Chiller Theatre was the name of at least three Saturday night science fiction and horror movie TV programs. Two programs began broadcast in the early 1960s and ended their runs in the early 1980s. The third still airs on WGBA every Saturday at midnight in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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Pittsburgh

Chiller Theatre ^[1] was a late-night horror and science fiction movie program on WIIC/WPXI, Channel 11, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It aired from 1963 to December 31, 1983. It was hosted by Bill Cardille, known to fans as "Chilly Billy". It was a Saturday night tradition for two generations of Pittsburghers. Two films were shown, one starting at 11:30 p.m. and the second starting at about 1:00 a.m. In between films, and at random times during the films, breaks were taken for skits such as reports from the "PSS"; in these skits, Bill Cardille would go into another part of the WIIC studios and pretend he was broadcasting from the (nonexistent) Pittsburgh Subway System. Other characters (portrayed by Cardille) included Captain Bad, Maurice the Matchmaker, and Mr. Magnificent. Cardille and WIIC publicist Robert Willis wrote the skits and sometimes Channel 11 staffers were enlisted to play bit parts. At the end of the show, Cardille would sit on a stool and banter with the studio crew.

Chiller Theatre was so popular in Pittsburgh that it kept Saturday Night Live off of its NBC affiliate WIIC in Pittsburgh for four years. Finally giving in to pressure from NBC, Chiller Theater was forced to follow SNL at 1:00 a.m. where it was reduced to a single feature movie program.

The show was remembered for several unique features, one being its theme song, "Experiment In Terror" performed by Al Caiola, written by Henry Mancini. The original set was meant to be a laboratory. It was changed to a castle motif when a cast of supporting characters was added in later years. That cast included Terminal Stare (Donna Rae), Georgette the Fudgemaker (Bonnie Barney), Norman (Norman Elder), and Stefan the Castle Prankster (Steve Luncinski). During breaks in the movie, Cardille would perform several sketches, like reciting horoscopes, trivia, and telling a series of corny jokes to a giggling skull.

However, Chiller Theatre's successful run ended at the end of 1983. Precipitating its demise was a decision by WPXI management to air the hour-long weekend edition of Entertainment Tonight immediately after Saturday Night Live, pushing Chiller Theatre's start time to 2:00 a.m. -- too late for even the most devoted fans to fight off sleep. The show ended December 31, 1983.

Chiller Theater was replaced by a new program called "The Saturday Late Show", which still featured the horror and sci-fi movies, but without the local element that made Chiller Theater what it was. The show was canceled less than a year later.

Despite the cancellation of Chiller Theater, Cardille did not disappear from WPXI-TV. He continued his duties as chief booth announcer and did the weather reports during the noon newscasts for many years until his retirement. Since then, Cardille has returned to his radio roots.

Cardille, Rae, and Luncinski continued to make annual Halloween appearances though 2005, including an annual Chiller Cruise on the Gateway Clipper. Luncinski has been on Cardille's daily radio show on Pittsburgh's WJAS at various times over the years plus was a regular every year on the local part of the Jerry Lewis Annual Telethon broadcast from Monroeville Mall. He also had his own auto repair business in Pittsburgh, Pinnacle Auto Repair. He died on Jan 8th, 2009. Rae lives in the Pittsburgh area and still does some acting. Barney married a golf pro and moved to Florida. Elder, who was an independent filmmaker from Steubenville, Ohio, died several years ago.

The show continues to be popular thanks in part to Bill Cardille's official website Chiller Theater Memories.

New York

Chiller Theatre was also a Saturday night show on Channel 11 WPIX in New York City that showed classic horror movies. "Chiller Theater" actually began on WPIX during 1961 and in 1963 included Zacherley ("The Cool Ghoul") as the on-air host. However, by 1965, Zacherley left the show and a new opening was created using a montage of clips from various 1950s sci-fi films. This montage of clips started with the classic scene from Plan 9 from Outer Space with Vampira coming out of the woods. Then, the clip from The Cyclops , showing Actress Gloria Talbot just inside a cave looking at the Cyclops. Various other clips continued throughout the montage, concluding with the classic "goof" from The Attack of the 50ft Woman , with the giant alien from outer space, picking up one brand of car and then shown throwing a completely different brand of car into a ditch. The entire montage was permeated by a frightening library music track ("Horror Upon Horror" by veteran British composer, Wilfred Josephs). Many "Baby Boomers" from this era growing up in the Tri-State Area, have said that this opening provided many nightmares and sleepless nights, forcing some to change the channel when this opening began.

The montage opening served until the late 1960s when another introduction was produced, featuring the word "Chiller" rendered in white paint on a black board, then lifted up, the gooey white paint slowly running down the board like blood while creepy chamber music played in the background. The bumper to this version simply showed the painted "Chiller" as a title card. To get an idea of what this might have looked like, one can view the logo The Chiller Theatre Convention created for its shows that are shown bi-annually in New Jersey. It is not known if this opening was the original dating from the show's inception or if it was created out of necessity; it has been suggested that the montage opening was dropped in favor of this version since by the late 1960s film studios began to charge television stations royalties for film clips. For some reason, few fans of the show recall this opening, and it is hoped someone can provide more description here.

By 1971, the painted title card sequence was gone and replaced by the popular claymation six-fingered hand introduction. This is the famous intro that most viewers remember: A solitary swamp sporting a pool of blood in the foreground, a dead tree in the background, and suddenly a six-fingered humanoid hand rises from the froth while it moans, "Hoo ..." As the hand rises, the word "Chiller" simultaneously grows from the mud as if weeds and the hand passes over each growing letter approvingly, then snatches them one by one before returning to the swamp, groaning "Chillllller ..." deeply in a very creepy voice, all while a reverb-heavy electronic track plays, presumably created with synthesizers. The combination of the surreal imagery and early electronica was unusual enough to cause a fright greater than the movies WPiX chose to air. This opening was used throughout the remainder of the show's run. This was an equally memorable opening as the mid-1960s montage among various "Chiller Theatre" fans. The creators of this introduction remain anonymous and it is hoped more information on the creation of this animation is forthcoming. The program usually aired at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday nights, but for a time in 1974 it was aired at 11:30 p.m. It went off the air at the end of 1978 and returned in early 1980 at 2:00 a.m. Sunday mornings. It was finally cancelled in 1982. The WPiX program showed very much the same classic horror and science fiction movies as the Pittsburgh station did.

After a 26 year absence on WPiX, "Chiller Theatre" returned on Saturday, October 25th, 2008 at 8pm for one night, with Tarantula as the movie of choice. The fans and new converts greatly anticipate a groundswell of support for more revivals of this show, if not a permanent place on WPiX's Saturday night roster. As of August 2009, it appears WPiX continues to support the show as an annual Halloween special.

Since 1990 New Jersey has been the host of the Chiller Theater Convention, which has become one of the largest horror conventions in the eastern United States.

Green Bay

Chiller Theatre aired on various local television stations in the Green Bay market from 1984 until early 2009. It last aired Saturday nights on WGBA - Channel 26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin following Saturday Night Live, and then Saturdays on WACY 32 at 11pm. The show is hosted by Ned the Dead and his sidekick Doc Moreau. The program features classic horror movies and other cult films. On March 28, 2009, The Ned the Dead Show premièred with a new format and new movies. However, the show still takes place at the Chiller Theater. New cast members have joined Ned the Dead and Doc Moreau, including Vicki Vixen, and Small Town Steve. The Ned the Dead show also features independent films and videos in a segment called Sconniewood.

Music

Chiller Theatre was used as the title, title track and inspiration for 2001 album of musician John Babcock. Inspiration was derived from his childhood love of monsters and horror movies and the show itself, which was broadcast in his general area. The song contains lyrics which pertains to many vintage monster films and utilizes certain sound effects from them that plays along with the music to give an interactive nostalgic effect.

References

1. Television Horror Movie Hosts: 68 Vampires, Mad Scientists and Other Denizens of the Late Night Airwaves Examined and Interviewed