Jan 9, 2008

No Mercy! No Escape! No Commercials!


One day, long ago, I had a vision. I think that it started out after watching Puppet Master I-III on the Sci-Fi channel. At the time (I was in high school, working dutifully at Sam Goody, a sellout record store located within the bowels of Fashion Place Mall) I let my mind wander to what I would do if the powers that be put me in charge of a TV station. The powers would say, "Alex, we, the Powers That Be, are hereby granting you the ability to create a cable channel. Do with this opportunity as you see fit," to which I would reply, "Then let this channel be dedicated to that which terrifieth! That which horrifieth! That which cometh drenched in the whoorish blud of Babylon!" I thought a channel that was dedicated to horror movies (and horror TV shows) would be rad.
Now, years later, there is one on cable called Chiller. I was pretty stoked when I found out about it, especially after I found out that Tales From the Crypt, Twin Peaks, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and the brutally lame Freddy's Nightmares would all be included in the show's repertoire. So I started watching it. Here's why it sucks.
1. The movies that they have, although sometimes good, are both edited for content and presented with regular commercial interruptions. Unacceptable! When I watch my horror movies I demand viscera! And commercials are just annoying. I don't know anyone who disagrees with me. Which brings us to number 2.
2. Okay, regular commercials bug me enough, but the ones they show on Chiller are damned infomercials! Right after some chump gets eaten or chopped or melted, boom! It's a commercial for adult diapers and erectile dysfunction. Totally ruins the scary mood of (even an edited) horror movie. I mean, come on!
3. No original programming! What I wouldn't give to see some new TV shows that just bitched about horror film remakes, or a segment in which we watched music videos from bands that are especially terrifying. Think about it!!!

That being said, here is a sample of a day's programming were I in charge (all movies would be presented in all of their bloody glory. And while we're making things up, there wouldn't be commercials):
Let's start with the mornings. The morning should be for the kids, so from six to nine AM, we'd show all of the really cool cartoons that have a scary-ish theme, such as Count Duckula, Beetlejuice, Mutant League, The Toxic Crusaders, The Real Ghostbusters, and (since I can't think of anything better), Scooby Doo. Actually, maybe we'd start with Scooby Doo, so the good ones get seen.
From nine AM to noon would then be a good time for the horror TV shows like Tales From the Crypt, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Night Gallery, Tales From the Dark Side, and yes both Freddy's Nightmares and Friday the 13th: The Series. These are perfect shows with which to waste time while the morning becomes the afternoon.
Next, from noon to four PM, a lovely double feature. They'd be two movies that shared a common thread or sequels like Critters and Critters 2, hosted by an Elvira/Vampira-ish hostess with a goofy zombie sidekick or something.
From four to six PM, we kick in the original programming. I'd want an Ebert and Roeper-style movie show called "Cutting Room," but instead of portly dudes, it'd be a nerdy cyborg named STAR-69 and an undead butt-rocker named Scalp. And they'd just review horror movies. Then we'd have an hour long music program called "Howlers" that showcased bands like Type O Negative and Lordi. It'd show music videos, concerts, and the occasional interview. After that, there'd be a half-hour show dedicated to milestones in the horror genre called "Freaks." It'd be about important books, people, TV, movies, etc. and their origin stories.
Six to eight PM would be filled with the two greatest macabre TV shows ever: Twin Peaks and The X-Files.
Eight PM to midnight would also be dedicated to horror movies, but they would be more focused on recent stuff from the last twenty years or so. No themes or anything, just two awesomely scary movies.
Of course at midnight, we would show a special midnight movie. These would be taken from the vast library of cult movies like Dead Alive and The Toxic Avenger. The midnight movie would probably be followed by one more random horror film, and then from 3 to 5:30 AM we would show a lot of the weird Anime that exists out there like Wicked City and Vampire Hunter D.

And there you have it! Now that I have laid this out, you're pissed that Chiller is all we have, huh? Oh well. I'll just have to wait until I get a HDTV and order Monsters HD. So until then, keep dreaming, my friends. Keep right on dreaming.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Truly righteous! You need to go guerrilla, man, right now! You're blog, your ideas are so mind-blowing! I don't even like horror movies and I want to watch your station!
P.S. if lead singer of My Chemical Romance can start a sweet comic, we can too...we need to become guerrilla marketeers! Or start a mediocre emo-band.

Ryan said...

Can I put in a request for Tales from the Darkside? That show was equal parts badass and sucky.

Sheree said...

Wow, Alex. Every once in a while, you still kinda surprise me with how geek-tastic you really are. Kudos. Also, I kinda like Freddy's Nightmares. Just so you know.