Tonight on MeTV- it’s monstermania- both domestic and interplanetary– as we are introduced to a different kind of Frankenstein. This Frankenstein, like the monster we are most familiar with, is indeed put together from human parts, but is quite different from Universal’s Monster- as you will see when “Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster”! (Yes, that last compound word is the way it appears in the movie title!)

The story begins with a strange spacecraft bound for our planet. The crew is made up of aliens from Mars (though that is never stated in the film itself)- on a mission of importance. We learn that the planet Mars has suffered through an atomic war that has almost totally killed off all its women- except for the evil and beautiful Princess Marcuzan who is aboard this spaceship. Her first in command is a bald, pointy-eared Martian named Nadir. We get no explanation about why Mars women and men look so different, but regardless…they have detected that our planet Earth is chock full of women- and their plan is to kidnap them to repopulate Mars!

In a totally unrelated situation- at least for now- NASA is about to send an astronaut into space- and not just any typical astronaut. This one, named Frank (no mention of if his last name is Enstein) is, in reality, a sort of cyborg created with human parts, synthetic skin, and an electronic brain! The idea is, they will not endanger any human life by sending this subject into space. The launch is a success, but- when the none-too-bright Martians perceive the approaching rocket as a missile out to destroy them, they shoot it down!

The capsule comes down in Puerto Rico, and Frank survives the crash, a bit stunned- until a Martian landing party comes down to check on what they shot down, and blasts him with a ray gun (which, in reality, was a popular 1960s toy- we’ll explain during the show). This blast causes damage to Frank’s electronic brain and the left side of his face, turning him into an out-of-control Frankenstein, running amok on the island, and extremely dangerous.

This leaves Dr. Adam Steele and his assistant, Karen Grant, who have been in charge of the android astronaut, assigned to track him down, and repair his damage- before he causes grave harm.

Frank is hardly the only danger, as a full landing party of ray gun-toting Martians arrive and begin their mission to kidnap women and shanghai them back to their spaceship in order to prepare them to become Martian brides. They seem to favor bikini-clad females, no doubt having picked up Earth broadcasts of “Beach Blanket Bingo”-type films.

Oh, and a semi-important fact- aboard their ship in a cage is none other than the “spacemonster” of the title- a hairy beast who seems to be used as muscle to threaten enemies, frighten their captives, and – what a surprise- take on any semi-robotic adversaries whom they might encounter! Will the Martians succeed in moving the female population of Earth to the Red Planet- and will our Frank indeed encounter the monster, like the title hints?

This 1964 sci fi epic stars one actor horror film fans probably know- James Karen, who was on our show years ago in “Time Walker” but is best known for his part in “Return of the Living Dead”. Our Martians have a noted past- and future- Princess Marcuzan was actually a Playboy Playmate, and Nadir would later play a memorable character on “Seinfeld” we’ll tell you about. Besides some film background, we will bring you a way for the male aliens to improve their looks, a vintage costume contest from the Flashback Weekend horror convention ( in preparation for our upcoming annual visit)- visits with the likes of Toony the Tuna from “Tune In with Me” and Nostalgiaferatoo, a song, and more!

“Frankenstein Meets the Spacemonster” invades your TV tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. As always, viewers will be posting live comments on Bluesky, and live-Tweeting on Twitter during the program, using the hashtag #svengoolie – and you are welcome to join in! If you are in the Chicago broadcast area, you can catch last week’s chilling children in “Village of the Damned” at 11 am on our main local channel, WCIU the U.

If you missed our big announcement on last week’s show-the Sven Squad and I will be attending one of the biggest pop culture conventions of the year- The San Diego Comic Con- where we will be doing a special panel about our show. We’ll post more information soon, so make sure you check the “appearances” tab here on our website every so often.

Heating up just like the weather is our annual Artists Series of Svengoolie items, done by terrific comics artists! You can now get all sorts of merchandise with a unique new graphic done by our friend Franco- and there will be additional artists coming up soon in our store.

Tonight- join us for cutie-corralling Martians, a horrific hybrid astronaut, and an alien monster- visiting Puerto Rico for more than a vacation!