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Are YOU a fan of classic Universal horror film monsters?

Here’s a rare appearance of 1940′s horror film stars: Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Lon Chaney appear on a famous October 26, 1962 “Route 66″ Halloween episode entitled, “Lizard’s Leg and Owlet’s Wing.”

The aging trio meet at a Chicago hotel to discuss whether the old monster costumes they used in their horror films w0uld still scare a modern audience.  To find out, they dress up in their costumes and test them on hotel guests. Naturally, misunderstandings ensue.

The Examiner did a writeup on this classic TV episode last year for Halloween and you can watch this famous episode on Retro TV or ME TV; both are airing “Route 66.” See this episode guide.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Although only 39 episodes were made, the show soon became a pop culture “cult classic” from the show’s reruns in the 1970s, as did “Star Trek,” “Gilligan’s Island,” and other canceled 1960s TV programs that ended way before their time due to a lack of vision by network TV execs of the time.  See the latest 47th anniversary Ultraman merchandise at SciFi Japan.

Toho Studios brought the world the “Godzilla” genre and other famous Japanese monsters of the big screen (new Godzilla model coming October 2013), including the classic wide-screen color “Battle in Outer Space” film from 1960 with it’s excellent story, animation, models and special effects. The movie can be seen on TCM’s High Def (HD) cable channel from time to time.  By the way, here’s a press release about Godzilla’s “rebirth” in 2014.

The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island

In The Castaways on Gilligan’s Island (embedded below), the castaways are rescued again after trying unsuccessfully to escape in an old plane they found in the jungle and repaired.  But after their second rescue, the castaways shun civilization and return to their beloved island which has now become a vacation resort thanks to the Howells, with hotels and celebrity guests to cater to (idea later became the great TV series “Fantasy Island”).

The final Gilligan reunion movie (with new theme song) was made in 1981, The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island (full movie online).

Also, a daily rotation of classic shows at 10 p.m. helps break the boredom of the same old line-up every night, with different series airing Monday-Thursday in that time zone, two each.  Their creative schedule is far better than the typical boring and uncaring TVLand schedule that never changes, rerunning the same old stuff over and over again until you’re sick of it and tune out.

The network also began airing rarely seen episodes of “Love Boat” (1977-86, 249 episodes) on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. (which they really should drop in at 10 p.m. on one of those rotating weeknights).  The network also began airing rarely seen made-for-TV reunion movies from the 1970s and 1980s, such as the 1980s Perry Mason specials, Gilligan’s Island rescue movies (three made), etc.

If ME-TV is not on your cable or satellite service, don’t despair!  It’s broadcast FREE in your area and can be picked up by adding a simple digital HD TV antenna (or if you have an old analog set, you’ll need a converter box) to your set up.

You don’t need pay TV to watch ME TV.  Your local high definition (HD) TV station airs the service free on their additional digital channel.  Yes, your local stations, since going digital can have more than one channel!

See a collection of past TV Guide Fall Preview covers from centuries gone by.

Fall 1972-73 schedule (many now “cult classic” TV shows):

Saturday mornings in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sept. 25, 1965!  [Click to enlarge history]

Daytime TV in San Francisco Bay Area in June 1972 (click to enlarge historical document):

Friday, November 27, 1965 prime time schedule (click to enlarge):