Chiller Theater Memories
And now for my favorite – Chiller Theater. There’s a website and Yahoo Group totally devoted to this great show. This is straight from the Chiller Theater Memories website:
“Do you remember Saturday nights in Pittsburgh? Do you remember “Chilly Billy” Bill Cardille and Channel 11’s Saturday Late Show Chiller Theater? Chiller Theater was Pittsburgh’s favorite place to see Horror, Fantasy, and Science-Fiction movies on television. On September 14th 1963 the first episode of “Chiller Theatre” premiered on WIIC, Channel 11 in Pittsburgh. Bill Cardille was the off-screen booth announcer for the show. The first movie shown was “The Brain From Planet Arous” and it had a Saturday afternoon start time of 3:00 p.m. On September 19th 1964 Bill Cardille became the on-screen host of Chiller Theatre and the show moved to Saturday night following the 11:00 p.m. newscast. Bill’s first show as on-screen host featured “It! The Terror From Beyond Space” followed by “The Screaming Skull”. Unlike the majority of TV Horror Movie Hosts, Bill Cardille didn’t wear any “scary” make-up, he appeared as himself, and would come to be known as “Chilly Billy”. Throughout the show, he portrayed a variety of characters such as “Captain Bad” and “Maurice The Matchmaker”. At the end of the show “Chilly Billy” would be back with his signature signoff, “Good Night and Sleep Warm”. The opening segment of the first shows featured Chilly Billy striking a match and lighting a cigarette. The Laboratory and Castle sets were added later. In 1976, we were introduced to the Chiller Theater Family. The cast included Norman Elder as Norman The Castle Keeper, Donna Rae as Terminal Stare, Steve Luncinski as Stefan The Castle Prankster, Joyce Sterling as Sister Susie, and Bonnie Barney as Georgette The Fudgemaker. Chiller Theater was so popular in Pittsburgh and the tri-state area that it kept NBC’s Saturday Night Live from airing on Channel 11 (NBC’s Pittsburgh affiliate) for four years. Although Chiller Theater remained popular, it eventually lost it’s time slot and was forced to follow SNL with a 1:00 a.m. start time. After more than twenty years on the air, Bill Cardille’s Chiller Theater aired it’s last episode on New Years Eve 1983. The last two movies that were shown were “The Wolf Man” and “It Came From Outer Space”. Bill Cardille can currently be heard on the radio at 1320 AM, WJAS in Pittsburgh. His show airs from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. All his fans have great memories of watching Chiller Theater. Thank you Chilly Billy! Throughout the years Chilly Billy and the Chiller Theater Family have continued to make public appearances, especially around Halloween time. The 1990’s saw two Chiller Theater TV specials. The first appeared in 1991 and was called the “Chiller Theater Reunion Special”. It featured Chilly Billy and the Chiller Theater Family in various comedy routines as well as some clips from the original show. The second special was called “Chiller Theater, One More Time”. This special aired in 1998 with Bill Cardille and special guest George Romero hosting “Night Of The Living Dead”. With Channel 11 approaching it’s 50th Anniversary in 2007, we’re all hoping for a new Chiller Theater Reunion Special.”
I must say that this show did more to create yours truly’s sense of the bizarre and love of the strange than any other. I spent many a Saturday night watching Chilly Billy where I grew up in New Castle, PA. How about you? Altoona got the show on cable as I understand it. I’d love to hear from some local fans, and please go check out the CTM website. You’ll find a real treasure trove of memorabilia, video and audio clips, and merchandise authorized by Bill Cardille and soon Donna Rae who played “Terminal Stare”.
January 10th, 2009 at 8:01 am
RIP to “Little Stevie” To a great guy I got the chance to know, we are all going to miss you!