**This week’s “Silver Screen Reflections” is cancelled**

**To all my fellow wonderful legendary friends/Super SvenPals/Super Tooners/Super readers/suscribers of “Silver Screen Reflections:”** I have decided to cancel this week’s edition of “Silver Screen Reflections.”

In connection to Svengoolie‘s upcoming big broadcast of Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV thriller movie masterpiece production “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with  Karen Black , Robert Burton, John Karlen, George Gaynes, Jim Storm, Kathryn Reynolds, Orin Cannon, Gregory Harrison, Tracy Curtis and the vocal stylings of Walker Edmiston this upcoming Sat., April 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV, please enjoy these classic “Silver Screen Reflections” articles on Sven’s past Me-TV big broadcasts of Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV thriller movie masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) from Oct. 2022, Sept. 2023 and Oct. 2023.

My weekly “Silver Screen Reflections” Sven classic film blog will continue in its regular format next week.  Again, I thank you all for your patience.  -Peace/Take Care & All the Best, Chris Hamby

Svengoolie presents his twinset of “The Night Strangler” (1973) & “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Super Svengoolie SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his big classic mammoth double-feature masterpiece festival of a big premiere of a classic mammoth 1973 made-for-TV supernatural movie masterpiece sequel & the return of another classic mammoth 1975 made-for-TV horror anthology movie masterpiece for “Halloween Boo-nanza 2023!”

“Svengoolie” presents his twinset of “The Night Strangler” (1973) & “Trilogy of Terror” (1975)

A snippet from Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth 1973 ABC (American Broadcasting Company) “Kolchak/Movie of the Week” supernatural made-for-TV movie sequel masterpiece, “The Night Strangler” with Darren McGavin.

Compilation trailer for Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth ABC (American Broadcasting Company) made-for-TV movie horror/thriller masterpiece, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black.  Sidebar: This snippet was originally prepared/licensed by ABC for the latter MPI Home Video VHS release (MPI had most home entertainment rights to select ABC-produced programs and ABC News programs/specials/compilations at the time).  Due in part to the earlier success of the MPI VHS release of Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV horror anthology masterpiece, MPI licensed the DVD home entertainment distribution rights to “Trilogy of Terror” from ABC/Disney in 2006 for a brief amount of time under MPI’s Dark Sky Films imprint.  Viewer discretion is advised.

The legendary and iconic Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth supernatural/horror feature film masterpiece host will present his big coast-to-coast made-for-TV supernatural/horror feature film masterpiece double-feature twinset showcase of “The Night Strangler” (1973) and “Trilogy of Terror” (1975). The aforementioned Sven double-feature twinset of “The Night Strangler” (1973) and “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) will begin this Sat., Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV!

Sven’s upcoming Sat., Oct. 28 2023 “Halloween Boo-nanza” twinset showcase of “The Night Strangler” (1973, at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central) and “Trilogy of Terror” (1975, at 10:30 p.m. Eastern/9:30 p.m. Central) will be the finale in Sven’s month-long “Halloween Boo-nanza” twinset feature film showcases.

At 12:30 a.m. Eastern/11:30 p.m. Central, another bonus episode of Rod Serling’s classic mammoth CBS-TV supernatural masterpiece series, “The Twilight Zone” will also be showcased- along with anoher festival of bonus episodes of another classic mammoth supernatural masterpiece TV series that’s connected to one of the feature films that Sven will be showcase for this week’s twinset festival- additional details will be revealed momentarily in this week’s edition of “Silver Screen Reflections.” -C.H.

VHS Cover art for the 2000 Anchor Bay (under license from ABC/Disney) VHS edition of Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie sequel pilot masterpiece with Darren McGavin, “The Night Strangler” (1973).

Early 1980s MPI Home Video/ABC Video Enterprises VHS cover art for Dan Curtis’ ABC production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black & the Zuni figurine.

Both “The Night Strangler” and “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) were directed and produced by veteran TV and feature film director-producer Dan Curtis. Curtis was best-known for producing and directing his own classic mammoth ABC television network gothic horror series masterpiece production, “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 around the same time that ABC 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 Barnabas Collins in the latter/brief “Dark Shadows” series revival.

Alongside his “Dark Shadows” productions, the two ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movies and the 1975 ABC made-for-TV movie production of “Trilogy of Terror,”  Curtis’ other productions include his classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning Paramount Pictures/ABC 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 and a follow-up classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece sequel miniseries adaptation that was 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 Night Strangler” (1973) was a sequel to the earlier classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie masterpiece production of “The Night Strangler” (1972), which was produced by Curtis and was directed for the ABC television network by veteran director John Llewellyn Moxey and featured Darren McGavin, Carol Lynley, Claude Akins, Larry Linville (of TV’s “M*A*S*H” fame), Simon Oakland and Barry Atwater.

1990s VHS cover art for the Columbia House-MCA/Universal (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment) VHS series collection of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” (1974-75), part of Columbia House’s mail-order VHS cassette club.

The two classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece pilots served as the inspiration for the classic mammoth brief Universal Studios supernatural TV series masterpiece that also aired on the ABC television network,  “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” (1974-75) with McGavin and Oakland reprising their roles from the two earlier ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie production pilots. For Svengoolie’s “Halloween Boo-nanza 2023,” Me-TV will be presenting an all-night festival of extra classic episodes of “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” this latenight Sat., Oct. 28 at 1:00 a.m. Eastern/Midnight Central on most Me-TV stations!

The screenplay for Curtis’ classic mammoth 1973 ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie sequel pilot masterpiece production of “The Night Strangler” and the stories for Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV movie production of “Trilogy of Terror” was written by veteran screenwriter Richard Matheson. For “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), Matheson’s original story idea for the “Julie” segment were adapted into a teleplay by veteran screenwriter William F. Nolan.

Matheson previously wrote the screenplay for Jack Arnold’s classic 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 (of TV’s “The Beverly Hillbillies” fame) and William Schallert and also wrote 16 episodes of Rod Serling‘s classic mammoth critically-acclaimed CBS television supernatural sci-fi/thriller/fantasy masterpiece series, “The Twilight Zone” (Matheson wrote for Serling’s series from 1959-64).   Matheson previously wrote the screenplay for Curtis and Moxey’s earlier classic mammoth 1972 ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV move masterpiece with veteran writer-producer Max Hodge.  The two aforementioned ABC “Kolchak” features were adapted from an original idea by veteran author Jeffrey Grant Rice.

Curtis’ “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie sequel, “The Night Strangler” (1973) originally aired on the ABC television network on Jan. 16, 1973 as part of the network’s “Tuesday Movie of the Week” series of feature-length productions produced and/or financed by ABC along with made-for-TV productions produced for the network by major studios/production firms, according to IMDB. Fun Fact: 15 years  after the original 1973 ABC TV network airing of “The Night Strangler,” yours truly/the writer-author of “Silver Screen Reflections” was born (Jan. 16, 1988)!  “The Night Strangler” qualifies as an early “Birthday” film in connection to my Jan. 16, 1988 Birthday! -C.H.

Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) originally aired on the ABC television network on March 4, 1975 as an original “Movie of the Week” production of the network, according to additional details from IMDB.

According to additional details from IMDB, Curtis’ classic mammoth 1972 and 1975 made-for-TV  masterpiece productions were co-produced under the ABC television network’s in-house production subsidiary, “ABC Circle Films” (which later became “ABC Productions,” which is now known as “ABC Studios“/”ABC Signature“).  ABC later merged with radio & TV broadcast group Capital Cities Communications in 1985 to form Capital Cities/ABC, Inc.  Nearly a decade later, Capital Cities/ABC was acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 1996, the ABC Circle Films/ABC Productions/ABC Video Enterprises holdings would be immediately put into the hands of Disney’s in-house TV syndication unit (then-known as Buena Vista Television during the 1996 ABC/Disney merger).

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.

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 would later sell his production company to Warner Bros. in 1976), Universal Studios/MCA and Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems (Columbia’s TV unit was later rebadged 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 was previously shown on Svengoolie’s Me-TV showcases was 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.

“The Place To Be.. Tuesday!” Original Jan. 16, 1973 newspaper advertisement for the ABC television network’s evening lineup on that date, including “The Night Strangler” for Cedar Rapids, Iowa ABC affiliate KCRG-TV; “The Place to Be” was the slogan that ABC used for promoting their 1973-74 TV network season of shows and movies.

According to an original 1973 ABC television network ad that was featured in the Jan. 16, 1973 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette for Cedar Rapids, Iowa ABC affiliate KCRG-TV, the network programmed Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece sequel production of “The Night Strangler” (1973) for their “Tuesday Movie of the Week” showcase in-between an episode of “Temperatures Rising” (with Cleavon Little of 1974’s “Blazing Saddles” fame and James Whitmore) and an episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (with Robert Young and James Brolin).

Rare 1973 ABC promotional slide for “The Night Strangler” with Darren McGavin, sourced off of an off-air recording via ABC-owned KABC-TV Los Angeles from the Obsolete Video Services collection.

During the original Jan. 16, 1973 prime-time big broadcast airing/premiere of the “ABC Tuesday Movie of the Week Kolchak” sequel of ”The Night Strangler,” the alphabet network’s classic mammoth 1973 made-for-TV supernatural masterpiece production was shown opposite an episode of “Hawaii Five-O” (with Jack Lord) and the made-for-TV movie “The Voyage of the Yes” (with Desi Arnaz Jr. and Mike Evans) on CBS; the final episode of “Bonanza” (with Lorne Greene and Michael Landon and newcomer Mitch Vogel) and the pilot episode of “Hernandez/Hernandez: Houston P.D.” (with Henry Darrow, Ronny Cox, Dana Elcar of TV’s “Baa, Baa Black Sheep”/”Black Sheep Squadron” and “MacGyver” fame and Desmond Dhooge) on NBC; according to the Jan. 16, 1973 edition of the Hanover Evening Sun.

Re-purposed ABC promotional ad for “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) for a 1981 re-airing on ABC affiliate WPLG-TV/Miami. Not sure if this was part of an ABC overnight re-run or a syndicated package of films that ABC licensed to a syndicator at the time.  By 1981, ABC News’ “Nightline with Ted Koppel” would have aired in the 11:30 p.m. ET/10:30 p.m. CT weeknight timeslot on ABC stations- the WPLG re-broadcast of “Trilogy of Terror” was possibly from a weekend latenight movie airing on WPLG.

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 CBS and the Columbia Pictures made-for-TV movie production of “The Last Survivors” (1975) over on NBC.

For the original Jan. 16, 1973 ABC television network airing of “The Night Strangler” (1973) and the original March 4, 1975 ABC television network airing of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975): Curtis’ classic mammoth 1972 and 1975 ABC made-for-TV movie masterpieces aired on ABC-owned WLS-TV in Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois and on a regional scale for the home region/home office of “Silver Screen Reflections;” the original 1973 and 1975 ABC “Tuesday Movie of the Week” productions aired on WMAL-TV 7 (which became 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 CBS after the 1995 Baltimore TV affiliation switch, CBS-owned since the 1996 Westinghouse/Group W-CBS merger) in the Baltimore, Maryland area. -C.H.

For Sven/”The Night Strangler” (1973): In Sven/Rich’s home area of Berwyn/Chicago, Illinois; he previously showcased Curtis’ classic mammoth 1973 ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie sequel pilot masterpiece of “The Night Strangler” as a Berwyn/Chicago big broadcast premiere on his hometown TV station, WCIU-TV 26 back in Nov. 1996; according to IMDB.

For Sven/”Trilogy of Terror” (1975): This will mark Sven’s third big broadcast of Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV 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 wonderful Super SvenPals/Super Tooners Sarah Rhodes/Sarahgoolie, Nanette Keir and Brian Bernardoni, which was recently re-shown on Me-TV’s “Svengoolie Halloween Boo-nanza 2023” Latenight festival back on Oct. 14, 2022! -C.H.  Sven also re-broadcast “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) as a regular big broadcast on Me-TV back in Sept. 2023.

“The Night Strangler” (1973):

Who was in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV masterpiece sequel pilot of “The Night Strangler” (1973)?

Darren McGavin (as Carl Kolchak) in “The Night Strangler” (1973).

The players who appeared in Curtis’ classic mammoth 1973 ABC “Kolchak” supernatural made-for-TV sequel pilot masterpiece of “The Night Strangler” were  Darren McGavin (as Carl Kolchak, McGavin previously appeared in the title role of Mike Hammer in the classic mammoth 1958-59 MCA-Revue-Universal crime drama masterpiece adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s “Mike Hammer;” alongside his roles of Mike Hammer and Carl Kolchak, one of McGavin’s most famous screen appearances was in the role of Old Man Parker in Bob Clark and Jean Shepherd’s classic mammoth 1983 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/MGM holiday-comedy masterpiece with Peter Billingsley and Melinda Dillon, “A Christmas Story”), Jo Ann Pflug (as Louise Harper, Pflug previously appeared in the role of Lt. Dish in Robert Altman’s classic mammoth 1970 Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios wartime drama-medical comedy feature film masterpiece adaptation of “M*A*S*H” and later appeared in the classic mammoth Glen Larson/Twentieth Century Fox/Twentieth Century Studios action-adventure-comedy masterpiece series with Lee Majors from 1981-82, “The Fall Guy“), Wally Cox (as Titus Berry, Cox previously appeared in the title role of Robinson J. Peepers in the comedy series “Mister Peepers” with Tony Randall from 1952-55, of interest to fellow Super Tooners/Super SvenPals of Toony & Bill’s “Toon In With Me,” Cox lent his vocal stylings of the voice of the title cartoon character of Underdog in the classic mammoth 1964-73 TV cartoon masterpiece series, “Underdog“), Margaret Hamilton (as Prof. Crabwell, Hamilton previously appeared in her famous role of Miss Gulch/the Wicked Witch of the West in Victor Fleming’s classic mammoth 1939 MGM Technicolor feature film adaptation masterpiece of “The Wizard of Oz,” she previously appeared in  A. Edward Sutherland‘s classic mammoth 1940 Universal Studios “Invisible” comedy masterpiece with Virginia Bruce, “The Invisible Woman;” around the same time that she was in “The Night Strangler,” Hamilton also appeared in television ads in the role of “Cora” for Maxwell House Coffee ), Al Lewis (as Tramp, Lewis rose to greater fame for his role of Grampa Munster in the classic mammoth 1964-66 Universal Studios-CBS “Munster” monster comedy masterpiece series, “The Munsters” and in the classic mammoth 1966 Universal “Munster” monster-comedy feature-length masterpiece production of “Munster, Go Home!“), Richard Anderson (as Dr. Richard Malcolm, Anderson previously appeared in the role of Chief Quinn in Fred M. Wilcox’s classic mammoth 1956 MGM sci-fi masterpiece production of “Forbidden Planet” and appeared in 26 episodes of the classic mammoth CBS television drama masterpiece adaptation of  Erle Stanley Gardner‘s “Perry Mason” with Barbara Hale, William Hopper, Ray Collins and William Talman from 1964-66; To paraphrase Sven, “Richard Anderson was on.. ‘Perry Mason’!” -C.H.) veteran horror actor John Carradine, Kate Murtagh (as Janie Watkins, Murtaugh later appeared in Elliot Silverstein‘s classic mammoth 1977 Universal action-thriller masterpiece production of “The Car,” Murtagh later appeared in the role of a waitress for the album cover photo art for the legendary rock group Supertramp‘s classic mammoth 1979 rock album masterpiece released on the legendary Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss‘ A&M Records, “Breakfast In America“), Simon Oakland (as Tony Vincenzo, Oakland previously appeared in the role of Dr. Fred Richman in Alfred Hitchcock‘s classic mammoth 1960 Paramount Pictures suspense-thriller masterpiece production with Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, “Psycho” and in Peter Yates’ classic mammoth 1968 Warner Bros.-Seven Arts action/crime drama masterpiece production with Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn, “Bullitt;” Oakland later appeared in the classic mammoth 1976-78 Universal/NBC wartime drama masterpiece production of ”Baa, Baa Black Sheep”/”Black Sheep Squadron“), Nina Wayne (as Charisma Beauty), Virginia Peters (as Wilma Krakenheimer), Ivor Francis (as Dr. Webb), Diane Shalet (as Joyce Gabriel), Anne Randall (as Police officer Shiela), Francoise Birnheim (as the Restaurant Woman) and Regina Parton (as Merissa, Parton received screen credit under the pseudonym of Ethel Parker).

“Trilogy of Terror” (1975):

Who was in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV masterpiece production of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975)?

“Karen Black is Sensational in ‘Trilogy of Terror’!” Original 1975 ABC Television Network newspaper advertising proof for the original “Tuesday Movie of the Week” airing of Dan Curtis’ “Trilogy of Terror” with Karen Black.

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; Bob Rafelson‘s classic mammoth 1970 Columbia Pictures Golden Globe award-winning drama masterpiece with Jack Nicholson, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers of TV’s “All in the Family” fame, Fannie Flagg and Toni Basil; “Five Easy Pieces,” in the role of Myrtle Wilson in Jack Clayton‘s classic mammoth 1974 Paramount Pictures Academy Award-winning feature film adaptation masterpiece of F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s “The Great Gatsby” with Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Mia Farrow, Sam Waterston, Lois Chiles, Howard Da Silva and Edward Herrmann and in the role of the role of Connie White in Robert Altman‘s classic mammoth 1975 Paramount Pictures Academy Award-winning music-drama-comedy masterpiece with Keith Carradine, Shelley Duvall, Ned Beatty, Geraldine Chaplin, Ronee Blakley, young Jeff Goldblum, Scott Glenn of 1972’s “Gargoyles” fame and Henry Gibson of Rowan and Martin’s “Laugh-In” fame, “Nashville;” she also appeared with her real-life son, Hunter Carson in Tobe Hooper‘s cult classic mammoth 1986 Cannon sci-fi masterpiece re-make of “Invaders from Mars“); Robert Burton (as Chad Foster), John Karlen (as Thomas Ammen, Karlen previously appeared in the dual roles of Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, Desmond Collins and Kendrick Young in Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC television gothic vampire-horror masterpiece series, “Dark Shadows” from 1967-71; he also went onto greater fame for his role of Harvey Lacey in the classic mammoth 1982-88 Filmways/Orion/CBS television detective drama masterpiece series with Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless, “Cagney & Lacey” , Karlen later reprised his role of Harvey Lacey in several “Cagney & Lacey” made-for-TV movies with Daly and Gless from 1994–96 and also appeared in the role of Jake Morrisson in the classic mammoth 1991 Viacom/NBC “Perry Mason” made-for-TV movie masterpiece with Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale, “Perry Mason: The Case of the Glass Coffin;” To paraphrase Sven, “John Karlen was on.. ‘Perry Mason’!”), George Gaynes (as Dr. Chester Ramsey, he previously appeared in the role of Dr. Marderosian in Nathan Hertz Juran‘s classic mammoth 1973 Universal Studios werewolf monster masterpiece production with Kerwin Matthews, Elaine Devry, Scott Sealey, Robert J. Wilke, Susan Foster, Jack Lucas, Bob Homel, Loretta Temple, Harold Goodwin, Eric Gordon and Paul Baxley; “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” and later appeared in the role of John Van Horn in Sydney Pollack‘s classic mammoth 1982 Columbia Pictures comedy masterpiece with Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Bill Murray, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Geena Davis and a cameo by Pollack, “Tootsie” and in the role of Henry Warnimont in “Punky Brewster” from 1984-88, which originally aired on NBC and later became a first-run syndicated series for local TV stations), 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.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975), this Sat. on Me-TV

Fellow Svengoolie Super SvenPals everywhere will be dancing and jumping for joy for his upcoming big broadcast of a classic mammoth made-for-TV movie horror anthology masterpiece that was produced by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network.

“Svengoolie” presents his big broadcast of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975)

A fan-made trailer for Dan Curtis‘ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie horror/thriller anthology masterpiece, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) with Karen Black.

Custom art designed by Jacob Phillips for the Kino Lorber Blu-Ray & DVD release of Dan Curtis’ classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV horror anthology masterpiece, “Trilogy of Terror” (1975).

The legendary Berwyn/Chicago-based classic mammoth horror film masterpiece host will present his big broadcast of “Trilogy of Terror” (1975) this Sat., Sept. 30 at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central on Me-TV.

The classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV horror 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 series masterpiece production, “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 around the same time that ABC cancelled “Dark Shadows”).  20 years after the final ABC broadcast of “Dark Shadows,” Curtis would re-team with MGM to produce a newer, short-lived primetime “Dark Shadows” series for rival network NBC in 1991 with Ben Cross in the Barnabas Collins role.

Alongside his “Dark Shadows” productions and “Trilogy of Terror,” most of Curtis’ classic mammoth masterpiece TV productions aired on the ABC television network for the majority of his career.  He also produced the classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV movie masterpiece production of John Llewellyn Moxey‘s “The Night Stalker” (1972) with Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, Carol Lynley, Claude Akins and Larry Linville (of TV’s “M*A*S*H” fame). Curtis also directed the classic mammoth ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpiece sequel, “The Night Strangler” (1973) with McGavin, Oakland, Margaret Hamilton of 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz” fame, John Carradine, Al Lewis of “The Munsters” fame and Wally Cox.  The two classic mammoth ABC made-for-TV “Kolchak” movie masterpieces inspired the latter classic mammoth Universal Studios/ABC TV supernatural masterpiece series “Kolchak: The Night Stalker” (1974-75) with McGavin and Oakland.  For the aforementioned 1975-75 Universal “Kolchak” series, Dan Curtis served as a supervising producer.  Speaking of “Kolchak,” the two aforementioned classic mammoth Dan Curtis/ABC “Kolchak” made-for-TV movie masterpieces with Darren McGavin and Simon Oakland will air on future editions of Svengoolie’s Sat. evening Me-TV big broadcasts as part of his twinset features for “Svengoolie’s Halloween Boo-nanza” 2023 festival! -C.H.

Curtis also directed the classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning Paramount Pictures/ABC 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 “Fiddler on the Roof” fame,  Polly Bergen and Peter Graves and a follow-up classic mammoth critically-acclaimed Emmy award-winning made-for-TV wartime drama masterpiece sequel miniseries adaptation that was 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/thriller masterpiece production 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 screenplay for Jack Arnold’s classic 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 (of TV’s “The Beverly Hillbillies” fame) and William Schallert and also wrote 16 episodes of Rod Serling‘s classic mammoth critically-acclaimed CBS television supernatural sci-fi/thriller/fantasy masterpiece series, “The Twilight Zone” (Matheson wrote for Serling’s series from 1959-64).

“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.

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 would later sell his production company to Warner Bros. in 1976), Universal Studios/MCA and Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems (Columbia’s TV unit was later rebadged 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,” one of the other classic mammoth made-for-TV features that was previously shown on Svengoolie’s Me-TV showcases was 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.

According to additional details from IMDB, Curtis’ classic mammoth made-for-TV thriller/horror masterpiece production was co-produced under the ABC television network’s in-house production unit, “ABC Circle Films” (which later became “ABC Productions,” which is now known as “ABC Studios“/”ABC Signature“).

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 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 CBS after the 1995 Baltimore TV affiliation switch, CBS-owned since the 1996 Westinghouse/Group W-CBS 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 CBS and 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 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 (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).

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 second big broadcast of Curtis’ classic mammoth 1975 ABC made-for-TV 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 Sarah Rhodes/Sarahgoolie, Nanette Keir and Brian Bernardoni!*  And speaking of “Sven:Uncrypted,” the classic mammoth 2022 Me-TV/Sven documentary masterpiece with fellow Super SvenPals/Super Tooners Sarah/Sarahgoolie, Nanette & Brian will be coming back to the airlanes in the upcoming Me-TV 2023 “Sven’s Halloween Boo-nanza” showcase this upcoming latenight Sat. evening, Oct. 14 at 11:30 p.m. Central/early Sun. morning, Oct. 15 at 12:30 a.m. Eastern after Sven’s twinset double-feature showcase! -C.H.

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.