The Ghoul Show

The Ghoul Show was the brain-child of Cleveland-born actor Ron Sweed. The late-night horror movie and comedy sketch show ran for various blocks of seasons from 1971 through 2004, primarily in Detroit and Cleveland. In 1970, Sweed approached fellow Cleveland actor Ernie Anderson with a proposal to revive Anderson's 1960's character, "Ghoulardi." Anderson was not interested, but gave Sweed his blessing to revive the character on his own. With that blessing, Sweed took "The Ghoul" to Cleveland's Kaiser Broadcasting station WKBF-TV in 1971. Though it started as a tribute to Ghoulardi, Sweed soon developed his own unique, energetic style and original eye-catching gags. A few years later, Kaiser's Detroit-based station WKBD also picked up The Ghoul Show. Known for Sweed's zany, intentionally adolescent humor, late night monster movies were a unique experience for Cleveland and Detroit viewers in the 1970s. "Shooting from no-budget studio sets, the Ghoul inserted his own dialogue and sound effects over insufferably bad B movies, blew up food, model cars and figurines with firecrackers, and produced strangely compelling, culturally relevant skits and parodies. The show was destructive and childish enough for little kids, subversive and timely enough for young adults."