You Asked for It! “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” Returns Tonight!

One of the MOST requested movies we have ever shown gets  a special pre-Easter showing tonight on MeTV- when Don Knotts dares to face off against a local supernatural legend- mixing shivers with snickers (no, not the kind that turns Machete into Marcia Brady) in " The Ghost and Mr. Chicken"!

Type-setter and would be reporter Luther Heggs (not to be confused with Easter Eggs) tries hard to cover a startling news story- only to face the derision of the local folk, especially one of the newspaper's actual star reporters, Ollie- who , to add insult to injury, is currently dating Luther's dream girl, Alma. When Luther gets the chance to write a short filler column, he writes about a famous murder and suicide that took place in town, and mentions the rumor that the killer's ghost haunts the mansion where it happened- and plays the old pipe organ late at night!

His filler story captures the attention of the paper's boss- who decides it would be a great publicity stunt to have Luther spend the night in the allegedly haunted house on the 20th anniversary of the murder! Luther does just that- and, after a terrifying night, is lauded by the locals as a hero- and seems to be making some progress with the lovely Alma-until the last survivor of the murder family decides it's all bunk, and sues Luther for libel! Luther must face the town's disdain, an embarrassing day in court, and a final visit to the haunted house to clear his name-IF he survives it all!

This 1966 horror-comedy is a real favorite of our Sven viewers- thanks to the hilarious acting of Don "Barney Fife" Knotts in the title role of one "Mr. Chicken". Our viewers always ask us to run this movie again. (Yes, we KNOW it ran last fall- but, due to when Universal made it available to us, along with the coincidence of so many fans requesting it- and as a slightly lighter offering for the holiday weekend- it made sense to run it now.) Watch for many familiar TV faces in this film, including some denizens of Mayberry- and- warning! Do NOT study one of the posters for this film too carefully- because it actually gives away an important plot element! (Makes you wonder what they were thinking!)

"The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" arrives to turn your Easter eggs back white with fright tonight at 10 pm eastern/pacific, 9 central, or check your local listings. Chicago viewers get a second look at "Evil of Frankenstein" this morning at 11 am on our sister station, WCIU, the U!

Thanks to everyone, again, who stopped by and took part in the Reddit "Ask Me Anything" session this week-it was a fun online experience, the participants were very kind, and, yes, we hope to do it again in the future!

A couple quick notes- that "Those Were the Days" anniversary event that Sven-in his secret identity- will take part in , recreating some old radio shows in celebration, will be next week Sunday, the 12th. The host of this fine program featuring shows from the Golden Age of Radio, Steve Darnall, has asked me to remind you that NO tickets will be sold at the door- you MUST purchase them in advance-especially since this event has a tendency to sell out! It looks to be great fun- so, if you wish to attend, please check under "appearances" on this site for more details.

Also, Sven returns to the big C2E2 comics and entertainment convention at Chicago's McCormick Place! Signing is set for 11:30 to 1:30 at autograph table #16 on Saturday, April 25th - make sure you get in line early! Though I sign and pose for photos for free- remember there is a charge to get into the convention. Again, more details on our site under "appearances".

Enjoy the holiday- and watch Don Knotts become an Easter basket case tonight in "Ghost and Mr. Chicken"!