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10/26/05 Update
Ghoul Vibrations
 Mr. Lobo had nothing but earnest raves after surviving "Terrorama with the Ghoul." It was a great honor and privilege to rub elbows with The Big G, whose horror-hosting began in 1971. These figureheads found themselves discussing the influence of talented mentors... for in the same way that Bob Wilkins gave a rocking chair to Mr. Lobo, the legendary Ghoulardi trained his protegé and direct descendant, passing the torch to a young Ghoul.
 Onstage, it was smooth sailing too. The "incredibly professional" headliner impressed Mr. Lobo with a flawlessly smooth presentation. Exploding pumpkins, races on "hoppity-hops" (those big bouncy balls) and the Ghoul's distinctive talent for targeting pumpkin seeds with his nostrils made both shows about as memorable as they get. His 'manicness' nicely complemented Mr. Lobo's urbane, reserved manner. Mary Ann was there, with camera in hand - so you can find images from both nights in our Gallery.  Both hosts say they'll "definitely" work together again. As the Ghoul says, "Stay sick - turn blue - scratch glass - climb walls"...
Oh - we've confirmed that UATV viewers will see our Halloween Special this Saturday, and Gamera - Super Monster on Nov. 5 - as our online calendar indicates. 
The Yahoo! Group broke the news about the involvement of Ron Dante in this week's extravaganza, featuring House on Haunted Hill and airing in more than 70% of U.S. television markets. If you want to know more, right away, be forewarned that these new press releases contain spoilers...
It's heartening to report that the Special has already encouraged a station in Kentucky to pick up the weekly series. Let's hope that is the beginning of a trend. All of the commercial spots have been sold, and our longsuffering syndicator is already looking at a wide-scale Christmas special.
 PR hot-dog Dave Baker launches a new feature in our Fanboy Lounge - reviews to help you get the most for your B-movie DVD buck (literally).
For living, breathing Mr. Lobo action, let us remind you about Thrillville's Halloween Fiesta, this Friday night at 8 in Napa. Will the Thrill (who's featured in the Halloween Special) welcomes John Stanley as well as our nation-trotting Cinsomniac leader for Santo vs. The Vampire Women - and it's said that "masked Mexican thumb wrestling" will occur.
The very next night, John and Mr. Lobo trek to San Francisco for Shock It 2 Me!. It starts on Friday night, but here's when CI's figurehead will be there to present misunderstood movies: Saturday, 7 p.m., Horror Of Party Beach and midnight, The Fearless Vampire Killers... and Sunday, 1 p.m., Fall of the House of Usher and 7 p.m., Curse of the Demon.
10/19/05 Update
Running Down A Dream
 Horror Host Palooza was a sell-out success! It was a thrill to share the stage again with Will, Dok and John Stanley and new friends Son Of Ghoul and Rock and Roll Ray! Mr. Lobo also loved to "hang out" with his lovely Wondercon pal Ms. Monster, her Monster Melons, and the creative team at B-Minus Comics.
That night was also the premiere release of Big Ol' Face Full Of Monster
Magazine featuring super interviews with 'Palooza creator Will The Thrill, Doktor Goulfinger and your
humble horror host Mr. Lobo.  Megafant and his handler Eric Yee provided a huge green alien pod for Mr. Lobo to burst from while onstage.
Mr. Lobo led volunteers Frankenstein and Dracula into a thumb-war on stage for prizes in honor of the night's first feature, Al Adamson's Dracula vs. Frankenstein. Unlike the outcome in the movie, "Frankenstein" won - snagging a DVD of the CI 2002 Halloween Special with Mr. Lobo and Bob Wilkins, a rare Monsters of Shock poster and a swollen thumb. The crowd was led through the Insomniac's Oath as CI helpermonkey Mary Ann spun the hypno-disc in Ro-Man's absence. (Ro-Man and Bob Wilkins had a previous engagement in Vegas, but Rob Wilkins showed in honor of his dad.) Doktor Goulfinger and Son of Ghoul almost came to blows on stage - in an awkward moment Son of Ghoul pulled out a an old letter he'd apparently received from Ghoulfinger, in which he'd been written off. Mr. Lobo had to politely bail out of the Parkway before the second feature, Ted V. Michael's Astro-Zombies, to jump on the Bloodshot-Eye Express to Florida for Screamfest 2005!
 He was met by monster newsie and PR man Dave Baker in secret service outfit, complete with crew cut and unmarked car, and brought to the unfinished and hauntingly elegant Marriott hotel and convention center in Coral Springs. Another standout friend was Kyra Schon - remarkably kind and generous considering she stabbed her mother with a garden spade in Night Of The Living Dead. She took a lost and confused Lobo by the hand and led him over to meet the Horror Channel bigwig Uncle Creepy, who loved our older work in "FAL Brand Funny Pages" and found our intrepid horror host "comfortable" and "in command" on screen.
 Mr. Lobo's screening of CI's NOTLD episode had a late start, and technical difficulties with the audio system... after being listed in the convention program as
"Dr. Lobo's film festival." There was a small but discerning audience at first, but the hall was filled nearly to capacity by the last quarter of the show. One of ScreamFest's big winners was Broken, a 20-minute film made by Alex Ferrari and Jorge Flores Rodriguez. The film was made for $8,000, looks like a million, and has found a champion in Hollywood to expand it into a feature-length movie. If they can sell "Broken DVDs for $15.00", as their sign read, then these guys can do anything.
 Other visionaries were just as gracious. Guerilla filmmaker/actor Joel Wyncoop gave Mr. Lobo copies of his latest film The Bite and videotaped a promo with Mr. Lobo for Dirty Cop, No Donut. Mr. Lobo enjoyed the homespun kung-fu vampire film The Bite, and looks forward to being involved in future projects with Mr. Wyncoop. Medford TV 3 heir Jason Salzarulo interviewed Mr. Lobo and shot the video for 3 and a half hours of celebrity interviews...  including a 40 minute goof-a-thon with special effects master Tom Savini, a candid talk with Riccou "The Creature From The Black Lagoon" Browning and Bill "Night Of The Living Dead" Hinzman, and a kiss full on the lips from Leslie "Nightmare on Elm Street" Hoffman. Artist Dan Jackson had pictures taken of Mr. Lobo for a future poster spoofing classic Universal films. But even that wasn't the end of the southern hospitality - Mr. Lobo was called upon to introduce Atlanta's ghoul rock band "Spectremen" on stage. They were helping distribute the horror host issue of Monster News at the event.
Dave and Chris manned the merchandise table and propped Mr. Lobo up with toothpicks. At the Saturday night showing of Rocky Horror, Mr. Lobo was seen with hand on heart and visable tear as a packed house sang our real national anthem, "Science Fiction Double Feature". And as day number three commenced Mr. Lobo almost collapsed - but was revived by a nurse in black leather in the elevator...
 Actor Stu Charnoff, actor Taso Stavrakis, actor Irwin Keyes, actor Sid Haig, actor Michael Berryman, actor Axex Vincent, actress/model Syn Devil, Walter Phelan, writer Owl Goingback,  actor Seth Sklarkey, writer William Brower III, author Glenda Finklestein, the band "Suburban Lockdown," TV editor Paul Murciano, producer Ken Halhober and countless Cinema Insomnia fans showed kindness and support - and warmed Mr. Lobo's hollow, black sleep-deprived heart! Thanks to Petey Mongelli, Blaine Kimball and the Screamfest 2005 crew. The CI crew looks forward to visiting south Florida again in the future!
But October is not over yet. We're burning the midnight oil to make our Halloween Special extraordinary (not to mention complete). Our loyal syndicator, Access Media, has placed the special on at least one station in over 70 percent of US markets. If you're not getting it - then you probably live in Sacramento!
A pledge drive will preempt our program in California this week, but please be sure to tune in again on the 29th for Invasion Of The Neptune Men. Our calendar has been updated to more accurately reflect which episodes we intend to air.
It's only right and fitting to remind you that Mr. Lobo plans to appear with The Ghoul at this Friday's premiere of Frankenstein Meets the Creature from Blood Cove at the Hyatt Theatre in Burlingame, CA and then again on Saturday at Auctions by the Bay in Alameda.
9/30/05 Update
In A Week, Maybe Two, They'll Make You A Star
 Welcome, all you California viewers. This was added just in time: Mr. Lobo's Things You Never Knew About Carnival of Souls.
Our bestest friends have been at it again - Monster News #12 is out, and it features horror hosts. Hardly anyone among us would fail to learn something by ambling on over to their website. You'll note our Calendar has grown, due in part to their efforts...
The big CI news of the weekend is our premiere on KTEH and KCAH, adding another state to our coverage map (at right).  Treasured fans in the Valley, San Francisco, Oakland and Monterey would do us a great service by tuning in "late Saturday night" at 12:30 a.m. - and passing the word to like-minded souls beforehand. May our west coast affiliates thrive and multiply like an endorphin-producing virus, keeping America strong with the power of misunderstood films - and your laudable support.
Mr. Lobo reports that the Sacramento News & Review was swell enough to cite our program in their "Best of Sacramento" issue yesterday... but as he did there was a poignant note in his voice. The honor is truly appreciated, even though enlightened residents of the capital city long for the ability to see "Cinema Insomnia" again on a local broadcast station or cable system - just as viewers in at least 22 other metropolitan areas are able to do. It is to be hoped that the extraordinary new Halloween episode will be impossible to ignore.
9/26/05 Update
Thank You, Agent 86
Not to repeat ourselves, but it was discovered "in real time" that last week's episode was delayed one hour by the network. This is not our idea of a good thing, and we endeavor to prevent another occurrence of this inconvenience.
 Even more advanced gratitude than usual has been inspired by all of the pros who worked on recent preparations and taping - including the limitless energy of Eric Yee...
We'll do our best to keep the new Calendar of episodes and live appearances accurate - and complete. You can find it on our "Information" web page.
Indiana viewers are in store for our Creature episode this Wednesday, and on the 30th it'll be time for Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome.
Mr. Lobo wraps up this update with a personal recollection:  "At a low point in my pre-'Cinema Insomnia' days as a struggling comedy writer, I called horror host Bob Wilkins for career advice. A fan of early sixties smart set comics like Bob Newhart, Stan Freberg, Woody Allen, Bob and Ray, etc., he shared his passion for writing comedy. I remember my mentor telling me that he worked at an advertising agency in the midwest and wanted to write comedy. He'd often try to meet with touring comics to get advice on how he could break into writing comedy, and Don Adams was doing stand-up at a club in Chicago. He encouraged Bob to move out to the West Coast, and to put his material out in front of people so he could be discovered. Bob soon took a job in the advertising department of a Sacramento TV station. At every staff meeting or
birthday or retirement party - or other company party - Bob would always have jokes at the ready. His wit eventually convinced the powers there at KCRA to let him be in front of the camera. So we can thank Don Adams for encouraging Bob... and thank God KCRA dropped a stack of really cheesy horror Movies in his lap - or my life could've turned out
much differently." Mr. Lobo thanks Bob for all the support, and for sharing that story...
 9/19/05 Update
Chaos - It's Not Just A Theory Anymore
If you think you were surprised to see A Bucket of Blood last Saturday on UATV, instead of the episode that had been announced - imagine how we felt. Mr. Lobo's best, latest intelligence indicates that SuperArgo will be shown next Saturday, Sept. 24. This is one of those times where we wish for the ability to reverse the rotation of the earth and alter the past, so palpable is our regret for the possible inconvenience caused to all you swell viewers...
9/17/05 Update
From The Land Of This-Just-In
Tonight's UATV presentation is presented in "Superargoscope"... a
picture two-thirds wider than your TV. This may result in scenes where a charcter is split in half, or noses are talking to each other during the film.  However, Mr. Lobo's interview with SuperArgo in "Superargoscope" is shown three times - each focusing on a different part of the screen - so you can see details that would normally be missed. Watch as we explore the fun and interesting world of Aspect Ratios tonight! Check your listings...
Called a work of art that truly represents the nadir of filmmaking, a movie so bad that it's good, labeled "The Worst Movie Ever" by the Golden Turkey Awards and the winner of two notable Razzies - Ed Wood's classic and every Woodite's favorite movie Plan 9 from Outer Space was placed in the public domain again. It was even available as a free download, thanks to The Internet Archive... but sadly it's now unavailable due to issues with its content. This news has prompted Mr. Lobo to temporarily stop down the surprise season 4 premiere episode featuring this film. "We've always believed that this one belongs to the Universe," he reported in his usual deadpan manner, "but we just don't have the juice or the moolah to fight it."
9/14/05 Update
Hop Hop Hop Hop Hop To It
We're willing to bet  there are Things You Never Knew About SuperArgo, this week's UATV-broadcast episode. (On Comcast 99 in Indiana and southeastern Michigan, your next CI episode this Friday (as well as next Wednesday, for those in the Michigan City area) will be Bigfoot: The Mysterious Monster - with special appearances by Jonathan Mumm and Hopper the Rabbit, now a proud papa of three... er, make that ten.)
The show's Yahoo! and MySpace groups, as well as the forum on Monster Island News, keep your verbose horror host clicking along - but make no mistake, Mr. Lobo is delighted that so many fans are having the  courage to speak out and identify themselves.
Let the word go forth - the one and only CI episode  featuring Night of the Living Dead is now available. Do yourself, them and us a favor and order now - you'll get the full color original art with your copy, including a Mr. Lobo postcard and the gratitude of a beleaguered Cinsomniac staff.
Just added to our online Media Kit - a press release commemorating our SiliCON appearance Saturday, Oct. 8  (not the 6th, as previously announced here) and the upcoming premiere on KTEH... Oh yes, and Mr. Lobo also wishes you to know that the weekly ad for the upcoming UATV movie (currently "Justice Delivered!", above) as well as a more generic version made available on our Media Kit home page, will have the same file names from now on that they currently do (so you can more easily have the latest graphic on your website, loaded from our server if you wish). Hit us with questions, requests, remarks and the like.
9/7/05 Update
Allied Forces
Holy mole-men!! Mr. Lobo is shaking and buzzing with amazement over
the incredibly thorough and kind tribute from Creaturescape.com!  It's pure, loaded with images, and driven by that sort of pure fandom that we try to encourage and recreate with Cinema Insomnia. He says, "I advise all the true CINSOMNIACS out there to vote with their dollars and make the most recent CD-ROM issue of Creaturescape featuring Mr. Lobo the biggest selling of them all!" And $3 of every sale will go to the American Red Cross to aid Hurricane Katrina victims. It's even more true now than it was in Bob Wilkins' day..."Watch Horror Films and Keep America Strong!"
 On the homepage for "the premiere television horror host in Texas," the great Professor Griffin has this to say about Mr. Lobo... "Can't Sleep? Good friend of the Midnight Shadow Show and fellow horror host Mr. Lobo has taken his show from local Sacramento, CA airwaves to a national level! CINEMA INSOMNIA plays havok with your mind and thrills you with classic bad... er, misunderstood movies. Just be sure to have a pot of coffee!" The present-minded Professor's show used to be broadcast on the ill-fated Austin Music Network, but you can still watch Prof. Griffin's Midnight Shadow Show on your computer every Sunday night at 11 p.m. CST - and it's coming soon to soon to the highly anticipated FANGORIA TV! Thanks, Professor!
The enigmatic creator of the SKoI fansite has launched a Yahoo! Group, already reeling in dozens of members.  Check out the stash of photos and informative patter from the black-suited host and his, uh, Groupies.
And we received a nice compliment from an editor/director of our UATV lead-in "Macabre Theatre"... "It sounds like you are family!" So we are. Check out our sister Sandra's extremely well done and high-octane Quicktime teaser for their program. Thanks, Sandra!
Now added to our Fanboy Lounge - Mr. Lobo's Things You Never Knew About Voyage To The Prehistoric Planet, celebrating this week's UATV-broadcast episode. (For you Comcast customers in Indiana and southeastern Michigan, this Friday (as well as next Wednesday in the Michigan City area) will bring you our fractured take on Superwheels...)
9/2/05 Update
Lead The Follower
 For those disappointed fans who tried to watch Invasion Of The Neptune Men online, only to discover that it pooped out a half-hour into the stream - here it is, with no commercials and split up into 11-bite-sized chapters, ready to download from our Shows web page.
John Stanley was once asked, just before the audition, how he was going to fill Bob Wilkins' shoes if he took over as host of "Creature Features." His eventual response? John smiled and poured a pitcher of water into a pair of combat boots. John will be backing up Mr. Lobo with Bob at SiliCON in San Jose on October 8...  holding down the fort at "Horror Host Palooza 2005" and appearing again with Bob at a Creature Features Tribute scheduled for Saturday, October 29th at San Francisco's Castro Theatre as part of the Halloween festival called "Shock It To Me! The Revenge of Creature Features". Cinema Insomnia pays its own tribute to John in our Fanboy Lounge.
 You don't have to get your Mr. Lobo media from pirates! Not when you can drag your corpse over to our Novelty Shop and pick up these beautiful Cinema Insomnia discs...
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