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''Shock Theater'' featured Grade-“B” science fiction and horror Movie s. ''Shock Theater'' was aired in a Friday late-night time slot, but at the peak of Ghoulardi's popularity, Anderson also hosted the Saturday afternoon ''Masterpiece Theater'', and the weekday children's program ''Laurel, Ghoulardi and Hardy''. BIOGRAPHY Ernie Anderson was a Big Band and Jazz enthusiast, and WWII U.S. Navy veteran born in Lynn, Massachusetts on November 22 , 1923 . This irreverent and influential movie host was strictly Hipster , unlike the horror character prototype. Ghoulardi’s Costume was a long Lab Coat covered with “slogan” buttons, horn-rimmed Sunglasses with a missing lens, fake Van Dyke Beard and Moustache , and various messy, awkwardly-perched Wig s. During breaks from the movies, Anderson addressed the camera live in a part- tunes, plus jazz and Rhythm And Blues songs, under his live performance. Moreover, he had his crew surreally insert stock film clips or clips of himself into the movie he was hosting. ''Shock Theater'' drew both a black and white Cult Audience , who loved Ghoulardi's Beatnik costume, the music, and his Hip talk, which was a nod to black jazz and R&B artists. White mainstream viewers enjoyed his broad, unpretentious ethnic humor. His Stage Name was created by combining the words " Ghoul " and " Chef Boyardee ". Ghoulardi spared no unhip targets: the inhabitants of Parma, Ohio and Oxnard, California , bandleader Lawrence Welk and Polka music, Cleveland Television Personalities Mike Douglas and Dorothy Fuldheim, plus other public figures. He also mocked the films he was hosting. In particular, Ghoulardi unmercifully jeered Parma, Ohio, a working-class Suburb , for its ethnic “white socks” sensibility, creating a series of taped skits called ''Parma Place''. He adopted a Crow and named it “Oxnard.” Ghoulardi used friends and members of his talented Channel 8 crew as supporting cast: cameraman “Big Chuck” Schodowski, film editor Bob Soinski and writer Tim Conway (later of '' The Carol Burnett Show '' and “Dorf” fame). He was further assisted by teenage Intern Ron Sweed . Sweed boarded a cross-town bus to try to meet his idol at a live appearance, clad in a Gorilla suit. Anderson invited Sweed onstage; to the crowd’s delight, Sweed stumbled offstage into the audience. This, plus some unnanounced gorilla-suited visits to the Channel 8 studios, sealed his place as Anderson’s right-hand man and heir apparent. Channel 8, then owned by Storer Broadcasting , capitalized on Ghoulardi’s wide audience with a comprehensive Merchandising program, giving Anderson a percentage as Storer owned the name. Anderson also formed “Ghoulardi All-Stars” sports teams, which played as many as 100 Charity contests a year, which, reflecting his popularity, frequently attracted thousands of Fans . Anderson openly battled Channel 8 management. In spite of the show’s wide audience, they worried that Ghoulardi was pushing too many television boundaries too quickly, and tried to reign in the character. Anderson would have none of this. He provoked his bosses by detonating Plastic Action Figures and model cars with firecrackers and bombs provided by viewers, on air, once nearly setting the studio on fire. (“Cool it with the boom-booms.”) Induced by Tim Conway, who had already left town, and greater career promise, Anderson retired Ghoulardi in 1966 and moved to Los Angeles, California . His plan was to act in film and television. Instead, he made a successful career in Voice-over work, most prominently as the main voice for the ABC TV network ("the Lu-u-uhv Boat") during the 1970s and 1980s . In 1971 Sweed appeared on WKBF-TV, borrowing the "Ghoulardi" character traits and costume with Anderson’s blessing, but changed the movie host's name to “The Ghoul,” to not misappropriate the "Ghoulardi" name. Channel 8’s Bob Wells (“Hoolihan the Weatherman”) and “Big Chuck” Schodowski took over Ghoulardi’s Friday night movie time slot as “ Hoolihan And Big Chuck ,” becoming Anderson’s tamer but familiar successors. As of , Schodowski's show is still broadcast on WJW, now with co-host "Li'l John" Rinaldi. Anderson died of cancer on February 6 , 1997 . INFLUENCE More than 40 years after Ghoulardi signed off, his legacy endures: Clevelanders still associate polka music, white socks, chrome Lawn Ornament s and pink Plastic Flamingo es with Parma, Ohio. Cleveland native Drew Carey has paid tribute to Ghoulardi in his television Sitcom (Carey can often be seen wearing a Ghoulardi T-shirt ), as have the punk-a-billy band The Cramps , by naming their 1990 album ''Stay Sick''. David Thomas , of Art Rock band Pere Ubu , said that the Cramps were "so thoroughly co-optive of the Ghoulardi persona that when they first appeared, Clevelanders of the generation were fairly dismissive." Thomas credits Ghoulardi for influencing the " aren't included on Thomas' list, but they were formed in the same era as the other groups and shared a similar esthetic.) In 2002 , Cleveland-area Indie band Uptown Sinclair featured a Ghoulardi-derived Basketball Referee in the slapstick Music Video for their song "Girlfriend." The most obvious Ghoulardi kid, Anderson's son, film director Paul Thomas Anderson , named his production entity "The Ghoulardi Film Company." REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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