Tonight on MeTV- it may seem to many of us fighting the chill of winter that a visit to the warmth of Florida might be welcome- but perhaps not, if it’s about to become the battleground between humans and amphibians, reptiles, and various other creatures, out for revenge against the polluting ways of man- heralded by the arrival of- “Frogs”!
This 1972 horror film starts off calmly enough- with Pickett Smith, a wildlife photographer, canoeing through the waters of a swamp, taking photos of various plants and creatures while noting evidence of pollution throughout the area. He is unceremoniously overturned by a speedboat driven by a boozy young man, and is taken aboard the craft to meet the wealthy young idiot Clint and his pretty sister Karen. They offer him the chance to come dry off at their palatial family mansion, where he meets the patriarch of the family- the wheel-chair bound grump, Jason Crockett, who invites him to stay to join in on the combined celebration of his birthday and the 4th of July. It’s obvious that Jason run his plantation- and his family- with an iron hand, and that his business methods are responsible for the pollution Pickett has observed.
Also observed is that the area seems to be overrun with frogs of various sizes, and Jason, not very fond of their presence, has sent out his man Grover to spray pesticide (great! More pollution!) to solve the problem. Little does he realize the problem is already well on its way out of hand.
Pickett meets several other members of the family, as well as the house staff- and actually seems to meet with Jason’s approval. He is even asked to check on the whereabouts of certain missing people- and his findings are not good. He has also found an unusual amount of swamp creatures all over the area- many more than are normal. As employees and family members become victims of attacks by the different animal species, it’s suggested that the family should leave the area- but Jason refuses to let anything interfere with his celebration, and demands that they stay! Things only get worse, and escape begins to seem impossible- as the frogs grow in number and no human is safe!
This movie was made during a time when ecology was becoming a major concern, and it is considered to be part of a group of films known as “eco-horror” in which nature fights back against the population polluting and destroying the natural world. It boasts some big name actors- from Ray Milland and a very young Sam Elliot to well-known TV actress Joan Van Ark. We’ll tell you about the cast, and some background on the production, as well as bringing you a new song- and watch for a brief greeting from a major star and Sven fan who faithfully watched my shows when they were just local to the Chicago area- and still tunes in today! And, for those who have seen the original poster promoting the film- no, there is no huge frog big enough to swallow a human and have its hand protruding from its mouth- but there are enough deadly creatures around to make up for that! We do warn you that there are some scenes that may not be suitable for all viewers -especially those who don’t like snakes, frogs, and other creepy crawly things!
“Frogs” invades your TV screen tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time. Once again last week on Twitter, so many viewers were live-Tweeting during the show that we were trending at various levels for the whole program- and we think that might just happen again tonight. Feel free to join in, using the hashtag #svengoolie. This morning, local Chicago area viewers get to marvel once again at the stop-motion artistry of Ray Harryhausen in “Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” at 11 am on CW26.
We are proud to announce that a series of spots we were a part of promoting the premiere episodes of the CW series “Superman and Lois” were named best TV station self-promotion by the Illinois Broadcasters Association, winning a Silver Dome award in the state-wide competition. The spots had me as spokesman, talking about the series and, naturally, making some jokes about the Man of Steel. We are very honored, and thank our coworkers Molly Kelly, Steve Boal, Jeff Hinkle, and Jim Roche for including me in this project. As a longtime comics fan, being a part of something with Superman is always like a dream come true!
Tonight, however, things will lean more towards nightmares than dreams- as cold-blooded creatures become cold-blooded killers!
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Before the new Blog
I wish everyone well
Hope one day we can share in some grogg
Will you be home for the movie??
I’m thinking we might have a surprise winner this time…
Goodnight, everyone & sweet screams
Grover in the swamp by snake bites
Michael Martindale in the swamp by white moss and tarantulas
Kenneth Martindale in the greenhouse by poison gas knocked over by geckos
Iris Martindale in the swamp by a rattlesnake
Stuart Martindale in the swamp by alligators
Clint Crockett in the lake by a cottonmouth moccasin
Jenny Crockett in the mud bank by an alligator snapping turtle
Jason Crockett in the mansion by a heart attack
(after hundreds of frogs break in & stare accusingly at him).
Pickett Smith, Karen Crockett, and Jenny's kids, Tina & Jay, escape by crossing the lake in Smith's canoe.
Not resolved is the fate of Charles the butler, Maybelle the maid, and Belle Kenneth's fiancee (Clint took them across the lake in his boat and got separated during the bird attack).
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That wasn’t just any white moss, that was Spanish moss _Tillandsia usneoides_, which isn’t a moss but a bromeliad. In movies, it usually signals that the story takes place in the Deep South. In this part of Texas, the Spanish moss gives way to ball moss _T. recurvata_. I’m gonna guess that tarantulas don’t normally inhabit Spanish moss—in the US their ranges don’t overlap much.
While geckos looked on as Kenneth met his end, it was a black and white tegu _Salvator merianae_ that was doing the heavy lifting by knock the various chemicals to the greenhouse floor where they combined toxically.
Thanks for reminding me of something I’d been meaning to get of my chest—other than the tarantula-Spanish moss thing: The selection of species for the movie. I saw one herpetology review of _Frogs_ that gave the film kudos for good cinematography of real, live creepy crawlies, and that most of the snakes were species native to Florida. On the other hand, I found most of the other herps to be a stretch. Alligator-check! Alligator snapping turtle-check! Carolina anole-check! Leopard frog—there’s got to be at least one species in Florida—check! But the others… First and foremost, cane toads are NOT native to Florida! The baby alligators were actually spectacled caimans _Caiman crocodilus_. The aforementioned tegus are native to South America, and Tokay geckos are native to Asia and the southeast Asian archipelagos. Granted, today cane toads, and Tokay geckos are established in Florida, the cane toads in part because of escapees from this very movie, but if you’re filming an eco-horror movie in which the wee beasties take revenge on mankind for fooling with nature, at least stick to native species!
Postscript: For grins, I checked Wikipedia’s "List of reptiles of Florida”—Most of Florida’s lizards (reptiles in the suborder Lacertilia) are introduced. The remaining native lizards are smallish, at least not bulky enough to push jugs of chemicals off a shelf. A turtle or alligator could do it, but would be unlikely to be crawling on a greenhouse shelf. Either the noxious chemicals would have to be stored in smaller bottles, or the herp wrangler would have to convince a snake to push over the jugs or train a group of anoles to do it in unison!
(Adding insult to injury, because I can telework, I don't even get time off!)
About to go to bed; I guess that increases the chances I'll be up for toons...
TARANTULA to be followed by IZZY
+ a full wolf moon and nice bright star from Gemini constellation !
Woohoooo !
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Don’t know if there ever was one but those creepy cockaroaches would make one scary Svengoolie movie !
Jack will know what they were but we used to call them water bugs when found in the cellar when a kid growing up in the city ~ black , HUGE bugs ! Used to put cucumber peels around the sewer lid to ward them off ~ I know , doesn’t even sound right huh ? !
Super creepy !
O_O
I dunno. There was probably snow on the round... Watching the Super Bowl, maybe. homework, I was in high school.
https://www.onthisday.com/date/1973/january/14
Other notable event: "Dancer Roy Castle is measured at 1,440 taps/min on BBC TV"
1950s and 1960s movies listed as "double feature with" on various movie archive websites didn't always match how I remembe seeing them at the local A-run and B-run walk-ins and drive-ins. I suspect there were mix-and-matches going on especially when movies were released (sometimes after being retitled).
I honestly don't remember what played with FROGS locally in 1972.
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This is the episode that Chuck Connors’ son Jeff appears on briefly ~
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We had a protector, but he vanished!
Yep , Spidey’s are longer !
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Happy golden anniversary to "Sanford and Son" that premiered 50 years ago today. I know MeTV had it, which they would again. Great supporting cast: LaWanda Page, Whitman Mayo, Don Bexley, Gregory Sierra, Nathaniel Taylor, Donna Harris, Pat Morita and the cops Hal Williams and Howard Platt. You can hear the theme song in your head, can't you?
