal is to get the safe off the ship and he runs around like a goof on the beach with a stolen safe to get into a van! And I love how Mahoney and Jones leave Zed tied up on the ship so that Mahoney can be hero again, man Mahoney is really a jerk! The second and shorty story has a kids show host who went to the academy with Lassard being mad at him and using his master of quick change into characters to try and ruin his reputation at the academy and of course Mahoney is to smart to fall for that. Over all both stories are good fun natured stuff and Mahoney is always the hero of the day, the comedy is slightly less bad but still very goofy in nature. And like before this does a great job of capturing the feel of the cartoon series and does justice to the characters even if some are not getting the time to shine of these pages. I must also say that Tackleberry and his ice cream bazooka is amazing and I wish they would do more with him as well as Hightower as both officers are pushed back into just almost cameo roles. The cover is good and eye catching and has the officers along with the sea creature as sea and as before the talented kids comics artist Howard Post does a great job on the interior art and I like the way he draws Tackleberry! Over all a good solid kids comic that was a fun read and while the plots are simple and silly that is kind of the point with kids comics.

Police Academy # 3 **1/2
Released in 1989 Cover Price $1.00 Marvel # 3 of 6

House has eaten way to many pizzas and hamburgers and has landed himself in the hospital and Mahoney and his fellow officers go to visit him on a stormy night, and when they are asked to leave the room so the doctor can look at him they learn that the doctor was a fake and now House is missing! Mahoney comes up with an idea that has them all act as staff at the hospital to find him as well as the crazed doctor. They soon find a trail of jellybeans and when they follow it they find a hidden lab and House is tied up and meet Doctor Jockensteen and his assistant Clarence who have an idea to take part of Houses brain to put into a robot monster that will be the biggest sports jock the world has ever seen. And when Doctor Jockensteen is mad cause Mahoney frees house the Jock Robot Monster goes on the attack and as the officers run off Mahoney, Jones and House jump into an ambulance and drives off only to be chased down by the robot monster, that they end up getting addicted to jellybeans and have him reprogramed to play on the youth policed baseball team. “The Singing Smash!” has Hightower being charge of a singing group that is he and his fellow officers singing, and because Zed is a fan of pro wrestling he sets up a gig at a wrestling event and they get booed out of the building but they stumble on a plot as a manger has a team kidnapped in order for his team to win the match and Mahoney comes up with an idea to teach them a lesson as Hightower, Zed and Callahan take the match and win the titles and Hightower even gets to sing for his victory.

The third issue is as well fun and the features two stories that have elements of some of my favorite things and that’s Horror and Pro Wrestling! The first tale takes place in the hospital and has a mad doctor on the loose that is trying to build a robot jock and wants to use an injured officers brain to keep it hungry for the win. While the second story has the officers having to enter a wrestling match to stop a con man from winning titles and also get the crowd to be on their side when it comes to singing Christmas carols. Mahoney as always is the main focus and the hero of the day when it comes to the first story but it is nice to see Hightower be the main officer in the second and his size and power comes in play as he beats three wrestlers pretty much by herself by slamming the whole ring on top of them! I also like that Zed as well as even House get a little more time to shine on the pages as they each have some stories, and while Mahoney and Jones are around they are not the full heroes of the issue. The main bad guy of this issue is the sinister Doctor Jockensteen who works for the hospital but is really working on his own experiments and all he cares about is making a robot that will be perfect at every sport, and the robot it’s self only follows orders and while it can be mean its only following orders. And I have to say I am glad Hightower got to be more showcased a little in the comic series, now if he can get them to do so for Tackleberry all would be good. The cover is good and fitting for a kid’s comic series and like before Howard Post did the interior art and is good for this kind of comic. With that let’s see what issue four has in store for us.

Police Academy # 4 **1/2
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.00 Marvel # 4 of 6

Lassard when he was a cadet captured a mad bomber called Baby Boomer that was tormenting the city, and after being put away for 40 years he has escaped jail and he is going after Lassard to even the score. Mahoney comes up with an idea that he along with the others will really capture Baby Boomer but will once more give Commandant Lassard the credit and make him the hero of the day again. As Baby Boomer heads into an old amusement park to get his stolen loot, Lassard goes in after him as does Mahoney and his fellow officers. After many failed attempts to capture Baby Boomer it is Mahoney and Lassard that capture him on a roller coaster and are able to stop a dropped misplaced bomb from going off, and Lassard is once more the hero as Baby Boomer heads back to jail. Our second wacky story is “Jonesy’s Day Off” has Jones off duty but yet as we walks around town he keeps seeing miner crimes being committed as well as bratty kids not listening to their parents and uses his sound effects to stop it all. He even saves a street musicians tips from being stolen before finally given up and clocking in to work.

This fourth issue in the series is good but does lack a little of the charm that the last few issues have had as both stories while silly and kid friendly do lack a little bit of charm as well as even a thought out story as they kind of come off a little generic. The first story is the better of the two and has Lassard going after an old criminal who has escaped from jail, and he is the one who put him away in the first place and along with the help of Mahoney he does so again when he recaptures him. The second story is kind of bad as it just is Jones walking around town and using the sound effects he makes with his mouth to stop small crimes, and he then because of the stress of being off work and yet still working he decides to just clock in. The main villain is Baby Boomer a criminal who likes to use bombs to strike fear as well as rob places, and when he escapes he only gets the chance to blow up on thing and that’s a package bomb that he sends to Lassard. Mahoney of is the main focus in the first story with Jones being the main cop used in the second story. Over all nothing special when it comes to this issue and the stories it brings to the readers. The cover is pretty cool and has Mahoney and his fellow officers on a roller coaster and the interior art by Howard Post is as solid as ever. While not the best issue in the series this far, it still is pretty fun I guess for the most part.

Police Academy # 5 **1/2
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.00 Marvel # 5 of 6

Sweetchuck is a big comic book reader and his favorite hero is Grasshopper and Flea Boy and he looses his mind when the movie based on the hero is shooting in their city and the cops have been asked to help keep the actors safe. But an accident on set leaves the actor playing Grasshopper believing he is the masked hero and he heads out into the city to stop crime, and this gives Sweetchuck an idea who puts on the Flea Boy costume and rushes to help keep an eye on the confused actor who ends up stopping a scam that is going on at a construction site, but as Sweetchuck makes it to the scene Grasshopper has another bump on the head and regains his memories and runs away from the scene of the crime leaving Sweetchunk to try and stop it on his own, that is until Mahoney and the others who up and help Sweetchuck become the Superhero of the city by stopping the concrete crime at the work site. “Callahan’s Big Date” is the second story and has everyone at the academy wanting Callahan to be their date at the Police Ball and Harris uses his power of being the one to select who enters the judo tournament to force a date from her, and when Mahoney and Jones tell her she should be herself on the date her power and skills scare Harris away and the date to the ball is cancelled and she still ends up being able to compete in the judo tournament.

This issue’s main story has Officer Sweetchuck being a big comic book reader who gets to live his dream of becoming a superhero as well as working on a move set that is based on his favorite comic superhero! And he gets to also along the way stop a crime that has a crooked man strong-arming a builder into having to buy a ton of concrete. And in the end Sweetchuck learns that cops are the true heroes and his new favorite hero is himself after he and his fellow officers really save the day. The second story is all about Harris being taught a lesson when he tries to bribe Callahan into being his date for a big ball, that is until he sees that she is not a Barbie doll and is a super strong woman that scares him with her fighting skills as well as weightlifting feats. While Harris is a scummy officer the issues main bad guy is the Concrete seller who is trying to force people to buy more than they need for construction work. Sweetchuck and Callahan are the two officers that get their time in the spotlight and Mahoney this time while around is not the main focus and that is a nice change of pace. The cover for this issue is fun and while not great is surly cool for a kid’s comic, and as always the interior artwork by Howard Post is good stuff for this style of comic. Over all a good issue that brings a few laughs and none threatening baddies.

Police Academy # 6 **1/2
Released in 1990 Cover Price $1.00 Marvel # 6 of 6

The police van has broken down in front of a castle and when Mahoney and his fellow officers meet the owner they soon find that they are in the middle of a war as the former owners the Von Sluggs want it back and are using all types of weapons to attack from cannons to tanks and this has became dangerous for everyone involved. But when Mahoney decides that they are going to defend that castle the officers dress like knights and find ways to stop the attack. And it’s House that ends the war when he by accident is thrown from a catapult and brings down the helicopter that King Von Slugg was in, and they family surrenders. In the end the Von Slugg family are asked to live back in the castle and to give up their acts of war and are introduced to video games to get out their aggression. The second story is “Fast Company” has Mahoney being a terrible driver as he has wrecked many police cars over the weeks as he is ogling female officers and drives wreckless. Harris takes away Mahoney’s cruiser privileges and he is forced to use a super fast skateboard and of course he uses this to stop a car thief, and in the end Mahoney understands he drives everything to fast and buys himself an old car that only goes 30mph!

This sixth issue in the Police Academy comic series is also the final issue in the series, and clearly it was not suppose to be the final issue as a seventh issue is advertised in this issue and I would guess that maybe low sales is what did this Star Comics/Marvel Comics series in. The main story of this final issue has Mahoney and the officers fighting off a family who want to take over a castle that they have sold and are war hungry to get it back. And the second issue is about Mahoney wrecking cars and using a skateboard to stop a crime, when really the story is Mahoney is a sleazebag and harasses female officers and drives like a drunk person in order to catcall them. I do like in the first story House decides to order pizza during the battle as he is hungry, and when the delivery man is attacked and drops the pizza he goes out and ends the war so that he can eat. Both stories are ok and entertaining and do a pretty good job of bring a kids comic that captures the cartoon it was based on. While Mahoney and Jones get most of the attention throughout this series House, Sweetchuck, House, Callahan, Lassard, Zed and Harris get some stories while I think Hooks, Hightower and Tackleberry are very much underused and that’s a shame. And while some of the stories are better then the others I do find that over all they are fitting and deliver fun situations for Mahoney and the officers to solve and stop and this surly entertained young readers who enjoyed the cartoon. But while the stories are good they sometimes are way to simple and even at times flaws are all over them with even skin color of characters changing from panel to panel. The interior art work by Howard Post is good while very simple captures that perfect style of art that was used at the time for so many kids comics. The cover for the final issue is ok and has the officer dressed as knights on the castle. To sum this up the Police Academy comic series that was based on the cartoon was pretty good and did a good job of bringing the comic versions of these characters to the pages of a very kid friendly series that brought the humor side of law enforcement to readers. Check out the artwork bellow to see the style of Post used in this series.

Who would have ever thought that the 1984 comedy film Police Academy would have spawned a cartoon that would in turn spawn toys and a comic book series. And it’s also great that while all outside branding of this series says Marvel Comics inside its clear that this was a Star Comics release and I really do wish that Marvel would have ran with the Star brand for longer then they did as so many cartoons and toys could have gotten the comic book treatment. While the Police Academy cartoon was never super popular in my friend circle it still did make it’s mark in the world of 80’s cartoons and this update was a lot of fun to do for Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary as growing up the brand Police Academy was big for me growing up. But for our next update we will be leaving the police academy and will be heading into our July 4^th update that will feature the America Hero known as G.I. Zombie released by DC Comics. So until next time read a Star Comic or three, watch a classic cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for some fireworks, grilled food and of course a DC Horror undead monster.

Horror Host Icon: Baron Daemon

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink for a “Horror Host Icon” update that has been high on my list to do for many years now as I find this Frightful Host to not only be an Icon but also a true legend of New York! The host I am talking about is Baron Daemon who entertained the Syracuse area not only hosting films but also cartoons and even two popular songs…but I am getting way ahead of myself! And before we get into this update have you guys ever thought about how many amazing Horror Hosts have been based out of the state of New York? I mean Gilbert Gottfried hosted Up All Night and later Rhonda Shear, Zacherley hosted Shock Theater, Adam Keefe hosted Fright Night Theatre, Dr. E. Nick Witty hosted Monster Movie Matinee and even The Six-Fingered Hand lead viewers through Chiller Theatre and this is just a small list of all the amazing hosts from the state. So with that thought and memories in your head it’s with great honor that I bring to you Horror Host Icon: Baron Daemon!

Baron Daemon is a bushy eyebrowed vampire who wore a cape, a bowtie, white shirt and black pants and would host spooky movies at night and cartoons during the day! He was very silly and yet at times had a touch of sinister to him when hosting the films late in the evening and he was well loved by both adults and kids as he drew them into his antics as well as allowed them into his weird world that also consisted of his two best friends Boris and Very Harry (more on them later). He was the most popular local celebrity opening grocery stores and even making appearances at a local asylum and fans flocked to meet him as he looked at all his fans as his “Bloody Buddies” and they looked at him as their favorite TV Horror Host. When Baron talked he sounded like Bela Lugosi’s version of Dracula mixed with a cartoonish overtone and his laugh was iconic. Baron would also appear at sock hops and would “drink” the blood of young ladies and kids would speak about him at school and wear shirts with his image on it and would mimic his speech and phrases. And still to this day the people of Rochester, New York and beyond have great memories of Baron Daemon and his legacy lives on even after all these years of him being off TV.

Baron Daemon was so big that at one point during the peak of his popularity Channel 9 came up with having him team up with a rock band The Vampire (really Sam And The Twisters) and recorded two songs “Ghost Guitars” and the big hit “Transylvania Twist” in order to send to radio stations and to promote his shows as they felt it would bring in more viewers! And they sent the record out to radio stations within 50 miles of the viewing area and it worked as Transylvania Twist became a mega hit and the vinyl single was the top selling local record for many years and became a requested song by listeners and even to this day around Halloween the song in New York is played by radio stations who get requests to hear it. Baron Daemon wished that the Channel had sent the record out further as he felt that the song could have been a bigger hit than it was and became a regular song on rotation at stations all over America. The vinyl record at this time is a major collectors item and sells for hundreds of dollars on second hand sale sites. But for those who want to hear both songs you can find them on YouTube so give them a listen and enjoy!

Mike Price is the man behind the Baron Daemon character and is a well loved TV Personality form the New York area as he would be a staple on the News for Channel 9 before and even after his Horror Host persona was off the air. He would become a reporter and had his own segment on the evening news called “Good News” that would feature people from around the area that are doing great things, and he would also talk to kids who were doing really good in school. Mike Price would work for the station for over 46 years and would retire in 2008. And after retiring the station would name the studio after him as well as hang a plaque for all future News Anchors to see. And for those who do not know Mike Price worked for Channel 9 before it first went on air and was hands down the stations first mega star and made them must see TV because of his work as both a News Reporter and as a Horror Host. And that is pretty true for most big Horror Hosts they go beyond being just a celebrity of local TV and the men or women behind the character becomes loved by their community. And even as of 2020 Mike Price is being interviewed in the New York area about his time on TV and his career as Baron Daemon showing that even after many years of retirement Mike means something very big to the people who grew up watching him and beyond.

Baron Daemon originally started as the host of a late night horror movie show called “The Hollywood Special” starting in 1962 on WNYS-TV Channel 9 out of Syracuse, New York and he would host all types of classic Horror and Sci-Fi films. The show was an instant hit and old and young viewers could not get enough of Baron Daemon as he just captured their attentions and became must see TV for all of Syracuse. But parents ended up a little angry as kids wanted to stay up past their bedtimes to watch his antics as well as the spooky movie that did not start until 11:35pm, so to please parents Baron Daemon also became a daily kid show host “Baron And His Buddies” and on this he would host cartoons and Flash Gordon film serials. His shows were the most watched in that area of New York and his viewers were both young and old. Baron Daemon would also guest on other shows on Channel 9 mostly the dancing shows and would bring his brand of vampire humor with him and added enjoyable silly laughs for those watching. For years Baron Daemon’s shows were highly rated and was some of the most popular local made shows at the time, and after his song “Transylvania Twist” was released it seemed like he and his shows were untouchable. That was until 1967 when the Channel 9 station suffered a big fire and sadly the set, props and all costumes for Baron Daemon burned up and the stations new powers to be who already were not a fan of his shows decided that with all things of the show gone this would mark the end of Baron Daemon! So with a puff of smoke do to a fire The Hollywood Special and Baron And His Buddies was over and fans would not get to see Baron Daemon on a weekly basis and this was terrible news for his fans. But over the years Baron Daemon would return doing live appearances and even host some events allowing fans to still see him and enjoy his brand of humor. It’s sad that his shows had to end due to bad management who did not think replacing the lost items to bring the shows back was worth their time, very silly decision as I think Baron Daemon could have lasted on air all the way through the 90’s and I think he would have been just as popular through every decade and still to this day Channel 9 should have Baron Daemon return to TV with Halloween specials! But that is just my wishes that sadly never happened and will never happen do to the age of Baron Daemon as of this update.

I have said this before and I have to say it again all good Horror Hosts had their fair share of amazing sidekicks that helped make his shows something very special for viewers and Baron Daemon was no different! First up is Boris The World’s Shortest Monster who looked like Frankenstein’s famous creation that would grunt his way around the set and was a very close friend of Baron Daemon. Boris was well liked by fans and he would even make public appearances alongside Baron. But while Boris was well loved the most popular of the sidekicks was Very Harry a mute caveman type guy who wore a hat and a trench coat and seemed to always just be hanging around with Baron and Boris. He was always just kind of in different to everything and was a favorite of kids as well as adults. Boris was played by Bill Eadie and Very Harry was played by Dennis Calkins and really these two are some amazing sidekicks and I would almost be so bold to say are the best Horror Host sidekicks in all of New York’s history! I should also note that while Very Harry would make appearances on the kid show “Baron And His Buddies”, Boris was not as lucky and would not be on the kid show as often.

Baron Daemon was on the ballot for the 2021 Class to make it into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame and sadly he ended up not making it that year, even though I 100% think he should have and in fact been in way sooner than that. And my goal is to try and get Baron Daemon into a future class of the Hall Of Fame as his contributions to the Art Of Horror Hosting is amazing as he had a six year run hosting both a movie and kids show as well as made many public appearances and had a hit music single! He was an early pioneer in New York Hosting and has many of fans still to this day. So when Baron Daemon gets in I will update this Horror Host Icon update and share with you who inducted him and what class he ended up being in!

Baron Daemon is a horror host that I can remember seeing pictures of and reading about in the early days of the internet as one thing that I loved to do in my teenage years was learn about new hosts from all over the world. I think the thing about Baron Daemon is that while the world of Horror Hosting has tons of Vampires his big eyebrows set him apart from all the others and made him stand out from the pact just like I feel Sivad (read his Icon update here) did as well with his unique look of the classic folklore monster. And Baron Daemon’s overly silly nature and the way he delivered his lines made him come off as a fun loving goofball ghoul and made him feel like a friend who drew you into his world and shared his love for Horror Movies and Cartoons with you, not to even mention his phrases and mannerisms would bring a smile to your face as well as make you say out loud “Blood Buddies” while acting like him…come on many of you original watchers of his show and Horror Host Mega Fans know that you just did your best impersonation of him while reading this sentence. Another reason why Baron Daemon has always been on my Hosting radar and was always on the list of must cover for Horror Host Icon updates is not only because he was a fantastic host with amazing sidekicks, but because he is also apart of the big legacy of Horror Hosts that have came out of the state of New York the land that Chiller Theater built and he could be one of the best as well from that State! And I really do hope at some point that more footage of his show is found in the vaults of Channel 9 and that the fans get to see Baron in his prime doing what he did best and that was to entertain the viewing masses.

So as you can see Baron Daemon is a true iconic legend in the world of Horror Hosting and is one of New York’s best Hosts of all time! And we are now at the point of this update that we will talk about the episodes I have of Baron Daemon and sadly like I said earlier in this update as of this update no known episodes and footage minus bloopers of the show are around, so I had to do a TV Special that Channel 9 did in 2006 for Halloween based on him. So with that lets travel down memory lane and take a look at Baron Daemon and his Blood Buddies as they treat us to their Halloween Fright Fest.

Hollywood Special: Halloween Fright Fest
Starring – Dr. E. Nick Witty & Very Harry Not Rated 2006

Host/Movie: This is a news broadcast special that aired on TV in 2006 that celebrated the life and career of Baron Daemon who made viewers both scared and tickled with laughter for five years on TV as well as tons of public & media appearances. They tell the shows history as well as the characters and even talk about and to Mike Price about his career. They also chat with other show cast members, fans and even new and vintage skits show of Baron Daemon.

It’s such a shame that so many iconic Horror Hosts like Baron Daemon’s show are lost to time due to many factors like recorded live, thrown away or reused tapes and of course no Beta or VCR’s for fans to tape their favorite hosts. And even more shameful is that Channel 9 over the years after his show ended never brought back Baron and his pals Very Harry plus Boris back to TV airwaves for horror movie hosted specials every Halloween and New Years…but what do you expect from clueless on air stations who think late night viewers want to watch infomercials on none stick pans and sharp kitchen knives…no wait they put those on cause they could careless about local programing and being creative and took the quick buck of just selling out that air time to soulless products. But enough of that let me put my soap box away and just say that Baron Daemon is an amazing Host that you should read up on and watch the blooper clips and listen to his two hit songs. But for my next update we will be leaving the world of Horror Hosting behind and will be taking a look at werewolf comic Lycanthropy Leo! So until next time read a comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host! See you next update as Rotten Ink’s ten year celebration continues!

The Wacky Comic World Of Daffy Duck

Posted on April 12, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink and the 10 Year Celebration of this blog! On May 5, 2015 I took a look at Bugs Bunny and called him “The King Of Saturday Morning Cartoons” and pointed out how he was the most popular and recognizable Looney Tune character, but if Bugs is the King then our next character would be the Jester as his antics and crazy nature made him a hit for me and my brother who both loved watching his cartoons…and I am talking about the one and only Daffy Duck! I know that it’s Easter Bunny season and not Duck season, but what better way to celebrate this holiday time than to cover a true icon in the world of classic cartoons and one that will surely make you month a little better. So as you find a comfy place to sit and enjoy this blog update, let’s get crazy with Daffy!

Daffy Duck made his debut in the Porky Pig cartoon “Porky’s Duck Hunt” that was seen on April 17, 1937. In the toon Daffy was a no-name character but got viewers’ attention as his aggressive and zany attitude brought something fresh and new for the time and he became a favorite of many viewers. Early Daffy Duck was really crazy, a total loon who would bounce off the walls and laugh like a mad man all the while getting laughs from viewers and annoying his target in the toon. He became the subject of many discussions of viewers and Daffy quickly became one of the top characters in the Looney Tune universe. Over the years Daffy Duck went from crazy to snarky and became very short tempered and would even become a frenemy of Bugs Bunny as who can forget the “Duck Season…Rabbit Season” bit! Warner Brothers knew that Daffy Duck was something special and to this day feature him in many cartoons, merchandise and even feature length movies like Space Jam 2 that was released in 2021. The term “screwball character” was termed after Daffy who was the first of the kind and started a trend of character that followed his personality and tropes. Daffy was so well liked by fans that he became one of the must watch cartoons and would rival the popularity of many other characters of his time like Popeye, Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop. And even in 2019 website ScreenRant ranked Daffy Duck as # 1 in their Top 10 list of Funniest Looney Tune characters. Daffy Duck was created by Tex Avery and Bob Clampett and has had many voice actors as well as cartoon makers help flesh out the character and make him the icon he is to this day. Say what you will, but we all know that Daffy Duck is a true icon of cartoons and over the decades has made so many viewers lived just a little bit more silly and fun.

The main voice of Daffy Duck during my childhood was the iconic voice actor Mel Blanc who created the characters iconic lisp as well as sarcastic tone and line delivery. Mel is considered one of the biggest icons in voice work in the early days of cartoons as he lent his voice to many iconic characters like Looney Tune ones like Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzales and Sylvester to name a few. And non-Looney Tunes characters include Flattop, Tom & Jerry, Barney Rubble and Speed Buggy to name a few. Mel would voice Daffy Duck from 1937 to 1989, the year that he passed away. And after Mel’s passing, three different voice actors would voice Daffy off and on through the years during my childhood with one being Jeff Bergman and the other two being Joe Alaskey and at a lesser level Greg Burson. And in modern times Eric Bauza has been the voice behind the Duck. And with all respect to those who followed him, let’s be honest, Mel Blanc is the amazing voice actor who made Daffy Duck the zany character we all love to this day.

Like all great cartoon characters, Daffy Duck has had his fair share of amazing merchandise for fans of all ages to collect and I as a kid was one of those fans who owned lots of cool Daffy stuff! Over the many years of the character, such items as books, comics, shirts, dolls, toys, posters, magazines, statues, trading cards, Music, Home Media, drinking glasses, video games, hats, Shoes, Erasers, Buttons, Pins, Watches, Candy, cups, jars, stamps, socks, towels, Halloween costumes, necklaces, night lights and so much more were made. If you are a Daffy fan and have any need for an item you can find it as there are also Daffy Duck toothbrushes! Growing up some of my favorite things that I owned that featured Daffy Duck besides the comic books was an old plush doll that I had when I was super young, an old Pepsi glass that as a kid I can remember drinking Kool-Aid and chocolate milk from, a McDonalds Happy Meal Toy that had Daffy Duck as Batman and lastly an eraser of Daffy’s head that was for your pencil that I got from school in Waynesville! Daffy is awesome and has some very cool items for fans, and I for one am still a Daffy fan and have many of his items in my collection.

Growing up I would watch Daffy Duck on Saturday Mornings via old reruns of Looney Tunes on TV and also would watch them via home media on Beta and VHS that we would rent from the library or even would buy them from a dollar store that use to stock all types of cheap VHS tapes that featured cartoons as well as silent horror movies. I would raid that section and would buy everything that I would enjoy or ever wanted to see. There was always something very special about watching Looney Tunes and for both my brother and I, some of our favorite ones to view featured Daffy Duck as we loved his crazy laugh, his bouncing around, his sarcastic attitude, his Duck Dogers persona and so much more that made him so fantastic and one of the top cartoon characters in our household. Also we would find ourselves reading Daffy Duck comics and even as a kid I can remember my brother reading the comics out loud to me and even doing goofy voices to go along with it. It was almost like a story time. But now I am off subject and I really just wanted to share my memories of old Daffy VHS tapes and how when growing up I used to watch them all the time as I would always find myself laughing when watching him act like a total nut job! And I am sure many of you reading this blog have very similar memories of watching your favorite cartoon characters on owned or rented VHS tapes.

One Daffy Duck cartoon that was amazing was from 1988 and was called “The Night Of The Living Duck” that has Daffy reading a horror comic book called Hideous Tales # 176 that ends of a cliffhanger and when he goes to find the next issue a clock falls and hits him in the head, and when knocked out he thinks he is a singer at a club that is filled with many classic monsters like Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Fly, Leatherface, The Mummy, Creature From The Black Lagoon and The Blob to name a few. And after being attacked by the Godzilla inspired Smogzilla in his dream world he wakes up and finds his issue of the horror comic. And for a Monster Kid like myself seeing Daffy Duck sing to many classic monsters of the movies was really awesome to see as who would ever guess that Leatherface of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame would appear in a Looney Tunes cartoon! And seeing the Universal Monsters being sung to by a sauvé Daffy is very surreal and was something that I never would have thought could have happened in the world of Looney Tunes. The animation is great in this episode and really makes me wish that Warner Brothers would have made animated monster movies as it would have been great to see classic monsters get the animated treatment. So if you love classic movie monsters as well as Looney Tunes cartoons make sure to track this one down and give it a watch.

Well now that we have taken a trip down memory lane and talked about Daffy Duck and all the elements that have made him a cartoon icon, I think we are at the point of this review that we take a look at the comics I own of him and have selected the comics from Gold Key and Whitman to cover. I want to thank several stores for having these in stock like Bell, Book and Comic, Game Swap Kettering and Mavericks Cards And Comics as well as Mom Young for having these issues for me to buy and make this update possible. I want to also remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s get wacky and silly with Daffy Duck!

Daffy Duck # 83 ***
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Gold Key # 83 of 145

“High And Flighty” The Road Runner and his fellow birds are running from Wile E. Coyote and they run through the sidewalk that Daffy Duck was making and the job goes south with footprints and Daffy looses his job. Road Runner feels bad and sets up a new job for Daffy that has him trying to help Wile capture them, and of course all goes wrong. “Ego-Tripped” has Daffy Duck a host of a late night talk show along side Elmer Fudd and they have many guests that night Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Sylvester Cat and Petunia Pig and the topic is how after the cartoons end that they are all friends and this turns bad real quick as all of the Looney Tunes characters start arguing over who is the best on their shows and even leads to a end chase of Elmer trying to capture Daffy for his harsh words on the way Elmer speaks. “Dough Nuts” has Daffy Duck owning a bakery and he ends up getting Clovis Cat as a helper who is the cousin of Sylvester and he causes so many issues as he is kind of silly and ruins many orders, but he does end up stopping a robbery. “Stamp Scamp” has Daffy by accident letting one of Elmer Fudds high priced stamp blow out the window and the two have a wild chase to try and get it back, only for it to be a cheap stamp instead as Elmer was wrong on the price.

This issue has lots of guest stars and Daffy while the main attraction can kind of be lost in the shuffle when it comes to each little segments plot as sometimes the likes of Road Runner and other steal a little of the spotlight. And because of the guests and Daffy antics this is a better than average read! All four stories are really good with my favorite one being “Dough Nuts” as I enjoyed the fact that Daffy owned a bakery and was making cakes and hired a goofball cat who stumbles around ruining all his business and making customers mad. When picking my least favorite it was hard but I guess I would have to choose “High And Flighty” as it was just kind of a one joke story that had Daffy always taking a break when trying to capture Road Runner when the Runner would make a whistle noise. But with that said seeing Daffy on the payroll of Wile E. Coyote was really cool. The cover is cool and like a broken record him in the birdbath never happens in the comic. The art by Unknown Artist is really good and I like the way he drew Wile E. Coyote as well as Clovis Cat and of course Daffy and the rest look great. Over all a good read and a cool kids comic based on an amazing cartoon character and series!

Daffy Duck # 86 **1/2
Released in 1974 Cover Price .20 Gold Key # 86 of 145

“Dr. Elmer And Mr. Fudd” Daffy Duck is babysitting a young duck who wants to hear a spooky story before bed so Daffy makes one up about Elmer Fudd being a mad scientist who makes a formula that turns a mouse into a raging monster and he as well takes the formula and turns into a monster and torments the village and its up to Daffy in the story to save the day when he follows Fudd into a warehouse that the big mouse is in and they two fight. After the story the young duck puts on a Halloween mask and scares Daffy who runs out of the house. “The Duck Who Came To Dinner” The Tasmanian Devil is locked up behind bars at a zoo and Daffy goes to mock him, but soon Taz traps Daffy in the cage and as well when Daffy escapes Taz follows as he wants to eat duck for lunch! Daffy ends up tricking and knocking Taz out and leaves the country quick to be away from Taz once and for all only to find himself stuck in Tasmania! “An Alarm Clock Is A Rooster’s Best Friend” Daffy Duck is jobless and decides that he wants to take the job of Foghorn Leghorn as the rooster of the farm and does his best to set up Foghorn so that the farmer will fire him! Once Foghorn is fired Daffy takes the rooster job, but is soon found out by The Farmer and Foghorn who end up giving Daffy a new job on the far and that’s the top of the weather vein! “Hair Today And Gone Tomorrow” Daffy has made a formula that grows hair and his fellow ducks make fun of him as they doubt that it works, and when Daffy finds Elmer he tries to use the formula on his bold head and Elmer runs away and as Daffy gives chase he is attacked by a hawk it leaves Daffy featherless and when his formula falls on him Daffy becomes a duck covered in hair and must return to the drawing board to make a formula that will grow feathers.

This is an action packed issue when it comes to guest cameos as joining Daffy Duck in this issue is Elmer Fudd, Tweety Bird, Yosemite Sam, Tasmanian Devil, Foghorn Leghorn and Petunia Pig and each add fun moments to the stories they are in. This issue has the normal four stories and each of them bring their own styles of humor and put Daffy Duck in all types of situations that include him almost being eaten and even being a mad scientist! The kid friendly humor in this issue works really well and the best story for me in this issue is “An Alarm Clock Is A Rooster’s Best Friend” as I like how Daffy is so lazy that he thinks that being a rooster would be easy work and gets Foghorn Leghorn fired, but of course his sneaky tactics blow up in his face. Plus besides Daffy being awesome in the story so is Leghorn who is in my Top 10 favorite Looney Tunes characters. My least favorite story in this issue is “Hair Today And Gone Tomorrow” as I found it very lackluster and the lamest in plot in story, but seeing Daffy covered in hair was a little funny. The cover is awesome and has Daffy lifting weights that are really balloons, and you guessed it this never happens in any of the stories. The artwork is great and is very cartoonish and looks like the cartoon characters on the comic pages and is done by Unknown Artist! A good issue for sure and I am looking forward to read more of these Daffy Duck comics.

Daffy Duck # 92 ***
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Gold Key # 92 of 145

“Duckula” Daffy Duck and Porky Pig are driving a pizza truck and it runs out of gas near a creepy castle as a storm blows in and the two end up having to stay the night in the castle as the owner Count Duckula invites them in, but soon Daffy and Porky find themselves on the dinner menu as Duckula is a vampire and his friend Engelbert is a werewolf! But before Daffy and Porky can be eaten Daffy comes up with a plan the leaves them safe and the two monsters big fans of Pizza. “A Rare Bird” Daffy is in a museum looking at dinosaurs when two professors spot him and see that he is a rare breed of duck and they want to capture him and taxidermy him to place on display! And Daffy must run for his life to escape them and the museum! “Movie Madness” has Daffy Duck trying to get into Warner Brothers Studios to be casted on the new Raquel Robin film that he learned about from Sylvester Cat and Porky Pig! But standing in his way is Elmer Fudd who is the new guard at the studio gate and is told no none employees are allowed in! So Daffy has to use his bag of tricks in order to get in and meet Robin. But Daffy becomes a hero when two cast members try and steal her jewelry and he almost goes into a date with Robin that us until Yosemite Sam scares him off by wearing a monster mask. “Stop, Look, And Duck!” has Daffy faking that he is a traffic officer in order to get into Elmer Fudds house to raid his refrigerator and eat all his food, but Daffy is followed by a hungry bank robber who also breaks in and wants all the food that Daffy is stealing! But thanks to Daffy’s traffic signs and his quick thinking the robber is caught and in the end the Police make him act as a traffic signal for borrowing the signs from the city junkyard.

Wow this was a really fun kids comic and had Daffy Duck in all types of different and zany adventures! Plus like before this issue does a great job of having fellow Looney Tunes characters guest star and that includes Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam and Sylvester Cat and they all play off Daffy very well in each of the segments. And really after reading this issue I had a smile on my face as it was such a silly good time, I mean Warner Brothers Studios even appears and they even make a joke about the MGM lion! And when sitting back and having to pick the best and least favorite story in this issue it was super hard but I would say “Duckula” was my favorite as I love the spooky horror feel of it and it read like a classic kids haunted house with a vampire story. And picking the least is really hard as all the stories were good but I guess I would say “Stop, Look, And Duck!” is the weakest as it’s just a Daffy stops a robber story that we have read before and it seems to be a big idea that the comic makers had when writing Daffy stories. The cover is great and showcases Duckula and shockingly it does tie into a story in the comic and that’s rare! The art is good and done once more and like always when it comes to Gold Key Comics by an Unknown Artist, and like always its very good and the characters look like they should for the most part. To sum it up this is a great issue and one of the best this far I have read of any of the Looney Toon themed comics. So with that lets see what the next issue has in store for us.

Daffy Duck # 98 ***
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Whitman # 98 of 145

“Snowman’s Land” Daffy Duck travels to the Himalayan Mountains in order to find the Abominable Snowman to ask him how often he clips his toenails in order to get $2.00 from Elmer Fudd who asked him that question. But once he finds the Snowman he learns that he has been fired as people do not find him scary so he makes a deal with Daffy if he helps him get his job back he will tell him the answer to the toenail question. And after trying to teach the Snowman to be scary and failing, it’s the rescue of two lost kids that gets the Snowman his job back and also gets Daffy the answer to Fudd’s question and he gets his $2.00 that is owed! “Northern Exposure” Daffy is stuck outside in a blizzard and meets an Eskimo who has been sent out by his wife to hunt a duck so they can have it for dinner, the man has never seen a duck and Daffy leads him in wild goose chases and after the poor guy is almost killed by a whale, Daffy saves him and comes clean that he is a duck and he is instead invited to dinner and they all eat fish. “Rainbow Riot” in this one Daffy is playing in the rain and after the rain stops a rainbow appears and Daffy uses this to his advantage to try and trick a free meal out of Porky Pig by dressing up as a leprechaun and promising a pot of gold to Porky if he can make Daffy happy and makes him a big meal and makes a fool of himself. And after finding out that the leprechaun was really Daffy dressed up he rushes back to the end of the rainbow and shoves a pie in the face of a leprechaun that was not Daffy but a real one!

This is such a fun read and has Daffy Duck meet the Abominable Snowman, Tricking a Duck Hunter and even acting like a leprechaun in order to get a free meal. And this one like the issue before has a Horror Comic element to one of the stories and Daffy even dresses like Count Duckula at one point in order to try and teach Snowman how to be scary. And as I am sure you guessed my favorite story in this issue is Snowman’s Land as how great and silly is it that Daffy tries to teach the Snowman how to scare people in order to find out how often he clips his toenails…and the two become friends. The weakest story of the group is Rainbow Riot as its not a bad story just the weakest of the three as it was just kind of blah as its just Daffy being a terrible friend to Porky Pig who is this issues only Looney Tune cameo. The cover is great and showcases what happens in this comic and that’s a rare thing in these types of comics made by Gold Key/Whitman. The interior art for at least the first story (Snowman’s Land) is done by artist Joe Messerli and is good stuff and I like his kid friendly take on the Abominable Snowman. Over all a solid issue that showcases just how fun these Daffy Duck comics can be for readers of all ages.

Daffy Duck # 104 **1/2
Released in 1976 Cover Price .30 Whitman # 104 of 145

“Shopping Cart Caper” Art is a man who owns a grocery store who is having an issue with someone stealing all his shopping carts and making him having to buy more of them for his customers. Both Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd end up trying to help Art find who is stealing and after thinking its each other, they end up finding the real thief and it is the man selling Art the carts as he is stealing them with a magnet gun and then sells them back to the store. “Relatively Speaking” Elmer Fudd is really mad at Daffy who eats much of his food acting as a food inspector, and after being chased off Daffy returns to Elmer’s home with a train jumper who looks like Elmer and the two in order to get a free meal and a place to stay lie to Elmer and act as if this guy is a long lost cousin. But when Elmer figures this out as a lie after reading his family tree he chases the two out of his home with a gun and Daffy joins the fraud on rail riding as they jump on a train. “The Broccoli Bungle” Porky Pig is shocked and worried when he finds Daffy Duck talking to a piece of broccoli, and when asked about it Daffy acts as if Porky is rude and this causes Porky to go to the grocery store and buy some broccoli and talk to it! But it was all a big joke as Sylvester Cat bet Daffy that he could not trick Porky into talking to broccoli. In the end Porky is mad and chases Daffy around and the pair run into a cop and both have to serve public serves at a broccoli farm. “The Duck Bunch” Elmer Fudd goes to a cabin by the lake to relax, but soon his peace is shattered when Daffy and his duck friends rent the cabin next door and have a party…after being mad for a bit Elmer ends up partying with Daffy and the ducks.

This is an issue that I almost forgot I owned as I had gotten it from Mavericks Cards And Comics when I worked there and after moving this issue along with other comics was missed boxed and has sat at a friends house for many years, and by luck I found it just in time to be covered…and I have to say the issue is another above average read and brought Daffy Duck into four silly adventures with three of them being alongside Elmer Fudd! And also the issue has Porky Pig and Sylvester both making a cameo in a story making this one feel like a Daffy Team-Up issue, and thinking about it they should have done a DC Comics Presents and had Superman team with Daffy Duck at some point in the 70’s or early 80’s, a wasted opportunity if you ask me. The best story in this issue for me is The Broccoli Bungle as I love the idea of Daffy and Sylvester making a free lunch bet with each other on if they could trick Porky Pig into talking to a piece of Broccoli, like a harmless prank but also poor Porky as he seems to be the butt of the joke. My lest favorite story in this issue is The Duck Bunch, nothing wrong with this one just bland as it has Daffy and fellow ducks harassing Elmer Fudd. The cover is cool but like always has zero to do with the pages inside, speaking of interior pages the art is done by Unknown Artist and is good the only thing really off is the color of Sylvester’s noise that should be red but is blue. Over all a good issue that delivered some cheesy, silly, goofy Daffy Duck comic book laughs.

Daffy Duck # 107 ***
Released in 1977 Cover Price .30 Whitman # 107 of 145

“Knight For A Night” Daffy Duck is lost flying around and finds an island the rest out and also sees an ad for a Knight wanted at a round table and he rushes to apply for the job as he thinks there will be food on the round table, but soon finds out that the King indeed of the Knight is poor due to an evil knight named Gore Thor who is stealing all his food, and after some tricks Daffy chases off the evil knight and the King’s Kingdom gets its food and knights back. “The High-Flying Queep” Daffy is in the park when a scientist and his henchman grabs Daffy and put a tracker on his leg in order to track were he goes, and Daffy ends up flying away to a western town but his tracker messes with the towns only TV and Radio and causes the sheriff to miss the weather warning of a flash flood, but the flood ends up causing Daffy to find a band of counterfeiters and for his reward the town gives him a reward and Daffy decided to fly on a plan to Hawaii but the tracker is also messing with their radio! “The Mysterious Mr. Big” Daffy Duck gets a job to go to the scary castle of Dr. Frankenfritter with a big check from Mr. Big who wants to buy the doctors new mechanical dog! And after Daffy is chased around the castle by mechanical monsters he makes the deal and takes the dog to Mr. Big who turns out to be a small flea. “The Hitch-Piker” has Daffy Duck trying to get home when he tries to get a ride from Elmer Fudd who is not happy to see him, but after getting tired Fudd ends up allowing Daffy to travel with him and even drive the car. Daffy ends up speeding around the highway and is pulled over and after finding out Daffy does not have a drivers licenses he and Fudd end up in court and Daffy has to pay a fine and work community service for seven days and Fudd must pay a fee.

Another great Daffy Duck comic that has Daffy being crazy and goofy and once more shows that Daffy Duck is great in cartoons as well as comics and in this one he even meets robotic Frankenstein Monster’s as well as takes down a evil knight that has a great name like Gore Thor! And all of the four adventures in this comic is a great read and it will be hard to choose what I think is the best but if I have to I am going to go with The Hitch-Piker as I like the idea of Daffy trying to hitchhike home cause he is to lazy to fly and ends up getting Elmer Fudd into trouble with the law when he makes the mistake of picking up Daffy. And I cannot pick a bad one from this issue as I really did enjoy them all so I am going to select none for this issue! Yeah this will be my only get out of selecting a Bad One card for this update. I mean were else can you read about Daffy busting a counterfeit ring, buy an electric dog for a man named Mr. Big, was rude to a judge and got himself and Elmer in trouble and even becomes a Knight and does battle in order to get a free meal! Great eye catching cover with Daffy making ice cubes and the use of a purple background makes it standout. The interior art is done by Unknown Artist and is great as I like the designs he/they created for side characters like Gore Thor and the robotic monsters. Over all a top notch read and this far is one of the top three best I have read from this Daffy series.

Daffy Duck # 122 **
Released in 1979 Cover Price .40 Gold Key # 122 of 145

“The Robot Robbery” Armchair Daffy is back on another case and this time while at a science fair a robot steals an invention that takes control of items and allows the person with the invention to control a selected object. And when Armchair Daffy goes after the crook his armchair is thrown around and Daffy uses a bowling ball to bring down the crook and the people at the fair upgrade his armchair to fly. “Ye Olde Time Machine” has Daffy at an amusement park and goes into a funhouse called the Time Machine that really is a time machine and takes him back in medieval times and Daffy as a knight takes down a dragon as well as the Fight Knight before finally being able to go back to his own time, and he runs away from the fun house and then spends his time riding kids rides. “Aerial Grease Monkey” has Daffy becoming an in air mechanic for plans in need, and it’s hard and fast work and after an emergency landing leaves him aching he changes jobs to work as a water mechanic for boats in order to sooth his aching wounds. “Water Follies” Elmer Fudd is getting ready for a bath when he finds that Daffy Duck is in the tub and tells him that he is going to stay awhile as the government is working on the swamp! Elmer chases Daffy our only to find him now soaking in the kitchen sink! Elmer gets Daffy out of his house and ends up sneaking back in and turning Elmer’s basement into a pool and invites other ducks over! In the end Elmer is even more mad when the swamp is moved next door to him and he has to see Daffy more.

In this Daffy Duck comic he has all types of weird adventures from using a bowling ball to bring down a crook, going back in time to bring down a dragon and an evil knight, fixing planes in air and even helping other ducks in a swamp have a place to swim! But while it’s an entertaining issue it’s also very bland and middle of the road compared to other issues we have read this far. While Daffy is as zany and silly as ever he just does not do anything that truly stands out here. The best story is “Ye Olde Time Machine” as I like the idea of Daffy Duck at an amusement park and stumbling into a real life time machine and finding himself in danger in medieval times! Plus his lucky ways of defeating a dragon and an evil knight is pure cartoon/comic book stuff. My lest favorite story in this issue has to be “The Robot Robbery” and that’s sad to say as I think truly it is the weakest of any Armchair Daffy case we have read here this far. It was nice to see Elmer Fudd once more have a cameo and its great as in this issue he truly hates Daffy and it shows. The cover is good and has zero to do with any of the stories and the interior art by Unknown Artist is as good as always and helps add to the silly stories you are reading. Over all a very average read, but still a good one for the most part.

Daffy Duck # 123 **1/2
Released in 1979 Cover Price .40 Whitman # 123 of 145

“Tin Pan Daffy” Daffy and his trusty horse Deadpan are trying to travel around the Old West to sell pans and by accident they wake up a pair of thieves who steal Deadpan and go and rob the towns bank, but Daffy thinks quick and uses a pan to mock the sound of a rattle snake that scares Deadpan who throws the robbers and Daffy is then able to return the money to the bank. “Rude On The Tube” has Daffy Duck going to a TV station in order to help Petunia Pig on a cooking show, and while at first it goes bad as Daffy ruins the show, but when Petunia switches his role to a taste tester things go smooth. “Big Switcheroo” Armchair Daffy is on the case, but Slippery Sal has messed with the armchair and has switched it out with a fake chair that controlled by a controller. But when Daffy finds Sal’s hideout he is able to get his armchair back and also takes Sal down and brings him to jail. “Hot Tub Snub” Elmer Fudd has belt a hot tub in his backyard on his doctor’s orders in order to relax and like always Daffy Duck ruins it by wanting to also soak in the tub, and after tricking Elmer several times and getting into the tub Elmer ends up turning the tub into a jail cell and traps Daffy in it in order to finally find his peace.

This is another fun comic featuring the zany Looney Tune character Daffy Duck and has him as always annoying the heck out of Elmer Fudd as well as solving crimes in his armchair and selling pans in the west! And in this issue the only two Looney Tune character to appear are Elmer Fudd and Petunia Pig and they both are used well and I really like the idea that Petunia Pig has a TV Cooking Show that has Daffy Duck as her assistant, imagine if this was a real show and Daffy would ruin the recipes as well as just shovel the food into his mouth. The best story in this issue is Rude On The Tube and is for the reasons I mentioned about as it really is a fun silly read. My least favorite is Big Switcheroo just a kind of un-interesting Armchair Daffy case that kind of puts along and has a payout that is kind of bland. The cover is good and has Daffy with pie on his face after he took a bite from one on Elmer’s window seal, and yep this never happens in the comic. The interior art done by Unknown Artist is good and I really like the way whom ever they are draws Daffy as well as Elmer Fudd. So with that let’s take a look at whats next for Daffy Duck in the next comic book.

Daffy Duck # 124 **1/2
Released in 1979 Cover Price .40 Gold Key # 124 of 145

“Tasters Choice” At a small diner a newspaper editor is worried as his food critic just quit and he notices Daffy Duck eating a ton of food and giving reviews of it to the chef and the editor finds his new critic! Daffy does a great job at the start and travels around eating all types of food, but after awhile Daffy is getting fat and brings in Tasmanian Devil as his assistant to help eat the food and that goes wrong when Taz destroys the dinning room of a restaurant and this causes Daffy to be fired by the paper and chased by Taz who is still hungry and wants to eat Duck! “The Missing “Missing Persons” Person” Daffy as his Armchair Daffy crime solver persona gets a case that takes him to a boarding house to find a missing Officer as well as a boarder of the place, but when he gets there the chair can not enter the haunted room were the people have gone missing from! Once inside Daffy solves the case as the officer and boarder fell into the caller via a loose floorboard. “Duck Calls” Yosemite Sam has decided to give up on sea life and has built a cabin in the woods to get away from stress and sound, but Daffy Duck shows up and makes all types of noise and this causes Sam to try and stop him from doing so. And when his attempts fail to keep Daffy quite Sam just leaves his cabin to return to life at sea, and Daffy takes over the cabin and enjoys the quite life. “Meteor Hunt” a scientist forces Daffy Duck to help him hunt for a fallen meteor and instead of finding the falling space rock, Daffy ends up ruining a group of friends beach clam bake when he thinks it’s the meteor that smoldering in the sand and his chased off by the angry friends.

A solid Daffy Duck kids comic here that brings the reader four tales featuring Daffy being silly, hungry and just plan old crazy! It’s always nice to see a crime being solved by Armchair Daffy and this one is classic Horror Comedy stuff as the missing people have fall through the floor and are stuck in the locked cellar, I mean come on this could be the plot of a Don Knotts film. It also was cool to see other Looney Tune characters like Yosemite Sam and Tasmanian Devil as they help add to the stories they take apart in. My lest favorite story in this issue has to be “Meteor Hunt” as it was just kind of bland and the pay out of Daffy ruining a clambake is kind of just lame even for kid friendly humor. Plus let’s be honest in that story Daffy is kidnapped and forced into help labor by a nut job scientist. But for me I would pick the story “Tasters Choice” as the best as I love the idea of Daffy Duck being a food critic for a big newspaper and eating like a slob and becoming fat and ends up on the dinner menu for Taz who Daffy was silly enough to bring in as his assistant to help eat and review the food. The art is great and like before done by an uncredited artist. The cover is cool and like most Looney Tune comics from Gold Key and Whitman what Daffy Duck is doing on the cover is nothing he does in the issue. Over all another great comic featuring Daffy and is a great read for fans of the character.

Daffy Duck # 126 **1/2
Released in 1979 Cover Price .40 Gold Key # 126 of 145

“Artsy Daffy” Elmer Fudd is near a pond trying to paint the landscape and Daffy Duck will not leave him alone as he wants to be in the painting, and after harassing Elmer who gives in and paints Daffy who in turn is annoyed by the painting as he thinks its bad. But while walking home a man buys the painting of Daffy from Elmer for $10.00 and claims that paintings of ducks are rare. Daffy says he will let Elmer paint him only if he allows him to eat everything in his fridge, Elmer agrees and after Daffy eats everything Elmer rushes outside to try and sell all his new paintings to people who seem to have no interest. In the end we learn that Daffy Duck paid the guy to buy the painting from Elmer in order to eat all his food. “Breakfast Blahs” Daffy Duck becomes a spokesman for a breakfast cereal and his commercial helps sell the food to the masses, but he is also forced to only eat the cereal for every meal and to make sure he does just that the company even hires a man to follow and watch Daffy to make sure the cereal is his only meals. But Daffy is able to get out of his contract as he finds out the dirty secret of the owner of the cereal company and uses it against him…the secret is that he eats another brand of cereal for breakfast! “Swamp Swap” Daffy is upset as the lake is now filled with swimmers and fishermen and he decides to find a new place to relax and that is a near by swamp. Once at the swamp he finds Elmer Fudd is there and is fishing and the two go back and fourth as Daffy ends up stealing food and now has to work it off by steering the boat, but after an accident the boat sinks and Daffy has to pull Elmer on a raft while he still fishes. “Just Plumb Daffy” A stamp collection worth thousands of dollars is saved by Daffy Duck and his monkey assistant M.W as they are plumbers and by doing this they get a big front page article in the newspaper. A criminal tricks Daffy to help him break into a house and search pipes for a coin collection, but when Daffy figures it out he and M.W alert the homeowner and stop the theft.

Daffy Duck as always brings us four more zany tales of silliness and like all before is a good kid comic read that brings the Looney Tunes world to the comic pages, and I do need to say that I feel as if they do an alright job at doing so…but the characters like Daffy and the others also do not 100% feel and act like the cartoon versions as these ones are way more friendly and Daffy is far less crazy and is really more about eating lots of food. And with this being a kids comic Elmer Fudd does not have his trusty shotgun and does a lot of kicking when it comes to getting Daffy Duck out of his way. And it’s also odd while characters are annoyed with each other they all also come off as if they are friends. And that’s the one thing about these Looney Tunes comics from the 60’s and 70’s they really are good kid friendly reads with characters that most of us grew up watching and while its not 100% like the cartoons they have a very familiar feel that makes them very much enjoyable to read. My lest favorite story in this issue was a hard one to choose as I enjoyed them all but the weakest of the stories is “Breakfast Blahs” as while it is entertaining the payout at the end is weak of the boss eating another brand of cereal is his dark secret. My favorite from this issue is “Swamp Swap” as I like the idea of Daffy and Elmer on a swamp trying to fish and run into issue with a ranger as well as Daffy’s hungry that causes them wreck a boat! The art as always in this series is done by an Unknown Artist and its good classic kids comic art and they character look like they should. The cover is good and has Daffy annoying Elmer and this act at least happens in two of the stories, even if it’s not the same way shown on the cover. Over all a great read and any of these comics are must have stuff for fans of Daffy Duck and Looney Tunes in general.

Daffy Duck # 136 **1/2
Released in 1981 Cover Price .50 Whitman # 136 of 145

“Demolition Duck” has Daffy Duck working for the demolition track as a janitor and after moping the floors in drivers dressing room the demolition derby champion trips and injures his back and Daffy is forced to take his place in the derby and wins it all. “Super Salesman” has Daffy selling Elmer Fudd a trick door that is suppose to scare unwanted guests away, and when Elmer buys it he chases off a game show worker that could have won him lots of money and of course Elmer is mad at Daffy! “Armchair Daffy’s Dilemma” has Armchair Daffy on a case when a Crime Boss goes after him for getting his gang all locked up, and he even messes with Daffy’s chair in order to get him out of the way so he can try and breakout his gang. But in the end it back fires and the chair ends up capturing Crime Boss and putting him behind bars. “Striking It Rich” Daffy sells out of pans in the Wild West due to a gold rush but a pair of robbers steal all of Daffy’s money as well as his donkey’s gold tooth! And both are not happy and once they find the robbers they get the money back and the donkey strikes gold and becomes super rich as due to his tooth he is sensitive to gold and that allows him to find it easy. “Ambition Nutrition” Daffy Duck is so lazy that his pond land is littered with trash and Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig and Petunia Pig try and ask him to clean it up and they can not get him to do so, the three end up going to a local scientist who makes a salt that will motivate who ever eats it and after tricking Daffy into using the salt on hamburgers he uses to much and is super motivated that he cleans the pond and turns it into a tourist attraction! But it’s noisy and annoying for all the neighbors and once Daffy gets lazy again when the salt wears off and Elmer, Porky and Pentunia decide to clean the pond themselves as a motivated Daffy is dangerous.

Daffy Duck is still going strong as this is another fun issue that as always takes Daffy on so many zany adventures and has him involved in some goofy moments. Plus this issue brings on the cameos from other Looney Tunes characters like Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd and Petunia Pig and they are used well as neighbors and friends of Daffy who are annoyed with his laziness. The best story in this issue is Demolition Duck as I like the idea of Daffy by accident hurting the Demolition Derby champ and having to take his place in order for the fans not to riot and ends up beating a challenger as well as win the event! My least favorite story is sadly Armchair Daffy’s Dilemma as the Crime Boss of Crime Co. is cool but also the story of his capture and being a thorn very briefly in Daffy’s side just is a little weak and I hate that Armchair Daffy is the weakest story again. The cover of Daffy holding onto a flying toy is cool and eye catching but as always has zero to do with any of the stories inside the issue. The Unknown Artist interior art is good and like I have said before captures the characters pretty well. So with that lets get to the next issue and see what Daffy has in store for us.

Daffy Duck # 137 **1/2
Released in 1981 Cover Price .50 Whitman # 137 of 145

“The Flying Detective” Armchair Daffy is back and this time is on the case of trying to stop a pair of thieves who have a flying car, and sadly the armchair can not keep up! So Daffy adds on wings and makes his armchair fly, but did not count on rain clouds that makes the armchair fall apart, but thanks to the springs from the chair Daffy bounces up and tags a ride with the car. And after shooting the robbers in the eyes with onion juice Daffy delivers them to the police. And in the end uses the reward money to rebuild his armchair this time with wings and an umbrella. “Eskimo Daffy” in this one Daffy is an ice cream man and an accident puts his igloo shaped cart into the water and people of the town think that he is from the North Pole and throw a big feast in his honor, but when his secret is exposed that he is just an ice cream man, Daffy is forced to run out of town and when doing so he and his cart crash into a limo that ends up saving the life of the Mayor as the rail sign was not working and the limo would have been smashed by the train! And Daffy then returns to the town as a hero and is selling tons of ice cream. “The Raindance Kid” has Daffy Duck as a pot and pan salesman in the old west and most towns are mad at him as his wagon makes all kinds of noise, but soon Daffy finds out that his banging of the pans causes rain and while in a town suffering from a drought he makes it rain and it will not stop and now the town wants him dead as the streets are flooding and the roofs are leaking! But when they soon find that the rain is causing gold to come up they forgive Daffy and end up buying all his pots and pans to capture the rain from the leaky roofs and to carry their gold. “Beaver Fever” has Yosemite Sam on the hunt for beavers as if he captures and kills them he can sell the fur for $30.00 each! So he sets some traps and Daffy Duck is here to save them as he uses Sam’s own trap against him and the beavers build a dame that sweeps his house away.

This Daffy Duck has four stories as well as two small one page gags given us a lot of Daffy for very small pocket change! Daffy in this issue once more is a duck of all trades as he is a rainmaker, an animal savior, an ice cream salesmen and a detective! The best story in this batch for me is The Raindance Kid as I like the idea of Daffy in the wild west and with his pans he is able to make it rain, very silly stuff and plus I am a fan of rain so Daffy being the bringer of it is silly funny to me. My least favorite is Beaver Fever just a middle of the road story and pretty gruesome for a kids comic ad Yosemite Sam wants to murder a whole family of beavers to skin them…pretty gross stuff for what is pretty much a light hearted comic issue. I also need to say I do enjoy reading the cases of Armchair Daffy as well as he is like a very lazy version of Sherlock Holmes, but yet is also very inventive when using his chair and making upgrades and repairs to it. Interior art is done by Unknown Artist and is good as always, and the cover is good and kind of at least fits the Wild West feel of one of the stories. Over all a great issue in the Daffy Duck comic series and had many enjoyable tales to share.

Daffy Duck # 139 **1/2
Released in 1982 Cover Price .60 Whitman # 139 of 145

“The Missing Moosehead” Armchair Daffy gets a case that takes him to a mansion where a mounted moosehead as well as a late night snack has gone missing! And as the owner goes to sleep Daffy sits guard and ends up finding a secret door and that the previous owner of the house is living in the walls as he is sad to have lost him mansion. In the end the new owner allows the old owner to live in the mansion as well and Daffy takes the moose head as payment. “The Clang-Bang Day” Tin Pan Daffy is arrested for all the noise his pots and pans are making as this old west town likes it quite, but also thrown into jail is a banker who has been stealing and hiding money from the safe. A pair of crooks bust Daffy out of jail thinking he is the banker and force him to show them were the money is hidden, and after leading them around he ends up using his pots to capture them and also uses the noise of his wares to annoy the banker who tells them were the money is hidden and leaves the town a hero. “Airmail Mallard” Elmer Fudd hires Daffy to deliver a poem to the wrong lady and after a second try he looses the letter and ends up writing a bad poem that coasts Elmer a date! But it works out for Elmer when he wins a free trip and Daffy is then paid to house sit and while there can eat all the food in the refrigerator. “Migration Tribulation” Daffy is flying across the ocean and is getting tired when he gets involved in hijinks as two pirates are in a sub and Yosemite Sam is on his ship hunting whales. But in the end Daffy gets both ships sunk and uses the sail to glade across the ocean. “Deputy Daffy” in this adventure Daffy becomes a Junior Deputy and annoys the town as well as Elmer Fudd, but when Fudd is robbed its Daffy who stops the crook and by the end Daffy becomes a Detective.

Well this is the final issue of Daffy Duck I have and I must say that this issue as well as all the others covered here on this update are just as fun as I remember them being from my youth growing up reading them. The thing about Daffy Duck as well as all the other Looney Tune characters is that they make great comic book characters as well and that is why they still make comic appearances from time to time as Warner Brothers and DC Comics both seem to agree. In these Gold Key and Whitman Comics they do a pretty good job of capturing the nature of Daffy from the cartoons but they do play down is zany crazy nature and add more of a food obsession to him and I get it as the comics needed to be a little more simple for young readers. And while Daffy is different from cartoon to comic he still is very much fun. The best story in this issue has to be The Missing Moosehead as this Armchair Daffy adventure is silly and has a haunted house feel and seeing the panel of Daffy zooming around the mansion in his armchair was great stuff. My least favorite story in this issue is Migration Tribulation as the story is weak, the payout bland and is a short filler story for sure. The cover is very cool on this issue and has Daffy being fired out of a circus cannon and he is scaring Elmer Fudd who is selling popcorn. The interior art is done by Unknown Artist again and is good stuff and fitting for this comic series and they do a good job of making all the Looney Tune Characters look like they should. Over all these Daffy Duck comics are great reads and if you are a fan of Daffy and enjoy reading comic books you should check these out as they are Daffy adventures that put him into more goofy situations than the cartoons ever did. Checkout the art below to see the work of the Unknown Artist and the style used to bring Daffy alive in these classic comics.

Daffy Duck truly is one of my all time favorite Looney Tunes characters and while his comics are not 100% like the character they are still great reads that really made me flashback to being a kid and reading them when I was a youngster. And while these Daffy Duck comics might not be the most amazing cartoon based comics you will ever read, they are entertaining and bring Daffy into adventures the cartoons would not take him on, in fact almost all of the Dell/Gold Key/Whitman comics based on Looney Tune characters are worth reading. Showcasing Daffy Duck was a great way to spend one of Rotten Ink’s 10 Year Anniversary updates with as Daffy really was a big part of my life growing and needed to be apart of the fun. And our next update takes us into the world of Jack “The King” Kirby and his DC Comics creation The Sandman, one that should be a blast to talk about. So until next time, read a Looney Tune comics or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for a chat in the dream world…or is that nightmare world.

The World’s Greatest Detective: Inch High Private Eye

Posted on February 12, 2022 by bloodlinematt

Welcome back to Rotten Ink, readers and friends. I think we need some help solving a case, you see this blog is 10 Years Old this year and we need a good update about a topic that I loved in my youth, something that always captured my imagination and had me glued to the TV when an episode was on. So in order to find this topic I decided to hire a detective or even a P.I. to help me find just the right topic to cover I called Dick Tracy, Batman, Sherlock Holmes and even Jonni Thunder, all of whom have gotten the Rotten Ink treatment over the years and none were available to help! But then I found a Private Eye, an Inch High one who not only helped me solve the case, but he became the case. That’s right, on this update we will be talking about the Hanna-Barbara cartoon character Inch High Private Eye! So let’s all become gumshoes, and let’s talk about a classic Private Eye that’s only an inch high that brought a young me so much entertainment via his cartoon.

Inch High is a private investigator who took a very top-secret formula that shrunk him down to being only an inch high! Because of his tiny size, he can get the information about his subject for his client and it makes it so much easier for him to crack and solve cases. He is helped on his cases by his niece Lori, Gator and Braveheart the dog and works for The Finkerton Detective Agency for his boss Mr. Finkerton who dislikes him and keeps waiting for the day he can fire him! Inch High travels the world to solve cases and comes across all types of creeps, thieves and weirdos. Inch High would go onto be in episodes of “Harvey Birdman Attorney At Law” with his first appearance being in 2004 in an episode that has Inch High being fired over his size by Mr. Finkerton. He then hires Harvey, and they file a lawsuit about size discrimination. After that episode Inch High is shown around the office and is mostly getting tormented or squashed. Inch High also is a character on the HBOmax series Jellystone! that has many of the Hanna-Barbara characters living in the same town. So while he might not have had the fame of Yogi Bear or Scooby-Doo, Inch High Private Eye has made his mark on the world of cartoon and the world is a better place for it.

Back in the 60’s and 70’s, one of the biggest cartoon companies was Hanna-Barbera Productions as they delivered so many now iconic characters to viewers like Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Wally Gator, Top Cat, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Johnny Quest to name a very small amount. TV stations needed more and more cartoons as the youth of the time flocked to their televisions to watch the newest toon to grace their screens, and on NBC starting on September 8, 1973 they got treated to Hanna-Barbera Productions newest creation called Inch High Private Eye! The show cast Lennie Weinrib to voice Inch Eye, a skilled voice actor who is known for lending his pipes to such characters as H.R. Pufnstuf, Scrappy-Doo, Gomez Addams, Stanley Chan and Grimace for McDonalds commercials. Rounding out the main voice cast is Kathy Gori, Don Messick, Bob Luttrell and John Stephenson. The show was met with mixed reviews at the time of release with many kids enjoying it, but it did not capture that must-watch TV status and only lasted 13 episodes and was cancelled by NBC on December 1, 1973. When the show ended, it would be dormant for many years until the 1980’s when the show started to air again as part of the USA Cartoon Express on the USA Network. This is how I first saw the show and became a fan. Inch High Private Eye then would go on to be shown on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, gaining the show even more of a cult following. The series would be released as apart of Warner Brothers disc on demand releases that were based on the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons. While Inch High Private Eye is not as well known or loved as many other cartoons from the 70’s, it is one that you should check out if you have never seen it.

Because the show was very short lived, not much merchandise was created around Inch High for fans to collect, and that’s a shame as even to this day with his cult following he still does not get much. Besides the comic book appearance for Fun-In Comics he also got some drinking glasses, a metal lunchbox, pellet gun toy as well as over the years has graced art prints, buttons, shirts and stickers. The show also has had episodes released on VHS and the complete series on DVD. It’s odd to me that he has not gotten the Funko Pop treatment yet as well as did not get at least one official figure over the years. I own the comic and the DVD and would like to at some point get a cool t-shirt of him.

When I was growing up, cartoons were always a big topic on the playground, as kids would always talk about the newest episodes of their favorite ones and would even make up stories that featured their favorite cartoon characters. In Waynesville I can remember that lots of kids loved the old Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbra cartoons with names like Bugs Bunny, Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear, Daffy Duck and Tasmanian Devil being super popular ones. It’s a shame that kids don’t get Saturday Morning Cartoons or after school toons any more like we had in the 80’s and 90’s…but I guess they have so many more all day cartoon networks to watch now as well as streaming services so what do I know. I want to thank an Ebay seller for having this comic in stock and want to remind you all that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, their entertainment value and their art and story. I also want to say that Inch High Private Eye was part of a comic series called “Fun-In” that showcased a different Hanna-Barbera character in each issue, and sadly he was only showcased on one issue! But if you are ready, let’s go on some cases with Inch High and Whitman Comics!

Fun-In # 14 **1/2
Released in 1974 Cover Price .25 Whitman # 14 of 15

“The Fashion Rustlers”- Inch High is mad at his boss Mr. Finkerton who is asleep in his office demanding that Inch High hit the streets and get the company some cases. He then decides to go to the beach with Lori and Gator as Lori is excited to show the world her one of a kind bikini she bought from fashion designer Pierre LeFlair, but it’s not one of kind as the whole beach is filled with young ladies wearing it, and Inch Eye has a case of fashion robbery to solve as is Pierre a conman or is someone stealing is designs and selling them at discount stores. The Toy Department Manger and a man named Martin are working for the ones stealing the designs and selling them at mass market. Inch Eye is able to take down Martin and the Toy Manager and finds the Boss who is stealing the designs and brings him down by using cloth and a sewing machine. “Gives Crime –Co A Black-Eye” – Inch High notices that Lori is missing from the office, and he and Gator go to her apartment to find her not inside and signs of a struggle are all around, along with the help of trusty dog Braveheart they follow her scent and find her tied up and being held captive by Crime-Co who all rush out and think they have stomped Inch High to death! But in reality Inch High follows them to their hideout and uses Judo to take some of the bad guys out and just as Lori and Gator show up out front, Inch jumps from the window riding a paper airplane and has Gator use a sewer grate to block the door and hold the criminals inside until the police show up.

This is a fun kids comic based on the cartoon that has Inch Eye Private Eye in two adventures that have him stop crime as well as theft and all the while use his judo on those who cross his tiny path. The first case has him solving fashion theft and the second has him bringing down a crime syndicate that put a hit on him. Inch Eye in this comic is confidante and has great ideas to bring down crime, he also is skilled at fighting as he uses judo to throw around the bigger foes and can use his charm on the ladies to get answers. Inch Eye also uses his size to solve cases and is able to get into areas that others cant. Gator and Braveheart are around and add some needed muscle and tracking to the Private Eye team. Lori who is Inch Eye’s niece and secretary is also very helpful on trying to solve the cases, but I am pretty sure who ever wrote this comic had never seen an episode as at one point they do a cheesy proposal gag between Lori and Inch Eye…and as a reader I was like they are related and this is gross. The bad guys are very cookie cutter and are super easily beat and that’s fitting for a comic based on a Saturday Morning Cartoon. The stories have a good flow and build the case and then have a fun wrap up ending that has Inch Eye solving the case. But I will also say that I think modern readers who are not a fan of Inch Eye or even grew up watching the cartoon might find the comic a little boring cause its not your normal high action kids comics that we have today. The cover is great and very 70’s Whitman style and captures the mood and style of Inch Eye. The interior art is done by an unknown artist and is great stuff and looks just like the cartoon, so who ever did the art should be proud of themselves for doing it right. Over all this comic does a great job of capturing the over all look and vibe of the cartoon with only one hic-up being the weird Lori having a crush on Inch Eye thing. I would say if you watch or watched Inch Eye Private Eye you should check this comic out as I feel you would really enjoy it. Check out the art below to see the style used in this comic.

Inch High Private Eye was one of my favorite classic characters in the world that William Hanna and Joe Barbara created, and while he is not my top favorite, he definitely is in my Top 20 from them! For those wondering, Yogi Bear is my top Hanna-Barbara cartoon character with Scooby-Doo, Blue Falcon and Huckleberry Hound all being super high as well on my list. Well now that this Update Case is over we will be leaving the office of Inch High and will be heading to back to Skull Island as we have to cover Godzilla vs. Kong and the two graphic novels based on the Titans! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a cartoon or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next time for some Kaiju destruction.

Horror Host Icon: Ghoulardi

Posted on December 14, 2021 by bloodlinematt

Everything changed in Cleveland, Ohio when Shock Theater began airing on WJW-TV Channel 8 on January 13, 1963 and viewers got their first look at Horror Host Ghoulardi! In the fine state of Ohio I would say that Cleveland probably has the richest history when it comes to Horror Hosts with Dayton being the only other city that comes close to matching that legacy. The man who started it all for Cleveland is Ghoulardi who is considered by many to be the king of hosts in the Buckeye state. When selecting hosts to cover for the 10 Year Anniversary of the Horror Host Hall Of Fame, I knew Ghoulardi had to be on the list as his impact is still felt to this day in the city’s culture and entertainment. I also feel that this Horror Host Icon update is way overdue as many of you readers and friends have asked for it, so it’s with great honor that I bring to you Horror Host Icon: Ghoulardi. So sit back, turn blue and for gosh sakes, stay out of Parma!

Shock Theater with host Ghoulardi started in 1963 and from the first airing took the viewers by storm as it seemed like the whole city tuned in, and as Horror Host rumors go, when he was on, crime would drop in the city as even the criminals were watching! Shock Theater would last until 1966 and would spawn two other shows hosted by Ghoulardi with one being a kid’s show and the other, another movie show. While Shock Theater only lasted a short three years, Ghoulardi’s popularity knew no bounds and Clevelanders could just not get enough. Ghoulardi himself was a beatnik who had a fright wig on, a fake black goatee and would wear a blue button up shirt covered in buttons. He was a sharp tongued beatnik who could fire off jokes and insults with the best of any stand up comedian and took joy in making fun of many of the nights movies as well as fellow local celebrities. His hosting style at the time was very original as he totally played it from a “too cool for school” standpoint and would even add his own sound bites and soundtracks into the film, at some points even adding himself into the night’s movie for a good laugh. Ghoulardi was also known for having his own catchphrases that Cleveland youngsters would say to each other like “Turn Blue”, “Stay Sick” and “KNIF.” He also was known for using fireworks on models and toys, which made him a target from some parents and schools. He really was a Horror Host that made his viewers feel like he was their strange friend who would spend his time watching Horror Movies with them and like they were part of something very special when they watched Shock Theater, almost like they belonged to a new culture.

Ernie Anderson was the man behind the fake beard of Ghoulardi. He was born on November 12, 1923 in Boston, Massachusetts and was raised in Lynn with his parents Emily and Ernest Anderson. During World War II Ernie joined the Navy and did not see combat or so it’s believed. After the war, he attended Suffolk University for only two years and then took a job as a DJ on a radio station in Vermont, and this would lead to radio gigs in New York, Rhode Island and finally Cleveland at station WHK. But while he enjoyed his time on radio, with a format change his time at WHK came to an end in late 1958 and with this, he started his career in TV. His first major hit was a movie show called “Ernie’s Place” that had him also doing skits with comedian Tim Conway. But like all good things the show came to an end, and in 1963 Ernie was offered the horror show “Shock Theater” that would air Friday nights. This was a mega hit and really did kick start his career in showbiz as besides Shock Theater he would also host “Masterpiece Theater” on Saturdays and weekly kids show “Laurel, Ghoulardi and Hardy” showing that Ghoulardi was Cleveland’s most beloved Host. And like before, all good things come to an end as Ernie would leave Cleveland and end Shock Theater in 1966 to move to Los Angeles. While in LA he would get acting and voice work on such shows as “Rango”, “Hollywood Palace”, “The Carol Burnett Show” and his most iconic non-Horror Host role was when he became the main voice for bumpers used in ABC programming. He would also go on to do voice work for “America’s Funniest Home Videos” as well as commercials for RCA and Ford Motor Company. Ernie would also lend his golden voice to cartoons “Jayce And The Wheeled Warriors”, “The Adventures Of Super Mario Bros. 3” and “The Powerpuff Girls”. During this Ernie was married a total of three times and had ten children, one being famous director Paul Thomas Anderson known for his films like “Boogie Nights”, “Magnolia” and “There Will Be Blood” to name a few. Ernie Anderson was a smoker and sadly on February 6, 1997 he passed away after a battle with lung cancer. While Ernie is gone, his impact in the world of entertainment is still felt to this day and what he did for Ohio Horror Hosting will never be outdone.

Being born in Ohio, the name Ghoulardi is one you know as his popularity was talked about here in Dayton and even Waynesville. I can remember Ghoulardi being talked about in many of the old Monster Magazines my brother and I had, and then later of course Drew Carrey on his sitcom “The Drew Carey Show” use to wear a t-shirt that had his picture on it, showing that Ghoulardi was indeed a major part of Cleveland culture and is a Horror Host that helps define the city’s entertainment. I first saw Ghoulardi via a VHS tape that had clips of Horror Hosts from all over and can remember enjoying the little I saw as it was clear his style had made so many others in his area mimic his humor, sayings and even look! I have been a part of the Horror Host trade lists, fan sites, groups and boards for many, many years, and one host that is always on people’s want list is Ghoulardi. But like so many hosts from his time, most of his shows were not saved and no home recording machines like Beta or VHS were in homes yet, leaving the world with only some clips and hope that something more will be found for his legion of fans. While I enjoy Ghoulardi, I am not a major fan like so many other Host fans and friends I have, but even if he is not one of my all time favorites, you have to respect what he has done for Horror Hosting in Ohio as well as the world.

Ghoulardi is such an iconic Horror Host that he has had lots of amazing merchandise items made with his image on it! His bearded beatnik image has graced cups, posters, shirts, magazines, books, toys, magnets, art and even comic books by artist Derf of “My Friend Dahmer” fame as well as Bob Ferguson who made a comic in 1998. So as you can see, if you are a fan of Ghoulardi there is so much out in the world for you to collect and enjoy. I would say Ghoulardi only may be matched by Vampira as a Horror Host who lasted a very short time on TV and yet sparked so many fans and so much merchandise that allows their legacy to live on. In my collection I do own both comic books as well as a magnet.

When thinking about Ghoulardi one thing that always comes to my mind is all the Horror Hosts that followed him that were inspired by his look, humor and style of hosting. The first name on the list has to be The Ghoul who was the chosen successor as Ghoulardi passed the mantel to him! Spawned from there, we have Son Of Ghoul, Dr. Shock, and even Janet Decay’s show was called The Daughter Of Ghoul for a short time before she started hosting “The Mummy And The Monkey” with Grimm Gorri. While many of them did or do the classic Ghoulardi bits, they themselves have also made that style their own. I don’t want to spend too much time on The Ghoulardi Family Tree as I am sure each of the above mentioned will get the Horror Host Icon treatment as some point. But just know that Ghoulardi has inspired many of Cleveland’s Horror Hosts who have shared some of his classic bits with their viewers for generations.

On October 12, 2019 a journey to Cleveland was made by Juliet, myself and our friend Scott Scarborough as we attend Ghoulardifest, and this was a first time to attend for all of us! The event was held at the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds and Event Center that was also the site of the haunted house attraction “7 Floors Of Hell.” We arrived a little after 4pm; it was a pretty cool location with a very small town feel. It was $15.00 to enter the convention, which was being held in two buildings. The first room was filled with all types of vendors selling movies, comics, magazines, toys, model kits, books, vinyl records, food and cards with companies like Monster Bash and Cinema Wasteland on hand. In that room as well were guests like Alison Arngrim from TV show Little House On The Prairie who played Nellie Oleson as well as Victoria Price author and daughter of Vincent Price. Plus in the first room was tons of Ghoulardi merchandise at the official table for the Horror Host Icon that had items like buttons, mugs and so many shirts! The second room was really cool as they had a stage set up and a band called the Geeze Cats were playing and also had vendors like Scary Monster Magazine selling goods. But this room’s main attraction for me was the Horror Hosts from the area! The first host as you walked in, was Lamia of Horror Hotel, who was a very nice person as was her crew. Then true Ohio Horror Host royalty Big Chuck, Lil’ John and Hoolihan were meeting with many of their fans. While I saw Chuck and John, I did not spot Hoolihan. Next we spotted Janet Decay and Grimm Gorri from the show “Mummy And The Monkey”, these two are true class acts and are some of my favorite people to chat with at any convention. Drac and his lovely wife Carita were next to them, and I wanted to chat with them but they also had a line of fans, so sadly I did not…one day, Drac, we shall talk in person. Next up was Dale Kay from Dale Kay’s Spookshow, he was not at his table and crazy enough I did not see him at all the whole time we were there. Also on hand was The Midnight Movie cast as well as Don O’Malley from Don’s Breakfast Serial and lastly Son Of Ghoul was on hand! It was very cool to see that many of Cleveland’s talented Horror Hosts in one room and to see fans around them talking and supporting their hometown ghouls. The show closed at 6pm and we spent the whole two hours we had soaking up all the cool people and stuff around us. I ended up getting a few DVD’s from Lamia and Janet & Grimm, as well as picked up a cool mini Phantom Of The Opera figure, a Ghoulardi comic book and some bags of homemade cheese popcorn! Over all this was a very cool event for fans who love Horror Hosts as well as classic monster stuff and I am glad I got to do and see what Ghoulardifest was all about! And on that note it was very cool to see Cleveland come out and support their local hosts like this and they showed them all so much respect. This was an event I am glad I attended and it’s one that I think if you love the rich history of Cleveland Horror Hosts you should at least attend once. Below are some pictures from that day that include me with Hostess Lamia

So as you can see, Ghoulardi is the definition of Horror Host Icon as well as Horror Host Hall Of Famer as his popularity and impact have held strong for decades! Now we are at the point of our update where we will take a look at the episodes of Shock Theater I own, and sadly as I said before, most of Ghoulardi’s episodes are gone for the ages and only some video clips have survived and the one episode I have is in fact a fan reproduction of some of the surviving clips. I want to also remind you all that I will not be giving this episode a star rating and I will be taking the film’s write up from our pals at IMDB and the host segments portion will be written by me. So if you are ready to Turn Blue, let’s take a look at Ghoulardi.

Shock Theater: The Atomic Man
Starring – Gene Nelson & Faith Domergue Not Rated 1955

Host: We start with Ghoulardi smoking cigarette and showing footage of a baseball game he was apart of. It’s the highlights with Ghoulardi giving commentary as a version of Take Me Out To The Ball Game plays. He then fans himself with a Stay Sick Fan and we go to the movie. We next join Ghoulardi who has blown up a hat and puts on glasses and makes an off color joke and then back to the movie. Next Ghoulardi sets off a boom-boom next to a monster head and then once more smokes a cigarette and shows his book “The Life Of Ghoulardi” and reads from it. Ghoulardi next is playing skull bongos and then reads a fan letter about a club that hates him, he of course roasts them in his own smooth way and then answers more letters. Ghoulardi ends the show showing off a “Ghoulardi Box” that shocks one of the station workers and then laughs as the episode ends.

Movie: An atomic scientist is found floating in a river with a bullet in his back and a radioactive halo around his body. The radioactivity has put him seven-and-a-half seconds ahead of us in time. He teams up with a reporter to stop his evil double from destroying his experiments in artificial tungsten.

Note From Matt: This episode is a fan reproduction as no known broadcast versions of the show exists. And while a fun watch at times, the reproduction gets a little sloppy with static and picture role.

While Ghoulardi is gone, I feel his legacy will never die in the state of Ohio and beyond as his iconic voice, sayings and image will forever have its place in American pop culture. And while Ghoulardi has been off the air for over 55 years as of this updates posting, Cleveland is still in good hands for all the hosts who have been inspired by him and those hosts of years ago he inspired. And with that we will be leaving the magical land of Cleveland and Ghoulardi behind and will be heading to Parma…no wait, I mean back to the world of Mighty Max as we spend Christmas Eve with him and his crew! So as always, read a comic or three, watch a movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you on Christmas Eve friends and readers!

Horror Host Icon: USA Up All Night

Posted on November 15, 2021 by bloodlinematt

Growing up my favorite TV Station hands down was the USA Network as they had all the must-watch shows. They aired Commander USA’s Groovie Movies, my all time favorite Horror Host, and they also had USA Saturday Nightmares, USA Kung-Fu Theater, Duckman, Werewolf, The Hitchhiker, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Silk Stalkings, WWF Monday Night Raw and USA Up All Night, with that latter being a must watch for not only the cheesy or sleazy movie but for Rhonda Shear who was and still is one of the most beautiful Horror Hostess to grace a TV screen! Rhonda was one of my major celebrity crushes, and I can even remember kids at school talking about her. Plus no one can say Up All Night like she can! Up All Night also introduced me to the comedy antics of Gilbert Gottfried, who became one of my favorite comedians and later would become the host of one of my favorite podcasts called “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast” that’s about classic Hollywood. Plus I cannot forget Caroline Schlitt, who was the original co-host with Gilbert on the show. She had her own style of hosting and is underrated and too often overlooked by fans when they speak of this classic show. USA Up All Night was a true staple of my childhood, and my brother and I would watch Friday and Saturday nights for the longest time. This show also introduced me to many horror movies as well as martial arts and sex comedies that I am still a fan of to this day. So it’s with great honor and glee that I bring to you readers Horror Host Icon: Gilbert Gottfried, Caroline Schlitt & Rhonda Shear! So if you’re ready, let’s hit the streets of New York and talk about one of the most iconic late night Horror Host shows in the whole USA.

USA Up All Night started airing on USA Network on January 7, 1989 and was a way for the station to air really bad B-movies, horror and sexploitation films to late night TV watchers in double features. The show aired on Friday nights at 11pm with host comedian Gilbert Gottfried and was set in New York. Midway through the first season, a Friday night version of the show was added and comedian Caroline Schlitt would host from Los Angeles, showing three films. In late 1990, hostess Schlitt left Up All Night, and she was quickly replaced with comedian and B-Movie actress Rhonda Shear who would take over the Friday night show as well as be the host for LA. The pair of Shear and Gottfried would even cross over from time to time for special episodes like New Year’s Eve, and the show would remain very popular for the USA Network and was must see late night TV for that generation’s monster kids. In 1994, the animated original show Duckman was also added into the show’s lineup of features, changing the pacing of the start of the show slightly. At one point the California show and host Rhonda Shear was moved to New York and both Friday and Saturday night shows moved timeslots from 11pm to 12am and back and fourth again. Sadly USA Up All Night was cancelled in 1998 after 10 seasons and over 900 episodes when new management to USA Network Barry Diller took over and canceled many programs as he wanted to make the station more upscale and felt like shows like this did not fit his boring and stale vision for the network. The cancelation of Up All Night marked the true end of the USA Network for me as Commander USA’s Groovie Movies ended in 1989 and USA Saturday Nightmares was no more in 1994….and now the station is a shell of what it was with most of the day devoted to terrible reruns of Law And Order. It’s crazy to me that USA Network did not do a 30^th Anniversary Up All Night Reunion show in 2019 and bring back all three classic hosts to host three films…a missed opportunity for sure…but I guess they could not spare the time as they really needed to play those crappy rerun episodes of Modern Family.

Growing up, Saturday nights were a great time to be a horror movie fan as USA Network was your hookup for a good night of frights. You could start your night with USA Saturday Nightmares and watch a spooky movie as well as some thriller themed TV Shows and to end the night, you would join Gilbert Gottfried as he would keep you Up All Night with a dose of sleazy cinema. My brother and I would watch the show on both Friday and Saturday nights and I can remember us both being torn sometimes when TNT started MonsterVision with host Joe Bob Briggs on Friday nights at 11pm starting in 1996 as it was the same time Rhonda Shear was on! Now that really was a battle as both hosts are some of my all time favorites and both showed the films I enjoyed! I can also remember, as I stated before, kids at school talking about Up All Night and all the boys talking about Rhonda and how beautiful she was and many of us doing really bad impersonations of Gilbert Gottfried saying Up All Night to each other. It’s crazy that major broadcast TV has dropped the ball on bringing the kids of today a good classic Horror Host, and we all must really thank MeTV for having Svengoolie on to be that gateway for many young kids into the world of horror, sci-fi and thriller films. That’s also why I think Public Access and online stations like Eerie Late Night and The Vortexx are very important in keeping local and national Horror Hosts alive for viewers. It’s crazy as Rhonda Shear, Gilbert Gottfried and Caroline Schlitt will never know just how much they helped shape my creative life and my love for the art of Horror Hosting alongside names like Commander USA, Grampa Munster, Joe Bob Briggs, Dr. Creep, A. Ghastlee Ghoul, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Elvira Mistress Of The Dark and The Creeper. They meant something to me and seemed like crazy friends who went along for the ride as we watched a movie or two. While I doubt they will ever read this update, I still need to say thank you to them for keeping me Up All Night and introducing me to so many sleazy, cheesy and just plan weird movies!

Gilbert Gottfried is a comedian and was the first host hired for USA Up All Night when it was a Saturday night show. Gilbert Gottfried was born on February 28, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York and comedy was in his blood as he started his stand up career at the age of 15. This helped the people dub him “The Comedian’s Comedian,” and in 1980 this helped him become a cast member on the 6^th season of Saturday Night Live and sadly the writers used him very rarely during his 12-episode stint. In 1983 he would become a character actor for the show “Thicke Of The Night” that only lasted one season and was over in 1984…but this helped him land a role in the film “The House Of God” as a paramedic and more roles in TV and movies would follow over the years with some of his most popular TV Shows being the cartoon “Aladdin”, “Duckman”, “Wings”, “Night Court” and “USA Up All Night” to name a few. His film roles include “Problem Child 1-3”, “Highway To Hell”, “Double Dragon” and his most popular “Aladdin” where he voiced Iago The Parrot! He also would be the voice of the Aflac duck mascot for commercials for the insurance company, but was let go when he made some bad taste jokes about the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in 2011. He would also go on to do more stand up comedy, lend his voice to video games and cartoons, host his own podcast and even in 2019 starred as Fred Fuchs in an episode of The Angry Video Game Nerd. Gilbert is married to his wife Dara Kravitz who he met in the late 90’s and wed in 2007; the couple have two children. His comedy style is that of his own and he is well respected by his peers as they see that he is a trendsetter with his comedy. His hosting style for USA Up All Night is more of a crude humor mixed with some sarcasm making him very entertaining to watch. While I could go on and on about how great Gilbert is as a comedian and a Horror Host, I think that you should check out the 2017 documentary “Gilbert” that is about his life and career. One thing is for sure, Gilbert is a true Icon of Horror Hosting for this blogger.

Update: Sadly Gilbert Gottfried would pass away on April 12, 2022 at the age of 67 after battling a long illness. This is sad and heartbreaking news.

Comedian Caroline Schlitt was the California host and was a stand up comedian and actress who was the second host of USA Up All Night as she handled Friday night hosting duties. Caroline would remain on the show from 1989-1990 and was very entertaining and funny. Caroline Schlitt was hired for Up All Night after she had a run on another USA Network show called Camp Midnite that was a talk show/variety show that only lasted 26 episodes. Caroline Schlitt’s hosting style was more of basic comedy with a dash of mature themes that were not in your face. After her run on Up All Night, Caroline went on to be on such TV shows as “The Last Laugh”, “The Father Dowling Mysteries” and in 1991 “Matlock”, “On The Television” and later in the 90’s “Diagnosis Murder” that was Caroline’s last major acting role. She was born on September 4, 1963 and while she only lasted about a year as the host for Friday nights Up All Nights, she very much was entertaining and helped lock the series as must-see TV.

Model and B-Movie goddess Rhonda Shear would become the third host to join the show, and she quickly became the most popular host. Not only did viewers find her sexy, they also found her to be very funny and was fantastic at hosting as she had a very steamy and silly way of hosting. Rhonda was born on November 12, 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana and had a normal childhood and graduated from Loyola University with a bachelor in arts and communications in 1977 and even won many beauty pageants as Miss Louisiana and later would moved to Hollywood to make it as a star. In 1979 she became a contestant on the TV show The Gong Show and even took work in some B-Movies like “J.D.’s Revenge” in 1976, “Galaxina” from 1980, the 1987 film “Spaceballs” and “Return To Frogtown” from 1993 to name a few. She also had lots of work on TV with roles on shows like “Happy Days”, “Dallas”, “CHiPs”, “Married With Children”, “Full House”, “Silk Stalkings”, “Duckman” and of course “USA Up All Night”! She also recorded a comedy CD called “Your Bedtime Buddy” that was released in 1996, and she even posed for Playboy Magazine twice. Rhonda in 2001 started Shear Enterprises and started her own intimates line of clothing for women of all sizes that is still going strong to this day with her most popular item being the Ahh Bra. Over the years she has also done many charity events as well as appearances at conventions as she is always happy to meet her fans. But there is so much more to Rhonda Shear than I have written here, and if you want to learn more about her make sure to read her autobiography called “Up All Night: From Hollywood Bombshell To Lingerie Mogul, Life Lessons From An Accidental Feminist” that was released in 2017.

The fourth unofficial and yet still very important “Host” for this series was the show’s logo that later in the series would bring us in and out of the movie for commercials. The logo would be joined by the show’s theme and jingles and was a great way for viewers to still remain Up All Night with the third movie of the evening. The Logo as we shall call this fourth host of the show was mostly used in the twilight years of the show and was used to replace both Gilbert and Rhonda when the official show came to an end. The Logo’s official end came in 2002 when USA Network dumped all things Up All Night form their late night lineup when they removed the logo and brand from all shown late night movies shown on the weekend.

On March 21, 2015 at Horrorhound Weekend the class of 2015 was inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame and many great names got the honor like Sir Cecil Creape, Superhost, Joel Robinson (MST3K), Baron Von Wolfstein and also both Rhonda Shear and Gilbert Gottfried! The great guys at Atomic Age Cinema got to induct Gilbert, and Sigmund Zoid got the honor of putting Rhonda in. Sadly that year Gilbert did not come to Horrorhound, and while Rhonda was slated, she was unable to attend at the last minute due to a prior engagement, and this was sad news as I very much was looking forward to meeting her. It’s amazing when you look at all the names that have been inducted into the Horror Host Hall Of Fame as many of them were hosts that made my childhood awesome! On a side note I have heard that its possible that Caroline Schlitt might be on a future ballot for the Horror Host Hall Of Fame.

Did you readers know that in 1996 Rhonda Shear released her first and only stand up comedy CD called “Your Bedtime Buddy,” a nickname she gave herself on Up All Night! The CD is one track and has her whole routine on it that even includes a little chat about USA Up All Night. Her comedy has lots to do with shopping, and sex and she has the crowd laughing and leaves them entertained. I got the CD a few years back and listened to it many times in my car driving to and from work and found myself amused by her style of stand up comedy. Also inside the CD booklet fans of Rhonda are treated to some topless photos of her. Check out this CD if you are a fan of Rhonda Shear and like risqué silly stand up humor from the 90’s.

So let’s get to the part of this Horror Host Icon update where I share what episodes I have of the hosts as this is going to be a fun one! As always, I will not be giving these episodes a star rating and the film’s write up will be taken from our friends at IMDB, with me writing about the Host segments. I would like to thank Bryan Brassfield, Stumpy Discs, Dr. Pureblood, Trade Lists, the late great Andy Copp and Ebay for helping me get these episodes over the years. So if you are ready for some late night movie watching with Gilbert, Rhonda, Caroline and the Up All Night Logo….it’s time to stay UP….All Night. Oh and I will review these shows by Host with Gilbert being first, then Caroline, Rhonda and the Up All Night Logo, with the movies for each host appearing in alphabetical order.

USA Up All Night: Barbarian Queen
Starring – Lana Clarkson & Katt Shea Rated R 1985

Host: Gilbert Gottfried ushers us in and out of the film over the show’s logo and title cards. No actual host segments.

Movie: Set during the days of the Roman Empire. A simple village is raided by Roman troops, and most of the people are whisked off to be slaves or killed. Three women survive and set off to liberate their people. When they arrive at the Roman city, they team up with the local underground to seek vengeance and liberation of the slaves.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing the opening segment.

USA Up All Night: Class Of Nuke’em High
Starring – Janelle Brady & Gil Brenton Rated R 1986

Host: Gilbert opens the show on a balcony in The Limelight Club in New York and talks to us about the night’s first film, the Troma classic Class Of Nuke’em High, and all the while we are getting flashes of sideshow performers. He then takes us to the first part of the film. We join Gilbert who tells us before commercial that they have to show the film cause it was printed in TV Guide and it would be breaking the law if they didn’t. When we come back Gilbert makes jokes about the film and the acting and ushers us back in. We next see Gilbert who tells us coming up that the main actress will be wearing a blue bikini and dares us to change the channel. Next Gilbert reads a fan letter where the person tells him he is better than Rhonda, and then says things she does not like about his show…he is confused by this letter. Gilbert after a commercial break talks in an echo as he describes one of the gruesome things about to happen in the movie and shares that he has had that experience before taking us back to the film. The next few breaks has Gilbert still at Limelight making fun of the night’s film. Finally Gilbert ushers us to the end of the night’s first film.

Movie: When Warren and Chrissy notice some strange things happening around their high school, they begin to suspect that something is going on at the nuclear plant next door. Though the plant officials deny that there are any problems, Crissy gives birth to a bloodthirsty mutant who immediately begins eating everyone in the school. Will Warren and Chrissy be able to stop their killer kid?

Note From Matt: This is the first movie of the night with the second one being Class Of Nuke’em High Part 2. This also is missing Gilbert’s bumper after the film ends.

USA Up All Night: Dinosaur Valley Girls
Starring – William Marshall & Karen Black Unrated 1996

Host: Gilbert is in his Bachelor Go-Go Pad along with two very lovely ladies who are go-go dancing and introduces this second film of the night to the viewers and take shots at how cheesy the film is as well as picks on actress Karen Black, who is in the film. As we keep coming back to Gilbert, the women keep dancing and Gilbert makes jokes about the ladies in the film. Gilbert is enjoying the ladies dancing as well as mocking the night’s film and once more goes for teasing Karen Black. In the end Gilbert thanks us for watching as the ladies just keep on dancing.

Movie: Haunted by recurring dreams of Hea-Thor a gorgeous cavegirl,and a menacing Allosaurus, action-movie star Tony Markham soon finds himself transported, by means of a magic Icon, back through time to Dinosaur Valley. Now trapped in a world of dangerous dinosaurs, grunting cavemen and a tribe of exotic, love-starved cavegirls, Tony must put his modern-days skills to extreme tests in order to survive prehistoric perils, win the cavegirl of his dreams and (maybe) return to his own time?

Note From Matt: This is the second film of the night with the other being “Jurassic Women” see its review in the “J” section of the films hosted by Gilbert.

USA Up All Night: Everything You Always..
Starring – Woody Allen & Gene Wilder Rated R 1972

Host: Gilbert is playing pool at a club with Doctor Ruth, the famed sex therapist. Gilbert asks questions at the start, but she just wants to play the game. Next the two make a bet on playing the game, and Gilbert says that she is a cheater and a fraud. The two shoot pool and chat about the film, sex, pool and crack jokes. Gilbert at one point goes off about his “friend” who is a weirdo…and it’s clear the friend is himself. After a few segments Doctor Ruth is away, and Gilbert at the pool table talks about the film and the segments. At the end of the movie Gilbert is taking a nap on the pool table as someone keeps knocking balls into the pocket. As the credits roll Gilbert yawns and gets more relaxed.

Movie: Seven segments related to one another only in that they all purport to be based on sections of the book by David Reuben. The segments range from “Do Aphrodisiacs Work?” in which a court jester gives an aphrodisiac to the Queen and is, in the end, beheaded to “What Happens During Ejaculation?” in which we watch “control central” during a successful seduction.

Note From Matt: This is the second film of the night, with the first being “Play It Again Sam” see that review a little down this list of Gilbert hosted films.

USA Up All Night: Evil Dead
Starring – Bruce Campbell & Ellen Sandweiss Rated R 1981

Host: Gilbert is on the streets of New York giving out $5.00 to people who answer his questions. Gilbert closes the show giving out more $5.00 prizes and keeps yelling at people on the streets giving out prizes of money, t-shirts and posters. And next Gilbert does a voice over the show’s logo and theme and ushers in Evil Dead. The rest of the show has Gilberts voice ushering us back to the movie.

Movie: Five college students take time off to spend a peaceful vacation in a remote cabin. A book and audiotape is discovered, and its evil is found to be powerful once the incantations are read out loud. The friends find themselves helpless to stop the evil as it takes them one by one, with only one survivor left with the evil dead and desperately tries to fight to live until morning.

Note From Matt: This episode starts with the last part of the movie before it called “New York’s Finest” and this episode is missing the end credits of Evil Dead as well as Gilbert’s closing segment.

USA Up All Night: Flesh Eating Mothers
Starring – Robert Lee Oliver & Donatella Hecht Rated R 1988

Host: This episode has the classic 90’s USA Up All Night logo and has Gilbert Gottfried talking over top it ushering us in and out of the film.

Movie: For some strange reason, never explained, a few of the local PTA-going mom’s suddenly turn on their offspring. For much of the film they walk around town, looking mutated and making unfunny wisecracks.

USA Up All Night: Fright Night Part II
Starring – William Ragsdale & Roddy McDowall Rated R 1988

Host: We first join Gilbert as he has a roomful of paranormal investigators in his home who are looking for ghosts and spirits. We next join Gilbert while he is with the ghost hunters trying to talk to ghosts and the only message they are getting is that his apartment is saying “clean me” as it’s a mess! Next the host of the Paranormal show “Wild Speculation” welcomes us back and alerts us that there is a foul smell in the area and its shown that it’s a rotted mouse in a trap! We next see Gilbert at his apartment with Larry Lomax and his crew and Gilbert is getting mad at them and wants them to leave as they are harassing his flies that live on his windows. Gilbert ushers us next into the last part of Fright Night Part 2 as a paranormal cast member uses a heat lamp on him. Gilbert then closes the show in his shower by screaming help me as if he is stuck in another dimension!

Movie: Reluctantly, three troubled years after the blood-soaked events in Fright Night (1985), the now twenty-year-old survivor, Charley Brewster, comes to terms with the freakishly improbable incident that scarred his adolescence. Still struggling to convince himself after countless sessions of therapy that the undead creatures of the night were only figments of his imagination, Charley carefully stays away from his former vampire-slaying companion, Peter Vincent. However, when the cryptic and mysteriously alluring actress, Regine Dandrige, and her motley crew of oddballs arrive in town, suddenly, Charley’s past creeps up on him to haunt him. Is history repeating itself?

Note From Matt: This episode is missing the opening segment, and the tape starts to mess up by the middle of the tape and this is not the first time I got a tape off Ebay from a seller that has been messed up! So in other words when ordering a cool VHS Tape with a Horror Host show off it from Ebay make sure to beware as many terrible sellers with bad quality control and lying descriptions walk among the good sellers.

USA Up All Night: Hot Chili
Starring – Charles Schillaci & Flo Lawrence Rated R 1985

Host: Gilbert is on top of a building in New York and is taking advantage of his new assistant who must do and get whatever he wants that includes a dominatrix, bagpipe player, a priest, keys to the USA Network office, transvestites, street musicians and even Rhonda Shear shows up! In the end Gilbert introduces the next film and this episode comes to an end.

Movie: A group of American teenage boys goes south of the border to work for the summer at a Mexican resort. There they encounter many wacky guests and have zany adventures involving a German dominatrix, a music teacher that gets hot when giving lessons, a buxom cook, and an uptight socialite that eventually thaws. More often than not they end up in bed with someone, but one of the teens is holding out for True Love.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing the opening segment and credits

USA Up All Night: Hot Times At Montclair High
Starring – Kim Valentine & Troy Donahue Rated R 1989

Host: Gilbert starts off telling us about the night’s movie and compares it to a modern retelling of the Br’er Rabbit story and then tells us the actors who star in the film. We next join Gilbert as he gives a little preview of the boring next part of the movie as he says “More Talk And No Action”. Gilbert then takes a moment to read a viewers letter and then orders his assistant who is on the street to bring up a contortionist to the top of the building were Gilbert is. Next time we see Gilbert he once more makes fun of the film and what’s coming up in it! Gilbert ushers us into the last part of the movie and it’s clear he thinks this film is a real stinker. In the end Gilbert is yelling at his assistant again and ends the show making orders and watching as the young man is hit by a bus.

Movie: At Montclair High School, three different students bond with one another through a variety of comic, dramatic and episodic circumstances. Sean is a popular football jock who struggles to keep his grades up to stay on the school’s team. Sean’s girlfriend, Jenny, struggles with her outgoing friend Susan who hooks her up with a local rock band life of drugs and debauchery. Ziggy is a terminal nerd whom tries to find the right woman to be with despite his lack of social skills. Jason is a tough punk and resident bad boy who struggles to get by and takes out his aggression on others to get away from his abusive home life. Despite having nothing in common, Sean, Ziggy, and Jason’s lives take a turn during a stay in detention which leads to them trying to help one other in their own life problems and learn that all of them have a lot more in common with one another than they knew.

Note From Matt: This episode is the second film of the night as Gilbert alerts us that Hot Chili was the first film of the evening. Hot Splash was the third movie of the night.

USA Up All Night: Jurassic Women
Starring – Jan-Michael Vincent & Grace Del Rey Not Rated 1996

Host: Gilbert is hanging out with some pretty go-go dancers and introduces the film and even takes a shot at the film’s star Jan-Michael Vincent, you see he says he is in his Go-Go Bachelor Pad for the night. And when we see him and the ladies again he once more takes a shot at Jan-Michael before we get back to the movie. Throughout this film Gilbert enjoys the lovely ladies dancing as well as takes shots at the film and many are still being directed at Jan-Michael Vincent.

Movie: A meteor shower causes a spaceship crash on a remote planet populated by beautiful and dangerous women as well as cavemen. All procreation has been forbidden as there is a war between man and woman. But when a woman and an astronaut falls in love, the spaceships jealous captain joins the cavemen and a fight ensues.

Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night with the other being “Dinosaur Valley Girls” see its review in the “D” section of the films hosted by Gilbert.

USA Up All Night: Murder 101
Starring – Pierce Brosnan & Dey Young Rated PG-13 1991

Host: A young girl sits down at a microscope and on her slide is the floating head of Gilbert Gottfried who talks about the night’s movies and ushers us into Murder 101! We next get a quick look at Gilbert as he is standing in between a machine that is reading people and he once more brings us back to the movie.

Movie: Charles Lattimore, an author of a book about a famous murder trial, meets up with his ex-wife Laura, at her college, where he is due to give a series of lectures, on how to write a successful novel. When one of his students, asks to meet him later that night, to discuss the course, and is found murdered. Lattimore has no alibi, and he begins to suspect, that the subject of his book, has arranged the killing, to get back at him, for the evidence, Lattimore gave during the trial.

Note From Matt: This episode has many of the segments but they are cut up and edited by the original recorder, and others sadly have been cut fully. Sadly also the end segment is missing.

USA Up All Night: Play It Again Sam
Starring – Woody Allen & Diane Keaton Rated PG 1972

Host: Gilbert is at a New York billiard club and is loaded and calling customers wrong names as he thinks some of them look like famous people. We join him next and he is doing test trick shots with pool balls lined up as he waits for his celebrity friends. We next join Gilbert who is getting tips from a pro pool player, and he is confused and she tries her best to help him. And finally he is playing pool with “Tony Roberts” who starred in the film. Gilbert also tries to do his best Humphrey Bogart while leaning on a pool table. Gilbert and his pool friend keep playing and it made clear that Gilbert is not good. He ends with just starting at the table filled with the pool balls and knows it’s impossible.

Movie: A mild mannered film critic is dumped by his wife and his ego is crushed. His hero persona is the tough guy played by Humphrey Bogart in many of his movies and the apparition of Bogart begins showing up to give him advice. With the encouragement of his two married friends, he actually tries dating again, with less than satisfactory results, until he relaxes.

Note From Matt: This is the first film or the night with the second one being “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex* But Were Afraid To Ask”.

USA Up All Night: Return Of The Killer Tomatoes
Starring – George Clooney & John Astin Rated PG 1988

Host: Gilbert is spray painting on a city wall and claims he is the best street artist. And then tells us about the nights movies and riffs on the Return Of the Killer Tomatoes. When we next join Gilbert he is still doing street art and riffs a little more on the film and how bad it is and how the makers only cared about profit. And Gilbert from here on is standing near walls with graffiti and painting on walls and just makes fun of the film, as it’s clear he is not a fan. He also takes shots at the then Friday night Up All Night host Caroline Schlitt in a playful sexual way! Gilbert has more fun painting and cracking jokes at the film expense.

Movie: Mad scientist Professor Gangreen is cooking up the second coming of the Great Tomato Uprising, in which music converted tomatoes into human form to war against mankind. Pizza delivery man Chad Finletter must save the world and beautiful tomato-girl Tara.

Note From Matt: Sadly the last part of the films credits as well as Gilbert’s final segment are missing for this one.

USA Up All Night: Sweet Sugar
Starring – Phyllis Davis & Ellaraino Rated R 1972

Host: Gilbert Gottfried is having a celebrity auction in New York to sell off some of his junk that he has gotten as gifts over the years, and the bidders are all tourist who are tied up and being forced to be there! And he is very angry about how bad some of the gifts he gets are and wants the world to come together to stop bad gift giving! He starts selling off the junk at high crazy prices to people who are not even bidding, and of course also rifts on the movie while doing so. He even takes shots once more at Caroline Schlitt as he tries to sell her phone number and no one bids…even when he offers to pay them to take it. Gilbert is pushing hard to sell his junk and in the end builds up the next movie “Peggy Sue Gets Married”.

Movie: Prostitute Sugar is set up by a corrupt politician. She is convinced of the futility of appealing her case in the courts and signs on to a chain gang run by the notorious Dr. John who performs cruel medical experiments on the people who work for him.

Note From Matt: This episodes issue is that the audio is slightly off making every one seemed dubbed.

USA Up All Night: Toxic Avenger 1-3
Starring – Bruce Campbell & Ellen Sandweiss Rated R 1981

Host: The show opens at Gilbert’s new New York night club that is called “Club Loveman” that is a tacky looking disco and just looks very cheap. Gilbert has a cheesy mustache and tells us that tonight’s films are the first and second film in the Toxic Avenger film series. We next join Gilbert who is behind a DJ table with a lovely woman who he is trying to teach how to be a DJ for his club, he then makes fun of the acting in the film. Every time we see Gilbert his club is empty minus some employees and all of them seem to be bored and really bad at their jobs minus the Janitor, he also has a few sports bar dudes standing around. Gilbert ends up reading a fan letter that praises movies like Howling III and then Gilbert gets mad as his female DJ who is really bad and yells at her as more men show up to the club and no females. The males request show tunes to be played and will dance with each other but not the pretty female DJ and Gilbert is getting sad that his club is not attracting women. Gilbert then finds out a mess up in the clubs phone book listing has made people think that it is a Gay Club, and he just rolls with it. As the second movie starts Gilbert is hit on by one of the guys who has crude request, and Gilbert sends him away and takes us back to the movie. Each time we join Gilbert he is at his club that is filled with more men and he takes a few moments to make fun of the film. Gilbert and his female DJ have the club cleared out and they are planning more events as they have made lots of money. The third film has the shows logo and shots of New York with just Gilbert’s voice bringing us in and out of the movie from time to time.

Movie: Toxic Avenger: Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose. Toxic Avenger Part 2: The Toxic Avenger is tricked into traveling to Tokyo to search for his estranged father, leaving Tromaville open to complete domination by an evil corporation. Toxic Avenger Part 3: Toxie finds he has nothing to do as a superhero, as he has ridden his city of evil. He decides to go to work for a major corporation, which he discovers may be the evilest of all his adversaries.

USA Up All Night: The Vals
Starring – Jill Carroll & Chuck Connors Rated R 1983

Host: Gilbert is hanging out in a New York clothing shop Appendix: A and is making fun of some of the styles and while in the shop he also takes a moment to read viewer letters as well as try on some of the shops fetish collars plus looks at some of the other naughty things the store stocks. Its clear Gilbert is having a blast in this store! At one point Gilbert decides to wear a female thong on his face and play fake doctor! Gilbert also puts on a blonde wig and acts like he is a valley girl! In the end he wraps up the show and so ends another episode of USA Up All Night.

Movie: Sam, Trish, Beth, and Annie are four Valley Girls bored with shopping and frat parties. They come across kind Mr. Stanton, who is running a home for orphaned boys. Mr. Stanton and his charges are in danger of being evicted from their home if they don’t come up with the rent money that is due, and one of the boys has taken to selling drugs for a couple of sleazy dealers. When Trish’s prized “TUBUL R” Mercedes convertible is lost in a bet in which their Beverly Hills rivals have cheated, mayhem ensues as the Vals, with the help of their frat boy boyfriends, save Mr. Stanton and his boys from being evicted, give the drug dealers their just desserts, and exact revenge on the Beverly Hills brats in a rematch.

Note From Matt: The opening segment is missing as The Vals was the second feature of the night.

USA Up All Night: Vampire On Bikini Beach
Starring – Jennifer Badham & Nancy Rogers Not Rated 1988

Host: When we first join Gilbert he is in his apartment and it seems to have been robbed and he had a good showed planned that is now ruined. He spends time cracking jokes about being robbed and being annoyed by it as well as the night’s film.

Movie: Two teenagers find a book called “The Book of the Dead,” and soon they discover that a vampire cult, which needs the book to raise the dead so they can take over the world, is after them.

Note From Matt: This was the second film of the night so it’s missing the opening credits, film and sadly as well most of the closing segment.

USA Up All Night: Vixens Of Bandelero
Starring – Lisa Butaud & Nicole Dernenberger Not Rated 1993

Host: Gilbert’s spends all his segments reading crazy fan letters that are of course over the top in nature, and he has snarky and funny responses to all of them!

Movie: Three sisters search for treasure to save their ranch.

Note From Matt: Sadly this episode is missing the opening credits and segment.

USA Up All Night: Waitress
Starring – Jim Harris & Carol Drake Rated R 1981

Host: Gilbert Gottfried is in a triangle and is trying to find his inner peace…well and cause he meet a pair a cute new age girls and he wants to impress them! The first movie of the night is the Troma cheesy sexy classic film Waitress! Gilbert is trying his best to find his road to enter enlightenment and as well is making fun of the night’s movie. He also takes a moment to read a letter from a fan that he says is from Mother Theresa, and then a he also spends some times with crystals and tries to eat it. And while in his triangle he also is eating some cheap fast food cheeseburgers and pokes fun more at the film and even pokes fun at USA for cutting the film down for content. Gilbert while practicing breathing techniques ushers us into the end of the film. Gilbert also eats a dishrag to clean out his body…and it’s both nice and painful.

Movie: Three lovely waitresses contend with a drunken, slovenly chef and mutinous patrons.

USA Up All Night: Northern Kicks Southern Fist
Starring – John Liu & Alexander Rei Lo Not Rated 1981

Host: Caroline Schlitt is celebrating a birthday with her crew at a table with a cake and decorations all around. She then tells us to enjoy the next movie of the night that is the martial arts film Northern Kicks Southern Fist. The rest of her segments are Caroline talking over images of her party table. In the end as the intro replays Caroline ends the show and tells the viewers to go to bed!

Movie: Rivals in public, allies in private: The now-legendary “Northern Kick” Shao Yi-Fei has been framed for the murder of “Southern Fist” Shen Yin-Wai’s younger brother. Once again joining forces, they uncover the mastermind behind the setup to prove Shao’s innocence.

USA Up All Night: Raiders Of The Living Dead
Starring – Scott Schwartz & Zita Johann Rated PG-13 1986

Host: In this episode we get the voice of Caroline Schlitt over the logo, shots of the streets of LA and classic show jingle! And this is throughout the episode.

Movie: A newspaper reporter hears of strange goings-on on a remote island. He travels there and finds that a mad scientist lives there and he is creating zombies.

Note From Matt: This was the third film of the night!

USA Up All Night: School For Sex
Starring – Derek Aylward & Rose Alda Not Rated 1969

Host: Caroline Schlitt and her mother are getting ready for a dinner party while watching the night’s films. And they wait for their guests to show up as Caroline chats about the film as well as some of the snacks they will be serving. During the show Caroline’s blind date David Hirsch who was the host of USA’s American Bandstand shows up for the dinner along with friends. The party is going well and the guests seem to even be happy about the night’s film and David is clearly trying to get Caroline drunk and worse Caroline’s mom keeps embarrassing her. But over all the dinner party is going well and David is clearly trying to get something out of Caroline as he keeps pouring her more and more wine. Caroline Schlitt ushers us to the next film after School Fro Sex ends that is Vampire Of Bikini Beach, we next join the dinner party who asks about the next film and her mom puts David on the spot asking if he can really step in the shoes of Dick Clark!….and because this is only the one episode we do now know how Caroline’s date ends with David.

Movie: British Sexploitation/Sex Comedy. Lord Wingate, aquitted after appearing in court for fraud, starts up a ‘finishing school’ to teach girls how to extract money from rich men, in return for a percentage of their gains. He enlists the help of the Duchess of Burwood (Alcoholic Aristocrat played by Rose Alba) as a teacher and Hector (Cockney Geezer played by Nosher Powell) as fitness instructor. A probation officer friend supplies the first batch of pupils fresh from Holloway prison via a clapped out old mini bus. Suspicious neighbours and police together with newspaper reports naming the prison girls now hobnobbing in high society results in a raid and new court appearance for Lord Wingate. The Judge sentences him but plots to start up his own ‘school for sex’.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing the opening show credits and host segment.

Up All Night: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Starring – Bee Gees & Peter Frampton PG 1978

Host: Caroline Schlitt talks over the show’s logo as well as shots of the city and really cool is they show clips of her! She also tells the viewers that she went and seen this film in the theater when released and also during breaks gives facts and says funny things about the film.

Movie: A small-town band hits it big, but they must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.

Note From Matt: This was the third film of the evening so it’s just Caroline’s voice over the shows logo.

USA Up All Night: Attack Of The Killer Tomatoes
Starring – David Miller & George Wilson Rated PG 1978

Host: Rhonda Shear in her red dress is going to a Monster Truck Madness showdown, and after changing she heads out to watch the trucks. Rhonda next gets a monster truck to run over a box of tomatoes and even chats with some of the fans in the crowd. All the while Rhonda is hosting she is having to scream over the massive trucks engines and sounds. She also talks to the only female truck driver at the time and they take jabs at the night’s film. She then goes around and talks to more of the drivers of the Monster Trucks as well as the dirt bikers. In the end Rhonda ushers us to the second film and shows a toy Monster Truck that she has run over mini tomatoes.

Movie: A group of scientists band together to save the world from mutated killer tomatoes.

Note From Matt: This episode is a Fan Reproduction, and while these are cool to see they just do not feel like watching the show from broadcast.

USA Up All Night: Beach Balls
Starring – Phillip Paley & Heidi Helmer Rated R 1988

Host: Rhonda Shear is at a very loud bar and introduces the nights second film Beach Balls, as a waitress clearly is checking her out in the background. We next join Rhonda who makes a joke about Tom and Roseanne Arnold at the beach and then Rhonda has a hidden camera in her cleavage to see if guys are looking or being gentlemen, and the first guy passes but still comes off creepy. The second guy passes but talks about taking her to Hawaii with some creepy sex puns. Rhonda is still at the bar and talks to her friend Michael who shows a pool trick that he is doing just for Rhonda and fails in his attempt to impress her. Rhonda admits that she has been cheating at pool all night and introduces the viewers to the man who was doing all the trick shots she has been taking credit for. Rhonda ends the show in the bar with a sexy pose and sends them to the third and final films of the night as the shows credits role and a Van Halen song plays.

Movie: Charlie Harrison dreams of being a rock star and, with the help of friends and a gang of local toughs, he arranges a concert in his house for a big time record producer, or at least that is what Charlie thought he was arranging.

USA Up All Night: Big Top Pee-Wee
Starring – Paul Reubens & Valeria Golino Rated PG 1988

Host: Rhonda starts the show in her apartment saying she misses the comedy of Eddie Murphy and then plays a small about of his song “Party All The Time” and then talks about the next movie and then makes fun of Pee-Wee in movie theaters. We then get a bunch of bumpers of Rhonda dancing around for our segments with the USA Up All Night logo! We next join Rhonda who is still relaxing in her room and takes us to the last part of the film. In the end Rhonda ends the episode and wishes us all a good night.

Movie: Pee-wee Herman is now a small-town farmer with a fiancée, but when a traveling circus comes to town, he finds himself falling for the trapeze artist.

Note From Matt: This is sadly a fan reproduction and is missing the opening credits, the first movie, all the commercials and over all is just an average reproduction.

USA Up All Night: Cannibal Women
Starring – Shannon Tweed & Bill Maher Rated PG-13 1989

Host: Rhonda Shear is in New Orleans and brings us to the second film of the night the cheesy cult classic Cannibal Women In The Avocado Jungle Of Death! Rhonda then goes to the voodoo museum and sees some strange and dark stuff. She also chats with Chicken Man, a voodoo priest about curses and the fact its Rhonda Shear Day in New Orleans! Rhonda then goes back to a club to listen to some blues music. In the end Rhonda thanks all the people of New Orleans and ends this episode of Up All Night…well at least the second movie.

Movie: The government hires a feminist at the local university to track down the Piranha Women living in the uncharted Avocado Jungle (westernmost outpost is San Bernardino) to convince them to move to a reservation condo in Malibu. She hires a guide at the edge of the jungle, a male chauvinist pig, and they have many arguments about men and women as they work their way in, and eventually confront the Piranha Women.

Note From Matt: This episode is the second movie shown for the night with the first being Reform School Girls that is also covered here on this epic Horror Host Icon Update.

USA Up All Night: Cemetery High
Starring – Debi Thibeault & Karen Nielsen Rated R 1988

Host: Rhonda tries to give your tips on what wear to The Super Bowl and is hanging out with cheerleaders. And she is in fact at the Rose Bowl and is having a tailgate party thanks to beer company Coors. All the while Rhonda rips on the cheesy film she is hosting as the cheerleaders seem to be having a blast as they all bound over comedy, sports, men and a bad movie.

Movie: A group of High School girls with guns go on a killing spree. They are intent on ridding the world of scummy men.

Note From Matt: This sadly is a fan reproduction and is even missing the films opening credits and segment…disappointed for sure.

USA Up All Night: Cheerleaders Wild Weekend
Starring – Kristine DeBell & Jason Williams Rated R 1979

Host: Rhonda Shear goes to LA hot spot Tatou and goes into the clothing boutique in the middle of the club and tries on some amazing clothes and speaks to the owner. While trying stuff on Rhonda is knocked out by Beverly Center who takes over hosting duties and shares tips on how to cheat stores to get cloths cheaper and gets caught changing prices. Beverly ends up going to the club proper as well and enjoys the singers on stage. And later joins them all on stage for a song were she is out of tune, and later takes the stage for a solo. And as well goes to the art gallery in Tatou and chats with some people and just hangs out.

Movie: A bus-load of cheerleaders is hijacked and held for a $2 million ransom. After several comic and arousing interactions, eventually the girls are forced by their captors to participate in a topless “beauty pageant” in which they must pose before their captor-“judges” in nothing but their underwear.

Note From Matt: The end host segment from Rhonda is missing which also means that the opening for the second film is also missing in action.

USA Up All Night: Class Of Nuke’em High
Starring – Janelle Brady & Gil Brenton Rated R 1986

Host: Rhonda in this episode Rhonda is shopping for Valentines Day and wearing sexy outfits and dancing around. Rhonda next talks to a worker at the show Playmates about what was the best gift she has ever gotten on Valentines Day. Rhonda keeps pushing Valentines Day and how if you are with someone you should do something special for them on the day. Rhonda and Miller Beer pick’s the moment of the movie and gives a hint by coughing through her segment. Rhonda nexts looks at jewelry and tries to get viewers so send videos of themselves reenacting scenes from movies shown on Up All Night. Rhonda next reads some mail from fans one that has a fan wanting her to walk on his back and then talks to another business owner for a flower shop, and ends the show taking a tour of the flower shop.

Note From Matt: This episode is a fan reproduction and sadly at times the disc acts up and freezes. Not to even mention the segments are placed in wrong. And as always Rhonda looks super stunning in her outfit!

USA Up All Night: Dialing For Dingbats
Starring – John Caponera & Johnny Mask Rated R 1989

Host: Rhonda hosts this film in voice only over the shows logo and shots of LA and the shows classic theme.

Movie: A lonely man finds love through a party line.

Note From Matt: This is the third film of the night and was during the Holiday season in 1992.

USA Up All Night: Dream A Little Evil
Starring – Tom Alexander & Michelle Gaudreau Not Rated 1990

Host: We join Rhonda, as she is relaxing on a bed looking as lovely as ever and talks about a trivia challenge where the winner could win a very cool Up All Night ball cap. She then takes us to the first part of the film. Rhonda when we join her again pushes the contest some more and give the first question and from there Rhonda gives out the questions and pushes for the contest hard. Later in the show Rhonda is joined by Playboy Playmates and they chat about them being the first mother and daughters team up to be in the pages of the magazine and later the son also shows up and they all chat about modeling and Playboy, she also takes a few shots at the nights film and its cheesy acting.

Movie: An unsuccessful electronics technician builds a machine in the shared home of he and his brother he later shows his friend who creates wishes from from their subconscious into reality. Little do they know that they’ve summoned darkness to wreak havoc within the home by a demonic lustful witch of twisted imagination the technician must find a way to destroy.

Note From Matt: Sadly the end of the movie as well as Rhonda’s end segment for the episode is missing, as the end of the movie and such was tapped over for an episode of Bonanza.

USA Up All Night: The Fly II
Starring – Eric Stoltz & Daphne Zuniga Rated R 1989

Host: Rhonda is dressed as a sexy vampire and is attempting to bite her first victim, and it’s not going well as she takes us to the first part of the film. We next join Rhonda as she has bitten her victim, but one of her fangs falls out and she needs a wet nap and breath spray and sends us back to the movie. Rhonda then bites her victim more and more, and tells him to get over it and goes back to the night’s film, and from their her and the victim share cheesy jokes and puns.

Movie: Seth Brundle was a renowned scientist whose warped experiments with teleportation transformed him into a man/fly hybrid called BrundleFly. A few months after the BrundleFly insect met its demise by his lover’s, Veronica, shotgun, she dies while giving birth to their son, Martin. Seth’s corrupt employer, Bartok, adopts Martin, only so Martin can solve the new problems that the still-functioning TelePods present and to use him as a science project because of the dormant insect genes. Martin is now fully grown, even though he is five, and the fly genes begin to awaken and make him just like dear, dead dad. With the help of his girlfriend, Beth, they go to wherever they can find a possible cure before Bartok finds them and brings them back, but not before Martin finishes his transformation into MartinFly, the deadliest of the BrundleFly species.

Note From Matt: This episode sadly has a bad hiss and pops to the audio throughout and is missing the last part of the film as well as Rhonda’s segments…sucks as I would have loved to see more of Rhonda as the vampire!

USA Up All Night: Friday The 13^th Part 7
Starring – Kane Hodder & Lar Park-Lincoln Rated R 1988

Host: Rhonda Shear is at LA clothing store Dressing For Pleasure and shopping with her snooty friend Robear her artsy sleek friend who is her fashion coordinator and they seem to be having fun looking at the fetish cloths and are enjoying the styles. At one point he puts on a horned masks as charges Rhonda and as he tell him to stop he is confused as he says he thought this was her favorite. Rhonda soon finds out that they are there not for her fashion but for his fetishes! Rhonda also interviews the owner of the shop who plugs a fashion show she has coming up and Rhonda even takes a stroll through the erotic movies the store has in stock. In the end Rhonda asks Robear if she should buy the whip or the handcuffs!

Movie: After Jason Vorhees was chained to the Bottom of Camp Crystal Lake by Tommy Jarvis. A Young Telekinetic Girl known as Tina Shepherd accidentally killed her Father with her Powers at Crystal Lake. Years Later, Tina and Her Mother return to Camp Crystal Lake, Where Tina’s Doctor trys to manipulate her powers for his own evil plans. Tina then trys to ressurect Her Father but Accidentally Awakens Jason Instead. It’s now up to Tina to use her Powers to Stop Jason and Her Evil Doctor.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing the opening segment. Side note Friday The 13^th Part 8 is the second part of this episode.

USA Up All Night: Friday The 13^th Part 8
Starring – Kane Hodder & Jensen Daggett Rated R 1989

Host: Rhonda and Robear are still at Dressing For Pleasure and are still trying on weird fetish items and Rhonda is getting more and more annoyed when he keeps clearly shopping for himself and his weird fetishes. With most of Rhonda’s segments being over items and pictures at the store for the remainder of the episode. At one point Rhonda and Robear are once more in the adult film room making fun of some of the titles. In the end Rhonda and Robear leave the store.

Movie: A whole high senior class is finally graduating. For that, they get into a luxury cruise called ”Lazarus”. At the beginning they are all having fun, including our main heroine ”Rennie” who has a serious problem with the water because of past traumatic events ” Almost got drowned when she was little”. When we get to see all the young teenagers our friend Jason who got on board the ship starts with his killing rampage until we get to see only the main characters of the movie.. After that, they decide to look for the killer and kill him… Unfortunately, Jason got them first… After only a few of them escaped and got off the ship reached N.Y where they now have a bigger problem. Jason managed to get there too! He’s cashing the survivors so he can kill them. Now the young teenager couple must escape or die in the dark waters of New York.

USA Up All Night: Fright Night
Starring – Chris Sarandon & Roddy McDowall Rated R 1985

Host: In this second part (see Shocker for first) Rhonda is meeting the women that could be her Mother In-Law when she makes he choice between two men with the winner being her husband. First she meets Artie’s who is very mean and has no manners. We next join Rhonda on the dance floor and meets Tex’s mom who is pure country and even brings a banjo player for people to dance along to. We next see Rhonda dancing again and she has not made up her mind on who to marry yet and she is feeling pleasure from the mother in laws. Rhonda snaps and trashes both mothers as they she dislikes the way they view her. In the end Rhonda has to make the choice of husband and she asks her own Mom for advice and they decide to choose no one! Rhonda ends the show loving being single and enjoys all the gifts that was for her wedding.

Movie: For young Charley Brewster, nothing could be better than an old horror movie late at night. Two men move in next door, and for Charley with his horror movie experience, there can be no doubt that their strange behavior is explained by the fact that they are a vampire and his undead day guardian. The only one who can help him hunt them down is a washed-up actor, Peter Vincent, who hosts Charley’s favorite TV show, Fright Night. Vincent doesn’t really believe that vampires exist, but does it for the money.

Note From Matt: This is the second movie of the night with Shocker being the first I want to say see below for that one.

USA Up All Night: The Girl I Want
Starring – Linnea Quigley & Burt Ward Not Rated 1990

Host: Rhonda has a pair of shoes that are not broke in and she calls Mr. Bruce who for $5.95 will break in any pair of shoes for you! And after running the shoes around he is able to break them in for her. She next decides to read a letter from a viewer about her missing father who is rumored to be a cook, and as always Rhonda has a comedic answer for them. Rhonda also just chills in her studio room and gives jokes about the night’s movie as well as just seems to be enjoying the night at “home”.

Movie: A brainy girl turns bimbo and a football star turns brainy in order to attract each other’s attention, only to discover that they liked each other the way they were in the first place.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing the opening credits as well as Rhonda’s first segment as well as the opening credits. This episode as well has no closing segment.

USA Up All Night: The Howling III
Starring – Barry Otto & Imogen Annesley Rated PG-13 1987

Host: In this episode USA Network salutes Rhonda Shear as this is her final episode of being the Host of Up All Night and they show some quick clips of her with celebrities on the show over the years like Alan Thicke. They once more show a classic Rhonda Shear moment that has people acting like Sonny and Cher singing a song to each other that is taking shots at their relationship. Next is Rhonda in a Gilligan’s Island skit dressed as Ginger singing like Betty Boop! Next is Rhonda as Genie from I Dream Of Genie and turns her master into meatloaf! Then we have Rhonda doing a skit based on the Honeymooners as she threatens to smash Ralph over the head with a pan while he sleeps. Next they show a few quick clips and as a song about Rhonda plays they show a tombstone that’s simple says R.I.P. and then its white noise on the marker as the credits role.

Movie: A strange race of human-like marsupials appear suddenly in Australia, and a sociologist who studies these creatures falls in love with a female one. Is this a dangerous combination?

USA Up All Night: Jocks
Starring – Christopher Lee & Richard Roundtree Rated R 1986

Host: Rhonda is getting ready as she is going to take us to the California landmark Roosevelt Hotel! And before she goes to the movie she also says at the next break they will pick a movie mogul that will be going on a date with her. Rhonda is now at the Hollywood Hotel and teases after the next commercial they will meet the winner of the date contest but he shows up early and really quick she introduces them to Daryl who looks like a deer in the headlights! Daryl when we come back tells Rhonda that he made a film pitch to Paramount Pictures that starred Gilbert Gottfried and this upsets her. Next she and Daryl are by poolside and she is given him tips on being important in Hollywood. The next time we join Rhonda she gives a history lesson on the Hotel as well as Hollywood nightlife. Rhonda is now with Kelly Green getting ready to have dinner at the hotel as Kelly is a historian of the hotel and she once more shares history of it, and from there Rhonda just has a blast at the hotel showing off all the glamour’s sights to see if you stay there. In the end Rhonda is locked out of her room and is stuck on the hotels roof until a security guard shows up and picks her up and takes her back inside.

Movie: The coach of a college tennis team is given an ultimatum: put together a winning team, or else.

Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night and the second would have been The Van. This one also does not have the end segment as the tape ends at the films end credits. Also Ebay Seller Lied and this was not a broadcast version and was a fan reproduction, man so many fan reproductions.

USA Up All Night: Lifeforce
Starring – Steve Railsback & Peter Firth Rated R 1985

Host: Rhonda Shear starts this film standing in front of an American flag background and makes an TV show E.R. joke before taking us to the film. We then just have random Up All Night Bumpers played throughout the movie. The next time we join Rhonda she alerts us that the next part of the movie is the final part of the film. In the end Rhonda ends the show in front of her flag background and hopes we will join her again for the next weeks show.

Movie: The space shuttle Churchill is assigned to observe Halley’s Comet under the command of Colonel Tom Carlsen. They see a strange form attached to the comet and Carlsen goes with a team to investigate. They find three humanoid life forms in caskets and they bring them to the Churchill. However, Earth loses contact with the shuttle and the Space Research Center sends another spacecraft to search the Churchill. They find the crew dead and the shuttle burnt and one rescue pod missing. They bring the humanoids to Earth and soon Dr. Hans Fallada and his team discover that the Space Girl is a sort of vampire and drains the life force from people, transforming them into zombies. When the authorities find that Colonel Tom Carlsen has survived, they summon him to explain what happened in the Churchill. Carlsen tells an incredible story about the three aliens and he teams up with Colonel Colin Caine trying to save mankind from the evil vampires from space.

Note From Matt: This is the second movie of the night with the first being Night Shift and sadly this episode is a Fan Reproduction. And I should not just like the Night Shift Fan repro this one is not well done.

USA Up All Night: Lovers’ Lovers
Starring – Jennifer Barker & Jennifer Ciesar Rated R 1994

Host: Rhonda is outside a hotel door at Caesars Palace with a man whose wife of six hours has locked him out and says the marriage was a sham, and worse, it’s Valentines Day and Rhonda seems bored. And now must sit around and hear the man speak about the love of his dog and all around her are weird people. You see Rhonda has had a fight with her boyfriend and that’s why she is in the lobby watching the nights movie with the others who have been kicked out of their rooms by their mates and she is kind of upset by it. Rhonda’s next plan is to try and patch up the two guys in the lobby’s dates so they will stop hanging out with her, and she has her work cut out for her as they are real goofy. But Rhonda succeeds in getting them all back together and now must try and do the same for herself and her boyfriend. And of course she patches things up with her boyfriend who shows up to the Hotel with flowers and all the couples stay up and watch the end of the film.

Movie: A man at a party discovers a woman on the floor eating from the fridge. After a brief sexual encounter the man thinks he will never see her again. That is until he finds her eating from the fridge at his house, which he shares with his girlfriend. Soon an affair develops. Meanwhile the audience learns that the girlfriend is having an affair with the fridge girl’s boyfriend. The plot follows the couples as they narrowly miss discovering what’s going on.

Note From Matt: This episode sadly is missing the opening skit and is the second film of the evening, and worse the end segment is also missing.

USA Up All Night: Lunch Box
Starring – Ava Cadell & Warren Farina Rated R 1992

Host: Rhonda Shear starts off in her apartment and says she is going to take the viewers to Hollywood Hits a female boxing review, and while she gets ready she sends viewers to the movie! We next join Rhonda who is at the bar watching the girls box as the grease men watching the fight seems annoyed by her. They show some clips from matches and talk to promoter Hal Stone who just yells and screams and Rhonda says his loud mouth is kind of like Gilbert’s! Rhonda is still hanging around watching the fights and even talks to some of the fighting girls as well as some of the fans in the crowd. Rhonda then talks to the ref and asks him if he thinks she could be a fighter, and then spends more time around ringside and then makes up a story about boxing the champ who gave up when Rhonda told her about all the fights she has had with USA Network censors. And to end the episode Rhonda with one punch knocks out all the ladies and she ends up back at her apartment in a tight pink body suit and introduces the next movie.

Movie: High school graduates CC and Waldo get a job in a warehouse for the summer. On the first day on the job, CC’s lunchbox gets mixed up with a lunchbox full of cocaine. Hijinx and stupidity follow as the drug dealers try to get the lunchbox back.

Note From Matt: This episode sadly is another fan reproduction, while it’s great to see Rhonda in all her beautiful glory…it’s just not the same feeling with the unedited film.

USA Up All Night: Mankillers
Starring – Gail Fisher & Edy Williams Rated R 1987

Host: Rhonda Shear is climbing a rope in her apartment and introduces the nights movies, but she might be stuck on the rope upside down! We next join Rhonda who is still stuck on the rope, but her trainer comes and saves her…he was part of Circus Of The Stars. She then shows some video of behind the scenes and interviews of the circus, for many of the segments. She then shows a clip of her doing the rope trick at the circus and even gives a sneak peek at her outfit, and then more chatting with celebrities from the circus. And of course in-between all this she also talks a little about the film Mankillers and they cheesy action of it. She even gets a visit in her apartment from a horn honking clown who Rhonda says reminds her of Gilbert! Rhonda ends the first film by relaxing in bed in a sexy leopard outfit with long black boots, and before the next movie gets a visit from a peanut seller straight from a circus.

Movie: A female CIA agent is assigned to train and lead an all-female squad to Colombia to stop a renegade agent who has hired himself out to a drug cartel.

Note From Matt: This episode sadly is another fan reproduction and it has the uncut versions of the movie making it not feel like an old school watch on the USA Network, but as always it’s nice seeing Rhonda Shear in all her beautiful glory.

USA Up All Night: Night Of The Comet
Starring – Robert Beltran & Kelli Maroney Rated PG-13 1984

Host: Rhonda opens the show making some jokes about news headlines in 1993, and then sends us to the movie. Rhonda in her apartment set talks to the shows hairdressing who claims something is loose in Rhonda’s foot and starts “working” on it, and working on it through out the episode. All the while Rhonda is both enjoying and being creeped out by it, and is still telling jokes the whole time about the night’s first film and he rubs and makes her feet feel good.

Movie: It’s the first comet to buzz our planet Earth in 65 million years, and everyone seems to be celebrating its imminent arrival. Everyone except Regina Belmont, and her younger sister Samantha, two Valley Girls who care more about fashion trends than celestial phenomena. But upon daybreak, when the girls discover that they are the only residents of Los Angeles whom the comet hasn’t vaporized or turned into a zombie, they would do what all Valley Girls do – they go shopping. However, with the help of a friendly truck driver, the girls save Earth and escape from flesh-eating zombies and blood-seeking scientists in hot pursuit.

Note From Matt: This is the first movie of the night and is followed by Private Benjamin.

USA Up All Night: Night Shift
Starring – Michael Keaton & Henry Winkler Rated R 1982

Host: Rhonda is standing in front of an American flag background and welcomes us to Up All Night and then introduces us to the night’s films as well as an episode of Duckman! We then go to the night’s first film. We then go to a short black and white film of Rhonda driving around town. And the rest of the segments as well has Rhonda in black and white short films and fake trailers. Rhonda ends with showing a clip for the next episode of ER and then takes is to the start of the second film Lifeforce by Tobe Hooper.

Movie: A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious neophyte partner who dreams of the “one great idea” for success. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbor complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night as their brothel. Against his better judgement, he gets talked into the idea, only to find that it’s more than his boss that has objections to this bit of entrepreneurship.

Note From Matt: This sadly is a fan reproduction of the episode and is missing the Duckman episode as well as commercials and second movie. The movie is a crisp widescreen version and makes it so that it does not feel like watching it during broadcast…disappointing indeed!

Up All Night: Nightmare Sisters/Rollerblade Warriors
Starring – Brinke Stevens & Kathleen Kinmont Unrated/Rated R 1988/1989

Host: Rhonda is in a patriotic mood cause out troops are coming home from war while hanging out at her apartment set, she ushers us to the first film of the night. We next join Rhonda as she is looking through her closet to find something to wear as she wants to have a night out on the town, and when she changes her dresses she gets a phone call from Bev who is upset about the nights movies and just keeps Rhonda on the phone for awhile and once off the phone Rhonda has to change dresses again! Once dressed she looks for something to do in L.A. for the night and even checks the ads. Rhonda then gets a visit from her sister who judges her for they way she lives and dresses. With her sister gone Rhonda takes a moment to read a few fan letters. She then takes us to the second film of the night and is going crazy as she wants to go out for the evening and gets a visit from Noodles who has broken in to steal some of her dolls and panties, and she spends tome trying to help Noodles who is clearly an odd person and then kicks him out. Next an old cowboy shows up to hang out with Rhonda and talks about sheep before he leaves, and she is loosing her mind. Rhonda shares a home video that a fan sent in that had her acting like Rhonda and then she once again changes dresses, and the gets a visit from a NFL Football Player who played for the Kansas City Chiefs. Rhonda changes into a nightgown and decides that she is just going to stay in for the night and her phone rings again and it’s from her grandfather! And in the end she gets ready for bed as Bev calls the USA Network.

Movie: Nightmare Sisters: Melody, Marci, and Mickey are three geeky college girls who can’t get a date. One night, they invite some geeky college guys over and have a seance that results in the girls becoming possessed and turning into sex starved vamps. Will the geek hero guys be able to stop the horrible (?) possession? Rollerblade Warriors: In the future, a warrior nun on roller skates must rescue a seer, who is to be sacrificed by a band of mutants.

USA Up All Night: Porkys II
Starring – Dan Monahan & Wyatt Knight Rated R 1983

Host: Rhonda is at her studio apartment and is surrounded by her artwork that she is giving away to lucky viewers! Rhonda then shows off each art piece and tells a little about them. Rhonda also shares a fact about oil that turns into a joke about Jerry Lee Lewis’s hair! She continues the rest of this episode to give away her art to lucky random selected winners.

Movie: When the students of Angel Beach High decide to stage “An Evening With Shakespeare,” their efforts are threatened by Miss Balbricker, who views the works of Shakespeare as obscene. She enlists the help of Reverend Bubba Flavel, a religious fanatic who brings along his flock of followers to pressure the school into shutting down the production. When they succeed with the help of corrupt city officials seeking re-election, the gang don’t get mad… they get even!

Note From Matt: This is missing the second film as well as the end segment.

USA Up All Night: Princess Warrior
Starring – Sharon Lee Jones & Dana Fredsti Rated R 1989

Host: Rhonda is going Mayan Club, a very cool nightclub in California and she is taking us along with her. Before the club she interviews a Mayan dancer who are getting her in the mood for the club. Once at the club Rhonda she has a blast dancing and having a good time with club goers and showcasing some of the people at the club. Rhonda returns to the studio and decides she wants to learn a little about history…comedy history that is. She also talks a little about the film and in the end she gets a phone call from her sister and then talks about the next movie “Vals”.

Movie: Sisters from the planet Vulkaria teleport themselves to Earth to investigate and report back in order to prove to their mother, the planet’s ruler, that they are worth of becoming Queen.

Note From Matt: Sadly this episode is a fan reproduction so has the uncut film as well as no commercials.

USA Up All Night: Private Benjamin
Starring – Goldie Hawn & Eileen Brennan Rated R 1980

Host: Rhonda at the start of the episode calls actor Albert Brooks and tries to get him to show up on the show and talk about acting, and he acts all weird on the phone and does not show up as Rhonda takes us to the movie. Rhonda just hangs around her apartment set and cracks some jokes, looks sexy and talks up the film. At one point Rhonda is sitting around with a baby chimpanzee that she claims is the producer’s new born baby! Rhonda ends the show relaxing thanking us for staying Up All Night!

Movie: When her husband dies on their wedding night, Judy decides to join the United States Army. She realizes that she has never been independent in her entire life. What looks like a bad decision at first, turns out not so bad at all. That is, until her superior officer makes sexual advances on her. She has been transferred to NATO headquarters in Europe and (re)meets the Frenchman Henri Tremont. Judy and Henri decide to marry, but will they?

Note From Matt: This is the second movie of the night with the first being “Night Of The Comet”.

USA Up All Night: Reform School Girls
Starring – Wendy O. Williams & Linda Carol Rated R 1986

Host: Rhonda is walking around the streets of New Orleans talking to locals and enjoying the sights of the nightlife including jazz clubs like Jelly Rolls to try and score free drinks, as she has no money. She gets homecoming welcome and even dances on stage for a crowd as the people love her. Next she talks to Pete Fountain a famous Jazz Musician in his own bar.

Movie: Jenny is sent to a women’s reform school. It is run by evil warden Sutter and her henchwoman Edna. Jenny will stop at nothing to escape but she also has to deal with Charlie the bully.

Note From Matt: Sadly the start of this episode has some major tracking issues that causes the sound to be super speed up.

USA Up All Night: Return To Horror High
Starring – Maureen McCormick & George Clooney Rated R 1987

Host: Start this episode with Rhonda Shear on the streets at night taking a break from an auction and she quickly ushers us to the night’s second film. The rest of the bumpers through out the episode are Rhonda’s voice over the shows logo.

Movie: A few years ago, a mysterious serial-killer caused panic on Crippen High School. The killer was never caught. A movie company, Cosmic Pictures, has decided to make a feature movie about these events – on location, at the now abandoned school. Since members of cast and crew disappear without a trace, it seems as if history is repeating itself.

Note From Matt: Sadly the end credits for the film and the last segment from Rhonda are missing.

USA Up All Night: Screwball Academy
Starring – Collen Camp & Kenneth Welsh Rated R 1986

Host: Rhonda Shear is at the Rose Bowl and is in a trailer gearing up to have a tailgate party and also host two movies with the first being Screwball Academy! While Rhonda waits for her friends, she gives pointers on snacks you should have for football parties as well as shares her grilling skills and Coors Light shows up and brings some beer to her party and she has the truck driver join the party! And you find out that the driver is really Brick Bronsky, actor of Troma Movies like Class Of Nuke’Em High Part II & Part III to name a few. Later she is joined by Raiders Cheerleaders! While Brick hangs out, the ladies all gossip about football players and more.

Movie: Foxy filmmaker Liberty Jean and her movie company arrive at Wagatno Beach to film a torrid movie called “Say Cheese”, going against the wishes of the puritanical Church of the Divine Light, leading all hell to break loose. The church’s phony leader Bishop Wally plans to lead a holy war of the highly religious against the trashy film. That’s when a bumbling gang of thugs are hired to sabotage the production whenever they can. How will the film crew get out of this one?

Note From Matt: This is a fan reproduction episode and goes alongside Cemetery High as this is the first movie of the night.

USA Up All Night: Shocker
Starring – Mitch Pileggi & Peter Berg Rated R 1989

Host: Rhonda is in the Bronx and has decided to finally get married and she has her pick of grooms with one being Tex who wants her to quite hosting and shopping and have a ton of kids with him! Rhonda is more exited for the wedding gifts and is not sure who she should marry and her two main options is Tex and Artie and neither are a good fit for her as they are both annoying people! And in the end she meets Artie’s mom who is mean and Rhonda ushers us to the second film of the night “Fright Night”.

Movie: A murderous TV repairman, Horace Pinker is killing people in a small town left, right and center. He eventually finds the home of Lt. Parker, who is investigating his crimes, and savagely murders Parker’s wife, son and daughter. His other son, Jonathan has a strange connection to Pinker through his dreams, and he directs his father to Pinker’s business, where a small group of officers enter. Pinker escapes in a horrific spree, killing four officers and then targeting Jonathan’s girlfriend, Alison. Another dream leads Jonathan and his dad to a residence where they catch Pinker in in the act of kidnapping. Pinker is arrested after a fight with Jonathan and sentenced to die in the electric chair. When executed, Pinker – who supposedly had given his soul to the devil in exchange for the power to come back as an energy source – takes over people’s bodies and continues committing murders, until Jonathan devises a plan to bring Pinker into the real world, and then cut off his power source.

Note From Matt: This episode is missing its opening segment as well as show credits.

USA Up All Night: Slammer Girls
Starring – Devon Jenkin & Samantha Fox Rated R 1987

Host: Rhonda Shear welcomes us to Up All Night and is at Tatou, a famous Beverly Hills Night Club where she will help a drag troop get ready for a show. Rhonda next meets Gypsy the head Drag Queen and the pair goes back and fourth and they both help prepare each other to swap genders. She then talks to more of the Drag Queens about how she can become more man like for her performance at the club. Rhonda dressed as a man shows us Mojo Nixon weird short “Shut Up And Drive”. And hangs around the club as her friends perform. And after the first film she still dressed as a man introduces the nights next film Beach Girls.

Movie: A young girl is framed for a crime she didn’t commit and sent to the state penitentiary, which is run by a crooked warden and a corrupt staff. A reporter manages to get herself sent to the prison so she can expose the brutal conditions and prove the girl’s innocence.

USA Up All Night: Tender Loving Care
Starring – Rhonda Shear & Pamela Manning Rated R 1994

Host: A parade is being thrown in New Orleans for Rhonda Shear and little does she know the event is in celebration of her leaving town as they find her to be annoying! Jeb Morris is doing the bulletins on her whereabouts at the parade as the late night hostess is on her way from LA to New York…and the Big Easy don’t want her in town a moment longer. They call the bulletins Up All News and they not only talk about what Rhonda is doing in the parade but also facts about her and why they find her annoying. During the parade the crowd also are throwing bead necklaces at Rhonda as she does her best to host and play it off.

Movie: Generous young women will do (almost) anything to save a public service from destruction by greedy town developers.

Note From Matt: Sadly this movie is missing the opening segment also this episode acts as when they moved Rhonda’s show from California to New York.

USA Up All Night: Toxic Avenger
Starring – Mitch Cohen & Pat Ryan Rated R 1984

Host: We join Rhonda in her room as she tells us viewers that Toxic Avenger will be stopping by and she is also getting ready to visit The Shark Club. We next see Rhonda who says she feels bad for Melvin from the film and ushers us into a commercial break. Rhonda arrives at Shark Club in a sexy dress and talks to people at the club as well as dances and flirts. Rhonda is looking amazing as always and the guys at the club are clearly drooling over her. Rhonda cages dances as well as has a quick bite to eat at the club as well. Rhonda leaves the Shark Club and heads back home, and she as a visit from Toxic Avenger who ends up cleaning her apartment! Rhonda ends with dancing with a blow up shark.

Movie: Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.

Note From Matt: This is the first film of the night and is missing the opening credits as well as a small part of the opening segment. The second film is Toxic Avenger Part II and see its review below.

USA Up All Night: Toxic Avenger II
Starring – Ron Fazio & Phoebe Legere Rated R 1989

Host: Rhonda starts the show dancing with a blow up shark and takes a budget and story writing shot at the second movie of the night Toxic Avenger II, she then kisses the shark and takes us to the movie. Rhonda next is wearing a shark nose and her room seems to be over flowing with blow up sharks. We then see very quick shots of Rhonda screaming at toy sharks as most of her segments had been cut by the person who originally taped this.

Movie: The Toxic Avenger is tricked into traveling to Tokyo to search for his estranged father, leaving Tromaville open to complete domination by an evil corporation.

Note From Matt: This second film of the night has some of the commercials cut out and it also seems like they might have cut out some of Rhonda’s segments. And then sadly after a little under an hour the recording stops making the episode not complete.

USA Up All Night: Vice Academy 4
Starring – Julia Parton & Elizabeth Kaitan Rated R 1995

Host: Rhonda’s cameraman is passing a stone and has to film the episode from the floor so its Rhonda’s feet in heels opening the show. Next we join Rhonda’s bare feet that get cramps when she tries to call for help on the phone, and then she puts on bigger black heels and her injured cameraman likes that. Rhonda also says that she is working on breaking in her heels as her cameraman tries to pass the stone and he can be heard in pain. Rhonda also uses her feet on a banana that becomes a mess, picks her toes, talks about web toes, has her feet glued together, mocks her cameraman, waves at the viewers with them, has the cameraman tickle them and in the end Rhonda ends the show and the camera man passes the stone.

Movie: “To Protect and Serve” takes on a whole new meaning when the Vice Academy girls are on the case. Candy and her new partner Samantha are back in an all new wild adventure! The wicked nymphomaniac, Malathion, has broken out of prison again and is on the rampage. The vice girls must bust her before she can seduce the Commissioner and destroy his wedding plans. Malathion, with the help of her new boy-toy, wreaks havoc and sexual hi-jinks as only she knows how. Will Candy and Samantha be triumphant, or will Malathion succeed with her dastardly plot?

Note From Matt: Sadly this episode is another fan reproduction that has all the cussing and nudity intact. And that also means no commercials or USA Network bumpers are shown.

USA Up All Night: Virgin High
Starring – Burt Ward & Linnea Quigley Rated R 1991

Host: Rhonda Shear is hanging out with her girlfriends from a miniature golf course in LA that also has arcades and more! And Rhonda and her friends first start playing miniature golf as Rhonda seems to be loving the nights film. During the golf game of her friends get her foot stuck in the hole as Rhonda decides that her injured friend get a point as the others disagree. As the episode goes on it’s clear the women do not know how to play as they are all cheating to try and win. All the while Rhonda gives tips and such on playing miniature golf and the ladies all seem to be having fun. At one point the ladies are using their golf clubs as baseball bats!

Movie: A girl gets in trouble with her parents for allegedly fooling around with her boyfriend, and they send her to a catholic girls’ high school. There she finds that one of the students is “in charge,” and makes demands on the other girls because she has unofficial connections with the faculty.

Note From Matt: This episode has some issues toward the end of the film as some issues from the master source that would freeze up and skip seconds of the film and some skits. And also has no closing segment.

Up All Night: Wild Malibu Weekend
Starring – Barbara Moore & Kathy Pasmore Rated R 1995

Host: Rhonda is sitting alone waiting for her guests that have not shown up and is disappointed that Rodney Dangerfield has not even showed up. And as well they show some of Rhonda’s best of moments over the years as she continues to wait. In the end no one shows up and Rhonda seems fine with it as she wishes the viewers a good night.

Movie: National beauties compete in a TV game show.

USA Up All Night: Killer Clowns
Starring – Grant Cramer & Suzanne Snyder Rated PG-13 1988

Host: This episode only features the 2000’s version of the Up All Night Logo and is used only sometimes in-between commercial breaks with a very generic jingle that holds none of the charm of the original.

Movie: When a small town is invaded by aliens from outer space who are capturing and killing the townspeople, no one takes them seriously. Why? The aliens all look like circus clowns, use weapons that look clown like, and all have painted on smiles. Only a few of the young people in the town realize the danger and of course no one believes them. Armed with an ice cream truck they try and rescue their friends.

Note From Matt: This episode is one of the very late in the series when both Rhonda and Gilbert had been let go and the “Up All Night” logo was generically used for their films that aired during weekend nights.

USA Up All Night: NOTLD
Starring – Duane Jones & Judith O’Dea Not Rated 1968

Host: The segments are the shows logo as well as the shows iconic theme.

Movie: A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a bloodthirsty, flesh-eating breed of monsters who are ravaging the East Coast of the United States.

Note From Matt: The sound on this episode is really rough by the end and crackles and hums. And I am not 100% sure but I think this was the third movie of the night after Rhonda hosted Shocker and Fright Night.

Up All Night: Nightmare On Elm St. 5
Starring – Robert Englund & Lisa Wilcox Rated R 1989

Host: The segments are the shows logo as well as the shows iconic theme.

Movie: Alice, having survived the previous installment of the Nightmare series, finds the deadly dreams of Freddy Krueger starting once again. This time, the taunting murderer is striking through the sleeping mind of Alice’s unborn child. His intention is to be “born again” into the real world. The only one who can stop Freddy is his dead mother, but can Alice free her spirit in time to save her own son?

I truly miss USA Up All Night being on Friday and Saturday nights as the humor of Gilbert and Rhonda helped make bad weeks better! Plus I just miss seeing Rhonda on my TV Screen every week, but I must say she does a fun Facebook Live show so I am able to get my Rhonda fix and she still is a great Host! When I was a kid USA, TNT and TBS were the kings of cable Horror Hosts and now I would say Shudder has taken all their places in modern times as they have given Joe Bob Briggs and even Elvira The Mistress Of The Dark new shows. But truly I want to really say THANK YOU to Rhonda Shear, Gilbert Gottfried and Caroline Schlitt for keeping me Up All Night and introduced me to many cheesy, sleazy and creepy films over the years they graced out TV Series. For the next update I will be walking away from the world of Horror Hosting and into the world of Jack Kirby as we will be looking at his characters The Satan’s Six that was released and developed by Topps Comics back in the 90’s. So as you can see, it will be a perfect Thanksgiving Day update! So until next time, read a Horror Comic or three, watch a Horror Movie or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update for Turkey Day and a Hellish good time.