 | Chilly Billy (Bill Cardille) was the horror host on Chiller Theatre, on Channel 11 (WPXI), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show every Saturday night from September 14th, 1963 to January 1st, 1984, and had a strong cult following in the area. Bill had been a regular on Channel 11 (formerly call letters WIIC), he was the first voice heard when the channel went on the air on September 1st, 1957. After years of hosting many other local shows on WIIC, Bill eventually hosted the horror/sci-fi movie show Chiller Theatre, thus becoming "Chilly Billy" and taking his place in the history of horror hosts in the USA. |
Chiller Theatre usually showed a double bill of movies, initially starting at 11.30pm, it was so popular that on the channel it kept the nationally popular NBC affiliate show Saturday Night Live out of its slot for four years. Eventually under pressure from NBC, Chiller Theatre was bumped to a 1.00am slot, going down to just one movie so SNL could be aired. Later it was bumped to a 2.00am slot, for the weekend edition of Entertainment Tonight. The final nail in the coffin for even die-hard fans of Chiller Theatre,
| The show took the usual horror host format, or skits between breaks in the movies. With Chilly Billy playing a variety of characters, and reporting from places such as the Pittsburgh Subway System (which didn't exist). He often roped in Channel 11 staff to play parts on the show, but over the years the show gained a regular supporting cast, including Terminal Stare and Georgette the Fudgemaker (shown in the video clip). In addition, Chiller Theatre featured some celebrity guests that included, Phyllis Diller, Barbara Feldon (Agent 99, from Get Smart), Vincent Price, and Lorne Greene. | The above video features the opening bumper to Chiller Theatre, but also includes a promo for the Richard Simmons show, and a bizarre PSA on the dangers of smoking featuring R2D2 and C3PO. |
Weird Retro Fact: Bill "Chilly Billy" Cardille, appeared in both the original 1968 version of Night Of The Living Dead, and the 1990 remake.
