Some Joker Sent an E-Mail

With our Me-TV network beaming to so many parts of the country (and even into Canada), I’m always so happy to get messages from all over the place- and you always wonder who’s watching out there. Well, I found out about one such viewer- and it really blew me away! I got an e-mail from someone who had heard one of the sound bites that we use in the show- and realized that the voice was his! It was a line of the Joker’s from the excellent “Batman” animated series- and the writer said he was- Mark Hamill! He mentioned that he was a life-long monster and horror host fan, and that he was happy that I am keeping alive the broadcast tradition of the hosted horror show, especially since it’s a way to introduce that tradition to the younger generation. I was very excited- and somewhat cautious. We all know, in this day and age, there are individuals who like to pretend that they are someone that they are not-so, I was kind of taking this with a grain of salt! But- how cool would it be if really WAS Mark Hamill? The guy who played the Trickster on “The Flash” series; the voice of the Joker, among other animated roles; and, of course- Luke Skywalker?! (Not to mention, the star of a movie we ran on our show back in the 90s- “Black Magic Woman” featuring the lovely Prince protégé, Apollonia! Uh…come on- you DO remember that one, don’t you?) I e-mailed him back, stating how excited I was to hear from him- IF it was him…and wondered if there was a way for him to verify his identity, hoping that wasn’t too rude. He sent a message back, asking me to e-mail him my phone number- and he’d call me- and even do the Joker voice to prove it was him! That sounded pretty good to me- until I thought- okay, I send him my phone number, and possibly, some psycho pretender then can call and harass me. I asked others how they thought I could find out if he was who he said he was- and there were all sorts of ideas, but I had one of my own- in the vast Twitterverse, there had to be a legitimate twitter account for Mark. So, I suggested that he simply post a message on Twitter to confirm that it was him! Needless to say, he did! I sent him an e-mail with my phone number- and came into work to find a voicemail message – from the Joker! Yes, it was Mark himself, as he said, doing the voice as his way of passing the “final test” of his true identity! He left a nice message and – a return number! I called – and got to spend some time conversing with this fine actor, who is also an incredibly nice guy. Mark told me about how he moved around a lot as a kid, and got to see a lot of horror hosts in various parts of the country, including Ghoulardi and Zacherley, and how he loves the great old shows on Me-TV – and the movies on our show! Mark was surprised to find out that I’ve been around as long as I have (yeah, I’m one aging Goolie), and that he only discovered me recently. Of course, I had to reveal to him what a fan boy I am, letting him know that one of my proudest possessions is an actual production animation cell of- the Joker! I really enjoyed talking with Mark, and thanked him for making the effort to get in touch with me! I’m incredibly flattered that he enjoys what we do, and honored that he took the time to talk with me. He will soon be the owner of his very own Sven glow-in-the-dark t-shirt! Now- I have to wonder-who ELSE might be watching us?!