Will Astronauts Be Marooned on "The Angry Red Planet"?- Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- it’s some spacey scares from director Ib Melchoir who brought us “The Time Travelers”- but these travelers are headed to the fourth planet in our solar system-for some tinted terror of the alien kind! The space explorers meet with deadly Martian mayhem when they land on “The Angry Red Planet”!

This 1959 science fiction film begins when a rocket ship, thought to be lost, reappears and lands back on Earth. A surviving member of this mission to Mars, Dr. Iris Ryan, unsteadily emerges from the ship and is taken to hospital- where she begins to tell the story of what they encountered, although she has amnesia regarding certain events.

She tells how the crew- comprised of herself, Col. Tom O’Bannion, Professor Gettell, and wacky chief warrant officer Sam- made the long journey through space and reached Mars, where they found the planet’s surface seemed unusually still- with everything bathed in red light. They suited up and left the ship to explore the planet surface-and find that the atmosphere there is NOT all still- with their first encounter with a Martian menace. They return to their ship, and realize all radio signals seem to be blocked- and they are unable to communicate with Earth.

Still looking for answers, they leave the ship once more- and discover (or are discovered by) more weird and frightening Martian creatures. What will befall the crew if these monstrosities get in the way of them lifting off from the red planet- and, at what cost?

This is a pretty unique film, which includes a memorable monster that fans of the punk rock band The Misfits will recognize from the cover of one of their albums. We’ll talk about that creature, and the background of the production- which utilized a special effects technique created by Moe Howard’s son-in-law Norman Maurer which he called “Cinemagic” (and there is a second 3 Stooges connection we will reveal to you). Of course, we’ll introduce you to the cast of the movie, which includes Naur Hayden, Gerald Mohr-who some say looks a lot like Humphrey Bogart, and familiar faces Les Tremayne and Jack Kruschen- explain the origins and workings of “Cinemagic”-give you an idea of where to stay if you ever venture to Mars- present an out-of-this world new song- get an intrusion- I mean, visit- from Nostalgiaferatoo- and more!

You can join us on our journey to “The Angry Red Planet” tonight on MeTV, departure time being 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. The live-Tweeting continues at a fever pitch on Twitter/X during the show- and you can join in- please make sure to use the hashtag #svengoolie in all your Tweets. In the Chicago viewing area, you can get an encore of Roger Corman’s “The Undead” at 11 am on our local station, WCIU, currently CW26 but soon to revert to its original monicker “The U”!

My 45th anniversary celebration moves into its second month- with more merchandise on the way, with more graphics done by popular comics artists-the latest by the phenomenal Mitch O’Connell ( That’s O’Connell- we have had some people confusing him with a political figure with a similar name). Please check out the store (I have one?!) in the MeTV Mall!

But tonight- buckle up for blast off and be ready to see red on MeTV!

And one last note, the Svengoolie App (I have an app?!) has been updated for the 45th anniversary with a fantastic photo feature! You can now snap a photo with the Sven Cam and add Svengoolie, Kerwyn, Nostalgiaferatoo, Gwengoolie and IMP to the photo you just took! You can save the photo to your phone to share with friends or social media. And you can submit the photo to Svengoolie.com to show up in the fan photos! Search for the Svengoolie App in your phone app store today. And see Svengoolie fan photos here.