Ghoulardi: The Real Story Behind the Most Subversive Show in Cleveland Television History (Ohio) [Paperback]

Tom Feran (Author), R. D. Heldenfels (Author), R.D. Heldenfels (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ohio | Publication Date: October 24, 1997

This is the definitive fan's guide to the outrageous and bizarre Ghoulardi TV show. Who was Ghoulardi? If you grew up watching TV in Cleveland in the 1960s, you definitely remember. If you live in Cleveland today, you hear about him still. In early 1963, months before the Beatles arrived in America and years before Howard Stern hit the radio airwaves, Cleveland TV actor Ernie Anderson pioneered the modern counter-culture media celebrity: Ghoulardi. His offbeat late-night movie show was so popular locally that it got ratings higher than the Tonight Show, and the Cleveland police department reported a significant decrease in crime during its broadcast. Ghoulardi continues to capture the hearts and minds of Cleveland's first TV generation and is riding a wave of nostalgia. Ghoulardi creator Ernie Anderson's recent obituary was the page-one feature in both of northeast Ohio's major dailies and the lead item on all local TV news shows. Ghoulardi memorabilia are regular set props on the popular TV sitcom The Drew Carey Show. Ghoulardi tee-shirts still sell even though the show has been off the air for more than 30 years. This book tells the on-screen and behind-the-scenes story of the Ghoulardi show and its unusual creator with biographical sketches, trivia, photos, original scripts, and other memorabilia. A national Ghoulardi convention is planned for October 1997 in Cleveland.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A scrapbook of trivia for the boom-boomers who lived through it, a revelation for the next generation of tube-tethered America." -- FreeÊTimes

"The definitive fan's guide to the outrageous and bizarre television show." -- Currents

"Well researched and loaded with Ghoulardi minutiae." -- Scene

#1 Bestseller --The Plain Dealer

About the Author

Tom Feran is the Television Critic for The Plain Dealer.

Rich Heldenfels is the Television Writer for the Akron Beacon Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Gray & Co., Publishers; 1st ed edition (October 24, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886228183
• ISBN-13: 978-1886228184
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #802,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brought-back the childhood of the early '60's..., May 5, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ghoulardi: The Real Story Behind the Most Subversive Show in Cleveland Television History (Ohio) (Paperback)

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!!!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ghoulardi: A man who used comedy to host horror., February 19, 2001

By 

Book Reader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ghoulardi: The Real Story Behind the Most Subversive Show in Cleveland Television History (Ohio) (Paperback)

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!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How about one word.......Awsome, February 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Ghoulardi: The Real Story Behind the Most Subversive Show in Cleveland Television History (Ohio) (Paperback)

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.