Humans are "Knee-deep- Knee-deep" in Danger- it's "Frogs"- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- it may seem to many of us fighting the chill of winter that a visit to the warmth of Florida might be welcome- but perhaps not, if it’s about to become the battleground between humans and amphibians, reptiles, and various other creatures, out for revenge against the polluting ways of man- heralded by the arrival of- “Frogs”!

This 1972 horror film starts off calmly enough- with Pickett Smith, a wildlife photographer, canoeing through the waters of a swamp, taking photos of various plants and creatures while noting evidence of pollution throughout the area. He is unceremoniously overturned by a speedboat driven by a boozy young man, and is taken aboard the craft to meet the wealthy young idiot Clint and his pretty sister Karen. They offer him the chance to come dry off at their palatial family mansion, where he meets the patriarch of the family- the wheel-chair bound grump, Jason Crockett, who invites him to stay to join in on the combined celebration of his birthday and the 4^th of July. It’s obvious that Jason run his plantation- and his family- with an iron hand, and that his business methods are responsible for the pollution Pickett has observed.

Also observed is that the area seems to be overrun with frogs of various sizes, and Jason, not very fond of their presence, has sent out his man Grover to spray pesticide (great! More pollution!) to solve the problem. Little does he realize the problem is already well on its way out of hand.

Pickett meets several other members of the family, as well as the house staff- and actually seems to meet with Jason’s approval. He is even asked to check on the whereabouts of certain missing people- and his findings are not good. He has also found an unusual amount of swamp creatures all over the area- many more than are normal. As employees and family members become victims of attacks by the different animal species, it’s suggested that the family should leave the area- but Jason refuses to let anything interfere with his celebration, and demands that they stay! Things only get worse, and escape begins to seem impossible- as the frogs grow in number and no human is safe!

This movie was made during a time when ecology was becoming a major concern, and it is considered to be part of a group of films known as “eco-horror” in which nature fights back against the population polluting and destroying the natural world. It boasts some big name actors- from Ray Milland and a very young Sam Elliot to well-known TV actress Joan Van Ark. We’ll tell you about the cast, and some background on the production, as well as bringing you a new song- and watch for a brief greeting from a major star and Sven fan who faithfully watched my shows when they were just local to the Chicago area- and still tunes in today! And, for those who have seen the original poster promoting the film- no, there is no huge frog big enough to swallow a human and have its hand protruding from its mouth- but there are enough deadly creatures around to make up for that! We do warn you that there are some scenes that may not be suitable for all viewers -especially those who don’t like snakes, frogs, and other creepy crawly things!

“Frogs” invades your TV screen tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. Once again last week on Twitter, so many viewers were live-Tweeting during the show that we were trending at various levels for the whole program- and we think that might just happen again tonight. Feel free to join in, using the hashtag #svengoolie. This morning, local Chicago area viewers get to marvel once again at the stop-motion artistry of Ray Harryhausen in “Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” at 11 am on CW26.

We are proud to announce that a series of spots we were a part of  promoting the premiere episodes of the CW series “Superman and Lois” were named best TV station self-promotion by the Illinois Broadcasters Association, winning a Silver Dome award in the state-wide competition. The spots had me as spokesman, talking about the series and, naturally, making some jokes about the Man of Steel. We are very honored, and thank our coworkers Molly Kelly, Steve Boal, Jeff Hinkle, and Jim Roche for including me in this project. As a longtime comics fan, being a part of something with Superman is always like a dream come true!

Tonight, however, things will lean more towards nightmares than dreams- as cold-blooded creatures become cold-blooded killers!