''Saturday Night Dead'' is a television program that hosted B horror films on

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3), branded as CBS Philadelphia, is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned and operated by the CBS television network through its CBS News and Stations division alongside WPSG (channel 57 ...

, Channel 3, at that time the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

affiliate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The program aired at 1:00am directly following ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'', from September 29, 1984 to late October 1990, comprising 141 episodes. The show was a cult favorite from the start, with Karen Scioli winning a local acting Emmy in 1985.

Stella

The program was hosted by Stella, dubbed "the Man-Eater From Manayunk" (a section near the

Schuylkill River The Schuylkill River ( , ) is a river in eastern Pennsylvania. It flows for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map(). accessed April 1, 2011. from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, Pottsville ...

, a working-class neighborhood) and the "Daughter of Desire". Stella’s haunted condo was a playground for celebrities and comics including

John Zacherle John Zacherle ( ; sometimes credited as John Zacherley; September 26, 1918 – October 27, 2016) was an American television host, radio personality, singer, and voice actor. He was best known for his long career as a television horror host, oft ...

(aka "Roland"), Jane "Pixanne" Norman, Bill "Wee Willie" Webber,

Rip Taylor Charles Elmer "Rip" Taylor Jr. (January 13, 1931 – October 6, 2019) was an American actor and comedian, known for his exuberance and flamboyant personality, including his wild moustache, toupee, and his habit of showering himself (and others) ...

, Sally Starr,

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell (), was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s, he was considered a teen idol. ...

Robert Hazard Robert Hazard (''né'' Rimato; August 21, 1948 – August 5, 2008) was an American rock musician from Philadelphia. He wrote, composed, and recorded (as a demo) the song " Girls Just Want to Have Fun" in 1979, which was recorded in 198 ...

, Channel 3’s anchors, reporters, weather people, and many local comics and Philadelphia icons. Stella delighted in half-clad, gorgeous young men and often had one or two hanging in her dungeon awaiting her pleasure. According to her biography, Stella was "born in North Libido, New Jersey, a small village outside of Atlantic City. She is the only child of traveling hecklers. Her parents dropped her in a plastic basket at Fifth and Shunk in front of Guido's Hair Weaving and Plumbing Supplies, but for all intents and purposes she was raised by a flock of pigeons." Reincarnated 37 times, Stella was just your typical "ghoul" next door. Stella was portrayed by Karen Scioli, a South Philadelphia-born actress, writer and homemaker who weekly donned a push-up bra, slinky black dress, feather boa, false eyelashes, and a mole on her right cheek. As clarified by Scioli in the 2006 documentary film ''

American Scary ''American Scary'' is a 2006 American documentary film about the history and legacy of classic television horror hosts, written and directed by American independent filmmakers John E. Hudgens and Sandy Clark. Background The film features near ...

'', Stella was ''not'' a vampiress or monster, she was instead a traditional, non-supernatural vamp. In 2012, Scioli/"Stella" was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame. Many Philadelphia and New York City-based actors worked on the program. Stella's butler "Skeeves" was initially portrayed by Bill Brown; when Brown departed the show, he was replaced by Bob Billbrough who then played "Hives". Glenn Davish played "Cousin Mel"; mad scientist "Dr. Schuylkill" (playing off the Schuylkill River); faceless dungeon monster "Iggy" who ate those Stella didn't like; talking "Portrait" that gave sarcastic responses about whatever Stella was wisecracking. Nerdy "Mel" was told by everyone, in tribute to a character on ''

The Dick Van Dyke Show ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961, to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Productions"Calv ...

'' played by Richard Deacon, to "Shut up, Mel."

Mannequin A mannequin (sometimes spelled as manikin and also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off dif ...

'' with Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall and Estelle Getty.] Other prominent regulars included Allen Fitzpatrick who appeared as Stella's love interest "Rhett Cutlet," a butcher from Manayunk who had been raised in the Old South. "Cutlet", a character devised by Fitzpatrick, was modeled on Clark Gable in ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

''. Fitzpatrick also portrayed Rhett's mother, "Veala Cutlet," and scores of other characters including a bimbo in the "LONESOME DIVA" story line (a parody of then-popular TV show ''

Lonesome Dove ''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series and the third installment in the series chronologically. It was a bestseller and won the 1986 Pulit ...

''). Other highly-featured regulars included Donna Ryan as whacked-out psychic "Madame Tofutti"; and Kathy Robinson in a variety of roles. (Stella's canopied bed, "Beda Lugosi", also appeared; the bed was notable for its both speaking and vibrating.) ''Saturday Night Dead'' often featured the talent from KYW's local news production, ''

Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action videos, instead of the older ,"man-on-camera" style of newscast, and is most prominently featured in the New York City metropolitan area. Hi ...

'', including Howard Joffe. The

Duke Ellington Orchestra Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

's recording of "

The Mooche "The Mooche" is an American jazz song, composed in 1928 by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills, with scat singing by vocalist Gertrude "Baby" Cox. The song is considered to be one of Ellington's signature pieces and "he performed it frequently and ...

" was used as the show's theme song.

Featured films

*'' Gamera: Super Monster'' directed by

Noriaki Yuasa (28 September 1933 – 14 June 2004) was a Japanese director. Yuasa was the main director of the Japanese film series ''Gamera'', about a giant flying turtle that befriends small boys and battles giant monsters; he directed seven of the first e ...

*''

Night Fright ''Night Fright'' is a 1967 American science-fiction horror film directed by James A. Sullivan that was shot near Dallas, Texas. In the early 1980s, the film was re-titled in the United Kingdom for VHS release as ''E.T.N.: The Extraterrestrial Nas ...

'' directed by James A. Sullivan *'' Shivers'' (a/k/a ''They Came From Within'') directed by

David Cronenberg David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a principal originator of the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation, infectious diseases, and ...

(shown in a " Christmas in July" episode) *''

The Tomb of Ligeia ''The Tomb of Ligeia'' is a 1964 American-British horror film directed by Roger Corman. Starring Vincent Price and Elizabeth Shepherd, it tells of a man haunted by the spirit of his dead wife and her effect on his second marriage. The screenpl ...

'' directed by

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

*'' Zombies of Sugar Hill'' directed by

Paul Maslansky Paul Marc Maslansky (November 23, 1933 – December 2, 2024) was an American film producer and writer best known for the ''Police Academy'' franchise. Early life Maslansky was born in Harlem, New York, on November 23, 1933. He played jazz for ...

*'' Zombie Lake'' directed by

Jean Rollin Jean Michel Rollin Roth Le Gentil (3 November 1938 – 15 December 2010) was a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his work in the fantastique genre. Rollin's career, spanning over fifty years, featured early short films a ...

*''

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" ( ) is a French Folklore, folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in . The tale is about a wealthy man in the habit of murdering his wives an ...

'' *'' Dracula vs. Frankenstein'' directed by

Al Adamson Albert Victor Adamson Jr. (July 25, 1929 – June 21, 1995) was an American Filmmaking, filmmaker and actor known as a prolific director of B movie horror and exploitation films throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The son of silent film veterans Vict ...

*''

The Legend of Boggy Creek ''The Legend of Boggy Creek'' is a 1972 American docudrama horror film about the " Fouke Monster", a Bigfoot-like cryptid reportedly seen in and around Fouke, Arkansas, since the 1940s. The film combines staged interviews with local residents w ...

'' "starring no one" as described by the ''Saturday Night Dead'' announcer during commercial bumpers

Detroit version

There was also a film series dubbed "Saturday Night Dead" in Detroit, which likewise aired at 1:00am Sunday morning on the local NBC affiliate (

WDIV-TV WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facili ...

) after "Saturday Night Live". Unrelated to the Philadelphia version, the Detroit program had no on-air host and was less successful, debuting on September 16, 1979https://www.newspapers.com/image/99064219/ and airing its last episode on June 6, 1981.

References

{{Reflist American television shows featuring puppetry Horror movie television series 1984 American television series debuts 1990 American television series endings Television in Philadelphia