Fright Night - WOR-TV Channel 9

FRIGHT NIGHT is probably one of the most remembered and most loved movie showcase programs from the NY Metro area of all-time. I have yet to come across anyone of viewing age at the time who does not remember it. It holds a special place in many peoples lives and for very good reason. Simply put, it was one of the most unique and versatile movie showcase programs of it's era as well as offering the widest variety of films of any "monster movie" showcase at the time. All you really need to know about this wonderful showcase can be found in Jim Arena's wonderful article on FRIGHT NIGHT over at DVD Drive-In.

http://www.dvddrive-in.com/TV%20Guide/frightnight.htm

About the only thing Mr. Arena fails to mention concerns one of the foremost voices of FRIGHT NIGHT, Ted Maille. Other than that, it's a terrific article. So, there is really not too much I can add to it other than just throwing out some random information and sharing personal memories. So, here goes.

First off, of the "big three" monster movie showcases in the NY area, CREATURE FEATURES, CHILLER and FRIGHT NIGHT, it is by far that FRIGHT NIGHT is my favorite. I adored both CF and CHILLER, but FN was more to my tastes and offered the widest variety of horror films you could ever hope for. As a matter of fact, by the mid to late 70's, FN was really a drive-in theater or midnight horror theater right in your own living room. Briefly, FN ran on WOR-TV Channel 9 from 1973 to 1987. Much of the credit for it's programming goes to Lawrence Casey who was the stations programming manager at the time. As mentioned in Mr. Arena's article, the types of movies appearing on FN ran the gamut from old Universal horrors to Mexican horrors to Euro-Horrors to flicks fresh from the Drive-In circuit. When FN first aired, it concentrated on the old Universal films before gradually shifting to more "notorious" fare. How it was done is anybodies guess but there were times when these more violent films aired with little or no cuts at all. FN's time slot shifted at various times from 12 Midnight to it's most popular 1AM slot right after wrestling to later on 1:30AM but for 15 years, it was a steady, welcome friend and a fixture of WOR's Saturday late night programming. Sure, it was "rested" at various times for other programming but most times, our adventurous friend was there. The list of movies I saw for the first time on FN could fill a book. BLOOD AND LACE, DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT, SHRIEK OF THE MUTILATED, CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE, DEATHDREAM and on and on it could go. It was also a place I could re-visit Euro horror films I had previously seen such as DEEP RED or BEYOND THE DOOR. Simply put this was a wonderful, memorable movie showcase from my youth. One that I hold near and dear and one that gave me a good case of the creeps on a weekly basis. It's probably the one showcase I miss the most and it's the one showcase I think of most when I yearn for this type of programming these days.

So, what are your thoughts and memories of FRIGHT NIGHT. I'd love to read them.

Representing The Early 80's

The first entry from the 1980's! Here are some examples of TV Guide movie advertising from April 13, 1981. Enjoy!

A "Night Of The Living Dead" TV Related Inquiry

One of the things I have always wondered was when George A. Romero's 1968 classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD made it's New York TV debut. I first saw it on television in February of 1975 but I have to think it appeared on NY TV before that. I certainly have not stumbled upon a TV Guide ad for the film either. Does anyone know when NIGHT first aired on NY TV and on what channel at what time? Has anyone seen a TV Guide or newspaper TV section ad for the movie? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

The "Missing" FRIGHT NIGHT TV Guide Ads.

I brought this topic up on the AV Maniacs forum but I thought it might also be interesting to the readers of this blog. It's regarding my favorite "monster movie" showcase program of all-time, FRIGHT NIGHT. As I'm sure you all recall, FRIGHT NIGHT aired on WOR-TV Channel 9. I won't get too deep into a discussion of FRIGHT NIGHT right now as I plan on doing a blog entry on it sometime this coming weekend. However, there is one aspect of it that has bothered me.

I don't ever recall seeing a TV Guide ad for FRIGHT NIGHT. I find that very unusual since it was one of channel 9's most popular movie showcases and because, of all the local indies at the time, IMHO, it was channel 9 who advertised in TV Guide the most. Yet, nothing for FRIGHT NIGHT. I collect old Guides as a hobby and have scoured through hundreds in my lifetime but never came across an ad for FRIGHT NIGHT. It has always struck me as odd that WOR never seemed to advertise it in the Guide, yet they advertised almost everything else extensively. Obviously I haven't looked through every Guide published from back in the day but I feel I have read a very good sample of them but, I still have never seen an ad. I'm leaving open the possibility that channel 9 may have advertised it in the TV listings section of the local papers but I have no way of knowing. Now, hop on over to DVD Drive-In and read the terrific article on FRIGHT NIGHT. As you do, notice all the ads in that article and tell me if anyone of them is an actual FRIGHT NIGHT ad. I think this is a very big mystery that might not ever be solved. In the end, I could be wrong but that's been my experience. Anyone else think this is strange? Has anyone seen an actual FRIGHT NIGHT TV Guide ad? Does anyone know if it was advertised in the local papers back then? Any information at all would be helpful and greatly appreciated.

WOR-TV Channel 9 - TV Guide Ads

The lost art of TV Guide movie advertising on full display from WOR-TV Channel 9. These ads are from 1970, 1971 and 1975. Enjoy!

Hollywood's Finest - WNEW-TV Channel 5

I make no bones about the fact that I do not know much about the history of HOLLYWOOD'S FINEST, which was a fairly long running late night movie showcase program on WNEW-TV channel 5. I really have no clue as to when it first started and when it finally ended. What I do know for sure was that I was a frequent late night viewer of the program and that it kept me company on many a late night back in the 1970's. As a matter of fact, it was on HOLLYWOOD'S FINEST that I first saw one of my favorite horror films of all time. More on that in a bit.

What I can say about this fairly well remembered movie showcase is that, depending on the year, it pretty much ran up to six nights a week. The exception being Sunday night when channel 5 would normally go off the air after DAVID SUSSKIND. Another thing was that, at times, it's title was a bit misleading as on many nights WNEW would air films of somewhat less quality then what the HOLLYWOOD'S FINEST title might indicate. Generally speaking, channel 5 was the king of local independent television in NY back in the day. It normally would battle WPIX for the top spot and more times then not, come out ahead. That being said, their post 11PM schedule would fluctuate quite a bit. If anything was constant, it was HOLLYWOOD'S FINEST though it also wouldn't be strange to see it missing from the schedule for periods of time. Still, it pretty much wrapped up 5's schedule for the night featuring an array of films that ran the gamut between top Hollywood fare to low budget, "B" entries. All in all, one of the many entertaining movie showcase programs we got to enjoy back in the day. If anyone has any additional information or can clear up any inaccuracies in this entry, by all means, feel free to chime in.

Oh yes, that all time favorite horror film I first saw on HOLLYWOOD'S FINEST was CARNIVAL OF SOULS back in the fall of 1975.

Channel 11 Film Festival TV Guide Ad

From June of 1972. Enjoy!