It'll Ooze- You'll Lose! Steve McQueen Battles

We’ve had many requests for tonight’s MeTV feature- a 1958 classic starring 28 year old Steve McQueen that was a part of the fairly cheaply produced wave of “drive in movies” aimed at teenagers. It’s become a genre favorite, with the well-used premise of an alien threat coming to earth via a meteor and threatening mankind- beware of “The Blob”!

Things start out semi-innocently enough, with allegedly-teenaged Steve and Jane ( played by future Mayberry resident Helen Crump- Aneta Corsaut ) having a pleasant time in Lover’s Lane ( not the store) when they see a meteor streak across the sky and actually touch down fairly near to them! They decide to investigate- but before they get to it, an old man finds the meteor, pokes it with a stick- and a gelatinous ooze comes out of it and attaches itself to his arm!

Steve and Jane arrive to find the old fellow in great pain, and rush him to the local town doctor’s office. The doc, having no idea what the gooey stuff is, sends the couple back to see if they can find anything else around the meteor. While they’re gone- the jelly spreads even further over the old man’s body- and beyond! By the time the kids return- they witness the Blob claiming another victim, and head to the police station- where good cop Dave and bad cop Bert aren’t sure they believe them- but come out to investigate, regardless- and find…nothing!

Bert especially feels this is a stupid teenage prank, and brings the kids back to their respective homes- but, with an incredible blob monster on the loose, Steve and Jane sneak out, and try to convince some of their friends that this is no joke- and they have to make the townspeople believe before it’s too late! Meanwhile, the Blob continues to absorb victims- and grows more every time it claims another- slowly moving through the town, with stops at places like a grocery store and- of course- the local theatre showing a midnight horror movie, where the horror becomes far too real! Will this finally convince the populace that there’s a gooey gargantuan menacing them- and- can they find a way to stop something that seeps, and creeps, and slides and glides across the floor- oh, sorry- I’ve got the movie’s theme song running through my head…

This film, produced by the same people who would bring us “Dinosaurus!”, and shot around Pennsylvania, is a good old fashioned scare-fest- and a kind of blueprint for a lot of movies in the same genre. We’ll tell you all about the cast and the production- and that catchy theme song ( again, if our knowledgeable blog commenters would kindly withhold their insights until AFTER our show, it would be appreciated). Plus- we’ve got some sticky shtick and the song we originally did when we showed this film years ago- comparing the town in danger to a slightly more friendly place.

“The Blob” oozes onto MeTV tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central- plus, you can check for time and/or channel where you are in your local listings, or at www.metv.com . In the Chicago viewing area, we give “Earth VS the Flying Saucers” one more spin at 11 am on WCIU, the U.

Many thanks to the folks who came out to the IO Theater Building in Chicago for Sven alter ego Rich Koz’s participation in the “Armando Diaz Experience” improv show- it was a night loaded with laughs and scenes with totally unexpected turns! Watch for Sven to appear locally to support WCIU’s “Fill a Bag- Fill a Bus” food drive in less than two weeks- info will be posted soon under the “appearances” tab here on our website. Plus- a bunch of summertime appearances will be on the way.

Tonight, however, join us for the jelling jeopardy of “The Blob” on MeTV! And just TRY to get that theme song out of your head!

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