Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth made-for-network TV horror feature-length anthology movie masterpiece.
Compilation trailer for Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie horror/thriller/supernatural masterpiece, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black. Sidebar: This snippet was originally prepared/licensed by ABC for the latter VHS release via Illinois-based pioneering home entertainment distributor MPI Home Video (which would morph into today’s MPI Media Group, MPI had most home entertainment rights to select ABC-produced programs and ABC News programs/specials, MPI currently represents select home entertainment/physical media/streaming & select TV syndication rights to Dan Curtis’ select productions via Dan Curtis’ family/the estate of Dan Curtis). Viewer discretion is advised.

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth supernatural/horror film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) this Sat., Aug. 29 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on the airlanes of Me-TV.
The classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV thriller anthology feature masterpiece production was directed by veteran television and feature film director-producer Dan Curtis.
Curtis was best-known for producing and directing his own classic mammoth ABC television network gothic horror masterpiece series production of “Dark Shadows” (1966-71)* with Jonathan Frid (in the lead role of vampire Barnabas Collins) and Grayson Hall (in the lead role of Dr. Julia Hoffman, also of 1972’s “Gargoyles” fame). Curtis also directed two classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) gothic horror feature film masterpiece adaptations of his ABC-TV “Dark Shadows” series; “House of Dark Shadows” (1970) with Frid and “Night of Dark Shadows” (1971, produced and released around the same time that the ABC television network cancelled “Dark Shadows”). 20 years after the final ABC broadcast of “Dark Shadows,” Curtis reunited with MGM to produce a newer, short-lived primetime “Dark Shadows” series for rival network NBC in 1991 with Ben Cross in the role of vampire Barnabas Collins in the latter/brief Curtis/MGM/NBC “Dark Shadows” TV series revival.
Curtis was also involved with two classic mammoth ABC “Movie of the Week”/”Kolchak” made-for-TV movie supernatural masterpiece pilots, “The Night Stalker” (1972, produced by Curtis, directed by John Llewellyn Moxey) with Darren McGavin (of the 1958-59 “Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer” TV adaptation series fame and later of 1983’s “A Christmas Story” fame), Carol Lynley (of 1972’s “The Poseidon Adventure” fame), Claude Akins (later of TV’s “Movin’ On” fame and TV’s “B.J. and the Bear“/“The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo” fame), Larry Linville (of TV’s “M*A*S*H” fame), Simon Oakland (of Alfred Hitchcock‘s “Psycho” fame, Peter Yates’ “Bullitt” fame and TV’s “Black Sheep Squadron”/”Baa Baa Black Sheep” fame), Ralph Meeker, Charles McGraw, Kent Smith, Elisha Cook Jr., Stanley Adams, Jordan Rhodes and Barry Atwater and “The Night Strangler” (1973, produced and directed by Curtis) with McGavin, Oakland, Jo Ann Pflug (of Robert Altman‘s 1970 “M*A*S*H” feature film fame), Wally Cox (of TV’s “Mister Peepers” fame and of interest to fellow Super Tooners/Super SvenPals of Toony & Bill’s “Toon In With Me,” of the vocal stylings of TV’s “Underdog“ fame), Margaret Hamilton (of 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” fame, 1940’s “The Invisible Woman” fame, 1960’s “13 Ghosts” fame and in the latter part of her acting career- “Cora” for TV commercials for Maxwell House Coffee ), Al “Grampa” Lewis (of TV’s “The Munsters” fame and of 1966’s “Munster, Go Home!“ fame), Richard Anderson (of 1956’s “Forbidden Planet” fame),veteran horror actor John Carradine, Kate Murtagh (of 1977’s “The Car” fame and on the album cover of Supertramp‘s “Breakfast In America“ fame), Nina Wayne, Virginia Peters, Ivor Francis, Diane Shalet, Anne Randall, Francoise Birnheim and Regina Parton/Ethel Parker. The two classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpieces later inspired the 1974-75 classic mammoth Universal Studios/ABC “Kolchak” supernatural masterpiece TV series, “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” with McGavin and Oakland reprising their roles from the two aforementioned classic mammoth Curtis/ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece productions. Darren McGavin also served as executive producer on the aforementioned Universal “Kolchak” series.
Curtis also directed his classic mammoth made-for-TV horror/vampire monster masterpiece adaptation that was inspired by Bram Stoker‘s gothic novel, “Dan Curtis’ Dracula” (1974) with Jack Palance, Simon Ward, Nigel Davenport, Pamela Brown, Fiona Lewis, Penelope Horner, Murray Brown, Virginia Wetherell, Barbara Lindley, Sarah Douglas, George Pravda, Hana Maria Pravda, Reg Lye, Fred Stone, Roy Spencer, John Challis, Nigel Gregory, John Pennington, Martyn Read, Gita Denise, Sandra Caron and Eddie Powell; Curtis’ classic mammoth made-for-TV movie adaptation of “Dracula” aired in 1974 on that now-disgraced television network with the “eye” trademark.
Curtis also directed his own classic mammoth made-for-TV thriller movie masterpiece production of “Dead of Night” (1977) that aired on the NBC television network that featured Ed Begley Jr., E.J. André, Ann Doran, Christina Hart, Patrick Macnee, Anjanette Comer, Joan Hackett, Elisha Cook Jr., Horst Buchholz, Lee Montgomery, the vocal stylings of John Dehner, Orin Cannon, Jean Le Bouvier, Dick McGarvin, Karen Hurley, Michael Talbott, Gail Bowman, Lars Green, Joan Lemmo and Jeff Reese. The aforementioned 1977 production was partially inspired by an earlier one-hour pilot teleplay that Curis co-directed with Lela Swift for ABC that never materialized into a series, titled “Dead of Night: A Darkness at Blaisedon” (1969) with Cal Bellini, Thayer David, Marj Dusay, Louis Edmonds, Ingrid Helmke and Kerwin Mathews (of 1958’s “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” fame and of 1973’s “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” fame).
Curtis also directed the classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece miniseries adaptation of Herman Wouk‘s “The Winds of War” (1983) with Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Ralph Bellamy, John Houseman, Topol (of 1971’s “Fiddler on the Roof” fame), Polly Bergen and Peter Graves (of TV’s “Mission: Impossible” fame, 1980’s “Airplane!” fame and host of TV’s “A&E Biography” fame) and a follow-up classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece sequel miniseries adaptation that was co-produced entirely by ABC, Herman Wouk’s “War and Remembrance” (1988-89) with Mitchum, Bellamy, Topol, Bergen, Sami Frey, Robert Hardy, Jane Seymour and William Schallert.
The screenplay of Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV horror/supernatural/thriller anthology masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” was written by veteran screenwriter William F. Nolan and was based off of several original story ideas by veteran screenwriter Richard Matheson. Nolan previously co-authored George Clayton Johnson‘s classic mammoth futuristic sci-fi thriller novel masterpiece that was later adapated by Michael Anderson for the classic mammoth Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) futuristic sci-fi/thriller masterpiece production with Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett (Farrah Fawcett-Majors), Peter Ustinov and Richard Jordan; “Logan’s Run” (1976).
Matheson previously wrote the original story for Jack Arnold’sclassic mammoth Universal Studios sci-fi/fantasy/visual effects masterpiece, “The Incredible Shrinking Man” (1957) with Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton, Raymond Bailey, William Schallert, Frank J. Scannell, Helene Marshall, Diana Darrin, Lock Martin and Orangey the Cat. Matheson later wrote the screenplay for the classic mammoth Roger Corman/American-International thriller masterpiece adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe‘s “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961) with the legendary Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr, Luana Anders, Antony Carbone, Patrick Westwood, Lynette Bernay, Larry Turner, Mary Menzies, Charles Victor and Randee Lynne Jensen. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg‘s classic mammoth Universal Studios action-adventure-thriller masterpiece production of “Duel” (1971, originally produced as a Universal/ABC-TV made-for-TV movie masterpiece production and one of Spielberg’s earliest productions) with Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Lucille Benson, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell, Shirley O’ Hara, Gene Dynarski and Amy Douglass. Matheson also wrote the teleplay for John Llewellyn Moxey and Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece pilot, “The Night Stalker” (1972) and two of the teleplay installments in Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV supernatural/thriller anthology masterpiece feature, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975).
“Trilogy of Terror” (1975) originally aired on the ABC television network on March 4, 1975 as part of the network’s “Tuesday Movie of the Week”/”Movie of the Week” series of feature-length productions produced and/or financed by ABC, according to IMDB and an original 1975 ABC print advertisement for the network presentation of “Trilogy of Terror.” The alphabet network began their “Movie of the Week” series in 1969
The animated/scanimation-filmed “ABC Movie of the Week” opening/closing graphics and bumpers contained a signature piece of music that was composed by legendary composer Burt Bacharach, which was an instrumental version of one of his original songs, “Nikki.” An orchestral album cut version of Bacharach’s “Nikki” composition was released on the composer’s self-titled album via the legendary Herb Alpert & Jerry Moss‘ recorded music firm, A&M Records in 1971; according to Discogs.
According to additional details from IMDB, Curtis and Moxey’s classic mammoth 1972 made-for-TV supernatural feature masterpiece production was co-produced under one of the in-house production subsidiaries of the ABC television network “ABC Circle Films” (which later became “ABC Productions,” which then morphed into “ABC Studios“/”ABC Signature“). Alongside “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), the two original classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie pilot masterpieces, the network’s self-produced made-for-TV movies, miniseries, “afterschool specials” and original productions that were produced under ABC’s “ABC Circle Films” moniker, one of the other well-known ABC-TV original productions that was produced under the network’s “ABC Circle Films” imprint was the network’s classic mammoth romantic detective series, “Moonlighting” (1985-89) with Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis and the famous opening title song track performed by Al Jarreau. ABC merged with radio & TV broadcast group Capital Cities Communications in 1985 to form Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. Capital Cities/ABC was later acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 1996, the ABC Circle Films/ABC Productions/ABC Video Enterprises holdings would be immediately placed under Disney’s in-house TV production/syndication unit (then-known as Buena Vista Television, currently trading under the Disney Platform Distribution moniker).
After The Walt Disney Company’s acquisition of then-rival film & TV studio Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation from controversial tabloid newspaper/media baron Rupert Murdoch in 2017 (Disney renamed Twentieth Century Fox as Twentieth Century Studios and the TV production/syndication unit was renamed Twentieth Television, which was already an existing name for the TV syndication unit of Twentieth Century Fox), Disney consolidated ABC’s entertainment production subsidiaries under the Twentieth Television moniker (for example, Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC-TV latenight show is now co-produced under the Disney-owned Twentieth Television moniker after being previously co-produced under Disney’s “Touchstone” moniker and the ABC Studios/ABC Signature monikers).
Alongside feature-length productions that were produced by the network’s in-house production unit, ABC also contracted with veteran producer Aaron Spelling‘s production company, veteran producer and documentarian David L. Wolper‘s production outfit (Wolper later sold his production company to Warner Bros. in 1976 and formed a longtime production alliance with Warners), Universal Studios/MCA and Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems (Columbia’s TV unit was later rebadged by the studio as Columbia Pictures Television in 1974) to produce made-for-TV movies for the network’s “Movie of the Week” showcases, according to Michael McKenna’s retrospective book on ABC’s slate of made-for-TV movies, “The ABC Movie of the Week: Big Movies for the Small Screen” and the Film Score Monthly forum. Speaking of the “ABC Movie of the Week,” other classic mammoth made-for-TV features that have been showcased on Svengoolie’s Me-TV big broadcasts include young Steven Spielberg‘s classic mammoth Universal/ABC made-for-TV action thriller masterpiece production of “Duel” (1971) with Dennis Weaver; which marked one of the earliest classic mammoth major masterpiece productions for the young veteran director and Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror-anthology masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975).
For the original March 4, 1975 ABC television network airing of “Trilogy of Terror:”Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV 1975 horror/thriller masterpiece aired on ABC-owned WLS-TV in Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois and on a regional scale for the home region of “Silver Screen Reflections;” the original 1975 ABC showing of Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” aired on WMAL-TV 7 (which became the now-disgraced and infamous WJLA-7 in 1977 ; WJLA/7 previously carried Me-TV in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area from 2013-17) in the Washington, D.C./Frederick, Maryland area; ,WTPA-TV 27 (which became WHTM-27 in 1980) in the Gettysburg/Hanover/York/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania area and WJZ-TV Channel 13 (which later became affiliated with the now-disgraced & infamous network with the “eye” logo after the 1995 Baltimore TV affiliation switch, C*S-owned since the 1996 Westinghouse/Group W-C*S merger ) in the Baltimore, Maryland area. -C.H.
According to the March 4, 1975 issue of The Gettysburg Times, ABC programmed Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) for the “Tuesday Movie of the Week” showcase in-between an episode of “Happy Days” (titled “Fonzie Joins the Band”) and an episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (titled “Dark Corridors”). During the original March 4, 1975 prime-time big broadcast airing of the “ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week”/”Trilogy of Terror,” the alphabet network & Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror-thriller masterpiece production was shown opposite an episode of “M*A*S*H” (titled “Payday”) and the First Annual “People’s Choice Awards” over on C*S nd the Columbia Pictures made-for-TV movie production of “The Last Survivors” (1975) over on NBC.
During the original March 4, 1975 ABC big broadcast network TV premiere of Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror,” it was reported that several ABC-affiliated stations from coast-to-coast did not clear Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror anthology movie masterpiece production for prime-time.
According to a March 17, 1975 issue of Broadcasting (Broadcasting and Cable), several ABC affiliates were concerned and felt that ABC’s airing of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) would scare off viewers in prime-time; yet ABC placed a viewer discretion disclaimer in the original network promos/commercials for Curtis’ 1975 production; according to a latter commercial for a syndicated airing of “Trilogy of Terror” that was unearthed on YouTube.
Several ABC affiliates decided to delay Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) by airing it in the Latenight timeslot in place of ABC’s then-Latenight programming lineup, “Wide World of Entertainment” in New Orleans, Louisiana (WVUE, which was affiliated with ABC until 1995); Miami, Florida (now-former ABC affiliate WPLG; though WPLG would later air a syndicated airing of “Trilogy of Terror” In 1981); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (WITI, which was affiliated with ABC until 1977) and Fresno, California (KJEO/KGPE, which was affiliated with ABC until 1985; when the network moved to KFSN as a result of the Capital Cities/ABC merger since KFSN was owned by Capital Cities prior to the station group’s merger with ABC).
The only ABC-affiliated station that declined to show the original 1975 network airing of Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) in any timeslot was Duluth, Minnesota’s ABC affiliate (and future Me-TV affiliate) WDIO-TV.
This will mark Sven’s fifth big broadcast of Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV anthology movie masterpiece production on the airlanes of Me-TV. He previously showcased “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) as a big broadcast premiere back in Sept. 2022 for the start of the 2022 “Svengoolie’s Halloween Boo-nanza” festival along with the original Sept. 2022 premiere of the classic mammoth Me-TV documentary masterpiece on Svengoolie/Rich Koz, “Svengoolie: Uncrypted” (2022) featuring fellow Super SvenPals/Super Tooners/Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” Sarah Rhodes, Nanette Keir, Brian Bernardoni plus the Sven collections of fellow wonderful friends/Super SvenPals/Super readers of “Silver Screen Reflections” Dave Fuentes of “Terror from Beyond the Dave” fame and Warner Todd Huston! “Trilogy of Terror” then aired as regular Sven/Me-TV big broadcasts back in Sept. 2023, Oct. 2023 and in April 2024.
Who was in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975)
The players who appeared in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror/thriller masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) were Karen Black (in the dual roles of Julie, Millicent, Therese and Amelia); Robert Burton (as Chad Foster), John Karlen (as Thomas Ammen), George Gaynes (as Dr. Chester Ramsey), Jim Storm (as Eddie Nells), Kathryn Reynolds (as Anne Richards), Orin Cannon (as a motel clerk), Gregory Harrison (as Arthur Moore), Tracy Curtis (as Tracy) and the vocal stylings of Walker Edmiston (for those who have not seen “Trilogy of Terror,” the writer/author of “Silver Screen Reflections” will not reveal what character Edmiston voiced in Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror-thriller masterpiece). -C.H.
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