Fantastic Features
I was a TV fanatic from as far back as I can remember. I watched everything, movies, dramas, varity, sitcoms, PBS, cartoons and the News. I had my favorites over the years but one program stood out, way out above all the others. It was hosted by a local legend Watson David. It started in 1962 and aired till 1972. I saw my favorite movie of all time on this program. It started on Friday nights and later it earned a slot on Saturday night as well. The opening was filmed behind the Brooks Art Gallery in a ditch with smoke to give it that ghoulish feeling. It showed its presentations in black and white only and this local show is still remembered fondly by all that watched it with a blanket wrapped around them for protection. Yes, I'm talking about Fantastic Features with that monstrous host Sivad that brought you such great hits as the She Creature, The Invasion of the Saucer Men and, my favorite of all times, The Ghost of Drag Strip Hollow. There were scarier movies than those but I liked it when they were funny too. I remember that the guys at Charjean would get together to discus the movies on Monday that Sivad had brought us on last Friday and Saturday night. We would lie to each other about how scared we got watching them. No one had ever been scared ever, yeah right, like pigs fly too, don't they. I remember one time when my cousin was visiting, we stayed up late watching it and were too scared to get up and go to bed, as if anything could get into that small house on Durby St. Without us seeing it, what "wusses" we were. When I saw Frankenstein for the first time, I felt sorry for the monster. I thought he was so misunderstood because he looked different and they thought he was bad. Because I was so much taller and bigger than most of the kids my age in the neighborhood, they would pick fights with me. I never knew why till one day, Tony pushed me and told me he was going to fight me. I asked him why, I had not done anything to him. He told me, if he beat me up, because I was the biggest kid in school, every one would leave him alone. I felt as different as Frankenstein did in that movie Sivad showed on Fantastic Features. If I remember, Tony was disappointed I would not fight him.
Happy birthday Tony
I told you my mind works in crazy ways.