BOB WILKINS 1932-2009 A Look At TV Horror Host BOB WILKINS, The Movies He Showed And The Unique Genre Of Northern California Television Of Bygone Days!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
August 31, 1968 Schedule: "Thunder On The Hill" and "Secret Agent" 11:30PM
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
200TH POST and SECOND ANNIVERSARY! Big Changes Are Here!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
199TH Post: The Change Is Coming!!!!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
198TH POST: Big Changes A-Coming Here!!!
August 17, 1968 Schedule: "Circus Of Horrors" and "Secret Agent" 11:45PM
Friday, August 15, 2008
CHANNEL 19's 42nd ANNIVERSARY: 1966 Program Schedule and Almost Definitive History
Former Channel 19 Owner, CHESTER SMITH dies on AUGUST 8, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
AUGUST RAGONE: JAPANESE MONSTER EXPERT and #1 BOB WILKINS FAN!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Saturday, August 09, 2008
THE ALMOST DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF CHANNEL 31 AFTER MAY 1, 1976:KMUV-KRBK-KPWB-KMAX
Well after, KMUV-TV Channel 31 changed its format to Spanish, it competed with the only other Spanish station at the time, KLOC-TV Channel 19 (now KUVS and also formerly KCSO). Actually KMUV wasn't 100% Spanish, it was more a BILLIGUAL TV STATION (much like KLOC). The Spanish programming was pretty much, NOVELAS, NOTICIAS and PELICULAS (Soap Operas, News and Movies, all in Spanish). They also had some English programming, pretty much RELIGIOUS PROGRAMMING like THE PTL CLUB, JERRY FALWELL and JIMMY SWAGGERT plus some other informational shows. KMUV also had a SUNDAY NIGHT ASIAN BLOCK which consisted of MANDARIAN and CANTONESE CHINESE plus FILIPINO and JAPANESE programming. KMUV was on the air for 10 hours a day MONDAY through SATURDAYS (3:PM-1:AM) and 17 hours on SUNDAYS (8:AM-1:AM). From 1976-1981, KMUV was pretty much a low rated tv station. There was talk of converting part of KMUV into a OVER-THE-AIR-SUBSCRITION-TELEVISION Station, pretty much what they had in LOS ANGELES. It is like PAY TV (like HBO but called ON-TV or SELEC-TV or STAR-TV) with uncut first run movies and sports scrambled and you would need a converter box to unscramble it and pay a monthly fee, but it never happened. Finally in late 1980, NORMAN LEAR decided to sell KMUV to KOPLAR COMMUNICATIONS of SAINT LOUIS, MO. KOPLAR owned a SAINT LOUIS INDEPENDENT TV STATION similar at the time to SACRAMENTO'S own KTXL TV 40 called KPLR-TV Channel 11.
When KOPLAR took over on APRIL 2, 1981, they changed the calletters to KRBK. And on MONDAY, APRIL the SIXTH at 7:AM, KRBK signed on the air, this time as a major challenger to KTXL TV 40 as a GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT INDEPENDENT TELEVISION STATION. To challenge KTXL, They aired mostly KID-VID and OLD CLASSIC RERUNS. KRBK ran an extensive CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING compared to KTXL. KTXL had CAPTAIN MITCH anchoring its kiddie programming at the time from 7:AM-8:30AM and 3:PM-4:PM MONDAY'S THROUGH FRIDAYS. KRBK trumped that card with 2 hours in the morning (7:AM-9:AM) and 3 and a half hours in the afternoon (2:30PM-6:PM) with the likes of THE FLINTSTONES, JOHNNY QUEST, MIGHTY MOUSE, UNDERDOG, SCOOBY DOO and more. The classic TV Shows were MY THREE SONS, BOB NEWHART, GOMER PYLE, GET SMART, BEWITCHED, GOOD TIMES, THE JEFFERSON'S, GUNSMOKE, MAVERICK as well as syndicated New Game Shows like CROSS WITS. As for movies, they kept that to the weekends only as that was KTXL's specialty. It wasn't until around 1982 or 1983, that they added weekday movies. But KTXL wasn't going to lay still. This was war. KRBK would later sue KTXL saying that KTXL was trying to monopolize the best movie packages and best TV series. I never did know what the outcome of that was. KRBK did have a few good HORROR GENRE SHOWS. In December of 1981, KRBK debut a show called DISASTERPIECE THEATRE which was similar to not only BOB WILKINS show but to the late great WORST OF HOLLYWOOD show of KEMO-TV Channel 20 in the 1970's. DISASTERPIECE THEATRE was hosted by Radio Disc Jockey, DUSTY MORGAN. Unlike Bob's show but more like THE WORST OF HOLLYWOOD, DISASTERPIECE THEATRE showed ALL KINDS OF MOVIES, HORROR, SCI FI, COMEDIES as well as ADVENTURES but they were B to Z Grade Movies. They were on SATURDAY NIGHTS from 9:PM-11:PM but later moved to 11:PM-1:AM. DISASTERPIECE THEATRE lasted until around NOVEMBER of 1982, and was replaced by a hostless SATURDAY NIGHT DRIVE IN MOVIE which showed fewer horror movies but EXTREMELY EDITED SOFTCORE COMEDIES from the CROWN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES library. This lasted until 1984 when Horror returned with the hostless SATURDAY NIGHT SHOCKER which lasted until 1986 when that was replaced with KUNG FU MOVIES. When SATURDAY NIGHT SHOCKER debuted in September of 1984, SACRAMENTO had the distinction of having not one, not two, but THREE HORROR MOVIE SHOWS. KRBK had SATURDAY NIGHT SHOCKER while KTXL TV 40 had GASP! THEATRE (both shows HOSTLESS) and KOVR-TV Channel 13 had the syndicated ELVIRA'S MOVIE MACABRE with ELVIRA MISTRESS OF THE DARK. Also KRBK carried such syndicated TV Shows like the original TWILIGHT ZONE, George Romero's TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE, FRIDAY THE 13TH THE TV SERIES, FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS TV SERIES.
As for KRBK, KOPLAR sold it to PAPPAS TELECASTING in 1994 and on JANUARY 11, 1995, changed its calletters to KPWB to reflect its upcoming affiliation to the new WB NETWORK. PAPPAS then sold KPWB in 1998 to VIACOM's PARAMOUNT STATIONS GROUP (later to become CBS CORPORATION) and the calletters were changed once again, this time to KMAX and switched affilations with KQCA-TV Channel 58, with KMAX being the new UPN affiliate. In 2005, CBS bought KOVR-TV Channel 13 from SINCLAIR and it became a duopoly with KMAX. KMAX also moved from its longtime home at 500 MEDIA PLACE (since OCTOBER 5, 1974) to share studios with KOVR in WEST SACRAMENTO.In 2006, with UPN and WB merging, KMAX-TV Channel 31 became the new affilate of the CW. And this concludes the ALMOST DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF CHANNEL 31. I did say ALMOST! :)
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
THE ALMOST DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF KMUV-TV CHANNEL 31
Their format was ALL MOVIES. While that format is now commonplace for CABLE TV, they were ahead of their time.They had 3 (or 4) movies which was shown 3 times a day. The station started at 6:30AM with 15 minutes of News (anchored by CHRIS HARRIS) and 15 minutes of Spanish News aka NOTICIAS.(anchored by DON GOMEZ).
KMUV had 3 on air hosts for their movie packages. There was KROY radio disc jockey JOHNNY HYDE, entertainer GEORGE LIBERACE (brother of more famous LIBERACE) and former actor/stuntman BUDDY BAER (who at the time owned a SACRAMENTO FURNITURE STORE). Johnny Hyde showed old movie serials like FLASH GORDON and COMMANDO CODY (in a show called SOLID GOLD HEROES) a LITTLE LULU cartoon and a PETE SMITH SPECIALTIES comedy short as well as a HORROR/SCI-FI MOVIE. George Liberace showed COMEDIES, MUSICALS and FAMILY FILMS while Buddy Baer showed ADVENTURES, ACTION, WESTERNS and THRILLERS. KMUV showed HORROR and SCI FI MOVIES 6 times a week. They were shown at 7:30AM, 5:30PM and at 11:30PM each day except for SUNDAYS. Yes, MONSTER MOVIES 6 days a week, not just on SATURDAYS!!!
At that time, KMUV pulled a coup and snagged the rights to many classic movies from studios such as UNIVERSAL, RKO, WARNERS and more. After a 3 year absence, those wonderful UNIVERSAL MOVIE MONSTER returned to the air on KMUV. When KMUV signed on the air on October 5, They showed the original FRANKENSTEIN (1931) starring BORIS KARLOFF. And throughout the entire month of OCTOBER showed ALL of the UNIVERSAL STUDIO MONSTER MOVIES like FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA, THE WOLFMAN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE MUMMY and THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and all their SEQUELS! Over the year and a half , KMUV showed such HORROR and SCI FI MOVIES like THE BLACK SLEEP, KING KONG, THE RETURN OF DR. X, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE MAD MONSTER, THE FOUR SKULLS OF JOHNATHON DRAKE, IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, VOODOO ISLAND, TWO LOST WORLDS, THE CREEPING UNKNOWN, THE INVISIBLE INVADERS, I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER, BEGINNING OF THE END, THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD, ONE MILLION B.C., THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX, THE MANSTER, FLIGHT TO MARS, CAULDRON OF BLOOD, BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, THIS ISLAND EARTH, THE NEANDERTHAL MAN, THE PHANTOM OF CRESTWOOD, INVASION USA, THE MAGNETIC MONSTER, GOG, THE DEVIL BAT, THE DEVIL'S MESSENGER, THE PROFILE OF TERROR, DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS, BEDLAM, CAT PEOPLE, I BURY THE LIVING, THE LEOPARD MAN, THE APE, THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS, KRONOS, THE CASTLE OF EVIL, THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T DIE, CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN, TARANTULA, THE PHAROAH'S CURSE, SCARED TO DEATH, THE WALKING DEAD and more CLASSICS. In addition to the classics, KMUV also showed relatively new movies at the time. Some as new as a year old. Some of the new scary movies include, BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW, LEMORA THE LADY DRACULA, GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE, OCTA MAN, LEGACY OF BLOOD, DIE SCREAMING MARIANNE, THE VAMPIRE PEOPLE, DECOY FOR TERROR, DISCIPLE OF DEATH, THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM, BEAST OF THE DEAD, CURSE OF THE VAMPIRE, and THE SEVERED ARM. Yes, even THE SEVERED ARM! Can you imagine watching this movie at 7:30 in the morning instead of the cartoons on KTXL TV 40? At that time, KMUV was on the air from 6:30AM-1:AM. On April 19, 1975, KMUV finally went 24 Hours. By May, the Horror Movies were being mixed in with movies from other genres like Comedies and Westerns. On July 7, 1975, SOLID GOLD HEROES expanded to TWO HOURS and included some cartoons too including SPIDERMAN. They also added ONE HOUR TV SERIES shows like SUSPENSE THEATRE and THE BOB HOPE SHOW. On September 6, 1975, KMUV added other shows in addition to the movies. By this time, KMUV was transforming into a GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT TV STATION like KTXL TV 40. They started carrying such shows like PORTER WAGGONER, THE WILBURN BROTHERS (both Country Music Shows), NCAA FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHTS and THIS IS THE NFL. Also on this day was a SATURDAY NIGHT HORROR/SCI FI DOUBLE FEATURE. I can't recall the name, but it was HOSTLESS and started at 8:30PM and ending at 11:30PM, later it was modified to 8:PM-11:PM. Then on DECEMBER 27, 1975, KMUV ended its 24 Hour Day at 6:AM. They returned to the air at 3:PM and then continued with a schedule of being on the air from 3:PM-1:AM, 7 days a week. SOLID GOLD HEROES became a fixture on weekdays from 4:PM-6:PM. Beginning on JANUARY 26, 1976, KMUV picked up the CBS AFTERNOON GAME SHOWS: TATTLETALES and GAMBIT, which wasn't carried locally by then CBS affiliate, KXTV-TV CHANNEL 10.This arrangement lasted until APRIL 9. On APRIL 5, KMUV picked up THE PTL CLUB, then a TWO HOUR RELIGIOUS SHOW featuring the infamous EVANGELIST, JIM BAKKER. The show ran 7 nights a week at 11:PM. All of this should have had me thinking that ALL GOOD THINGS MUST END, but on MAY 1, 1976, KMUV drops all of its ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING except THE PTL CLUB and became the area's second SPANISH LANGUAGE TV STATION.
KMUV remained a HYBRID SPANISH/ENGLISH RELIGION TV STATION until it was sold to KOPLAR COMMUNICATIONS in 1981 and on APRIL 2, changed its calletters to KRBK and its programming to a GENERAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE ENTERTAINMENT TV STATION (Only 2 shows survived the changeover, THE PTL CLUB and JERRY FALWELL). Now however, the NEW CHANNEL 31, competed BIGTIME against LONGTIME SACRAMENTO INDEPENDENT TV STATION, KTXL TV 40. A long hard fight occurred in the 1980's between these stations including legal fights but that is another story that will be told.......IN THE NEXT POST!!!!!