Superhost was a character portrayed by TV personality Marty Sullivan at independent television station

WUAB WUAB (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power Telemundo affiliate WT ...

channel 43 in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

from 1969 to 1989. He wore a baggy suit,

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

and red nose (like a

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

version of

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

) to host the station's Saturday afternoon monster movie.

Early life

Sullivan was born on March 5, 1932, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He went to Assumption College (now

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universit ...

). Sullivan was a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

veteran.

Show format

The show would begin at noon with ''Supe's On!'', an hour-long warm-up to the movies, with two

Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

shorts, and usually a

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

short as well. Superhost would appear during commercial breaks, cracking jokes, showing skits, and talking to the TV audience. Superhost greeted fans with his famous "Hello, dere" (pronounced "dare") and follow with sketches like "The Moronic Woman" (a parody of ''

The Bionic Woman ''The Bionic Woman'' is an American science fiction action-adventure television series created by Kenneth Johnson based on the 1972 novel ''Cyborg'' by Martin Caidin, starring Lindsay Wagner that aired from January 14, 1976, to May 13, 1978. ' ...

'') "Caboose Supe" (a

Boxcar Willie Lecil Travis Martin (September 1, 1931 – April 12, 1999), whose stage name was Boxcar Willie, was an American country music singer-songwriter, who sang in the "old-time hobo" music style, complete with dirty face, overalls, and a floppy hat. ...

takeoff), and "Fat Whitman" (a spoof of

Slim Whitman Ottis Dewey Whitman Jr. (January 20, 1923 – June 19, 2013), known as Slim Whitman, was an American country music singer-songwriter and guitarist known for his yodeling abilities and his use of falsetto. He claimed he had sold in excess of ...

). His most famous sketch was a music video based on the popular trucker song "

Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

". He was also known for referring to the movies as "flicks" as in "Let's get back to da flick."Sullivan interview - Utter Trash.net
/ref> After ''Supe's On'', he would host an afternoon of films under the ''Mad Theater'' banner. Generally two films were shown, going from 1 to 4 p.m. The movies would be old horror films like ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ex ...

'' or Japanese monster movies such as ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

''. As the 1980s went along, with '' WCW Worldwide Wrestling'' and other more contemporary syndicated weekend programming becoming available, the show began getting trimmed down for time. First to the ''Supe's On'' hour (11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.) plus one movie (12:30 to 2 p.m) in 1985, then in 1987, the entire show was shortened to one hour under the ''Supe's On!'' banner, with Superhost appearing during commercial breaks during one episode each of ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'' and ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

'' from 11 a.m. to noon. From 1988 until its finale in December 1989, the show was then changed to an hour of

shorts (with a cartoon thrown in), and Superhost appearing during commercial breaks, all under the ''Supe's On with the Three Stooges!'' banner from 11 a.m. to noon (then towards the end moved to 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.)

Other roles

In addition to playing Superhost, Sullivan was a longtime floor director and staff announcer for WUAB, and without the Superhost costume, also occasionally hosted the daily afternoon ''Prize Movie'', when usual host John Lanigan was off. Even post Superhost, he would continue to fill in for Lanigan until Sullivan retired in 1993. He also filled in anchoring news breaks during the primetime ''Star Movie'' when usual anchor Gary Short was off. Sullivan had come to WUAB with some news background, as prior to his career at WUAB, Sullivan worked as an announcer and news reporter for WGAR AM 1220 in Cleveland. Among the major stories Sullivan had covered at WGAR was the Hough Riots.Sullivan profile - Cleveland Seniors.com
/ref> Sullivan (in character as Superhost) appeared in a few skits for WJW's ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck Show'' (later '' The Big Chuck & Lil' John Show'') over the years, notably in one installment of the popular "Soulman" sketch of the 1970s. Despite being on a rival station, Sullivan has stated they were good guys and never direct competition to his show. In a story Sullivan liked to tell, he would sometimes be pressed into service on a Friday night when taping the Superhost show, and have to also do the live news breaks. So he'd quickly put on a jacket, shirt, and tie to do the news, while under the desk, he'd still have his Superhost costume on. He served in this capacity until 1988, when WUAB began their nightly ''Ten O'Clock News'' newscast. Sullivan would later joke that "it took an over 30 person news staff to replace me".

Death

Sullivan died on February 21, 2020 at the age of 87 in

Berkeley Springs, West Virginia Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's Eastern Panhandle. "Berkeley Springs" is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around the Town of Bath. In 1776, the Virg ...

Awards and honors

*1997 NATAS (Lower Great Lakes Chapter) Silver Circle Award *Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame Inductee (class of 1991)Sullivan inducted into Ohio Broadcasters HOF - Broadcasters Hall of Fame.com
*Horror Host Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2015)

Early life

Show format

Other roles

Death

Awards and honors

References

Further reading