Who was Dr. Shock? He was a staple on local Philadelphia UHF television. Back in the 1960s and 70s, before cable TV with its hundreds of channels, there was just broadcast TV. In Philadelphia I still remember the channels: 3 (NBC), 6 (ABC), 10 (CBS), and 12 (PBS). However, beyond this VHF set of channels there was also UHF TV. Instead of the usual rabbit-ears antenna, these channels used a circular antenna. They also tended to be fuzzy and staticky. The shows were low budget and local, but well worth watching after school as a kid growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs. Local TV personality Wee Willie Webber introduced me to Ultraman and 8th Man on his show. Sally Starr presented Popeye cartoons and Three Stooges shorts. Dr. Shock hosted Horror Theater while prancing around in a Dracula get-up and presented old black and white monster movies. He was a funny, silly host, defusing the scariness of the movies in a tongue-in-cheek manner that later hosts, like Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Joel and Mike in Mystery Science Theater 3000 would come to perfect. So, yeah, I certainly knew who Dr. Shock was.
Rick Fox, long-time WPHL Channel 17writer, producer, and director of Philadelphia's beloved 1970s horror host Dr. Shock hosts a tribute to the good doc né Joseph Zawislak and traces Joe's Philly upbringing, stint in the Navy, and career as a stage magician before donning his cape to show low-budget horror movies on TV. This tribute features rare color video clips of Dr. Shock, his daughter Bubbles, and many guest stars and hilarious bits of absurd local TV comedy.