(bright gentle music) - [Narrator] Once upon a time, there was a retired mad scientist who lived in a rundown manor house on the edge of the Pungo Swamp.

This old guy stayed up late all hours, mixing formulas and making monsters and showing perfectly horrible movies.

- Good evening, gang.

Welcome to our show.

Tonight we got a great movie for you.

I can't say that with a straight face.

(laughs) We got a goodie for you tonight, gang.

We do.

It's called... (Dr.

Madblood exhales deeply) (audience laughing) Oh, we talking stinky movie.

Our movie tonight, oh, is a super kashtinker.

It's not just a kashtinker.

Tonight we got a, it ranks right up there with the Manster, you know, it's up in that level.

(audience laughing) This is one that if you really want to enjoy it, the best thing you can do is turn the sound down and make up your own dialogue.

(upbeat music) (Dr.

Madblood vocalizing) Oh, good morning, gang.

Welcome to the show.

- In 1974, Jerry Harrell moved to the Hampton Roads area from Richmond and joined the staff of WAVY TV 10 as their creative services director.

He was also an on-air talent and appeared in commercials like this one for warehouse furniture sales.

- Warehouse furniture is overstocked, $200,000 overstocked.

Now, while that's bad news for us, it's great news for you because it means we're having a general clearance and removal sale.

And you can save from 25 to 60% on our entire line of top brand furniture.

The sale's going on at our Norfolk location, but you better hurry before the furniture that you want is gone.

- Jerry was surprised to discover there were no locally produced entertainment programs on any station in town.

- Now, there had been local shows on the air here.

There was a Bozo show on the air here.

Mac McManus did "Poopdeck Pappy" for many years here.

But when I moved here, there was nothing.

The mid 70s, the early to mid 70s was really a dry period around here.

So I looked around and thought somebody needs to be doing some local entertainment.

- By the summer of 1975, Jerry and station announcer Mark Young had produced a trio of holiday entertainment specials for kids, and they included a first ever television visit to the newly opened Busch Gardens in Williamsburg.

- Our mode of transportation is a 1949 double-decker bus straight off the streets of London.

If you're ready to get aboard, we'll get started.

(whimsical music) - [Announcer] This is one of the English sections in Busch Gardens called Banbury Cross.

And the main attraction in Banbury Cross is the Globe Theater.

(upbeat music) - Now, they wanted to create something for Halloween, and at the time, WAVY owned the most outrageous package of classic horror films ever put together.

It was from the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, the Universal 77 horror hits.

And they scheduled them on Saturday nights at midnight.

Jerry and Mark came up with the idea for a wraparound for the Halloween edition of the movie, and it was going to be a spoof on late night horror host.

- I had grown up watching science fiction movies and horror movies, had seen them all my life.

So I though, okay, why not host a movie?

- Now the pair knew they didn't want to do the standard out of the coffin shtick for a horror show host, but instead wanted to tell a story.

So they kicked around some ideas like a Jekyll and Hyde character who became a game show host.

They finally settled, thank goodness, on a retired mad scientist named Dr.

Madblood.

Now, that name wasn't just pulled out of the air.

It's actually a name for a magician's prop.

It's called the Mad Blood Rose.

And Dr.

Madblood's little person assistant, Wally, who I just found out earlier in the taping was, we always saw it as Volly, with a V, but his name was actually supposed to be Wally.

But back in then he had his Vienne's accent, so it was Volly and that was played by Mark Young himself.

The result was "Doctor Madblood's Movie."

And it aired for the first time on WAVY-TV 10, Saturday, November the 1st, 1975.

(playful music) It was a one-time only Halloween special.

Jerry and Mark were kind of hoping that it would be a little more permanent and that was pretty much guaranteed by the flood of phone calls the station received in response to a trivia question that Jerry and Mark had put out to the public.

- I've got a very special show for you tonight.

We got all kinds of highlights from the very best movies on stage and vaudeville and all kinds of good stuff.

And we got a good movie for you too tonight too that you're going to enjoy.

But The Brain is the next guest star we got and he's going to do his imitation of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers all at the same time.

If he's all set, get him all... Okay, you ready, Brain?

Okay, here we go.

And hit it.

- Now the guy shared the writing duties in the new series and it actually had a very limited budget.

It's whatever they could rub together.

(chuckles) Seriously, it came right out of their pockets.

It was directed by Steve Abramson and Steve really helped set the tone for the series and spent a lot of hours in the early years getting it molded and working on that offbeat sense of humor that would become the show's trademark.

- How are you today?

It's very nice to see you too.

You don't move your lips until I make you talk, okay?

- Wait, how am I supposed to know that?

I don't know when I'm supposed to talk.

- When I was a kid watching television, most of the comedy programs that were on the air that at that point in time were pretty straightforward.

They were sketch comedy or they were standup comedy.

And then there was Ernie Kovacs, who at that point in time was inventing a brand new art form.

He was the first one to do comedy that was utilizing television as part of the package of what the comedy was all about.

I remember reading a commentary some years afterwards that said that while everybody else was playing checkers, Ernie Kovacs was inventing Pac-Man.

And I really felt like this was something that was totally unique and totally different from anything else that was on.

And I was fascinated by it.

I immediately fell in love with him.

- The show assumed late night residents and began attracting faithful viewers.

And of course, it didn't hurt the fledgling offbeat little drama to land a time slot following the two-week old "Saturday Night Live."

- When Mark Young, who played Volly, left the show to become the Channel 10 weatherman in March of 1976, the doctor carried on alone for a while.

And then on May 15th, 1976, the viewers were introduced to Count Lacudra.

- Count Lacudra made his first appearance on "Doctor Madblood's Movies" during the film "The Son of Dracula" starring Lon Chaney.

Chaney had changed the name to Count Alucard, which is Dracula spelled backwards in order to protect Count Dracula's identity.

Lacudra was Dracula sideways more or less.

Actually, it was supposed to have been pronounced Lacudra.

That was the way it was written only.

I didn't have a pronunciation guide when I got the script and in those days we didn't rehearse.

We just went in front of the camera and shot it.

- What are you doing here?

You're supposed to be in the movie.

Get back to where you belong.

Don't touch that.

That's, that's a very expensive pipe.

Be very careful with that.

(bright music) (both growling) (footsteps thudding) - I sent a message to Jerry that I wanted to be on the show and he had heard that I was walking up and down the boardwalk that Labor Day weekend, I think it was, or the one before, in a full vampire outfit, top hat, cape and smiling at tourists with fake fangs and thought, "Maybe I'll pass on this guy."

And actually I was working with Steve Abramson who was working at the same radio station I did and he told Jerry I actually was just a little crazy, not completely loony.

So he gave me a shot, wrote me into one of them, and the rest, as they say, is rock and roll history.

In one two-part episode, Lacudra versus the aliens.

The Count was kidnapped and taken to Altar four.

- Wasn't that Planet Forbidden?

- No, that's Forbidden Planet.

And Madblood and Dusty had to build a spaceship and go to rescue him.

That was only one of several encounters that the doctor had with a pair of aliens known as Kalutz and Tutu.

- The Xeno Nolagate filter.

- Yes, commander.

- Did you plug it in?

- Did you adjust the Wilfred meter?

- Yes, commander.

- You forgot to plug it in.

You have to do that.

- Is the George Ressus turned on?

- Yes, commander.

- See, there's a wall socket right over here.

You have to plug it into the wall.

- Wait a minute.

Tutu, did you plug it in?

- By the end of the first season, the show had changed quite a bit.

Count Lacudra had become a regular, and the viewers had met Dusty, the crop duster who lived next door.

- What's up, Dusty.

- Yes, old man.

- It's nice to see you.

Yeah, it really is.

Yeah, what are you doing out a night like this?

It's terrible.

- Making my deliveries.

You know.

Yeah.

- Making deliveries on a night like this?

- Madblood, neither rain or sleet or dark and night, snow, nothing.

- Wait a minute, hold it.

You're not a mailman.

What are you doing?

- Well, I got these important, I got this real important package.

It's got to go to Moyock tonight.

- Well, a little accident we had.

Yeah.

(Dusty laughing) - A little accident?

Oh, Doc, Brain blew up your whole lab.

- Well now, wait a minute.

What makes you say that?

- Let's see.

The smoldering, burned out remains.

- No, that's not what I mean.

- The barrels and barrels of broken glass.

- No, I mean, what makes you say that Brain did it?

- And that aroma, ooh, that smell, boy.

- Anyway, we got a great show for you tonight.

We got three great night galleries.

One of them was directed by Steven Spielberg.

- Kind of like somebody stole Lucille and crop dusted the whole neighborhood with ode to roadkill.

- I get it.

- You mean... - That's right, I could have my very own Phoebus... (laughs) I'm close.

I'm close.

Wait for it.

I could have one of my very own Phoebus, flying Phoebus weetle beetle drain bugs.

(Dusty laughing) - Beetle and roaches and bugs, oh my.

(laughs) If you'll need a brain.

(laughs) - Dusty, if it's not the money and it's not the pride, why do you keep going on with the lessons?

I don't understand.

Can't you explain to me why?

I mean, if it's not- - Dusty Westy, isn't it time to go fly again?

- (chuckles) Sure is, Sugar.

- I, I, I retract the question.

- Well... - Yeah.

- Let's go fly, Dusty.

- Yeah.

Uh-huh.

Let's, let's go watch the last act of our movie.

- Hey, Doc, mind if I bring over my share of the munchies for the party a little early?

That cousin of mine is about to eat me out of house and home.

- There's no doubt about it.

We have to find the civil.

(dramatic music) - Hey, you know, I think I figured out where he got his reputation.

No matter where I hide the food, he finds it.

It's amazing.

- Trouble is we don't know how to find her.

What?

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

Finds who?

Who finds what?

- Oh, you know, that cousin of mine, the so-called fame archeologist.

(chuckles) The one with the fedora and the bullwhip.

- He's your cousin?

Well, maybe he can help us.

- He'll help himself with your chow, son.

- No, I've got this old map.

Maybe he can help us decipher it.

(machine swooshing) Oh, look at that.

You knocked a hole.

You just about knocked everything down.

What is this?

What?

What have you got there?

Wait, wait a minute.

What is this?

Disco duck.

He wants to go for the gold.

He wants to go for the gold, Dusty.

- [Dusty] Dusty's getting ready, son.

- Is he?

(audience laughing) - Go for the gold.

Do-di-do-do.

(laughs) - Yes.

- Boy, that's a tight show tonight, isn't it?

- It is.

Hi, Dusty.

- Hi, Doc.

- What you reading?

- Well, this, this is my history book.

It has all kinds of interesting things in it.

I'll be right back.

(all laughing) Don't go away now.

(audience laughing and applauding) Madblood Manor, next door neighbor and best friend Dusty speaking.

- Hey, hey, listen, listen to me.

Listen to me.

Dust, Dusty, listen to me.

- Hi, Doc.

- Listen to me, Dusty.

Dusty.

- Hang on just a second.

- Dusty, listen to me.

- It's Uncle Felonious.

- Listen, Dusty.

Dusty.

Dusty, Dusty, listen to me.

Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, listen to me.

- Doc.

- It's Uncle Felonious.

- Dust, Dusty, Dusty.

Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty.

- I'll call him back.

- Hey.

- Dusty, listen to me.

- He says he'll call you back.

- Listen to me.

- Bicycle.

- [Felonious] Dusty, I'll give you a bicycle.

- You sound just like that guy on the radio.

- Yeah, you know that drives me crazy, but it's kind of like a country song gets you in your head and you can't help yourself.

- She got a speeding ticket yesterday.

- Oh, yeah?

What was she doing?

Speeding?

Yes?

(audience laughing) You got any more?

Boy, she, she does seem like.

- Wait a minute.

Where did... It didn't say you were supposed to stomp back through.

See, adlibbing her stomp through.

You notice that?

- The group of usual suspects weren't... They were for such a wide circle.

You had people that worked at competing radio stations, Don Davis, Mike Arlo.

You had Bernie Melton, who was the announcer at Channel three.

Joe Penku was the announcer at WAVY.

God knows how many, you know, other people that had worked there that I didn't know.

And it was just so neat to see them be so collegial when their job was to put each other out of business.

So cheers to him for being able to bring all these people together.

- That is correct, Mr.

Commentor.

Testing devices have shown no harmful levels of radiation release from the reactor all the way down to the heat exchanger and into the secondary system.

Now, according to our test equipment here, this... (audience laughing) (fist thudding) Yeah.

Yeah, you can see everything's okay.

- Hey - Oh, that's great.

Any of you guys see the crackpot pilot that lives next door, huh?

- One crackpot at your service, gentleman.

- Hey, we want to get a flight out of this merge.

You got a couple of tickets and let us fly over to Ocean View?

- Yeah.

- Ocean View.

(laughs) What a depressing destination.

- Wait a minute.

That's called home.

- Hey, wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

I'm sure you didn't mean it, didn't you, Dusty?

You didn't mean it, didn't you?

- Of course I did.

Y'all ready to go?

- Back in the mid '70s, my husband, Don Davis, got a job at WNOR FM 99 at the Holiday Inn Scope in Norfolk.

My second day there, the boss asked if I would fill in for a while, so I was given a desk and an office and some jobs.

And I was sitting at my desk my first day there and this good looking young man came walking by my office and he had a stack of papers with him.

And maybe 10 minutes later, he came walking back by and he stopped and he goes, "Hey."

And he came on in and introduced himself as Jerry Harrell.

- Oh, Mr.

Hummer, I'm so sorry.

I didn't know daddy left the hounds out last night.

I'm really sorry.

Oh, the doctor will be with you in a minute.

(Mr.

Hummer grunting) - It's, it's, it's all right, Ms.

Hummer.

I mean, Ms.

Hummer.

- Ms.

Hummer?

- Ms.

Hummer.

Will you marry me?

- Mr.

Hummer.

(laughs) The doctor will be with you in a minute.

- That's okay, Ms.

Velma.

It's been a crummy day anyway.

- Oh, where does it hurt, Mr.

Hummer?

- Oh, everywhere I've got skin.

- Oh.

- Ah.

Oh.

Oh!

(mumbles) Whoa.

(mumbling) (gentle music) - We very shortly after that did our first movie spoof on Dr.

Madblood, which was a takeoff on King Kong, except for us it was Kinga Konga.

And as I remember, I think King Kong captured Princess Ligia, didn't it?

- Yes, and she was terrified.

- I remember that, yes.

- Climbed all the way up to the top.

- That's right.

All the way up to the top of the scope.

Let's look at this.

Here's a clip.

(King Kong chattering) - Put me down.

Put me down, you big hairy ape.

Put me down.

(grunts) Stop.

Put me down.

I want to see the wrestling match.

(suspenseful music) - [Announcer] Oh, here's that schlep Troy Bleery again.

The poor dild is going to try to explain his close encounter to his wife.

- Honey, honey, wake up.

- What?

What?

- Honey, wake up.

- What is it?

- It was, it was, it was whoosh.

And, and it was zoom.

And it was woo-woo.

Lana, ra-da-ta-da-da.

Zoom.

- Well, Troy, you're your usual articulate self this morning.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

It was, it was zoom, zoom, whoosh.

- One of my most memorable tapings was out at Pungo, and as usual, I had on pretty scumpy clothes.

There was a stump sitting there and Jerry looked at me and said, "Hey, let's get you sitting on that stump."

And I walked over and took a look at it and I though, "Whoa."

So I said to Jerry, "Hey, isn't that poison ivy?"

He said, "No, that's not poison ivy."

Well, it turns out that was poison ivy, and I've never had a worst case of it.

- Well, what seems to be the problem?

- Well, yesterday something terrible happened.

- Oh no.

What was it?

- Well, you know Captain Frank, that lovely airline pilot that I've been dating?

- Yeah.

- He crashed his plane, and now I don't have a date for tonight.

- Oh, no.

- That was my reaction too.

- Was he hurt?

- Who?

- Captain Frank, was he hurt when the plane crashed?

- I don't think so.

I don't know.

I don't think they ever found the body.

- Well, that's terrible.

- Yeah.

What am I going to do?

- Well, you just, it's okay.

It's a terrible tragedy.

It's just awful, but you'll be all right.

- Well... - What?

You what?

You can't remember the lines?

Oh, Widow Paine.

What seems to be the matter?

- Well, yesterday something terrible happened.

- Oh no, what?

- Well, you know Captain Frank, that lovely airline pilot I've been dating?

- Oh yeah, the... - Yeah, he crashed his plane yesterday.

- Oh, no.

- Yeah, now I don't have a date tonight.

- Oh, that's terrible.

- Yeah.

That was my reaction too.

- Yeah.

What are you going to do?

I blew all my lines.

See, I do it too.

Oh, Widow Paine.

What seems to be the problem?

I scared you that time, didn't I?

Okay.

Here we go.

- Back in the mid 1970s, my brother moved here to Norfolk from our home in Pennsylvania.

At that time, I was in Salt Lake City, Utah, studying at the University of Utah.

I had met Debra Burrell and we got married.

I was doing puppetry tours here in Virginia, and the lady who was helping me do that, she took me to WAVY Channel 10, and she said, "Bring some of your puppets.

(mumbles) There's a show on there.

You need to talk to them."

And so I talked to Mr.

Jerry Harrell for a few minutes, and I showed him some of the puppets.

In 1980, the Dr.

Madblood show did the "Umpire Strikes Back," which was a spoof on "Star Wars."

And so he knew that I had some space-oriented puppets from doing a space deputy puppet show in Utah.

And so he said, "Come in."

- [Boom] Fluke.

Hey, Fluke.

- Boom, is that you?

- Hey, flukey Fluke.

It ain't the Easter bunny, you mishugging a space cadet.

Listen, I got a message for you.

- Boom, I'm freezing to death out here.

- Hi shop and listen.

You'll go to the bog planet in the redneck system.

There you'll be taught by Yokel, the jetty master.

Got it?

- Boom.

But, but, but, help me.

I'm out here in this snow and I'm freezing.

- What do you want me to do?

I'm calling long distance from Miami.

I'll see you, kid.

Reach out, reach out and touch someone.

- Boom!

Boom.

(sobs) Boom.

(dramatic music) (epic music) (Naba breathing deeply) Take us out of light speed, admiral.

(epic music) (spaceship squeaks) That was too fast, admiral.

(admiral grunting) You are the new admiral.

Prepare to attack the planet cough.

(tense music) - Turn your head and cough.

- How you doing, Ken?

- Oh, fine.

Thanks to you.

- That makes 34 of you owe me now.

- Hello, Fluke.

- Oh, hello, your wonderfulness.

As you can see, I'm still here.

- That's not my fault.

The general said no one can leave until the floorstand shield is up.

- I think it's just because you don't want a wild and crazy guy like me to leave.

- I guess you don't know very much about women, do you?

(lips smacking) (epic music) - Lord Naba, I have good news and bad news, sir.

The bad news is the rebels have escaped the planet cough.

(audience laughing) But so the good news is they're serving tuna casserole in the vessel of tonight.

(crew grunting) (epic music) (Lord Naba breathing deeply) - Put them in the pile with the other dead admirals.

(epic music) (insects chirping) - Wow.

Darn this thing.

I get this funny feeling somebody's watching me.

(insects chirping) (owl hooting) Must be my imagination.

That's ridiculous.

Nobody's watching.

(thuds) (insects chirping) - Do you feel like you're being watched?

- No, do you?

- No, I don't.

- [Puppet] Me neither.

- Debra wound up doing a puppet on that show.

She did the yokel puppet.

- I wonder if I took a wrong turn at Andromeda.

That really put a strain on things.

(laughs) - Ah, stand no more of your jokes, can I?

- Wow, you talked.

It's a miracle.

Wow.

- The miracle is that chew gum and walk at the same time you can.

- And then I was given an on-camera character called Boba Fatt.

- Okay, boss.

We find him.

(laughs) - And so there was something about the voice that I used for Boba Fatt.

He had also liked the things that Debra had done with the Yokel, with the Mike Arlo.

And so he said he wanted me to take over the voice of Brain.

- Yeah, I did puppets for the "Umpire Strikes Back," and that was fun.

We went to what is now First Landing, and then it was Seashore.

We had no permits.

We had no permission.

It was on a weekday.

The park ranger came up to us and said, "Why are you here?

What are you doing?"

And Jerry was saying, "Well, we're here shooting this television show and we have permission from..." And we looked to the side and there was the sign in front of the headquarters saying, "So-and-so head ranger."

And we had permission from him saying that we could shoot here.

So that's what we did.

And at one point- - Wow, it's nice to meet you Mr.

Yokel.

- My puppet, the yokel puppet was stuck between two trunks of a tree that was split and I was right in the middle and I looked down and there was this giant spider about this far from my face coming down and I just kept going.

But at the end of this shoot, for that particular scene, I said, "Look guys, Jim Henson got a submarine and I am laying here in the dirt."

(chuckles) (character panting) (monkey chattering) - I've never seen a planet like this before.

It's a marsh and bog and swamp.

What do they call it?

- Pungo.

Come on.

Let's go.

Giddy up.

- Are you taking me to the jetty master now?

- No.

First we eat.

There is a mac burger just around the corner.

Come on, let's go.

- Okay.

(dramatic music) - Oh my poor brave Hank.

My heroic Hank.

I bet they tickled your feet and tortured you and you never told them a thing, did you?

- Are you kidding?

I told them things I didn't even know.

- Oh no.

Oh, Hank, look at you.

Well, at least your creases are straight.

(dramatic music) - He left WAVY TV 10 and started his own company called Video Wizards, which you hear a lot of people talk about.

It was in, technically, a Military Circle Mall, but you couldn't access.

It was a secret entrance.

And again, I was a kid growing up and it was like, "This is the coolest place ever."

But technically speaking, it was the culmination of all the Madblood people, and it was like slicing out their creativity and just putting it on earth.

'Cause you had like Don Davis made a sound booth and Carter would help make the edit suite, and we had people involved that have long since passed on, but still they left their mark with the show.

They left their mark with a series, with wizards.

At that time in the early '80s, they had the brilliant idea of cable was coming along and it was like, "Wait, we can make a show and distribute it."

And that's what they tried to do.

They distributed Madblood up and down the eastern seaboard, and for a few years, and it worked.

It worked really well.

- I met Jerry through my wife, Deb, who used to be a promotion assistant for him at WAVY.

I remember her coming home one time right when she had started, and she goes, "I had the nicest man that I'm working for, but he has this really bushy mustache, and I can't see any of his lips, the top or the bottom."

So I said, "I got to meet this guy."

He reached out to me and he said, "We're going to do this big special on WAVY for Halloween called "Doctor Madblood's Halloween Howl."

Unlike all the earlier Madbloods that I had seen where there were typically wraps, they would do vignette, skits, what have you, and they would basically bookend breaks at the beginning of the end of the movie.

This one, he said, "We're actually going to put our characters in the movie, which today is like no problem."

In 1984... (matron laughing) (tense music) - He's got to come back here before Copcrow.

(ominous music) (footsteps rustling) (gentle music) (man whispering) (wood thudding) (bird chirping) (wolf howling) (Dr.

Madblood laughing) - Luther McCoy is that you?

- Yeah.

- What you doing?

- Oh, hang on here a minute.

Oh, look at this thing.

Look at this thing.

- What is- - It's my bat on the rope.

- What?

- Right.

Here it is.

- Then with "Halloween Howl," we did start shooting out of order.

And for "Halloween Howl," as people were talking about dropping the jokes into the script, Craig and I sat there and wrote down line by line on three by five cards.

And then we took them to the studio and stuck them on the wall.

And then we had other cards that we stuck in where we were going to do the jokes.

It was very complicated and very analog.

You can't get more analog than that.

- Dusty, look, if we don't find the symbol of the Swamp, we're not going to be able to restore Lacudra in time for the party.

Come on, do it for Lacudra.

Do it anyway.

- Sybil is my favorite because Sybil was basically a no nonsense witch.

And she was doing good for other women by teaching them to be no nonsense witches and sorts.

And that was just really fun.

And Jerry was her neighbor, Dr.

Madblood was her neighbor, so they were always either solving the other one's problems or getting out of a mess together.

- Abracadabra!

Alakazam!

Klaatu barada nikto!

(wand whooshing) - But I didn't even realize the movie was called "The Brides of Dracula."

And I didn't realize until, 'cause you couldn't get a screener to look at this, I didn't realize that Dracula wasn't even in the movie.

So my first assumption was wrong.

- And so then I started doing, Jerry started asking me to do random occasional character bits.

And the first one that I remember was a long time ago when I was ingenu-ish and um, I was supposed to be an ingenue and I was new enough to doing these that I didn't know that it was unusual that this speech was really, really long.

I just knew that she was talked and talked and talked and talked and it was supposed to be French.

And so I did this colossally awful French accent.

- I am going to marry Baron Meister.

It is so wonderful.

I met him the other day and he is so nice with his blonde hair and his nice manners.

His mother had him shaved to a wall and I let him loose.

What a wild night.

His mother was so angry, she called me a little fool.

He said, "Mother, come here."

And so next time I saw her, she was stone cold dead.

His nanny is as crazy as a loon talking about him playing with bats and wolves.

(puppet thuds) I am so sorry.

I didn't mean to interrupt.

Please go back to what you were doing.

Excuse me.

I'll, I'll go make some more toast.

- But after the "Halloween Howl," TVZ was the next one.

I started out helping and then became a production operator over there and got to do the last couple of years of the first phase.

And then in 95 when the show came back, we were directing and editing and just going crazy because we had new equipment and we could play with it and see what we couldn't do before, what we could do now.

- Yo, Robbie, you got any film cleaner?

- 60 gallons be sufficient.

- Yeah, see there's a hair in the gate.

- Gallons.

- Gallons.

It'd be perfect.

- Miss driving in this galaxy.

Shut up, Earl!

- I just want you to- - Earl, shut up!

Shut up, Earl!

- What have we stepped into this time?

I do hope.

(audience laughing) I do.

I do hope.

I hope.

- Dr.

Madblood, some kind of spaceship just crashed, landed on the front lawn, but you know, I can take care of it if you're busy.

(all laughing) - In the early '90s, I had graduated high school and said, "I don't want to get a college degree in television.

I got a family business in television."

So I moved down here, started helping out with the "Madblood Show" at WTVZ.

And of course, like everyone else, if you have a pulse, they will pull you in.

Stand here.

Say this.

Okay.

- (yawns) Dogs woke me up.

What's going on?

- Hi, Patience.

- Oh gosh, I should have known.

(all laughing) (mysterious music) (electric zapping) - Everything's quiet here, sir.

No sign of life anywhere.

- Can we just skip Saturdays for a while please?

- [Dr.

Madblood] Oh, it looks familiar, but I can't place it.

(spaceship booming) - Hey, there's a guy wearing a helmet getting out.

- He's, he's flying this way.

Uh-oh.

- Hey, Doc, duck.

(glass shattering) (tense music) - Bates is coming home for the holidays in Psycho two.

- Re, re, re, re.

(all laughing) - I think you better give them to me, Doctor Madblood.

- Oh no.

Who are... (all laughing) - But guess who has all your friends by?

(laughs) - Watch out for those sharp fingernails.

- My hat fell off.

I'm gonna get it.

(all laughing) - He's getting a little right by now, but boy, that boy can hold a camera steady.

(laughs) - He can do what?

- He can hold a camera steady.

- (laughs) Are you sure?

- He can hold a camera real steady.

- Ganny good.

- Yeah.

- Oh, there he goes again.

- Who are we going to get to do the show?

Besides, what if someone wants to see him?

Oh, I just screwed all those up.

- Me too.

(Dr.

Madblood laughs) - Three cups of... (Dusty chuckles) Three pots of coffee and he's... (Dusty chuckles) (Dr.

Madblood laughs) But you still can't get the wine out.

- Let's get some more coffee.

We need one more pot of coffee, please.

- When I get done interfacing with you, you're going to calculate about two octaves higher.

(Dusty gasps and grunts) (Dusty laughing) (all laughing) It's hot.

It's hot.

(all laughing) - The lost is one of all, huh?

(chuckles) - Yay.

- Yes.

(laughs) - As a matter of fact, I met Craig Adams and Ms.

Burrell two years, maybe three years before I got on the show.

I was living in Maryland and Craig came up to do some work with me at my theater company.

And when I came to Norfolk to begin teaching here at the academy, he already told me about "Madblood" and the fun that they were having and I would watch it on Saturday nights.

I'm like, "Can I come play?"

- Ooh, ooh, Captain, this guard, sir.

- Ensign Cruncher, yes?

- May I have permission to leave the bricks through?

- That's why I told you to go back at Starbase.

- I'm Gil Grissom, the lead investigator with the Pungo Crime Lab.

- When they wanted to capture the sound of the thunder to capture the lightning.

- Came back for about, it was about a year solid and then started going monthly.

And that lasted six, seven years before the they left, got invited over to Sky Four by one of the, I think one of the managers over there.

And that was a lot of fun.

First season was a little rough.

I was directing and running audio.

About midway through, I managed to get Rachel Crockett on board to run audio for me.

She did about three or four weeks and then said, "No, I want to direct."

- It was a lot of fun.

It was intimidating, to be honest, because I had... The show premiered the year I was born.

(chuckles) So ran audio and at some point, Carter was just running around like a crazy person and seemed very busy.

And so I started TDing, which was a lot of fun.

And again, was intimidated because, I mean, these are, I was in my 20s and these are people who've been in the business forever.

- Get ready.

Here we go.

I'm going to set up over here.

Okay.

Throw the first switch.

- Throw the first switch.

(machine wobbling) (bat chirping) - Count Lacudra, what a surprise.

- A surprise?

A surprise.

(laughs) Who else is flapping their wings outside your window in the middle of it?

You know what?

I don't think I want to know.

- Stop it, you scallywags!

Holster those swords!

Admiral Tippy-Toe is on his way over here with an entire brigade to rid you both.

- Oh, Doc, call this search off.

You know he's going to come home when he gets hungry.

- Or sleepy.

- Yeah, I don't know.

I'm kind of worried.

I think that lightning bolt might have messed him up somehow.

Tell you what, why don't you go get Lucille fired up and we'll do a real search.

- Why don't you rob a bank so that we can afford to fill up the plate?

Do you know what gas costs these days?

- But the longest running character and probably my favorite was the mayor of Pungo, Dr.

Dee Kline.

It's so much fun to play a bad guy.

- There you are, you lunatic!

- Dr.

Dee Kline.

- Again, that's our show.

- Dr.

Madblood.

Here you are.

What are you doing up here?

- That's a long story.

What can I do for you, Mayor Klein?

- Well, to tell you the truth and it pains me to have to admit to it, but you're our only hope.

- Well, we're back once again, gang.

Cast and crew are celebrating the completion of our fifth season here on Channel four.

(upbeat music) Oh, oh, oh, oh, Fred, Fred, look.

There he is.

He's right over there.

Look.

See?

- Brian, the boy's put on a bit of weight since I last saw him.

(upbeat music) ♪ I just don't know ♪ - The brave young agent renegotiated a new backend deal that gave the beautiful princess a bigger percentage of the ticket grosses and aftermarket DVD sale.

- We're doing a nice evening at the theater.

- All of the big stars, they got a person of the trainers.

- I'm going to be a hiss.

- But Brain, sorted wiring, all the comfort at home.

- What are you doing here?

- How should I know?

I was asleep in my room.

Now I am here.

There is here.

- [Doctor Madblood] You're on my operating table on your way to the dumpster.

- Do a lot of people go from your table to your dumpster?

(upbeat music) (electric buzzing) - Ernie's okay again, for now.

- What?

- (laughs) Doc, oh my god, figure it out.

Ernie, he's the dumb need last of rights because of his elastabites.

(laughs) Get it?

Men are cracking me up sometimes.

That was so funny.

(all laughing) - Got it, kids.

Try this again next week, ey.

(all laughing) - Oh, that's a good one.

(all laughing) Loves the wags.

(all laughing) Not so much.

Oh my god.

(all laughing) Okay.

- Get out of here!

(all laughing) Thanks, Dusty.

And thank you too, Brain.

- Yeah, right.

- I think they looked alike 'cause it was the same guy playing both parts.

(audience laughing) He asked.

(audience laughing) - [Narrator] Then in 2008, the show moved to WHRO.

- [Dr.

Madblood] Well, you guys better get going.

Patience Train's going to be arriving about any time now.

- Doc, I don't need Gus's goofy hair with me.

I can pick her up by myself.

- Yeah, Dusty, that's what I'm worried about.

Greenfield gets to chaperone.

- Hey, Madblood.

How about those beauties from over at Hagwart's?

Are they coming?

- Did he just say Hagwarts?

(fingers snaps) (Brain whooshes) - Brain, what did you say?

Okay, if God didn't want me to procrastinate, why'd he invent tomorrow, huh?

Come on, tell me.

Give me the answer to that one.

- Madblood calls with a party, one answers.

- Oh, yeah.

- Dr.

Madblood.

- Hi, Ernie.

What you doing?

- Oh, I'm looking for you, Dr.

Madblood.

(audience laughing) - (sniffs) Oh my god, I smell Greenfield.

(sniffs) Oh my god.

- Hey, Doc, happy Halloween.

- Oh, hey, Dusty.

How are things?

- Well, normally I'd say finer in a frog hair or great like Tony Tiger, but no, that's pretty bad actually.

- What year is this?

- Tiffany?

Hi.

- It might be the murder weapon.

Hello.

- And we even had a band on one of the Halloween parties and my husband's a drummer in a band, so, you know, Jerry was kind enough to let Phoebus Rio come and play during the music break.

So it was always great fun.

♪ And the music's all right ♪ ♪ Mama's got a squeeze box ♪ ♪ Daddy never sleeps at night ♪ (upbeat music) - [Announcer] And we have lots of surprises tonight on "Dr.

Madblood's 35."

You know, that's a little misleading, naming the show "Dr.

Madblood's 35."

- Wait, what?

- [Announcer] It makes it sound like you are 35.

- Dr.

Madblood is 35.

- Right.

Up one side.

Come on, Doc.

You're so old you clean your teeth in the dishwasher.

- Wait a minute.

- What's up, Doc?

(laughs) What's up, Doc?

That's rich.

(laughs) - Everything will go perfectly.

Nothing else is going to go wrong now.

- Max, you got to help me.

I may have done, okay.

I behead to Greenfield.

- That there was a brain in this movie.

Remember the car sponge?

(mysterious music) - [Actor] What is that?

A car sponge?.

(brains mumbling) - Let's see.

I think it's... (electric zaps) Sorry, buddy.

That wasn't... Maybe it's this one.

(electric zaps) Oh, that's not right.

- Oh, how are you, my friend?

- It's so good to see you.

- It's good to be seen, my friend.

- You look terrific.

- Well, of course I do.

I'm wearing my good hat.

- My society for eccentric people specially interested in the special is not going to be interested if it isn't special.

Hmm.

- Wait a minute.

What are you doing?

- Nothing.

- Lacudra.

- Oh, okay.

I watched to show Lucy that I learned how to sparkle like the kids do.

- Sparkle?

- Yeah.

Watch this.

(magical music) (chuckles) What do you think?

- Ah, yeah, that's fine, pal.

I'm impressed, but I got to tell you, the vampires that sparkle do it in the sunlight.

- In the sunlight?

- Yeah.

- That sparkle in the... How stupid is that?

- Some of the fan favorites from all over were the ones that weren't just everybody cracking up and having fun.

Revenge of the Madblood turd.

- [Voiceover] Over in the operating room, maybe so.

Maybe in the operating room.

(Dr.

Madblood laughing) (eerie music) - Say goodbye, Madblood.

- No.

- Say goodbye.

(laughs) - No.

No.

No!

No!

(Madblood laughing) - [Alien] You have been summoned to answer charges against your race.

Please answer as honestly as you can.

First, you are charged with making war on your fellow man.

How do you plead?

- Me?

I've never been in a fight in my life.

- Earthling, you are answering for your species.

Do not take this matter lightly.

- Look, if I give you the answers that you want, you're going to wipe me out, right?

I mean, if I give you the answers that you're expecting to hear, you're going to wipe us all out, right?

I mean, that's, that's the idea.

- You will have the opportunity to offer a rationale at the conclusion of the charges.

You are charged with making war on your fellow man.

How do you plead?

- Guilty.

- [Alien] You are charged with destroying your environment and plundering it for your own gain.

(upbeat music) (audience laughing) - You know, Madblood was a character that wasn't Jerry Harrell.

You know, Jerry Harrell was this quiet, very peaceful, you know, kind of one of those guys that would let a lot of jokes fly in the room.

He liked to watch people a lot.

When he put on the silly wig and the glasses and the lab coat, he became Madblood.

And it really was.

It was a different type of person.

So as I was growing up, I'm like, "That's not my dad.

You know, that's somebody else.

That's Madblood."

Okay.

But you know, I watched all of what he did throughout his life with, from the kids club era, Madblood, documentaries, television, commercials, shows, live broadcasts, all of it.

The sum of his life.

But of all of that and the awards, all the awards he won, Madblood was his favorite.

That was the thing that he was most proud of.

- I found myself thinking, "How long can this go on?

How long can we do this?"

We've done three years of shows now.

You know, how many more shows have we possibly got?

When we completed seven seasons of shows on WAVY and we wrapped it up, at that point in time, I thought, "That's it."

We did seven shows.

We can put seven seasons.

We can be proud of that.

We can feel good about having done seven years of programs.

That's a pretty good run for a television show.

And then PBS approached us and said, "How about if we syndicated to all the PBS stations around the state?"

And I thought, "Well, we haven't done that before.

That'd be fun.

Let's try that."

So we did that.

Then WAVY came back to us and said, "How'd you like to do a Halloween special and have it show up in prime time?"

And I thought, "We haven't done that.

Let's try that.

That'd be interesting to do."

When we put the show back on weekly television in 1989, we did it.

I did it primarily because I wanted to get all those people back together again.

When we did the 25th anniversary show back in 2000, I thought at that time, okay, we've done it now.

I don't have nothing left to prove.

We did 25 years.

That's a long time.

- It's in the field and I'll keep talking.

I just wish I could get a suntan.

That's the only thing.

- [Announcer] Aha.

Troy Bleery just got his wish.

(ceremonious music) - Oh, what a bunch of fanatic cats.

I've been talking to that cat Stevens.

Boy, is he a few sandwiches short for picnic.

- Stevens, don't say Stevens, darling.

- We'll that's good.

Okay.

- You'll get sued for sure.

It's Cat Steven.

(laughs) Okay.

Yeah, sounds like.

- Is that kind of like a takeoff?

- Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

That's it, that's it.

We're doing parody.

Parody people.

Non-suable parody.

Okay.

(all laughing) You can come in now.

It's all right.

- Have you seen Count Lacudra?

- Yeah, he's standing right over there watching us do this bit.

(laughs) You've got a spacecraft?

- Of course.

It's right over here.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

(footsteps rustling) (both humming) - Hey gang, it's Dr.

Madblood.

Join us later today.

In fact, at one o'clock this afternoon (mumbles).

(all mumbling) - [Announcer] Are you one of those fellows who just never seems to get the girls?

Do you find yourself at home a lot on Friday and Saturday nights?

Well, you too can now be the life of the party.

Just eat one of our new hormone boosting chemical altering cookies from Scrub Laboratories and you too can say... (upbeat music) - Hey, thanks, Mr.

Goodlookie.

- [Announcer] Get the looks you need to get the girls.

Get a Mr.

Goodlookie cookie from Scrub Laboratories.

Caution.

Produces harmful side effects in normal human beings.

(bright music) - (laughs) It sounds like somebody who just ate the fungus.

(laughs) - Hi, Doc.

- Hi, Dusty.

- How you doing?

- I'm fine.

How the hell are you?

(both laughing) The Mafista Waltz, you heard a little bit about it already, and it's a pretty good movie.

(metal rustling) Built to last.

This place is built to last a hundred years.

Yes, sir.

Doug did a good job.

- From here on out, Jer, Mike, Joe, Don, you will be missed and loved.

- So the fact that even though we lost Mikey, and even though we lost my dad, Madblood lives on.

The spirit of the show, the people who are still here, the people who are still involved, they will keep going.

I think Madblood will keep going.

In some form or another, people will keep it alive.

Who knows how long?

(gentle music) ♪ When are you gonna come down ♪ ♪ When are you going to land ♪ ♪ I should have stayed on the farm ♪ ♪ I should have listened to my old man ♪ ♪ You know you can't hold me forever ♪ ♪ I didn't sign up with you ♪ ♪ I'm not a present for your friends to open ♪ ♪ This boy's too young to be singin' the blues ♪ ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah-ah-ah, ah ♪ ♪ So goodbye yellow brick road ♪ ♪ Where the dogs of society howl ♪ ♪ You can't plant me in your penthouse ♪ ♪ I'm goin' back to my plough ♪ ♪ Back to the howlin' old owl in the woods ♪ ♪ Huntin' the horny-back toad ♪ ♪ Oh, I've finally decided my future lies ♪ ♪ Beyond the yellow brick road ♪ ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah-ah-ah, ah ♪ ♪ What do you think you'll do, then ♪ ♪ I bet they shoot down the plane ♪ ♪ It'll take you a couple of vodka and tonics ♪ ♪ To set you on your feet again ♪ ♪ Maybe you'll get a replacement ♪ ♪ There's plenty like me to be found ♪ ♪ Mongrels who ain't got a penny ♪ ♪ Sniffin' for tidbits like you on the ground ♪ ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah-ah-ah, ah ♪ ♪ So goodbye yellow brick road ♪ ♪ Where the dogs of society howl ♪ ♪ You can't plant me in your penthouse ♪ ♪ I'm goin' back to my plough ♪ ♪ Back to the howlin' old owl in the woods ♪ ♪ Huntin' the horny-back toad ♪ ♪ Oh, I've finally decided my future lies ♪ ♪ Beyond the yellow brick road ♪ ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah, ah ♪ ♪ Ah-ah-ah, ah ♪ (gentle music slowly fading)