Purple Stuff Podcast: Shocktober ’92!
It’s time for a very special episode of The Purple Stuff Podcast! For years, you’ve heard us wax nostalgic about WPIX’s old Shocktober horror movie marathons. Hell, I’ve even written giant articles about it. (Several, actually.)
Today, me and Jay from The Sexy Armpit are gonna relieve Shocktober like we never could before: By watching the October 1992 WPIX broadcast of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter!
I’ve spent close to two decades trying to track down this precise broadcast, which I absolutely watched back in ‘92. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter kicked off that year’s Shocktober event on Thursday, October 1st. I’m sure I stuck with FOX until The Simpsons were over, but after that, I was all Jason’s.
My bud Dustin (Trasufoma) miraculously found a VHS tape containing this broadcast, and so graciously shared it with us. It’s f’n beautiful, guys. It was a complete recording too, with all of WPIX’s bells and whistles and all of the original commercials. Thanks so much for this tape, Dustin!
For those who haven’t heard us gab about Shocktober before, it worked like this: Virtually every night in October, WPIX — a broadcast network in these parts — aired edited-for-content horror movies in the 8PM time slot. This was how kids like me saw soooo many horror movies for the first time, including this one here!
On this week’s show, we’re walking you through the whole broadcast. We talk about what WPIX got away with showing on network television, and what they had to edit. We’ll tell you about scenes that weren’t in the theatrical cut. We’ll gush over the commercials and promos. My God, even the hideous snakeman from that old anti-drug PSA makes an appearance. This is extremely our shit!
Click here to listen to this week’s episode!
As a reminder, The Purple Stuff Podcast is also on Patreon, where you can grab an extra bonus show every single month. (And sometimes more than one!) Thanks so much for your support over there.
Oh, and as a companion to this week’s show, I cut together this highlight reel from the Shocktober ‘92 broadcast of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. It includes pretty much everything we discuss on the podcast, from the extra scenes to the cool commercials to that sweet WPIX packaging. Enjoy!
Dino Drac’s March Funpack is here!
Dino Drac’s March Funpack is here, and… okay, yes, given what’s going on in the world, I’d much rather push this off until things settle down. I’m on an unbreakable schedule with these, though, so the show must go on!
UNITED STATES ONLY! VERY LIMITED SUPPLY!
This month’s Funpack is loaded with old-and-new goodies that are sure to give ya at least one night’s worth of trivial joy. From old toys to newish movies to delicious snacks, I’m super happy with how this one turned out, and I hope you guys will be, too.
Standard spiel: The Funpacks are available on a monthly subscription basis. It’s $25 a month (including shipping), and for as long as you remain subscribed, you’ll get a new Funpack each and every month. (You can cancel at any time without penalty, of course!)
Scroll to the bottom for ordering info, or keep reading to learn about everything you’ll receive in this month’s box! Read More…
I’m Telling! (That awesome game show from 1987.)
Big news: I’ve finally identified the name of an old children’s game show that’s been on the tip of my tongue for over thirty years.
It was called I’m Telling. (Properly stylized with an exclamation point at the end, but I hate it when titles do that.)
According to its Wikipedia entry, the series premiered in September of ‘87 and only made it to the following March. It was one of those weird, low-fi game shows that aired directly after Saturday morning cartoons, when most kids were already outside trading bikes or arm-wrestling lizards or whatever the hell kids did out there.
Naturally, I was still inside, clinging to the last bits of kid-targeted programming before every network switched over to five hours of boring bullshit. Read More…
Movie Theater Memories!
I remember every theatrical experience I’ve ever had. I think most people do, right?
I’m not necessarily saying that we’re capable of listing every single movie we’ve seen in theaters, but if someone brings up a particular film and you did see it in theaters, you probably remember it.
I know I do. I remember the movies, obviously, but also where I saw them and who I was with. Often enough, I remember the “unimportant” details better than the films themselves. For instance, I saw Princes of Thieves in theaters, but literally all I could tell you about that flick is that I spent half of it having a popcorn fight with my friend Jonathan.
Below are four films I saw in theaters, and the memories of those experiences. This may turn into an ongoing series, if there seems to be any market for articles about what one guy remembers about the soda from long-closed multiplexes.
Garbage Pail Kids: The Movie
(August 1987, Age 8)
I’d caught the flu and was incapacitated for several days, because that’s how kids like me rolled during summer vacation.
After our family doc confirmed that I was well enough to rejoin the living, my mother took me to the movies. I guess that was my prize for surviving the flu? This was an early weekday afternoon, so the theater was almost totally empty.
I have no idea why I picked Garbage Pail Kids. The stickers had already fallen out of favor with my friends, who’d bought into the urban legend that they were “bad luck.” I did, too, and had a wall full of scratched-off demon baby stickers to prove it.
Still, it was hard not to be a little curious about live action Garbage Pail Kids. Surprisingly, we weren’t the only people in the theater. We were the first ones to leave, though, after roughly 15 minutes.
Even at that age, the target age, I was completely grossed out. I get that being “grossed out” was kind of the point, but this was different. I felt my organs blacken at the mere exposure to this movie. Watching it was like drinking from a puddle at the filthiest street corner.
I sunk lower and lower into my chair, until Ali Gator — a Garbage Pail Kid who was half-alligator, you see — casually ate a severed finger. At that point, it was time. I asked my mother if we could leave, and to the shock of no one, she had zero problems with that. Read More…