Tonight on MeTV- it’s the one you’ve been clamoring for- as the perfect follow-up to our month-long “BOO-nanza”- stretching our Halloween fun one more night! As I’ve said before, it may be the most requested film in our library- a classic that our viewers constantly request! It came together originally when Universal’s perennial top comedy team had lost some of their box office power- so the studio teamed them up with another property that had also been declining in popularity (at least in the opinion of the studio heads)-the classic Universal monsters. Noteworthy because two of the classic monsters are played by the men who established them as horror legends- Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Lon Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot, the Wolf Man- we also get Glenn Strange as the Monster- set against the legendary comedy duo for creepy encounter “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein”!

Do I even need to recount the plot at this point? Railroad baggage clerks Chick and Wilbur are hard at work -one more than the other- when a stunning woman named Sandra, who is inexplicably Wilbur’s current girlfriend, drops by to visit, dumbfounding Chick as to why this beauty is attracted to his little pal! Wilbur’s romantic break is broken further by a long distance call from London- from a stranger named Larry Talbot, who tries to deliver a desperate warning for the boys-but unfortunately, is transformed into a werewolf by the full moon before he can deliver it!

Enter one Mr. McDougal, a grouchy customer, who demands that the boys deliver a couple boxes from their latest shipment to his “house of horrors” exhibition as soon as possible. He laughingly brags to Sandra that they supposedly contain the authentic coffin of Count Dracula, and –the body of the REAL Frankenstein Monster! Chick is not buying that story, but, regardless, promises he and Wilbur will make the delivery- that evening.

Of course, they make the delivery on a dark and stormy night! Entering McDougal’s “House of Horrors”, the already nervous Wilbur learns –to his dismay- that the display pieces are indeed authentic! Count Dracula rises from his coffin (or, his “bunk”, as Lou refers to it) and then frees the weakened Monster from his crate, and they make their escape from the museum.

Arriving just after the fact, McDougal finds the empty crates, and demands that the baggage handlers be put in jail for supposedly having stolen his valuable exhibits. Meanwhile, Dracula and the Monster head to a castle sanctuary on a nearby island, in which the laboratory notes of the original Dr. Frankenstein are in the hands of a renowned surgeon. Shockingly, that surgeon is none other than Wilbur’s beautiful girlfriend- Sandra! It is revealed that her real interest in the chubby fellow is not a matter of romance, but a way to achieve her goal-to transplant Wilbur’s easily manipulated brain into the Monster- making the powerful creature easier for Count Dracula to command, and do his evil bidding!

With Wilbur and Chick having been jailed by McDougal- things take a better turn as they are bailed out by a woman who they assumed was Sandra. But- it isn’t – it’s a pretty blonde stranger named Joan, who then shows up at their apartment, and reveals that she posted the bail! Unbeknownst to the boys, Joan is working undercover with McDougal’s insurance company, investigating the supposed theft of his property in hopes of recovering the missing display items. Ironically, checking in just across the hall from them, the boys run into none other than Larry Talbot, who has just arrived from England. He wants to enlist the boys to aid him in finding the two legendary evil creatures before Dracula can carry out his scheme to control the powerful Monster as an unstoppable evil force!

The boys and Joan head to the island castle to pick up Sandra to attend a costume ball- with Wilbur stumbling into a hidden lower chamber where he again encounters the monsters- but he has no way to convince Chick that he's actually found them! Back on the main level, Sandra introduces them to her associate, Dr. Leighos- who appears to be the spitting (or biting?) image of Count Dracula!

The costume ball seems to be a must-attend event for everyone in the area- that includes nasty Mr. McDougal; Doctor Leighos dressed in a suspiciously spot-on Dracula “costume”; and the always “less than festive” Larry Talbot. Before long, a frantic catastrophe puts Chick and Wilbur back at the island castle, where Sandra prepares her supposed “boyfriend” for the brain transplant. Soon, with the Frankenstein Monster restored to full and dangerous power – and the rising full moon having the usual effect on Talbot, pitting Wolf Man against vampire- Wilbur and Chick must escape this monster mash with their lives!

We’ll not only present the impressive cast list of this film, but also some behind the scenes information about the movie- plus, we’ll present a vintage version of our drawing game “Too Drawn Out”- and bring back some interviews with actors you probably know from TV shows, one having been the “King of Hell” and one having been a hellish nemesis of Smallville’s Clark Kent, along with more surprises from the past.

“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” returns to our airwaves tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. We know a lot of our viewers are looking forward to posting live during the show on both Bluesky and Twitter/X – and you can join in, using the hashtag #svengoolie in your posts. This morning, local Chicago area viewers to witness a special encore of the one that started it all for Carl Kolchak- the original made-for-TV movie “The Night Stalker”- at 11 am on WCIU the U!

A brief personal note: congratulations to our friend the great Robert Englund, who got his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Halloween! Now, if they’d just put the imprint of Freddy Krueger’s gloved hand at Mann’s Theatre…

We made it through our busy Halloween month- and are grateful for the chance to meet so many of you at the various events. Of special note is the re-opening of Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications, which once again has a special Sven display featuring my original coffin and pieces from our set. It is now open to the public and loaded with both Chicago and national broadcasting artifacts and displays- and we invite you to visit. You can still get to take “Underground Misadventures” at the exhibit that I am a part of at Chicago’s Field Museum - it runs through Sunday, November 2. Find ticket information at: https://www.fieldmuseum.org/landing/tickets-and-pricing

You should also visit our store here on our website-there are new items, including a way to decorate your tree, on the way along with favorites- for yourself and any Sven fans you may want to gift with them.

Tonight, we give you the gift that just keeps on giving- the gift of jokes and jeopardy at the hands of comedy and creature legends! And- don’t forget to travel through time and set your clocks back one hour tonight!