‘Chiller Theater’ revival coming to cable channel, streaming app
“Chiller Theater” was so popular in Pittsburgh in the 1970s that “Saturday Night Live” and its golden-age cast that included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Bill Murray were elbowed aside so the late-night showings of vintage horror and science-fiction films hosted by Bill Cardille could continue on WPXI-TV.
Of course, “Saturday Night Live” did eventually make it into its Saturday night slot, and the end credits rolled on “Chiller Theater” for the last time in 1984, 21 years after it began and just as home video was making much of the fare shown on the program readily available.
But “Chiller Theater,” and the antics of Cardille as “Chilly Billy,” still evoke fond memories among viewers in the region old enough to remember the program, and WPXI is reviving it this weekend.
A new “Chiller Theater” will air at its familiar time – Saturday at 11:30 p.m. – but rather than being on the main channel, WPXI is placing it on its streaming app, WPXINow, and PCNC, the station’s digital subchannel. Eight new episodes will air in a limited run through Saturday, Oct. 28. Scott Harbaugh, a meteorologist for WPXI, will be the host. The station has not yet announced what movies will be shown.
Harbaugh said in a news release, “I grew up here in the ’70s. There is only one Chilly Billy, and I am no Bill Cardille. We’d be doing ourselves a huge disservice trying to replicate such an iconic program in Pittsburgh television history.”
Bringing “Chiller Theater” back to life was “a passion project” for some employees at WPXI, according to Kevin Hayes, the station’s vice president and general manager. It’s returning in the run-up to Halloween, and as a way to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original show. A tribute to Cardille, who died in 2016, will be in the first episode Saturday.
There were several programs like “Chiller Theater” on other television stations around the country from the 1960s to the early 1980s. For instance, in Detroit from 1967 to 1982, a character dubbed “Sir Graves Ghastly” hosted horror movies on Saturday afternoons on WJBK-TV when it was the city’s CBS network outlet (it now carries Fox programming).
On “Chiller Theater,” Cardille’s Chilly Billy was joined by such characters as Norman the Castle Keeper, Terminal Stare, Sister Susie, Stephen the Castle Prankster and Georgette the Fudgemaker.