Ghoulardi: Inside Cleveland Tv's Wildest Ride

Rating:
Summary: Well, that stinks!
Review: Any true Ghoulardi fan will be disappointed after reading this book. It has many glaring omissions in the movie department and outright misspellings in the music area. The authors should have not relied on Big Chuck's faulty memory and Ron Sweed's blending of his Ghoulardi impression with the actual Ghoulardi facts. And calling the Son of Ghoul an "interloper" is unforgivable! He has been on the air longer than Ghoulardi and the Ghoul combined and, unlike the Ghoul is still on the air. Ghoulardi would be a forgotten memory if not for the efforts of the Son of Ghoul locally and Drew Carey nationally. In lieu of any other Ghoulardi books, I guess this one will have to do.

Rating:
Summary: How about one word.......Awsome
Review: Ghoulardi.....The greatest bad horror movie host that ever lived! The stories are absolutly true, and irreverent is an understatement. I only got to see Ernie live once, it was one summer evening at the Akron Armory. We sent things to him at the station that they used on the air and we went wild when we saw a picture we had painted of him on an old Ohio route sign. They used it at a station break. When I received the book as a gift I had no idea that it even existed as I now live in Michigan, what a surprise! As I read those pages all the memories came flooding back.......Thank you for helping me go back to those innocent, irreverent, weekend horror shows and most of all the memories of a man I will never forget.

Rating:
Summary: Ghoulardi: A man who used comedy to host horror.
Review: I bought this book for a Cleveland transplant friend of mine, Dennis. Dennis had affectionately mentioned Ghoulardi to me many times, so I was able to find this book about Ghoulardi on Amazon. Well, I bought this book for Dennis as a gift, but since he only stops by my house about every six months. I got tired of waiting for him to drop by, so I decided to read his "gift" in the meantime. I grew up in Los Angeles with horror movie hosts, such as Jeepers Creepers, Seymour, and Elvira, and no matter what movie they were showing, good, bad, or as often was the case terrible, I always tuned in, more for the hosts funny antics than the movie itself. Most major cities had television horror hosts during the late fifties, early sixties, to show the science fiction/horror movies that the movie studios had put together in bulk packages to recycle on television. Even though I have never seen Ghoulardi, this book was a lot of fun to read, and I know that he was very similar to the horror hosts that I grew up with. Another great book about horror movie hosts is titled, "Television Horror Movie Hosts," by Elena M. Watson, this is the definitive book on the subject affectionately researched by Ms. Watson, also an excellent enjoyable book to read. Her book also has a section devoted to Ghoulardi. Do I worry about Dennis finding out the truth about his slighly used present, or reading this review on the web? Nawwww, it's been over fifteen years since I showed Dennis how to use a cheese slicer, and he still hasn't figured out how to use it. My secret is safe!

Rating:
Summary: Ghoulardi: A man who used comedy to host horror.
Review: I bought this book for a Cleveland transplant friend of mine, Dennis. Dennis had affectionately mentioned Ghoulardi to me many times, so I was able to find this book about Ghoulardi on Amazon. Well, I bought this book for Dennis as a gift, but since he only stops by my house about every six months. I got tired of waiting for him to drop by, so I decided to read his "gift" in the meantime. I grew up in Los Angeles with horror movie hosts, such as Jeepers Creepers, Seymour, and Elvira, and no matter what movie they were showing, good, bad, or as often was the case terrible, I always tuned in, more for the hosts funny antics than the movie itself. Most major cities had television horror hosts during the late fifties, early sixties, to show the science fiction/horror movies that the movie studios had put together in bulk packages to recycle on television. Even though I have never seen Ghoulardi, this book was a lot of fun to read, and I know that he was very similar to the horror hosts that I grew up with. Another great book about horror movie hosts is titled, "Television Horror Movie Hosts," by Elena M. Watson, this is the definitive book on the subject affectionately researched by Ms. Watson, also an excellent enjoyable book to read. Her book also has a section devoted to Ghoulardi. Do I worry about Dennis finding out the truth about his slighly used present, or reading this review on the web? Nawwww, it's been over fifteen years since I showed Dennis how to use a cheese slicer, and he still hasn't figured out how to use it. My secret is safe!

Rating:
Summary: Brought-back the childhood of the early '60's...
Review: I picked it up, and found myself on a time machine back to friday nights at home in a simpler time. While I rarely get much time to read for pleasure's sake, this one caused me to lose sleep. I finished it in two days, having set-aside many responsibilities in the process (Ghoulardi would've been proud). Although, I kept backing-up and repeating some passages, only because they conjured-up those old memories. It's about time someone chronicled that great piece of Northeast Ohio TV history...and I hope it's the beginning of other efforts (i.e. video/audio retrospectives). Considering what impact Ernie Anderson's "Ghoulardi" had on all of us who were watching, it's surprising such an undertaking took so long to come-about. Too bad Ernie couldn't be here to read it; But then again, he'd shy-away from the accolades. By the way, I still harbor those old dreams of doing a skit with Big Chuck some day...and look forward to seeing other long-time TV8 staffers in my travels as a sports reporter. Good job, Tom and R.D. Now, get busy on bringing-back other great memories of the 60's!!!

Rating:
Summary: I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD ALL OVER AGAIN!
Review: I'M A LOS ANGELES NATIVE BUT ON THAT FATEFULL SUMMER OF 1964 MY PARENTS WENT TO CLEVELAND TO VISIT MY AUNT. WHILE EVERYONE WAS ASLEEP ON THAT FIRST FRIDAY NIGHT I WAS THERE I TURNED ON CHANNEL 8 AT 11:20P.M. AND THATS WHEN MY LIFE CHANGED, GHOULARDI! NEEDLESS TO SAY I GOT MY PARENTS TO LET ME STAY THE WHOLE SUMMER AND EVERY FRIDAY AT 11:20P.M. I WAS THERE WITH GHOULARDI THAT SUMMER AND THE NEXT TWO SUMMERS TO FOLLOW. TOM FERAN AND R.D. HELDENFELS CAPTURE THOSE FRIDAY NIGHTS AND MORE! THIS BOOK IS AWESOME AND I DID NOT WANT IT TO END. THANKS GUYS FOR TAKING ME BACK TO EIGHT AND RELIVING THOSE FRIDAY NIGHTS I MISS SO MUCH!!!

Rating:
Summary: PARMA PLACE
Review: If you are from the Cleveland area this is a nice book. Ghoulardi, Hoolihan & Big Chuck....Holy Perogie! I would like to write a long review, but I've got to put on my white socks and watch Lawrence Welk..

Rating:
Summary: PARMA PLACE
Review: If you are from the Cleveland area this is a nice book. Ghoulardi, Hoolihan & Big Chuck....Holy Perogie! I would like to write a long review, but I've got to put on my white socks and watch Lawrence Welk..

Rating:
Summary: Blaming Big Chuck
Review: Many people blame Big Chuck for loosing film and video tape of the Ghoulardi show. The fact is that in the early sixties, video tape and film were very expensive, and there was no budget at the time for archiving tape or film. All of the Parma Place episodes were video taped on old quad machines that no longer exist. Some video tape still exists that has not been restored,and many people have audio recordings of the "KING" that they do not want to part with. So "HANG IN THERE GROUP", the remaining Ghoulardi material is "Ova Deh", just this side of Parma!

Rating:
Summary: Blaming Big Chuck
Review: Many people blame Big Chuck for loosing film and video tape of the Ghoulardi show. The fact is that in the early sixties, video tape and film were very expensive, and there was no budget at the time for archiving tape or film. All of the Parma Place episodes were video taped on old quad machines that no longer exist. Some video tape still exists that has not been restored,and many people have audio recordings of the "KING" that they do not want to part with. So "HANG IN THERE GROUP", the remaining Ghoulardi material is "Ova Deh", just this side of Parma!