Tag Archives: blogging

B-MOVIE HOSTS FRANK & DRAC (1987-1988)

FRANK & DRAC (1987-1988) – Frank & Drac was this Movie Host show’s title, and Frank & Drac were the stars. Frankenstein’s Monster was played by Allen Christopher while Dracula was played by Robert Kokai. This show aired on WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio from October 1987 to June 1988. Kokai and Allen had the potential to be among the biggest Movie Hosts ever but clashes with station management over budget issues ended with their show getting shut down.

Elvira’s syndicated show Movie Macabre had technically aired its final episode in November of 1986 but several channels across the U.S. continued airing reruns for years. During 1987 the ratings for the Elvira reruns were bottoming out in Cleveland, so WOIO decided to give its own home-grown Movie Host show a try in Movie Macabre’s former time slot on Saturday nights.

A pair of Cleveland natives – Allen Christopher and Robert Kokai (using the alias Basil Grimsby) – had crossed paths out on the West Coast trying to make it big and had recently returned to Cleveland to try local broadcasting. They beat out all the other applicants by having several pages of comedy material prepared and ready when they auditioned.

And comedy was one of the strong suits of Frank & Drac. The other was the show’s conceit that the hosts were the actual Frankenstein Monster and Dracula, airing “biographical” movies about themselves and other Universal Studios monsters.

Kokai and Christopher presented the Universal Monster cycle in order of their original releases from Dracula onward, while still finding slots for more recent schlockers like The Fog, Willard, Hatchet for the Honeymoon and Return of the Living Dead Continue reading

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COLLEGE BASEBALL CHAMPIONS FOR 2026

A look at the 2026 college baseball champions in the 11 divisions covered here at Balladeer’s Blog.

NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics)

National Champions – TENNESSEE WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY BULLDOGS

Runners-Up – Taylor University Trojans

2025 Champions – LSU-Shreveport Pilots (Riverboat Pilots)

Continue reading

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FOOL KILLER PART SIXTY-SEVEN: JANUARY 1914

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of the many facets of Fool Killer lore. FOR PART ONE, INCLUDING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT IN THE 1850s, CLICK HERE.

PART 67 – Some of the Fool Killer’s targets on both sides of the aisle in the January 1914 edition of James Larkin Pearson’s version of the folk figure:

*** Child Labor: The Fool Killer unconditionally condemned child labor, fueled by a report in the Christian Herald exposing the plight of a 3-year-old child being exploited.

NOTE: Since it has been quite a while since I’ve covered Pearson’s particular iteration of the Fool Killer I want to point out that it cannot be pigeon-holed into 21st Century ideas about political left and political right. Neither side should read too much into him citing the Christian Herald. James Larkin Pearson openly endorsed an unusual Socialist interpretation of Christianity.

           He bashed clergymen from all faiths and unleashed his Fool Killer on preachers who conducted themselves like what we would call “televangelists” who pushed for money above all else. He also bashed capitalism and plutocrats, whom he called Plutes. Unrelated, but he opposed abortion yet was an early proponent of women’s right to vote. Pearson had views which would offend both sides of the 2026 political spectrum.

Back to his January 1914 targets:

*** What was already being called the House of Morgan, as in J.P. Morgan, one of the Fool Killer’s frequent rich pig targets. Continue reading

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FORGOTTEN TELEVISION: THE U.S. STEEL HOUR (1953-1963)

THE UNITED STATES STEEL HOUR (1953-1963) – Some of the finest hour-long dramas aired on American television during the 1950s and 1960s were produced for The U.S. Steel Hour. Over time the anthology program added a few comedies and children’s projects, but it made its reputation on the strength of its dramas.

1953-1954 Season

P.O.W. (Oct 27th, 1953) – David Davidson wrote and Alex Segal directed this tale of the tortuous brainwashing techniques that the Communist Chinese and their North Korean allies inflicted on Prisoners of War during the Korean War. In a way the 1950s Manchurian Candidate film trivialized the ordeals that service members were subjected to so that the reality seems to have faded into the background, replaced by pop culture melodrama.

Adding to the power of this presentation was the fact that it came out shortly after the Korean War ended. The general public was shocked that China and North Korea would dehumanize and experiment on POWs like this. The cast of P.O.W. included Brian Keith, Richard Kiley, Phyllis Kirk and Anne Seymour.    Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE ABLEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1879)

THE ABLEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1879) – This short story was written by American author Edward Page Mitchell. The central figure – but not the title figure – is a wealthy bespectacled man named Fisher. Because of his scholarly appearance Fisher is mistakenly addressed as “doctor” and “professor” while staying at a spa in Baden, Germany. 

That misunderstanding results in the spa staff rushing Fisher to the room of Russian Baron Savitch when his personal physician is unavailable at the moment. Savitch is a rising VIP in the Tsar’s court and the staff members are frantic to help him.

The roguish Fisher stops trying to deny being a doctor and just tries some common sense first aid to try curing Baron Savitch’s sudden illness. A glass of bourbon makes the Baron feel much better for a time.

Presently, Savitch begins to feel worse, complaining of intense pain in his head. He begs Fisher to remove the black silk skullcap on his head and beneath it Fisher discovers a silver plate. Continue reading

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COLLISION COURSE (1989) – PAT MORITA AND JAY LENO IN A BUDDY COP MOVIE?

COLLISION COURSE (1989) – Yes, it’s Pat Morita and Jay Leno as reluctant investigative partners. For starters, I owe an apology to Chinatown Connection (1990), which I previously called the worst Two-Race Buddy Cop film I’d ever seen. In that flick Lee Majors the Second and Bruce Ly play the mismatched cops who have to work together to bring down some bad guys.

Collision Course and Chinatown Connection may have the same initials, but the former is actually a worse movie, as hard as that is to believe. Collision Course went through three different directors on its way to cinematic infamy.

Despite this Pat Morita-Jay Leno joint having a bigger budget and a supporting cast made up of real actors (Chris Sarandon, Al Waxman, Soon-Tek Oh and others), this production sucks like a Hoover vacuum. Not even some 80s street cred in the form of Randall “Tex” Cobb could save Collision Course, which was recognized as such a bomb that it didn’t get released – on video, at that – until 1992. And even then it was done solely to exploit Leno taking over The Tonight Show from Johnny Carson.

Mr. Miyagi and Pelican Head’s attempt to make the next 48 Hours or Lethal Weapon or Running Scared is set in Detroit, where an engineer from Japan named Oshima has come to sell a newly developed turbo charger to a struggling new car company run by Derek Jarryd (Dennis Holahan). Continue reading

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TWENTY NEGLECTED SECRETARIES OF STATE

A variety of colorful figures have served as Secretaries of State. Many of them may not be household names here in the 21st Century but they would definitely stand out on any staff. Here is an examination of twenty such figures in chronological order.  

1. TIMOTHY PICKERING (1795-1800)

Served under: Presidents George Washington and John Adams

Noted for: Conspiring with Alexander Hamilton to undermine some of the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations. When Adams discovered this he ordered Pickering to resign, but Pickering refused, forcing Adams to fire him. Pickering remains the only Secretary of State to officially be fired by the President.

2. HENRY CLAY (1825-1829)

Served under: President John Quincy Adams

Noted for: Fighting a duel with Continue reading

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MARVEL’S KA-ZAR STORIES (1971-1973)

This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog continues on from when Astonishing Tales became Ka-Zar’s title alone after Dr. Doom’s departure.

ASTONISHING TALES Vol 1 #9 (Dec 1971)

Title: The Legend of the Lizard Men

Villains: Queen Iranda and her Lizard Men

NOTE: The next part of the Neu Deutschland/ New Brittany storyline was not completed in time for publication, so this pre-prepared fill-in story was used instead.

Synopsis: Men and women are disappearing from various tribes across the Savage Land. Ka-Zar and his saber-tooth tiger Zabu investigate. He traces the disappearances to Queen Iranda and her army of Lizard Men.

Ka-Zar fights his way through Iranda’s guards and manages to steal the queen’s crown. This causes her to turn into her true lizard form and reverts all of her Lizard Men to their human forms as the missing villagers.  Continue reading

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RICHARD TODD’S SWASHBUCKLER MOVIES

Richard Todd enjoyed a long career during which he played nearly every type of role imaginable. Among those were a few swashbucklers.

ROB ROY: THE HIGHLAND ROGUE (1953) – Accurate history has no place in this Disney film in which Richard Todd stars as Scottish Clan leader and legendary outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. The film begins in 1715 as Clan MacGregor is among the Scottish forces fighting against King George the First of England in the Jacobite Uprising.

The Duke of Argyll (James Robertson Justice) leads troops loyal to the king and defeats the rebellious clans despite his grudging admiration for them, especially Rob Roy MacGregor. By 1717, Argyll’s rival the Duke of Montrose is placed in charge of the Scottish Highlands and is much harsher than the Duke of Argyll was.

Montrose pardons all the Jacobite Clans except the MacGregors, who are forbidden to even use their surname, hence their leader being renowned as simply Rob Roy. Our hero is imprisoned by Montrose but escapes and leads his kinsmen and loyalists in rustling Montrose’s cattle and looting his estates.   

And so the film goes, with the Duke of Montrose used as a Prince John in Robin Hood figure and his underling Killearn serving as a Sheriff of Nottingham type. Rob Roy and his men thwart the bad guys at every turn, and ultimately the Duke of Argyll arranges a truce between Rob Roy’s clan and the king.

Glynis Johns co-stars as Rob’s wife Helen Mary MacGregor with Michael Gough portraying the villainous Montrose. 81 minutes. Continue reading

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SATEENA: BAD MOVIE HOSTESS (1958)

SATEENA, THE DEVIL’S DAUGHTER hosted horror and sci-fi movies on Shock Show, which aired on Atlanta’s WSB-TV from January 2nd to December 18th, 1958. This devilishly mischievous hostess was played by Joanne Good aka Joanne Goode aka Joanne Gould. Unlike the usual Movie Hostesses whose characters were vampires or witches, Sateena was the impish daughter of Satan himself.

Joanne Good had started out at WSB in the promotions department in 1957, then created her Sateena character for Shock Show. Joanne co-wrote the character’s Host Segments with the program’s producer Gy Waldron, who later moved on to movies before creating the mammoth hit television show The Dukes of Hazzard in 1979.

In addition to her acerbic wit, Sateena wielded a regular arsenal of props like large spiders, bubbling substances in chemical beakers, oversized “Brimstone Cocktails” spewing smoke from dry ice, and her omnipresent syringe filled with God or the Devil knows what. Another gag centered around shrinking heads with a Voodoo-it-Yourself Kit. Continue reading

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