Thank You Fritz the Night Owl!

I am a monster/horror movie fan. One of the biggest reasons for that is Fritz the Night Owl. Fritz hosted the late night movie shows Night Owl Theater and Chiller Theater on WBNS Channel 10 in Columbus, OH. Every weekend, particularly during the summer, my brothers and sister would camp out in living room and watch hours of cult horror and monster movies. At least we would try to stay up till the sound of national anthem and the flag would come on the screen. It wasn't too often we actually made it all the way through. Man those were the days. Fritz would show everything from Twilight Zones to Godzilla to old Hammer films. I didn't Peter Cushing did anything except Star Wars till Fritz showed me the light. It was my first taste of those weird ’60’s horror films, and I loved it. If Mom knew what was actually being shown sometimes, she wouldn’t have been that thrilled. Thank goodness she and my step-father were the “early to bed” type.

Fritz was my guide to all things scary. He’d start off the night telling us a little about the movie in his owl glasses. His soothing yet scary deep voice was what really made Fritz great. Before and after commercials he’d make some odd joke relating to the movie, usually with his face pasted on some odd drawing or comic book, or he’d be sitting on the moon or a rocketship as it floated across the screen. He never went the route of The Ghoul or Dr. Madblood who would waste valuable movie time with dumb skits. Fritz was just Fritz. He was a hero of mine as a kid. He just seemed so cool in his Owl glasses, and that voice. I was so thrilled when I actually got to meet him once. So, thank you Fritz for introducing me to the weird and wonderful world of movies. Fritz is still in Columbus playing jazz show late Sunday nights on the radio. Whenever I'm in town I listen for a little while and recall those childhood nights of fright.