To Bee or Not to Bee- Bee-ware of "Terror Out of the Sky"- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV, we’re winding up our month of bugs and beauties with more of the former- sure, there may be some honeys, but they’re the kind produced by a sinister strain of stingers that will wipe out the human population if they are not stopped! It’ll be easy to tell why when you see “Terror Out of the Sky”!

In this sequel to the previous made-for TV movie from 1976 “The Savage Bees”- lovely researcher Jeannie is having dream flashbacks to the events of the previous film ( even though her character was –ahem- played by a different actress in that one) when she’s awakened by a visit from the head of the National Bee Center- David Martin-  who needs her help to deliver a pitch to get a grant for that institution. Jeannie refuses, intent on spending some time on a vacation with her pilot boyfriend Nick, but a terrible circumstance changes her plans.

At the Bee Center, two men who will decide if the grant goes through are waiting for David to arrive, while researchers are discovering a puzzling amount of dead bees in the experimental hives. When one of the  researchers ends up on the wrong end of hundreds of stingers, David calls Jeannie back to work, which does not sit well with her boyfriend who is fast becoming her ex!

They discover that an aggressive dangerous strain of South American bees, like the ones Jeannie encountered in that previous movie, has somehow infiltrated the hives. Those bees take over any colony they are in, so it is necessary to destroy the hives and their inhabitants. There’s just one problem; as part of their usual business, the Bee Center has sent out some shipments of bees! Fearing that, in one season, these bees could spread across the whole country, Jeannie and David must track down those shipments- and have to ask ex-boyfriend Nick to help them out by flying them to the widespread locations. This begins the hunt for the shipments of killer bees that could end in a disastrous plague!

The cast for this 1978 made-for-TV sequel ranges from Efrem Zimbalist Jr. to Dan ”Grizzly Adams” Haggerty- with Jeannie played by Tovah Feldsuh, who recently appeared on “The Walking Dead”. We’ll tell you about the players, bring you Sven’s new educational children’s show, propose some additional ways to keep this bee franchise going, and, of course, present a new song. You don’t need to have seen the movie to which this is a sequel – and, if you did, the plan to defeat the bees isn’t the same as it was in the previous film. So, no spoilers!

“Terror out of the Sky” descends upon us tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or check your local listings, or at www.metv.com , to find the channel and time. Our show has been trending in the high numbers lately on Twitter- thanks to the large number of people who “live –Tweet” during the show using the  hashtag  #svengoolie . MeTv encourages you to Tweet along! Chicago area viewers get one more trip to the “Mysterious Island of Beautiful Women ”  at 11 am on our sister station (Sister? Women? Was that intentional?) WCIU, the U.

As we thought, the voting for this year’s national Rondo Awards in horror and science fiction has begun. You can find the ballot at www.rondoaward.com    You can only submit one vote, done by cutting and pasting the ballot, and you can vote in as many or as few categories as you wish. I am flattered to be nominated once again as favorite horror host- but, as we always stress, vote for whoever you wish. Just follow all the rules, or your vote will not count! Voting winds up at midnight on Sunday, April 8.

Next Wednesday, February 28, the Sven alter ego, Rich Koz, will be making a guest appearance on the Bill and Wendy show on WGN radio (720 AM) just after 11 am central time at Chicago’s Museum of Broadcast Communications.  This special broadcast, in honor of the big “Saturday Night Live Experience” can be heard on the air or possibly viewed in person as audience members if you win tickets on their show! Listen to Bill and Wendy from 10-noon Monday on WGN! When you hear a famous SNL sound bite- call in to win!  (And, if you’re at the museum at any time, make sure to visit the Svengoolie exhibit!)

There’s a lot of buzz about tonight’s feature- so join us as we’re the connecter for nectar and nasty apiary attackers!