When It Rains, It Roars- Get Claude by Dinosaurs in "The Lost World"- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- it’s a classic science fiction adventure, penned by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle- in which an explorer, convinced there is an island where dinosaurs still exist, leads an expedition to a place where time has stood still- and his theory unfortunately is proven right- when Claude Rains enters the savage land of “The Lost World”!

We begin at a meeting of the London Zoological Society- where the cantankerous biologist/anthropologist Professor Challenger reveals to the society members that there is a plateau beyond the Amazon where animals thought to be extinct still exist! As the group wholeheartedly scoffs at this idea, Challenger, true to his name, challenges them to sponsor an expedition to the plateau- which is not met with any enthusiasm from the society.

Yet there is hope- a newspaper publisher agrees to fund the expedition, as long as one of his ace reporters, Ed Malone, can be part of it. Also volunteering to come along is a famed big game hunter Lord John Roxton- and still skeptical society honcho Professor Summerlee.

Challenger and his group fly to the shore of the plateau, where they are met by helicopter pilot Manuel Gomez, who will take them up onto the high plateau, and his skittish sidekick Jose Costa. Challenger is outraged to find that he has two unwanted guests who will be accompanying them on the quest- the publisher donor’s lovely daughter Jennifer and her brother David (not to mention her little pet dog)! Since Daddy is funding this whole excursion, Challenger has no choice but to bring them along.

They arrive on the plateau and set up camp- only to find that something large is prowling around- and has actually ruined their only form of transportation and communication- the helicopter! They soon have frightening encounters with everything from bizarre plant life to- yes- actual dinosaurs!

Things get complicated when a sultry native girl appears, trying to escape the explorers through the lair of a giant spider- but Malone finally brings her back to their camp. She isn’t the only troublesome female element in the mix-as Malone and Roxton battle over Jennifer’s affections! More complications occur when they discover the diary of a previous explorer who was lost on the plateau- which includes mentions of Roxton! Is there something he is not telling them?

Danger looms everywhere for the group- with dinosaurs in deadly combat, the native girl’s tribe of cannibals, and an unstable volcano- and secret agendas among the explorers. Will Challenger’s team manage to survive the treacherous perils- and themselves?!

This is the 1960 version of this tale ( there was a previous film of the story that starred Wallace Beery and showcased the stop-motion work of Willis O’Brien before his masterpiece “King Kong”. Our version has quite the cast, including Michael Rennie, David Hedison, Claude Rains, Fernando Lamas and Jill St. John- noted for her stylish wearing of some pink pants. Another cast member actually appeared on “Lost in Space” (not surprising since this film is a production of Irwin Allen, the man behind that show and “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” which featured cast member Hedison). We’ll talk about these actors and go into depth about the use of lizards as the dinosaurs- including trouble with the ASPCA! We’ll also get another edition of “Too Drawn Out”-bring you a new song- be bedeviled by the Imp-and more!

You can join us on our journey to “The Lost World” tonight on MeTV at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. As always, viewers will be commenting during the program on both Twitter/X and Bluesky- join in, and add the hashtag #svengoolie to your posts. Chicago area viewers get the chance to once again HEAD into the horror of “The Thing That Couldn’t Die” on WCIU, The U- at a special start time- 10:30 am- due to high school basketball.

We wish all who celebrate a happy St. Patrick’s Day- and want to thank everybody who acknowledged Rich Koz’s birthday this week!

Last week, we mentioned voting in the Rondo Awards- but you can also vote in MeTV’s “Me Madness”- this year, it’s to crown the ultimate famous TV phrase! There are a couple of Sven phrases in the running- so cast your vote at metv.com .

Join us tonight for pre-St. Patrick’s Day “scarin’ of the green” with the dinosaurs of “The Lost World”!