Please Check Your Scorecards for a Substitution- "Ants!" Tonight

As I mentioned yesterday, due to circumstances beyond our control, we’ve had to make changes in our schedule for the rest of this month. So ,tonight, we head back to a resort hotel, infested by a scheming businessman , and, even worse - by “Ants!”

This 1977 made-for TV movie- which we first aired early last February- begins with a construction project at the charming old Lakewood Manor resort hotel. Suddenly, the  construction pit could become a grave- with a couple of the workmen set upon by a bunch of nasty ants- and then, buried alive by a freak accident!

We meet a somewhat sleazy real estate entrepreneur , Fleming,on his way to the resort area, with his blonde assistant who, it would appear, wants to keep things strictly business- for now. Fleming hopes to force out the elderly owner of the Lakewood, wheelchair-bound Mrs. Adams, but trying to fool her into thinking he’s working in her best interests. He actually wants to tear down the resort, and replace it with his own brand of hotel/casino.

Back at the site of the construction accident, the foreman Mike (who’s in a relationship with Mrs. Adams’ daughter Val) and his co-worker Vince have located their buried co-workers- but something doesn’t make sense- the doctor who examined them says that they died of- poisoning. But- from what?

Val, worried about her aging invalid mother, tries to get her to meet with Fleming and consider his offer- but the elderly owner wants everything to stay in the family and remain as it has been for so many years.

 A wandering young woman happens upon one of the hotel’s employees, Richard- and plays on his sympathies to let her take a shower and relax. Relaxation is actually going to be the last thing on her mind, when there are more mysterious poisonings- and a couple  Board of Health representatives  show up, and, fearing that a virus is to blame for what’s going on, want to shut the resort down. Mike and Vince have discovered that the problem is no virus- it’s a colony of deadly ants that have infiltrated the hotel! Can they convince the authorities of the true cause- before the hotel becomes a deathtrap of poisonous ants?

You’ll be seeing lots of familiar actors in this production- Suzanne Sommers,Lynda Day George, Robert Foxworth , Bernie Casey-and legendary Hollywood star Myrna Loy in her final role. Along with examining the cast list, we bring back some Sven fun, including  a take-off on  a popular kid’s toy of the past.

"Ants" runs again on MeTV  tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or check your local listings (or at www.metv.com ) for time and channel in your viewing area. We are sorry to report to our San Francisco fans that the station that was providing MeTV to you has dropped its affiliation, though you can still see us on AT&T channel 136 /1136 HD. When a new broadcast outlet is established, we will alert you here in the blog. We are grateful for the support you’ve shown us, and are working to be with you again soon!

In Chicago, viewers get an early Saturday appearance of "Mad Magician" on WCIU, the U, at 11 am.

We have some big appearances of our own coming up next month- including the C2E2 comics and entertainment convention in Chicago, featuring a special panel with me talking about my career- and taking questions from the audience. We’ll also be in Milwaukee for the big Midwest Gaming Classic, and once again, helping out the Brookfield Zoo AAZK for their charity spaghetti dinner. You’ll find the info under our “appearances” tab here on the site.

Also, remember there’s still time to vote in the national Rondo awards- you’ll find rules and ballot at www.rondoaward.com . Make your voice heard in the awards chosen by the votes of YOU- the fans!

One more thing- our feature for next week will also be changing from what we originally had scheduled, as mentioned in yesterday’s brief blog.

Thanks for understanding- and join us tonight as we get ANTS-y again!