''Creature Feature'', presented in later years as ''Dr. Paul Bearer Presents'', was a TV

horror movie Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, ap ...

series on

WTOG WTOG (channel 44) is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving as the CW affiliate for the Tampa Bay area. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group, and maintains studios on Northeast 105th Terrac ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States, from 1973 to 1995. The films were hosted by Dick Bennick Sr. (November 3, 1928 – February 18, 1995) as Dr. Paul Bearer, who hosted a different classic horror film every Saturday afternoon at 2 pm. Bennick created the character at

WGHP WGHP (channel 8) is a television station licensed to High Point, North Carolina, United States, serving the Piedmont Triad region as an affiliate of the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios on Francis ...

in High Point,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, for the station's ''Shock Theater'' in the mid-to-late 1960s after his previous persona, Count Shockula, proved less than satisfactory. The humorous Bearer character was a pun-spewing, bad-joke-telling host who spoke in a gravelly voice with a halting speech pattern. His usual attire was a long-tailed vintage tuxedo with his hair parted down the middle and slicked straight down the sides, with heavy mascara and greasepaint. His skewed gaze, which Bennick perfected by turning his one artificial eye outward, only contributed to the atmosphere. He also twisted around some words and names to reflect the horror atmosphere—he frequently called the horror films "horrible old movies", and the city that WTOG's studios were based in "St. Creaturesburg". Occasionally, he was accompanied onset with his co-host, a prop spider by the name of Spinjamin Bock (a play on the name

Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies ...

, voiced by Bennick). One typical joke started with a close up of a hammer in Paul's hand. He strikes a package of

Wrigley's Spearmint Wrigley's Spearmint is a brand of Wrigley's chewing gum. Wrigley's launched the brand in 1893, and markets the gum as its ''classic'' brand, although the company's brand Juicy Fruit has been on the market slightly longer. As the name implies, the ...

gum several times with the hammer, then looks up at the camera and says "I'm just sitting here, beating my gums." Bearer also aired occasional novelty songs, such as

Tom Lehrer Thomas Andrew Lehrer (; born April 9, 1928) is an American former musician, singer-songwriter, satirist, and mathematician, having lectured on mathematics and musical theater. He is best known for the pithy and humorous songs that he recorded in ...

's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," to which he would often lip-sync while pretending to accompany himself on a matte-black-painted baby grand piano. He also participated in the city's annual

Gasparilla Pirate Festival The Gasparilla Pirate Festival is a large parade and a host of related community events held in Tampa, Florida almost every year since 1904. The theme of the festivities is a friendly invasion by the mythical pirate José Gaspar (also known as Gasp ...

, riding in or on top of a vintage Cadillac

hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately a ...

as part of the station's promotion. His trademark signoff was "I'll be lurking for you." The series ended in 1995 following the death of Bennick, after his open-heart surgery. He gained a measure of national notoriety as the longest-running horror host on television, and in 1993, then-Tampa mayor Sandy Freedman declared October 30 "Dr. Paul Bearer Day". In 2015, WTOG brought Dr. Paul Bearer back to host a new film series, ''Tombstone Tales''. The new Dr. Paul Bearer is a clone of the original, played by Richard Koon. The new Dr. Paul Bearer picks up where his predecessor left off with bad puns and skewed product endorsements. ''Tombstone Tales'' has been met with a lukewarm reception since WTOG aired current movies in their library that do not fit in the horror genre, and were contrary to the "horrible old movies" the original ''Creature Feature'' was known for. Koon's take on Dr. Paul Bearer, however, become very popular.http://www.baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/ot/both/2011/03/21/Dr_Paul_Bearer_s_memory_brought_back_to_life.html Dr. Paul and his 1994 Lincoln hearse are the main attraction at festivals and parades. He was the Grand Marshal for the 2016

Guavaween Guavaween was an annual Latin-flavored Halloween celebration which took place on the last Saturday of October in the historic neighborhood of Ybor City on Tampa, Florida. It was named after Tampa's nickname, "The Big Guava". Since its inceptio ...

parade in Tampa.

References

External links

*
Fan Archive & Database

Dr. Paul Bearer Documentary and Fan Page

Dr. Paul Bearer's Web Site

WTOG
{{DEFAULTSORT:Creature Feature (1973 tv series) 1973 in Florida 1973 American television series debuts 1970s American horror television series 1980s American horror television series 1990s American horror television series 1995 American television series endings Culture of St. Petersburg, Florida Creature Features

See also

References

External links