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Streaming/TV/Mobile

Dark Shadows on Decades TV
for Halloween 2018

News Flash! Here's the press release I received.

DECADES TV NETWORK PRESENTS DARK SHADOWS, A TRICK AND TREAT STARTING HALLOWEEN WEEK. BARNABAS COLLINS RETURNS IN 260 EPISODES

STARTS MONDAY, OCTOBER 29 AT 12 AM ET

Jonathan Frid
Chicago, IL (September 25, 2018) –  Relive the first gothic soap opera television series Dark Shadows when Vampire Barnabas Collins arrives on DECADES TV Network every weeknight at 12 am ET beginning Monday, October 29.  DECADES will start airing 260 episodes of the drama featuring the guilt-ridden, 175-year-old vampire as he made his first appearance, which originally aired on April 18, 1967. To find out where to watch DECADES click http://decades.com/

Since first airing on ABC-TV from 1966-71, the soap opera found its own unique place in TV immortality that had fans running home from school to catch each episode. With its alluring tales of Gothic mystery and supernatural intrigue, Dark Shadowsearned the reputation as being one of the most unusual and enduring programs in broadcasting history. Now, viewers can relive the thrills and chills every weeknight on DECADES.

Mixing together high camp and gothic horror into the moribund soap formula, Dark Shadows quickly gathered a fanatical audience so large that TV Guide called the series one of the 25 greatest cult shows of all time (5/26/2014).

The creation of legendary producer Dan Curtis, Dark Shadows tells the tragic tale of the Collins family, a seemingly white lace patriarchal dynasty that ran a dark New England town out of their family estate, appropriately called Collinwood. Into this world enters young nanny Victoria (Alexandra Moltke), who soon learns there is a lot more to this family than initially meets the eye. Mysterious relative Barnabas (Jonathan Frid), moves into the dilapidated estate next door. Soon the household is beset with all manners of classic monsters, including werewolves, witches and ghosts.

Ghostober Halloween 2017
On Destination America

And another press release of particular interest for spookophiles…like me.

Spooks

DESTINATION AMERICA LINES UP TRICKS AND TREATS

THROUGHOUT MONTH-LONG “GHOSTOBER” HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION

This October – make that GHOSTOBER! – it’s Halloween all month long on Destination America with a celebration of all things that go bump in the night with premieres and extra content so spooky viewers will never want to leave the safety of their living rooms.

The all-new series TERROR IN THE WOODS premieres Tuesday, October 10 at 10/9c with stories from real people whose wilderness retreats were cut short by paranormal encounters. A special two-hour episode airs on Halloween: Tuesday, October 31 at 9/8c. Leading into Halloween is also the world premiere of the two-hour special HELLTOWN on Sunday, October 29 at 9/8c, revisiting the mysterious evacuation of a small Rockwell-esque town in 1974.

But first, kicking off GHOSTOBER are the season finale of HAUNTED TOWNS on Tuesday, October 3 at 10/9c, the return of fan favorite A HAUNTING for season 9 beginning Monday, October 9 at 10/9c, and ongoing new episodes of PARANORMAL WITNESS on Sundays at 10/9c.

“Destination America, delivers all the chills and thrills in October leading up to Halloween and serves up stories of the paranormal all month long on every platform,” said Jane Latman, general manager of Destination America. “We are especially excited about our two new shows that are sure to elicit spine-tingling reactions, HELLTOWN and TERROR IN THE WOODS, tapping into nostalgic nightmares much like Stranger Things and It.

On air and off, Destination America has lined up a goody bag of ways to celebrate the scariest season of the year. For a daily dose of special digital extras, check TheHauntist.com, the online destination for paranormal investigation, entertainment and news about all things creepy, spooky, and odd.

Halloween Television 2017

Amityville the awakening_From the press release I saw this morning…

Fall is officially here, which means it is time for some “scary” good TV.  For your readers with an appetite for anything and everything Halloween and horror-centric, we wanted to share the following spooktacular series and videos from Indigenous Media’s 60 Second Docs; Eli Roth, Jason Blum and Jack Davis’ Crypt TV; Stage 13; Google Play; and SYFY:

  • 60 Second Docs and Crypt TV Present Profiles in Fear, a Social Docu-Series” – Each 60 second documentary from 60 Second Docs and Crypt TV will profile unique stories about the cultures around the strange and unexplainable.
  • “Amityville: The Awakening” – The terrifying revival of the popular franchise will debut exclusively for free for a limited time on Google Play.
  • “Channel Zero: No-End House”  Inspired by Brian Russell’s “creepypasta” tale, this Nick Antosca-created anthology series tells the story of a young woman named Margot Sleator, who visits the No-End House, a bizarre house of horrors that consists of a series of increasingly disturbing rooms.  When she returns home, Margot realizes everything has changed.  Episodes air Wednesdays on SYFY.  Series trailer: http://bit.ly/2fqSZ9y.
  • “Two Sentence Horror Stories” - A fresh and provocative anthology series inspired by the viral fan fiction, each episode is inspired by its own horror story told in two sentences and taps into universal primal fears — death, abandonment, and loneliness. The series is from Stage 13, part of Warner Bros. Digital Networks, and will post episodes every Tuesday on go90.  Series trailer: http://bit.ly/2flLzVd.

Schedule is as follows:

  • Tuesday, October 3 -  “Ma” (directed by Vera Miao)
    • “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on go90
    • When Mona falls for Erica, the new neighbor next door, she learns how far Ma will go to keep her “perfect” Chinese daughter home.
  •  Tuesday, October 3 – “Fear Engineer"
    • “Profiles in Fear” on 60 Second Docs and Crypt TV
    • “Terror Behind the Walls” is Philly’s #1 haunted house attraction, with visitors from 26 countries and all 50 states coming to experience a night of fright. Amy Hollaman, as the Creative Director, oversees all preparation, design, production, and performance elements of it.
  • Wednesday, October 4 – “Channel Zero: No End House”
    • 10/9c on SYFY
    • Margot flees The Father with the help of Jules, Seth and JT. Meanwhile, Dylan attempts to deprogram Lacey and Jules falls deeper under the spell of a sinister influence.
  • Tuesday, October 10 - “Snap” (directed by Danny Perez)
    • “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on go90
    • A notoriously cruel celebrity blogger dismisses a mysterious foe as harmless…until he wakes up to a video of himself sleeping on his own phone.

 

  • Thursday, October 12 – “Amityville: The Awakening”
    • Available for FREE for a limited time on Google Play and released by Dimension Films in select theaters on October 28.
    • The film follows Belle (Bella Thorne) and her family after they move into their new home, but when strange phenomena begin to occur in the house, Belle begins to suspect her mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) isn’t telling her everything. She soon realizes they just moved into the infamous Amityville house where between illusion and reality lies evil.
  • Friday, October 13 – “Monster Maker”
    • “Profiles in Fear”
    • Kevin McTurk of Spectral Motion is making monsters real. With his team of monster makers, he’s helped bring some of the most recognizable monsters to life. You’ve seen his work in movies like Birdman, Looper, Pacific Rim, and X-Men.
  • Tuesday, October 17 - “Guilt Trip” (directed by JD Dillard)
    • “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on go90
    • After picking up a victim of police brutality, a Good Samaritan is forced to rethink her decision on the dark and isolated road with the stranger in her car. 
  • Wednesday, October 18 – “Senior Tattooed Couple”
    • “Profiles in Fear” on 60 Second Docs and Crypt TV
    • In Melbourne, Florida, Charlotte and Chuck Guttenberg are septuagenarians with edge. Like “normal” old folks, they retired to Florida, dote on their grandkids and nourish their bones with proper diets. And, they are covered head to toe in tattoos.

 

  • Monday, October 23 – “Crime Scene Artist”
    • “Profiles in Fear” on 60 Second Docs and Crypt TV
    • Photographer Sarah Sudhoff takes illuminating pictures of bedding, carpet and upholstery marked with the remnants of death. She attempts to slow the moments before and after death into a single picture before the stains are quickly removed by cleanup crews.
  • Tuesday, October 24 -  “Singularity” (directed by Vera Miao)
    • “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on go90
    • After a transgender biohacker implants revolutionary technology into her own body, she is terrified to discover she can tap more than just the internet. 

 

  • Monday, October 30 – “Horror SFX Artist”
    • “Profiles in Fear” on 60 Second Docs and Crypt TV
    • 17-year-old Tiffany Baze of Santa Rosa, California works two jobs and is your all American girl, except for her mastery of extreme special effects makeup. Tiffany is succeeding despite using materials that are household items (coffee beans for road rash looks and bananas for flesh), proving that breaking through is a matter of persistence.
  • Tuesday, October 31 - “Second Skin” (directed by Ryan Spindell)  
    • “Two Sentence Horror Stories” on go90
    • When a street-smart young woman accepts an invitation to a luxurious spa, she discovers just how far the powerful patrons will go to stay on the cutting edge of beauty.

 

Houdini & Doyle on Fox
The Maggie’s Redress
Premiere Episode

  Houdini-doyle-fox

Houdini & Doyle premieres May 2nd on Fox.

Zombos Says: Good

Much creative rearrangement of historic timelines and relationships for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini takes place in Fox’s Houdini & Doyle. This may be annoying to those familiar with the history of spiritualism and how Doyle and Houdini fit into it, but the inclusion of fictional Adelaide Stratton (Rebecca Liddiard), the first female constable of Scotland Yard, and the dramatis personae needs of bringing their relationship to where mystery-of-the-week episodes can be written, rearrangements often happen.

In the premiere episode, The Maggie’s Redress, a nun is murdered. A witness believes the murderer to be a ghost. Scotland Yard is incredulous. The mystery begins and the sensational newspaper headlines attract both Doyle (Stephen Mangan) and Houdini (Michael Weston) to investigate. Each has his own agenda for doing so. Doyle is a strong believer and supporter in supernatural phenomena and spiritualism, Houdini isn’t. They meet at Scotland Yard but the police want nothing to do with them after Doyle’s fictional detective makes coppers appear amateurish, and after Houdini’s escapes from British jail cells makes those coppers look incompetent. As a devious compromise to appease Doyle and Houdini, Constable Stratton is assigned to chaperon them while making sure they, and especially her, do not do any real detective work. When she enters the room, Houdini asks her to get him a cup of coffee. Typical behavior in the age before women’s lib.

The year is 1901. Doyle had killed off Holmes eight years earlier (in The Final Problem) but clamoring fans force him to publish The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901, a story set before Holmes’s death. Doyle rather focus on writing about things he deems more important than Holmes. No mention is made of Hound, though, as he reluctantly attends a book signing. An ardent fan dressed as Holmes tells Doyle the game is afoot. Doyle isn’t amused. He wishes his The Great Boer War, published in 1900, was in demand instead of Holmes’s stories. Doyle would become a true believer in spiritualism, and faeries, after the deaths of his son, wife, brother, and brothers-in-law, but this would not happen until later. It also won’t be until the 1920s that Houdini energetically challenges, debunks, and exposes spiritualists; and his signature escape, the Chinese Water Torture Cell, well dramatized in this episode, will not make its debut until 1913.

Why both men believe or disbelieve is given in brief moments. For Doyle, it’s finding proof of the afterlife, so he can give people hope; for Houdini, it’s during a party he’s throwing, attended by Tesla, Winston Churchill, and an actor playing the King who couldn’t make it, all to impress his mother, whom he adored. Oddly, Houdini’s wife Bess is MIA. He tells the constable how frustrated he is that his excellence at magic gives people false belief in the supernatural. In real life, Doyle would attribute supernatural powers to Houdini when the magician walked through solid brick walls and vanished elephants from the stage. Their tenuous friendship would not last.

Rearrangements aside, The Maggie’s Redress is a tidy ghost story and mystery with enough lightheartedness mixed with tragedy. It highlights Doyle’s deductive mind in action, a tad biased toward finding proof of the afterlife in contrast to Houdini’s Coney Island showiness and self-assuredness in finding a rational answer. Constable Stratton just wants to get out of the Yard’s basement, where she’s working long hours and being ignored by the men who think a woman’s place is in the home. Or hidden away in basements.

Every ghost story needs a tragedy at its heart, and here it’s not the nun’s murder, but what instigates it and where it takes place: a Magdalene Laundry, which were real-life asylums for “fallen women” run by nuns around the turn of the century. For twelve or more hours a day, young women would do their penance-work in these penitentiary workhouses. A wager made by Houdini and accepted by Doyle sends them off to find the murderer, living or deceased, within its depressing walls. If Houdini wins, Doyle will send him a first edition of The Great Boer War.

Daisies, a loose floorboard, and the ghost’s appearance provide clues, but the greater story is the age unfolding around them. One filled with many wonders for the new century, which provides a colorful backdrop for these colorful men of mystery, magic, and adventure. And many challenges for Constable Stratton as she fights for recognition and equality.

Original houdini-doyle

Ghost Brothers Premiere:
Magnolia Plantation

Ghost Brothers - Juwan L Marcus M Dalen R-

Premiering tonight on Destination America.

With the Syfy channel lessening its focus on paranormal programming, Destination America seems determined to bring on new shows with new approaches and new paranormal hosts. They apparently noticed there was a dearth of African-American hosts chasing ghosts. Not anymore. Filling the void, with a refreshing zest for humorous self-awareness of their nocturnal adventures, Juwan (the hunk), Marcus (the barber), and Dalen (the leader, more or less), head over to the Magnolia Plantation in their premier episode. Future visits will include Magnolia Hotel in Texas, Prospect Place in Ohio, Allen House in Arkansas, Delta Queen Steamboat in Louisiana, and the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Georgia. Unlike Paranormal Lockdown, the brothers hang around for only one night.

After a brief meeting in Marcus’s barbershop, and talk of voodoo artifacts being found on the plantation by a Dr. Brown–while a patron is wrapped up with a hot towel waiting for his shave–they’re soon on their way. Banter during the drive to Seguin, Texas, is lively and funny and off the wall, with talk of voodoo, what it may be good or bad for, and the ‘mummy returns’.

Greeted by Dr. Brown, who’s been conducting the excavation in Aunt Agnes’s living quarters where the voodoo items were found, they enter and the camera starts going haywire when they mention her name. Quickly and wisely leaving the cabin, they meet up with park ranger Dustin, who explains how the hated overseer, Mr. Miller, was shot by Union troops, and gives them a quick lesson in French. Then they’re met by Joe, who describes the apparition he had seen looking out the window of the overseer’s cabin. Joe joins them on their nocturnal rounds.

When it’s time to go ghost hunting, they pop the trunk and pull out a laser grid pen, IR cameras, a rem-pod, and smartphones loaded with EVP and thermal camera apps. Juwan pairs with Joe to explore the overseer’s house while Dalen and Marcus head to the gin barn. A few EVPs, a flash of something dark in the barn, and Marcus’s unique handling of a flashlight for when you don’t want to see flashes of something ensue. Visits to Aunt Agnes’s and the blacksmith’s cabins provide more opportunities for odd noises and humorous commentary.

Finally, a ghost hunting show where the hosts are as scared and inexperienced as we are. Winning personalities and quick wits make Ghost Brothers a sound investment of your time, whether you believe or not.

Hunters on Syfy Channel

Hunters tv show

Hunters premieres April 11th on the Syfy Channel. Don't let the spoilers hurt you.

I'm usually dumbfounded by professional reviewers who sum up, after only two episodes of a 13-run series, to "utterly generic, conceptually cynical and instantly forgettable." My, my, such certainty from Brian Lowry at Variety. Dude, it's the first two episodes. Chill. How can you say the series feels "totally disposable"? It just started.

Yes, the characters are pushing perfunctory–so far, but we have a ways to go before dismissing this Australian production so expediently. The dialog needs some tweaking, too: saying self-evident things like "I'll need full forensics" or naive things (but with a nice twist)  like "we don't negotiate with terrorists, even alien ones" is non-caffeine fueled key-pounding. But there's mystery here and cool sonic blaster guns (anyone old enough to remember Wham-O's Air Blaster?) that pack a visual kick; and, for die-hards, there's plenty of gooey, squishy, plopping-sound closeups, neck-ripping, and chests that open like mouths do, giving The Thing, V, and Alien Invaders vibe.

I haven't read the novel, Alien Hunter, this series is based on, but if the Ritalin-challenged Emme (Shannon Berry) doesn't show, in the next episodes, a story-driven reason for taking up screen time, I'll start feeling as ill as she does. She's the young, multi-spectrum and self-destructive, ward of FBI Agent Flynn (Nathan Phillips), who took her in after her dad, his partner, died.

Guilt, insufficient counseling, and post traumatic stress keep Flynn from playing or working well with others, except his wife Abby (Laura Gordon), but she's kidnapped by one of the alien terrorists. That event brings Flynn into the Exo-Terrorism Unit–a hush hush group few know about–run by Truss Jackson (Lewis Fitz-Gerald). Truss, however, answers to a tough, no frills, female boss. With both of them of few words, the conversations they have are short and also perfunctory.

Once inside the unit, Flynn gets to know the impetuous, she's-one-of-them!, Regan (Britne Oldford), and, resentful she's-one-of-them!, Briggs (Mark Coles Smith). Two agents who, in spite of their relationship friction, manage to get along well enough to survive. Creating more friction, there's a mole in the group and vital information is being leaked.

As to the vital information regarding why Abby was kidnapped, or what the alien "hunters" are all about, the first two episodes will leave you in the dark and hopefully wanting to find out. Intriguingly, alien cells appear to be dormant in some humans, brought to activity by playing a specific pop-synth music filled with hidden tracks made up of alien instructions and dire warnings. A typical tech-geek guy on the payroll analyzed the music and found this out. (Note to casting: goth girls with ponytails are more attention-getting when tech-geek-speak is spoken.) More attention-getting also would be to use less hand-held camera wooziness. It's the scripters that need the caffeine, not the camera people. Some levity wouldn't kill us either. Everything's so 24 important and gloomy.

Providing the key villainy is McCarthy (Julian McMahon). Aside from showing some cheek (both in fact), he's playing it just short of scene-chewing, so the story's momentum is being driven by his actions so far. He has a fascination for Flynn that goes beyond the abduction of Abby, and he spends too much time in music stores he eventually blows up. Much of the mystery centers around him and his grand scheme, especially after he demonstrates his imperviousness to death. 

There's a Hollywood Reporter article dated October 2013, regarding Gale Anne Hurd's development of Alien Hunter into a 90-minute Syfy movie. How it morphed into this series is probably typical of such development projects, but expanding into 13 episodes means there's more to unfold as the storyline develops. So I'll be watching, even if Mr. Lowry isn't.

And I don't get paid to watch.  

Paranormal Lockdown:
Randolph County Infirmary
and the Hinsdale House

Grant Wilson with Katrina and Nick - Randolph County Infirmiry

Paranormal Lockdown: Hinsdale House will air on April 1 on the Destination America channel.

Continuing their 72 hour sleepovers in highly-trafficked haunted locales (with that traffic applying to both living and dead), Katrina Weidman and Nick Groff, along with cameraman Rob Saffi, pay two long visits to the Randolph County Infirmary and then the Hinsdale House.

At the Randolph County Infirmary they're joined by Grant Wilson, who is a pleasure to see in action. His approach is always low key and methodical. This episode's highlights are his brief appearance, Nick and Katrina's morning exercises, and Rob "red shirt" Saffi's not being bitten or attacked in any way. I'm disappointed Rob remains unscathed in both episodes. I'm sure Rob is happy though.

Not much else happens except for EVPs I'd want to listen more closely to, and jarring knocks that are always mysterious and unsettling. Looking at Ray's credits, he's held the camera for Ghost Adventures, Ghost Stalkers, and Ghost Stories, so by now he know's what he's getting himself in to. One strong point about Paranormal Lockdown is how we see glimpses of Ray filming and how the hosts acknowledge his presence. Time was you'd not disturb the sense of host-solitude unless the camera or sound person got bonked by a malicious entity (you may recall the incident involving the sound man getting suddenly knocked off his feet during one episode of Ghosthunters). 

I wasn't being sarcastic about Nick and Katrina's aforementioned morning exercises. By now I'm sure even you're wondering what they do to work out the body and mind kinks from staying onsite for 72 hours. And what does Rob do? Does he sleep in the van or rent a room? 

Hinsdale House Exterior 2

The Hinsdale House visit is disappointing–no concrete visual evidence is produced–and intriguing–everyone feels something not quite right when in the house or traversing the nearby woods. While personal impressions can be influenced in non-supernatural ways, when everyone feels the same way after entering the Hinsdale House, further investigation into both supernatural and natural causes is warranted. The house itself has the usual history you would expect for one associated with demons and hauntings. Left derelict at times, reluctantly inhabited at other times, the dreary house and its surroundings are picture perfect for local gossip to run wild.

What makes Hinsdale House receive a lot of attention by paranormal investigators and ghost tourists is its backstory of exorcism, Gregorian-like chanting supposedly heard in the woods around the house, and the depressing feeling of your energy being drained when you enter its rooms. In the 1970s the Warrens investigated the house. Tony Spera (noted as a religious demonologist), son-in-law to the Warrens, joins the hosts for a walk-through in the house and around the woods. Paul Kenyon (author of You Know They're Here), comes in to describe an experience he's had in the house.

A nightly walk in the woods has Nick hearing chanting and coyotes looking for their next meal. Me, I'd have left with Rob already. There's something not quite right with the Hinsdale House. Maybe it's its architecture and flies, or perhaps its location. I'm not sure I'd want to do a ghost tour there, but be my guest. 

Paranormal Lockdown: Franklin Castle

Franklin Castle with John Tenney

Franklin Castle is known as the most haunted house in Ohio for good reason. It has all the elements for timeless specters to make their rounds down dark hallways and across empty rooms: there's the tragic history for the original tenants, the Tiedemann family, whose members died too quickly, leaving no heirs to inherit the house; there are those unsavory rumors of murder and other evils taking place within its walls; and there's that spotty record of ownership and vacancy stretching over the years, with each former tenant not wanting to stick around.

The walking tour through the house, alone, is enough to creep you out. Franklin Castle is a brooding, sad, silent place, not at all the type of abode you'd want as a bed and breakfast. Unless you counted on all your customers being paranormal types and into continental breakfasts with ghosts.

Previous tenants, the Romanos, are invited by for a brief chat with paranormal hosts Nick Groff and Katrina Weidman. The Romanos resist entering the house, and once they do, they leave early. Wikipedia's article on Franklin Castle hints at why the Romanos were not too keen on returning.

Another invitee is  John Tenney, a paranormal researcher, who gives us the backstory to the proceedings. He brings the emotional pull for the episode, and its focus, telling us about young Emma, apparently still playing in the house. The Romanos describe how, when they were kids living there, they would play with Emma, although she always refused to go outside or change her Victorian-styled clothes. 

Soon the batteries go dead and the audio goes screwy, and our hosts and Mr. Tenney decide to get some fresh air. So yes, you can see why paranormal investigators are drawn to places like this. A lot. And Mr. Groff and Ms. Weidman have three days worth of time to kill. I always wondered why Ghost Hunters would stay at a place for only a night. This show's twist of spending 72 hours onsite, combined with brisk editing and good camerawork, and two progressively sleepy hosts, is highly watchable even when nothing spooky is happening.

There are the usual personal impressions of feeling this way or that when entering rooms and one particular closet. An electronic spirit box is utilized and more EVPs are collected. Some interesting audio is captured, but still hard to verify beyond interpretation based on the timing and situation. Still, it's evidence to ponder.

Then Rob, the cameraman, once again sees something interesting and captures it. So I'm thinking Rob, who got bit in the Anderson Hotel episode, is a ghost-magnet and maybe they should get him to sleep in the middle of hallways as bait instead of Mr. Groff.

Which, come to think of it, is freaking crazy to begin with. Mr. Groff likes to make the 3am night shift a gamble by plopping his bedroll down in places no one in his right mind would want to spend much time in during the day, let alone the dead of night. Alone. In the dark. This time he sleeps in the middle of the basement while Ms. Weidman stays cozy with the spirit box a few floors above.

Ms. Weidman always seems to manage a saner and more comfortable sleeping spot. 

 

A courtesy screening of this episode was provided for this review. 

Paranormal Lockdown Premiere
Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

Trans Allegheny

State asylums always make for interesting television. With ghosts or without. There's something, depressing, poignant, and potentially scary watching two people spend the night in gloomy and crumbling institutional rooms and hallways. In this premiere episode of Paranormal Lockdown, hosts Katrina Weidman (Paranormal State) and Nick Groff (Ghost Adventures), spend 72 hours in the asylum, walking the halls by day, sleeping in them at night.

Having weaned myself away from Ghost Hunters–too many, "did you see that? did you hear that?" moments of subjective experiences and nothing to show for it, I wasn't expecting much. But this premiere episode is paced well, has good camerawork, and minimizes the de rigueur backstory provided by an employee (or in this case a former employee) that stifles so many ghost hunting shows with he saw, she saw moments WE never get to see.

So you usually wind up watching people talk about what supernatural experiences they saw at the start of the show, then watch other people talk about their subjective emotions and feelings for the remainder of the show. Toss in a lot of interpreted voice recordings and you have an hour's worth of not-much-happening.

The hosts for our Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum tour, however, manage a bit more than that for us. Not only does their onscreen relationship work well, we're treated to a backstory that's frightening all by itself, a brutal double murder. And we get a few good geobox moments. The geobox, or ghost box, is essentially a radio the dead can speak through. It's bigger than a breadbox, so Nick and Katrina carry around a more portable sound recorder with them through the various rooms and hallways. A daytime response to an EVP session is promising when they first enter the asylum. Another is repeated twice, which, given the circumstances it's heard in, is noteworthy.

With 13 buildings to choose from, they focus on the Women's Auxiliary Building, the lobotomy recovery room, and the morgue. Adam Berry and Amy Bruni (Ghost Hunters) pay a brief visit. 

By the third day, having slept little (would you sleep at all in such surroundings?), things perk up. Maybe it's the exhaustion making our hosts more susceptible to suggestion or maybe the asylum's former patients, who never left, are getting tired of all those annoying EVPs, but the 4th floor provided the more watchable moments. There's one thing caught on camera that was so creepy as hell even the cameraman was unnerved. 

I admit I got goosebumps. Now that's what I like to see.

Amy and Adam outside of Trans Allegheny"Premiering tomorrow at 10/9c, Destination America’s six-part series PARANORMAL LOCKDOWN, hosted by Nick Groff (formerly of Ghost Adventures) and co-hosted by Katrina Weidman (formerly of Paranormal State), follows the two as they confine themselves in America’s most terrifying places for an unprecedented 72 hours straight. Living at haunted locations, Groff and Weidman believe that the longer they stay, the more the spirits will communicate with them and the more information they can gather about the unknown. Stretching the limits of paranormal investigation, PARANORMAL LOCKDOWN premieres on Friday, March 4 at 10/9c exclusively on Destination America."

I Did (Gasp!) The Joe Franklin Show
A Not So Fond Memory
By Professor Kinema

Joe Franklin with Jim KnuschI dial the phone number…

"Hello, this is Joe Franklin."

"Hello Joe, this is Jim Knusch."

"Why do I know that name?" asks Joe.

"Because I guested on your TV Show once as well as on your radio show, twice."

"Yes, what can I do for you?" asks Joe.

"I was wondering if we could arrange another appearance, TV or radio?"

"Pick your own time," says Joe.

"For which, TV or radio?"

"You name it," says Joe.

"Maybe the TV show again?"

"Call me next week on Tuesday at 3PM."

Joe hangs up…

I dial the phone number – that Tuesday at 3PM…

"Hello, this is Joe Franklin."

"Hello Joe, you told me to call you at this time."

"Who is this?" asks Joe.

"This is Jim Knusch, I called last week."

"Why do I know that name?" asks Joe.

"Because I guested on both your TV and radio shows."

"Call me next Thursday, at 11AM.  I'll have good news."

Joe hangs up.

The End. No more calls.

If one truly wanted to do the Joe Franklin Show, whether for the first or the one thousandth time, this was the petty ritual one had to endure with who I came to think of as Mr. Phony Sincerity. When calling his office, it was a pretty sure bet that the man himself would answer. Occasionally, he would direct someone, anyone, who was visiting him in his office to pick up and answer for him. Always, he would have a few words. These words could be a few superlative compliments, a directive to call back "next week" and then he would hang up without even a goodbye. Anyone who called him would come to know this terse bum's rush. It became legend. Since he left this realm on Jan 24, 2015, I feel compelled to relate my very brief association with him for posterity.

My earliest memory of Joe Franklin goes back to my childhood. Whenever I was kept home from school because of illness the only thing I had to combat near terminal boredom was television.  1950s black and white daytime television consisted of reruns of old TV shows, older movies, kiddie shows, and something new to the media: talk shows. After a few hours of channel hopping, among the maybe 5 or 6 channels available, one would eventually hit upon Joe's show.

His set was designed roughly like a living room, giving the impression that the show was coming from his actual living room. But of course it wasn't. Most of the time he had a guest that I never heard of. If the guest was a musical artist, or someone almost close to being a musical artist, one of their recordings would be played at some point. Listening to it also brought back and forth dissolves of closeups of Joe and his musical guest with frozen smiles, the album cover, and photographs propped on a table, until the piece ended. The show opened and closed with the tune The 12th Street Rag. For the longest time I thought this tune was something created exclusively for his show. I was wrong.

A recent Village Voice article (with another not so fond remembrance, perhaps)  stated that Joe Franklin made "Boredom Beatific."  I think now I'm getting what the author meant.

In later interviews Joe related the story of his own youthful years and his admiration, and obsession, with Eddie Cantor. He personally related to me that he would forever consider Cantor the absolute best entertainer who ever lived. Another claim Joe made was he had possibly the most popular radio show ever to broadcast from his hometown, New York City. When the local TV stations were expanding their programming he was called by one of the local stations, WJZ-TV. He was asked if he could "fill an hour of television per day" (his actual statement).  This was in 1950. WJZ-TV eventually became WABC-TV. In 1963 he moved to WOR, ending the run of his show in 1993.

He also occasionally made mention of the fact that he had perfected something he called faking sincerity.  He said, "Once you've perfected faking sincerity your career in show business is made."  The Memory Lane radio show he hosted continued until his death. He never missed a show.

Yes, I actually did the Joe Franklin Show, both TV and the radio show. The time was the mid 1980s.  Since I had been guesting on local Long Island cable TV and radio shows, including co-hosting a weekly cable network audio show for about 8 months, a friend recommended contacting Joe Franklin. My friend had done his show in the past and was contemplating an attempt at another TV appearance.

After going through the phone tag ritual that Joe put everyone through, he invited me to his office near Times Square in NYC. It was a small office in a building that had seen better days.  A small handmade sign hung above the door labeled Memory Lane. Inside the office was a couch, a chair, maybe a small desk and two old style rotary dial phones. The two phones had duct tape wrapped around them, preventing any use of the dials.  Joe called no one. Everyone called him.  Strewn all around the office were magazines, papers, letters and other clutter. While sitting there with him one would be recruited to answer a ringing phone, but all callers were subjected to the Joe Franklin phone tag, brush-off, ritual.

But I finally was awarded a day and a time for a taping of his show. Directions to the WOR-TV studio in Secaucus were provided. He even sent his assistant down to a local deli for coffee for the both of us, on him. During the taping of the show my brief stint consisted mainly of commenting on the current article I then had in FilmFax Magazine. We spoke about a few other items involving Film History. He then actually paid me a compliment. He pointed at me and said to the other guests, "The man knows his stuff!" After the taping of the TV show, he suggested I guest on his Saturday late night radio show. I managed two radio appearances.

Feeling lucky, a  year or two later I thought I would attempt to guest on his TV show again. I called his office and, yes, the phone tag brush-off routine was back in place. Soon I figured that, no, I really don't need to go through it all again. This, especially, since he instructed me to call back during a holiday. 

One interesting fact that Joe had related to me, in-between the taping of my appearance on his TV show, was the fact that when the show was eventually broadcast it would also be beamed to a satellite. His show was seen in several areas of the world. Mail came in from as far away as the Fiji Islands. Mr Phony Sincerity or not, I took his comment on my knowing my stuff as a true compliment. I like to think that everyone who watched that show, even those in the Fiji Islands, heard that compliment.

I just hope they weren't merely trying to combat their own boredom, beatific or otherwise.

TV Series Promo: Happy Town (2010)

This short-lived television series on ABC, channel 7, showed a lot of promise. Here's my review of the first episode I wrote in 2010. Unfortunately, Happy Town lasted for only eight episodes. Six of them aired on televsion and the last two were shown on the Internet. Rummaging through my archives I found these promotional materials for the show. There are also a coffee mug, water glode, and t-shirt that were sent along with them. If I keep rummaging I'll probably find those, too.

As you can see, promotional materials were neatly tailored to reviewers. They even spelled my name right. Sweet.

happy town show pressbook

happy town show pressbook
happy town show pressbook
happy town show pressbook
happy town show pressbook
happy town show pressbook
happy town show pressbook