In the pre-Letterman days, CBS used to compete with Johnny Carson with something called THE CBS LATE MOVIE, which actually was sometimes a movie. Often it was nothing more than old reruns airing under the banner, but in this 1981 case, it was both. Here's the intro for an episode of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER and the 1969 Hammer horror film TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA. I wonder if this was a Friday night.
Yup, it was Friday, September 11th, 1981. KOLCHAK started at midnight (if you watched this instead of FRIDAYS you would've missed special guests Andy Kaufman and the "New" Sir Douglas Quintet) and TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA began at 1:10 a.m.
ReplyDeleteI loved the CBS LATE MOVIE. Pre-vcr it was my first platform for being able to see movies like PHANTASM, SHOCK WAVES, DEATHSPORT, MOONSHINE COUNTY EXPRESS, FEAR IS THE KEY and FORBIDDEN PLANET. Undoubtedly the format changed several times over the years - it probably was mostly movies, then a mix of movie and episodic television, and so on. Friday nights seemed to be a haven for cult / B movies, whereas the rest of the week largely comprised of detective shows.
ReplyDeleteI remember some of The CBS Late Movie wish it would return seeing the opening on YouTube that star and the rainbow that was pretty high tech for 1972 when they didn't have computers eh????!!!!!....my ex boyfriend Jeff's late half brother Jack liked Taste the Blood of Dracula and all the Hammer films cause of the cleavage of the ladies he was just a typical man eh????!!!
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