A Message From Drac

[captainmarvel1957]

Hello, fellow Universal Monsters devotees!  I used to host horror movies in Cleveland, Ohio back in the 1980s.  I was the blood sucker half of Frank and Drac.  Three weeks ago I was inducted into The Horror Host Hall of Fame at the Horrorhound Weekend convention in Cincinnati.  I wanted to thank everyone who voted for my induction and thought some of the members here may be among the voters.  Thank you!  I was amazed that Drac was still so fondly remembered by horror movie fans.  Many people have told me since that fans have collected, swapped, and traded tapes of the old Frank and Drac episodes for decades.  That was very gratifying to hear.  Thank you.  I have a Facebook group page that you are all invited to join.  Join The Official Frank and Drac Fan Page and become a member of The Drac Pack!  I'd love to have you there!  And, for those of you that may want to see it, my induction speech is on The Official Frank and Drac Facebook page.

Thanks again!  Drac!

[Mike Scott]

Welcome to the UMA, Drac! 

[ChristineBCW]

We've had threads about TV hosts in the past and I'd love to hear how your series started.  Were you working in TV stations at the time?  Or was this a developed show offered to local or regional TV stations, and one picked it up and you let the others fall by the wayside? 

I assume you probably saw similar hosted-shows in your childhood, and perhaps you were watching a locally-hosted show.  Did you travel (thru perhaps family 'moves') to other towns and see other similar shows?  Did you grow up with multiples - such as several after-school hosted programs plus Friday/Sat night hosted horror shows?

Was the origin of your Frank & Drac Show always with 2 characters?  Were you familiar with your partner and did he have a similar background of watching hosted-TV shows?

[captainmarvel1957]

Christine, the Frank and Drac series started when I was at the Cleveland Fox network affiliate, Channel 19, on other business and was walking through their studio and said, "Oh, so this is where I'll be working after I pitch my Count Bob project to you."  The executive I was with said, "Do you have an act?  Because we're looking."  So, Frank and I created the act to fill the void. 

I did watch other horror hosts as a child.  I was in the Cleveland, Ohio, area so I had seen Ghoulardi, Hoolihan and Big Chuck and Lil' John, The Ghoul and Superhost.  Ghoulardi did have a short run in the afternoons one summer hosting Laurel and Hardy shorts.  That was fun.

Frank and Drac did start with the two main characters but there were peripheral characters like Erik, The Phantom of the Opera on keyboards and four Vampettes.  They didn't last long.

I would like to invite everybody again to join our Facebook page, The Official Frank and Drac Fan Page.  Thanks again!  Drac!

[Mike Scott]

"Oh, so this is where I'll be working after I pitch my Count Bob project to you."  The executive I was with said, "Do you have an act?  Because we're looking." 

Way to be proactive, Drac! Make your own destiny! 

[ChristineBCW]

"Proactive" - absolutely.  And congrats on that good move.   I am fascinated by both the rise (creation) of these hosted-shows in American TV - it seems every market of 100,000 or more had a show for a while.  Then those dropped off by the late '70s or early '80s.

When other actors departed, was this a cost-issue?  Was there a single year where Content Providers charged far more and thus eliminated the show's financial well-being?  Or was viewership the tipping point, where advertisers wanted higher-volume air-time and not F&D's? 

I'm sure "financial" is one reason for hosted shows' demise, but at which end - the advertisers sought other times, or were content providers raising their prices?

Or was there some movement to not provide content, at any price?  Were indie stations gobbled up and had their content dictated by some regional or national HQ?

[Lunkenstein]

Is this the same, old buddy CaptainMarvel1957 I had fun conversations with at another board in the previous decade?