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''Big Chuck and Lil' John'' were a duo of entertainers and horror hosts based in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, Ohio, United States, consisting of Charles Mitchell "Big Chuck" Schodowski (June 28, 1934 – January 19, 2025) and "Lil' John" Rinaldi (born January 19, 1946). They co-hosted a late-night program over Cleveland television station WJW (channel 8) from 1979 until 2007, but Schodowski's tenure at the station dated back to 1961, first as a technician, then as a sidekick for '' Ghoulardi'' (
Ernie Anderson Ernest Earle Anderson (November 12, 1923 – February 6, 1997) was an American radio and television personality, horror host, and announcer. Known for his portrayal of " Ghoulardi", the host of late night horror films on WJW Channel 8 on Cle ...
) and a co-host alongside Bob "Hoolihan" Wells. In addition to hosting a movie with a live audience, they also performed original
sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...
routines. At the end of each sketch was a very distinctive laugh (see external links section below) voiced by comedian/actor Jay Lawrence, who was a disc jockey for KYW radio in Cleveland during the early 1960s. On September 10, 2011, WJW began airing a weekly half-hour program – simply titled ''Big Chuck and Lil' John'' – featuring classic show skits along with limited new production.


History

Chuck Schodowski began his career as a producer/engineer at KYW-TV in 1961, then joined WJW-TV in the same capacity within several months. Upon joining WJW, he was tasked to do production for ''Ernie's Place'', a movie showcase starring announcer
Ernie Anderson Ernest Earle Anderson (November 12, 1923 – February 6, 1997) was an American radio and television personality, horror host, and announcer. Known for his portrayal of " Ghoulardi", the host of late night horror films on WJW Channel 8 on Cle ...
and comedian/writer Tom Conway, as Anderson falsely claimed Conway had directorial experience. When Conway left the station after being discovered by Rose Marie, Anderson was cast as horror host '' Ghoulardi''. Schodowski was instrumental in bringing in the blend of blues and polka music that helped define the show, adding comic audio drop-ins to enliven the often awful movies, and immortalized The Rivingtons' tune " Papa Oom Mow Mow" by marrying it to the image of an old man gurning. Anderson utilized Schodowski as a sidekick in comedy skits, including a controversial spoof of '' Peyton Place'' called ''
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Place'' that played heavily to ethnic stereotypes in the Cleveland suburb. When Anderson left Cleveland for California in 1966, his popular Ghoulardi character was retired, and a talent search ensued to find a replacement. Schodowski agreed to help Bob Wells (WJW's "Hoolihan the Weatherman") with his audition, and the management decided they liked the way the two performed together. They became co-hosts of ''The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show'', which launched on December 23, 1966. In addition to screening horror films, the duo soon started filming comedy skits interspersed within the host segments.BC & LJ memories - Pinterest.com
/ref> After Wells left the show in 1979, John Rinaldi, a jeweler by trade who had already been featured on many of the program's skits, took over as co-host. The show itself was relaunched as ''The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'', and while effectively a separate and distinct show, the familiar ''Catch As Catch Can'' theme was retained, among other show elements. Moreover, taped skits from the preceding show often would be rerun on ''The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'' through various "oldies nights". For many years, the show aired at 11:30 p.m. on Friday nights before moving to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday nights starting on October 1, 1988 (to accommodate '' The Arsenio Hall Show'', which WJW was airing following their weeknight 11 p.m. newscasts), then back to Fridays following WJW's affiliation switch to Fox in 1994. After Fox acquired WJW in 1996, the movies selected for ''The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'' were no longer done by either host, and began to deviate from the original horror/science fiction genre into more conventional movie fare. In addition, the start time was again moved in 1996 to Saturdays at midnight following '' Mad TV'', then after Fox debuted '' Talkshow with Spike Feresten'' in 2006, the show settled in its final start time of 12:30 a.m. Saturday nights/Sunday mornings. Along with the Saturday night shows, Schodowski and Rinaldi hosted a companion ''Couch Potato Theater'' program airing from 10 a.m. - noon on Saturday mornings, which featured at various times '' Three Stooges'' shorts, episodes of '' The Abbott and Costello Show'', movies, cartoons, or (due to schedule conflicts) an hour long skits only show. In December 2006, Schodowski announced he would retire in June 2007. As part of his farewell, WJW broadcast the hour-long retrospective ''Big Chuck and Lil' John: The End of an Era''. This also marked the end of ''The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'', with the last regular episode airing the afternoon of June 16, 2007, and again in the early morning of June 17. In October 2008, Schodowski released his autobiography, ''Big Chuck!: My Favorite Stories from 47 Years on Cleveland TV'', co-written by ''
The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio; it is a major national newspaper. In the fall of 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily an ...
'' media writer Tom Feran. The book debuted at the 2008 ''Ghoulardifest'' convention. During the summer of 2011, it was announced that ''Big Chuck and Lil' John'' would return to TV on WJW every Saturday morning at 11 a.m. (this time, in a 30-minute all skits show similar to the ''Couch Potato Theater'' format). This version of the show began on September 10, 2011. In 2015, the show was moved to Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. The show moved to Monday mornings at 12:30 a.m. in 2021, and the show has been retitled ''The Best of Big Chuck and Lil' John'' and introductions to the skits have been dropped. Lil' John made news in December 2014, after
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head coach Marvin Lewis referred to
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quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
Johnny Manziel as a "
midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with d ...
". WJW sent the 4'3" Rinaldi to Cincinnati to cover Lewis' weekly press conference, and he asked the coach some questions. In 2019 the duo reunited with Wells to film the five-episode
web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...
''Space Ship One''. Schodowski died in January 2025, at the age of 90.


Notable sketches and parodies

* ''Ben Crazy'' - a parody of a popular '60s TV medical drama, '' Ben Casey'' with Big Chuck as the title character. Originated on ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck'', but had additional sketches filmed throughout the entire run of ''Big Chuck & Lil' John''. * ''The Certain Ethnic _____'' - a play on Big Chuck's Polish heritage featuring Chuck as "Stash Kowalski" – a stereotypical Polish Clevelander (e.g., ''The Certain Ethnic Motorist'', who drives through red traffic lights and stops at green lights). Big Chuck specifically created the term "certain ethnic" as a euphemism for "Polish". * ''The Kielbasa Kid'' - a parody of TV westerns, with Big Chuck as the bumbling hero. Originated on ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck''. * ''Readings By Robert'' - originated on ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck'' as a carbon copy of an Ernie Kovacs routine, with Bob Wells in the title role (patterned after Kovacs' "Percy Dovetonsils" character), and Big Chuck as his jazz-ukulele-playing assistant, Carlos. Occasionally rerun throughout the entire run of ''Big Chuck & Lil' John''. * ''
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Place'' - a parody of the 60's soap-opera '' Peyton Place''. Originated on '' Ghoulardi'' but was continuously rerun throughout the entire course of ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck'' and ''Big Chuck & Lil' John'' * ''Soul Man'' - a parody of ''
Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
'' where Big Chuck (as "Ed Tarboosh" – mild mannered TV producer) would – with the help of his "soul pills" – become Soul Man, who was a big, black, and bumbling superhero (played by longtime station cameraman Herb Thomas). Originated on ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck''. * ''Mary Hartski, Mary Hartski'' - a parody of the 70's TV show '' Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman''. * ''Mariano "Mushmouth" Pacetti'' - king of the weekly "Pizza Fight" during a six-year period on ''Hoolihan & Big Chuck''. * ''Cuyahoga Jones and the Castle of Doom'' - a parody of the ''
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, ...
'' series, with Big Chuck as the title character – and Lil' John as his sidekick "Short Stuff" – chronicling their attempts to capture the " Kapusta Diamond". These skits were filmed at Squire's Castle in suburban
Willoughby Hills, Ohio Willoughby Hills is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along the Chagrin River. The population was 10,019 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Geography According to the United S ...
.


Other cast members

Big Chuck and Lil' John would use some of WJW's personalities, like station meteorologist Dick Goddard, in their skits. A popular Goddard sketch revolved around Goddard's claims that WJW had the best doppler radar in Cleveland. He bragged that WJW's "Super Doppler Google-Plex" was powerful enough to see clearly to a neighborhood, close enough to reveal a woman taking a bath (strategically covered with bubbles) through her bathroom sunroof, as Goddard sheepishly tried to hide the image with his suit jacket. Goddard would appear in numerous skits through the years, sometimes even playing different characters. Other longtime supporting players were veteran cameraman/technician Art Lofredo, who appeared in many skits through the years (most frequently as "The Old Man") and had several "Art Lofredo Nights" dedicated to him; Herb Thomas, a longtime station cameraman who portrayed "Soul Man", and Mary Allen ("the pride of Maple Heights"), who was an older lady and was a viewer who had won an auction in the late 70s to appear on a skit. She impressed Big Chuck with her performance so much, she became a regular player on the show until the late 90s, appearing most frequently as Stash Kowalski's wife Stella in "The Certain Ethnic ______" skits. News anchor Robin Swoboda was famously featured as the main villain (a Catwoman takeoff) with several
Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
players portraying her henchmen in "Batguy & Rinaldi" (a parody of Batman & Robin), and sportscasters Casey Coleman, John Telich and Dan Coughlin were used in sports themed skits. Other later skits featured WJW station announcer Bill Ward announcing introductions to skits or for faux testimonial advertisements in the style of Hoolihan. Owing to the station's long affiliation with the CBS television network, CBS stars like Buddy Ebsen and Andy Griffith made cameos in several skits, as well as Tim Conway (who like Big Chuck began his career on WJW as a sidekick of Ernie Anderson – though on a separate program) who by then was a star on CBS' ''
The Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harv ...
''. Athletes like
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, Earnie Shavers and Jack Lambert also made guest appearances in skits.


Other show features

Both ''The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show'' and ''The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'' also made music video parodies as well, including Ray Stevens songs like " Gitarzan", " Indian Love Call" (the skit was titled "The Audio Engineer" and made extensive use of chromakey), " Along Came Jones", " The Streak" and "Bridget the Midget" (which was Lil' John's on-air debut on the show back in 1970), plus other songs like Scott McKenzie's "
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
", Jimmy Castor Bunch's " Troglodyte", and Larry Groce's " Junk Food Junkie." Both shows occasionally would feature a "New Talent Time" sketch where Cleveland area performers, usually performing some sort of offbeat stunt, would be featured. One week featured songwriter Robert McGuire performing his original song "Moon Over Parma", a song that mentioned a journey through the suburbs of Cleveland; the song would later become the theme song for the first season of ''
The Drew Carey Show ''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995, to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionaliz ...
''.


Awards and honors


Big Chuck

*29-time Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards recipient *1994 Silver Circle Award, presented by Local Great Lakes Emmy Awards chapterBC & LJ win Silver Circle Award - NATAS LGL.org
/ref> *Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame Inductee (class of 1991) *Cleveland Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (class of 1999)
/ref>


Lil' John

*1995 Silver Circle Award, presented by Local Great Lakes Emmy Awards chapter *2001 Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award recipient (as co-host of ''The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show'') - Regularly Scheduled Entertainment ProgramLil John's Emmy - NATAS LGL.org
/ref> *Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame Inductee (class of 1996) *Cleveland Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame (class of 1999)


References


Further reading

* *{{cite book, last=Schodowski, first=Chuck, author2=Feran, Tom, title=Big Chuck!: My Favorite Stories from 47 Years on Cleveland TV, year=2008, publisher=Gray & Co, location=Cleveland, Ohio, isbn=978-1-59851-052-2


External links


Official Big Chuck and Lil' John Fan Web site
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20110707133130/http://www.americanscary.com/bios.html AmericanScary.com: Host Biographiesbr> E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts: Hoolihan and Big Chuck and Lil' John''Hoolihan, Big Chuck & Lil John Show Archives''
American television personalities American comedy duos Television in Cleveland Horror hosts Local comedy television series in the United States Local motion picture television series 1960s American satirical television series 1970s American satirical television series 1980s American satirical television series 1990s American satirical television series 2000s American satirical television series 1960s American sketch comedy television series 1970s American sketch comedy television series 1980s American sketch comedy television series 1990s American sketch comedy television series 2000s American sketch comedy television series 1966 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings