MR. LOBO AND THE TOTALLY FAKE GHOST BUSTERS
Part 2: The Ghost Breakers to Hold That Ghost
On October 31st at 8PM on ZOM-BEE TV, CINEMA INSOMNIA host MR. LOBO and a group of “Paranoid Investigators” enter an old dilapidated house in Winchester Virginia that locals believe is truly haunted by ghosts. The CINEMA INSOMNIA HAUNTED HOUSE SPECIAL features Horror Hosts in character roles including COUNT GORE DEVOL AKA DICK DYZEL as Sheriff Bronson Canyon and KARLOS BORLOFF AKA JERRY MOORE II as ghost hunter Vinny “Price” Tagge.
What are ghosts but the past intruding on the present time. We hope that we awaken the ghosts of classic supernatural-comedies that you all have enjoyed since your earliest days of trick or treating and perhaps way, way, before that.
Besides loosing his mind, while writing the episode, MR. LOBO made some interesting discoveries…
Last time we talked about GHOSTBUSTERS(1984) and THE GHOST BUSTERS(1975) and how they are both throwbacks to the 1940′s horror comedies. Prior to this, in WALT DISNEY’s LONESOME GHOSTS(1937) MICKEY MOUSE and company raid a Haunted House as The Ajax Ghost Exterminators. GOOFY exclaims “I ain’t scared of no ghosts.”
The Dynamic between Peter Venkmen(BILL MURRAY) and Dana Barrett(SIGOURNEY WEAVER) in GHOSTBUSTERS(1984) is arguably similar to that of comedian BOB HOPE’s smarmy radio personality Larry Lawrence and PAULETTE GODDARD as sophisticated Mary Carter who lives in a New
York high rise in THE GHOST BREAKERS(1940) which was the third remake of DICKEY AND GODDARD stage play, THE GHOST BREAKER(1914) directed by CECIL B. DEMILE and THE GHOST BREAKER(1922) directed by ALFRED E. GREEN are both lost forever.
THE GHOST BREAKERS(1940) by director GEORGE MARSHALL was not only a remake but a follow up to 1939 hit THE CAT AND THE CANARY pairing Hope and Goddard again.–it’s said both films inspired Walt Disney for the HAUNTED MANSION attraction at DISNEYLAND.
At the same time, the NBC radio series I LOVE A MYSTERY(1939-44) was enormously popular and later spawn two movies, TV show and be a primary inspiration for SCOOBY DOO(1969). In it a tough, charismatic woman-hating group leader Jack and the slightly less edgy Doc and Reggie are detectives. It had vividly imagined settings and elaborate, often bizarre plots. In a medium whose heroes tended to be serious and strait-laced, this trio was reckless and exuberant and was the first serial to cause concerned parents to write letters to the network. Sadly most of the original shows are lost to the ages.
Speaking of ex
uberant, “THE DEAD END KIDS” were a group comedic characters based on tough New Yorker stereotypes that originally appeared in the film DEAD END(1937) and featured LEO GORCEY, HUNTZ HALL, BOBBY JORDAN, GABRIEL DELL among others. They appeared in six more films as “THE DEAD END KIDS.” In 1938, LITTLE TOUGH GUYS, was launched by UNIVERSAL and ultimately recruited most of the original DEAD END KIDS for twelve films and three serials.
Later, MONOGRAM PICTURES hired several of them from both groups and called them EAST SIDE KIDS. They added SUNSHINE SAMMY MORRISON one of the original 
members of OUR GANG–who also had many bumbling adventures with ghosts.
When the first issue of the long running cartoon magazine ARCHIE COMICS appeared in 1942, the character of JUGHEAD enormously resembled LEO GORCEY’s character SLIP in look and “speech” and appeared with a modified fedora beanie crown like what was worn in these earlier films. (More on the ARCHIE Later)
After ABBOTT AND COSTELLO’s haunted-house comedy HOLD THAT GHOST(1941) became a smash hit, THE EAST SIDE KIDS released the similar SPOOKS RUN WILD(1941) with BELA LUGOSI.
When LEO GORCEY’S's request to double his weekly salary was refused, He quit which ended the series immediately. His agent, JAN GRIPPO, GORCEY, and HALL, revamped the format, and they became THE BOWERY BOYS. The gang usually hung out at Louie’s Sweet Shop(Like Pop’s Chocolate Shop in ARCHIE) until an adventure came along. The original main characters Terrence Aloysius “Slip” Mahoney(GORCEY), Horace Debussy “Sach” Jones(HALL) became more and more of a ABBOTT AND COSTELLO-like duo with the rest of the guys standing around.
Lugosi was then “borrowed back” for BUD ABBOTT AND LOU COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN(1948). The basic premise to transplant COSTELLO’S brain into the Frankenstein monster played by GLEN STRANGE was copied a few months later by THE BOWERY BOYS in MASTER MINDS(1949) also with Glenn Strange as the monster who switches minds, this time, with Sach (HUNTZ HALL).
And this went on and on and prompted GEORGE MARSHAL remake his remake THE GHOST BREAKERS again as SCARED STIFF(1953), featuring the comic duo of MARTIN AND LEWIS. In it DEAN MARTIN says “I’m a ghost buster, so watch it, buster.”
On CINEMA INSOMNIA, MR. LOBO joked that “artistic theft is a cornerstone of any thriving culture.” and like all jokes–there is a shadow of truth. We promise you nothing but pure entertainment on Halloween night, but we do warn you this is one of the geekiest episodes ever.
This HALLOWEEN NIGHT at 8PM be in front of your TV with your favorite snacks and watch MR. LOBO in a REAL HAUNTED HOUSE with his own hilarious group of “Paranoid Investigators” comprised entirely of fellow TV HORROR HOSTS. If you haven’t yet already, treat yourself to a ROKU streaming player for connected TV and add the ZOM-BEE TV channel for FREE classic and new horror thrills!
