| Ghoulardi was a fictional character invented and | | | | In spite of his solid ratings and profitablilty, they worried |
| portrayed by disc jockey, voice announcer, and actor | | | | that Ghoulardi was testing too many television |
| Ernie Anderson. | | | | boundaries too quickly, and tried to rein in the |
| He broke the boundaries in television possibly before | | | | character. Anderson responded by, among other |
| anyone else as the horror host of the Late Night | | | | things, detonating plastic action figures and plastic |
| Shock Theater at WJW-TV, Channel 8, in Cleveland, | | | | model cars with firecrackers and small explosives sent |
| Ohio from 1963 through 1966. | | | | in by viewers, on air, once nearly setting the studio on |
| During the breaks from the movies, Anderson | | | | fire. ("Cool it with the boom-booms.") |
| addressed the camera live in a dialogue peppered with: | | | | Inspired by Tim Conway, Anderson retired Ghoulardi in |
| "Hey, group!," "Stay sick, knif" ("fink"), "Cool it," "Turn | | | | 1966 and moved to Los Angeles, California. His plan |
| blue" and "Ova deh." Anderson improvised because of | | | | was to act in film and television. Instead, he made a |
| his difficulty memorizing lines. | | | | successful career in voice-over work, most |
| He also mocked the poor quality films he was hosting: | | | | prominently as the main voice for the ABC TV |
| "If you want to watch a movie, don't watch this one," | | | | network ("the Lu-u-uhv Boat") during the 1970s and |
| or "This movie is so bad, you should just go to bed." | | | | 1980s. |
| He had his crew insert stock film clips or his own | | | | Cleveland native Drew Carey has paid tribute to |
| image at climactic moments. | | | | Ghoulardi in his television sitcom (Carey can often be |
| Ghoulardi used friends and members of his crew as | | | | seen wearing a Ghoulardi T-shirt). In his endorsement |
| supporting cast: cameraman "Big Chuck" Schodowski, | | | | of the biography, "Ghoulardi: Inside Cleveland TV's |
| film editor Bob Soinski and writer Tim Conway (later of | | | | Wildest Ride", Carey was quoted as saying |
| McHale's Navy, The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Carol | | | | "Absolutely, big time, Ghoulardi was an influence on |
| Burnett Show and "Dorf" fame). | | | | me." |
| Station management lived in daily fear as to what he | | | | Anderson died of cancer on February 6, 1997. |
| might say or do on the air, because he was live. | | | | |