The Birth Of Sammy Terry |
Written by |
Tess ;) Henson |
It's late on a Fridaty night in 1974. Wrapped in a blanket, with a bowl of Chesty potato chips and a flicker across your TV screen.You are soon rewarded with a vision of a creepy castle set atop a craggy cliff, and then with the sight of a ghastly ghoul arising from his coffin. With a trademark laugh and a chilling greeting of "..Good Evening...", you know you are watching Nightmare Theater, an independently produced Horror Show on Channel 4 out of Indianapolis. Hosted by none other than one of the most famous and endearing horror hosts of all time - the great and legendary Sammy Terry. |
Bernie Sowers |
"Just how did Sammy Terry come into existence?" you my very well ask. Well, in the early sixties at Channel 4 in Indianapolis, Art Hook - the Program Director- purchased a set of Universal horror and monster movies called the Shock Package. It was the latest and greatest thing to be offered to TV stations at the time. The salesman for the station, Bernie Sowers sold a half sponsership of the package the day it was purchased by Channel 4. The show was to air in two weeks, and the crew didn't even have a complete list of the titles, artwork or anything together for it. Enter a young man named Bob Carter. Bob had been doing various things at the station - producer, director, announcing and on-air promotion. On top of his three hour call-in talk show called " ", of which you can read more about elsewhere on this site thanks to Jim Mannen! Bob lent his voice, and with some music added, created some on-air promotions for the show - which was titled "Shock Theater"(early on, the show title was changed to Nightmare Theater, and then later to just |
Sammy Terry). When the sponser was presented with the show's on-air promotions voiced by Mr. Carter, he immediately wanted him to also introduce the commercials! So, with about ten days left before the shows air date, the crew decided to turn Bob Carter into one of the most well known, and earliest, horror hosts. Horror - hosting was a phenomenon that started in the in the mid to late fifties when characters like Vampira (Maila Nurmi) and Roland (John Zacherley- later to be known as just Zacherley) hit TV station air waves to introduce the great classic horror movies. Sammy's show got started in the early sixties, which would make him, I believe, one of the first handful of horror hosts out there (Selwyn was the first Indiana horror host in the late fifties). Horror hosting probably reached it's hey-day in the seventies and eighties, what with the likes of Elvira, Mistress Of The Dark becoming nearly nationally syndicated, but has mostly died-out in today's TV climate, although, there a few still out there doing their thing, mostly on cable access channels. So, if Sammy's show isn't one of the earliest, it's certainly one of the longest running, as he enjoyed roughly 25 years of hosting on Channel 4 starting in the early sixties, and ending in 1989. |
But I digress - back to the beginning! With the crew trying to come up with a character for Bob to assume the mantle of, Bernie Sowers' wife Lou sewed the first cowl for him. Bob then donned a black windbreaker worn |
backwards and with the crew brainstorming on a name the character was nearly complete. Working on the set - as it were - the crew came up with old coffee table replete with a broken rooster lamp. The idea was for Bob to sit on the floor with his legs streched out under the table. No fancy effects here, folks! With three days left, the character name was decided - Sammy Terry - a pun on 'cemetery' - perfect! Now all that was left to complete Sammy was the makeup. Art Hook had done some makeup in theatre, so he proceeded to experiment on Bob's face. Finally a look was perfected, and ouila! Sammy Terry was born! |
Bernie and Lou Sowers |
Now it was the day before airtime, and no script had been developed, and there was no time to create one. For the first three months of the show, Bob Carter/Sammy Terry just improvised introductions to the movies. As the old Universal horror movies were some of Bob's favorites, it was easy to do. The hard part was putting together the commercial intros and outros! Basicly, the crew sat around while the movie was airing and thought up things for Sammy to say for the next commercial break! Improvisation and ad-libbing at it's best boils and ghouls! It was three long months before there was an actual script for the show replete with cue cards. |
And seasoned with time and experience, the show in what ever incarnation you remember - be it "Shock Theatre", "Nightmare Theatre" or "Sammy Terry", became one of the most beloved and anticipated programs to creep and slither across our TV screens on a Friday night. With things of the past finding favor again in the present, intrest in Sammy Terry has been renewed. Hundreds - or maybe even thousands - of Indiana fans would love nothing more than to see Bob Carter take up the mantle of Sammy Terry again (in fact, he did just this for Channel 4's 50th on-air anniversary back in 1999, hosting a pair of horror films for Halloween). Or if not he, perhaps another could step up in his place - a " " perhaps? Well THIS Sammy Terry fan certainly has high hopes for an Indiana horror host revival at any rate. Long live Sammy Terry |
