DR. SAN GUINARY – From 1971 to 1981, director John F. Jones at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska hosted the channel’s version of Creature Feature as mad scientist Dr. San Guinary. The program originally aired late Saturday nights after the 10:00pm local news, then was moved to Midnight when KMTV started airing SNL in 1975.
Omaha’s Creature Feature opened with the sound of whooshing winds, thunder and a few screams as the camera grew closer to what was obviously a scale model of a spooky old house where Doc maintained his lab. The joke was that the audience could clearly tell the house was just a model, like so many fake-looking models of buildings in so many bad movies. (Same with the Gizmonic Institute models.)
In his light green skin makeup and lightly blood-spattered lab coat, San’s schtick was the by-then well-established airing of old and often bad movies like Day of the Triffids or The Giant Behemoth alongside various supporting characters like his lab assistant Igor and occasional pretty nurses.
The doctor, whose voice always had a certain Wolfman Jack sound to it, also did comedy inserts and sketches, of course. The circulating DVDs of Horror Host footage from decades ago featured plenty of Dr. San Guinary’s comedy bits, including his Mystery Door segments (above right).
Doc never knew what would lie behind that door, like maybe a train racing toward him, or himself playing on a rock piano and singing Catfish Boogie, or other oddities and sight gags. Sort of a forerunner of the Hexfield Viewscreen gags on Mystery Science Theater 3000 during its original run. Continue reading
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