Horror and science fiction have always been a part of the television canvas, and constant attempts have been made over the years to produce classic entertainment. Some have fallen by the wayside, while others became mainstream phenomena. With “TV Terrors,” we take a look back at the many genre efforts from the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s, exploring some shows that became cult classics, and others that sank into obscurity.
This month we head all the way back to the 1960s to hang out with horror host John “The Cool Ghoul” Zacherle (aka Zacherley) and revisit his series “Disc-O-Teen”!
- Aired on 1965-1967
- Aired on Channel 47, WNJU-TV
It’s pretty surprising that in the age of reboots and shows that tap into the nostalgia of the now bygone era of television, studios haven’t revived the dance show. For decades, influential dance shows geared towards teens were all the rage with “American Bandstand,” “The Midnight Special,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and “Soul Train” et al. They were primarily series based around Emcees engaging with teenagers who often danced to the latest pop and rock hits.
It just seems like a formula that’d be easy to duplicate, especially in the digital age. During the sixties and seventies while there were huge shows dominating television, local stations also offered up their own music and variety series.
Among the myriad shows was “Disc-O-Teen.” Running for three years on the local station Channel 47 in Newark, New Jersey, “Disc-O-Teen” was the classic teen variety and music series that was emceed and hosted by none other than Zacherle, “The Cool Ghoul.” While the late, great Zacherle was known for hosting niche horror television like “Shock Theater” and “Chiller Theater,” he was also a prominent emcee and Radio DJ who loved rock music.
When he ended his hosting career in New York at WPIX-TV in 1964 (that began in Philadelphia in 1957 as horror host Roland), Zacherle was offered the gig to emcee “Disc-O-Teen” in a local market at Newark. Despite being only a local program, it was a boon to his career and his love for invoking his iconic character. The live music and variety show (which aired after school) was very much in the mold of “American Bandstand,” where Zacherle would usually introduce a new song from the latest big band, prompting energetic numbers from the teen dancers.
Zacherle never broke character, often delivering his trademark cackle and pale face while interviewing teenagers in the audience, and engaging in silly but fun comedy sketches. According to an interview at Zacherley.com, Fridays on the series were theme days when the visitors (student dancers) would dress up depending on what the theme was. One Friday was gangster day, and another was Roman toga day, et al. It also allowed him to book local rock bands in desperate need of publicity, while he also booked some huge bands with big hits on the charts like The Doors, Loving Spoonful, and The Dave Clark Five, respectively.
Zacherle was also able to experiment with a lot of the content as well, running with what worked comically on the show, and dropping what didn’t. Much of Zacherle’s comedy usually involved some kind of horror element, such as (in one of the only two surviving episodes of the series) when The Wolfman and Dracula happen on to the “Disc-O-Teen” set, trading jokes with Zacherle, and lurking in the audience during the musical numbers. “Disc-O-Teen” was very much like “American Bandstand” but it was also bolder, and had an irresistible charm to it thanks to Zacherle’s infectious charisma.
Among the acts (to name only a few) featured there’s Lloyd Price’s “Stagger Lee,” (a very condensed version of) The Doors’ “Light My Fire,” Soul Survivors’ wonderful “Expressway to Your Heart,” The Four Tops’ “You Keep Running Away,” The Who’s “Pictures of Lily,” Sam & Dave’s fantastic “Soul Man,” The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin’,” and Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody To Love.” In one of the funnier albeit more bizarre skits, Zacherle appears in a wig lip syncing to “I Got You Babe” with one of the dancers.
Despite the fact that only two episodes have been known to survive and have been kept for posterity, they give us a great experience with an excellent flavor of what kind of series Zacherle had in store for viewers. He opted for different, and we got it. It’s a damn shame that the series has yet to be picked up or restored by a company like Time Life or Kino Lorber yet, especially in light of John Zacherle’s death in 2016.
Maybe it’s because of expensive music licensing, or maybe (and very sadly) there simply aren’t any surviving episodes in the WNJU archives as many have explained; it’s probably also true since WNJU switched to the Spanish format immediately after the last episode aired. “Disc-O-Teen” may have only lasted three years, but it amassed a loyal following from its audience, and allowed Zacherle to win over a different audience that remained loyal to him until the day he died.
It’s a series that deserves to survive into the new generation, especially for aspiring horror geeks who never experienced “The Cool Ghoul” before.
Is It On DVD/Blu-ray/Streaming? Although there is sadly only a pair of full length episodes for “Disc-O-Teen” filmed directly from WNJU, they can be found online in their uncut format on YouTube. They can also be found on various DVD-R online stores in physical format.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/tv/3645366/disc-o-teen-gave-horror-host-john-zacherle-american-bandstand-tv-terrors/
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