"Funner" With Frank

I watched an old episode of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW last night. It’s the classic one where Rob and Laura stay up late one night watching a low budget science fiction film on television. The film has something to do with walnuts. Laura is petrified but Rob eats it up. The rest of the episode is classic comedy. I’ve seen it several times and it always makes me laugh.

At one point, unable to go back to sleep, they try finding a late movie on a local channel. One of the shows they run across while tuning the dial is INSOMNIA THEATER, as if, the only audience that station had were viewers who tuned in by default, hoping to be put to sleep by what was on at that time.

It got me to thinking that the whole idea of local tv stations running late and/or late, late shows has become a thing of the past. Almost all broadcast television stations in markets of any size are network affiliates and take whatever the late-night talk show that network provides. After the talk shows, stations can fill in with other types of programming but whatever it is, it’s almost certainly not a movie.

The late movie format was well adapted for genre films. Almost every major city in the 1960s and ’70s had at least one station that would program vintage horror/science fiction/fantasy films in the late night time slot. A lot of these programs had on-air hosts to introduce the movies and cut up during the commercial breaks. The success of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE in the late “70s put an end to many cities late night horror programming.

Here in Austin, we had SHOCK (which ran from 10:30 to midnight on Saturday nights) followed by AFTER SHOCK, which ran from midnight to at least 1:30, possibly 2:00 a.m. SNL killed that show.

And just down the road in San Antonio, you had PROJECT TERROR, which ran back-to-back shockers every Friday night beginning at 10:30 p.m. I didn’t have cable television at the time so I couldn’t see PROJECT TERROR unless I stayed the night with a buddy who did have cable.

While watching DICK VAN DYKE, it struck me that that episode provided a glimpse into a long gone past, a type of television watching that has been lost to the airwaves of time. But then I thought, wait a minute, nothing could be further from the truth. Just because there’s no official broadcast labeled the late show or something similar, there’s nothing to stop anyone from deciding that this coming Friday night they were going to program their own stay up late and get scared monster movie double feature with just the click of a button.

Pick a couple of vintage horror films you want to watch. They can be available on DVD, Blu-Ray or a streaming service. Stock up on popcorn and other snacks. Sit down in front of your television screen at 10:30 p.m., punch the button and let the fun begin. When the first feature is over, restock on popcorn and soda, cue up the next feature and away you go.

Call it whatever you want but the result is the same (minus commercials and a host), but it’s the DIY vibe that’s the appeal here. And yes, I know all about Svengoolie on MeTV. That’s not what I’m talking about here.

However, you might not be able to wait until after 10:30 to start watching a film. In that case, just start at whatever time you want. If you fall asleep while watching the movies will still be there.

And after all, isn’t that what INSOMNIA THEATER was kinda, sorta all about?