Big Chuck and Lil' John
| The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show | |
|---|---|
Charles "Big Chuck" Schodowski (right)
and "Lil' John" Rinaldi (left) |
|
| Genre |
Late night horror hosts/ Sketch comedy |
| Starring |
Charles "Big Chuck" Schodowski "Lil' John" Rinaldi |
| Opening theme | "Here We Go Again" by Ray Charles "Catch As Catch Can" by Burt Bacharach |
| Ending theme | "Is That All There Is?" by Peggy Lee |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 28 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Running time | 2 hr. 30 min. |
| Release | |
| Original network | WJW (channel 8) |
| Original release | September 1979 – June 17, 2007 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by |
Shock Theater (1963–66) The Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show (1966–79) |
| Followed by |
Big Chuck and Lil' John (2011–present) |
| External links | |
| bigchuckandliljohn.com | www |
Charles "Big Chuck" Schodowski (born June 28, 1934) and "Lil' John" Rinaldi (born January 20, 1946) – together commonly known as Big Chuck and Lil' John – are a duo of entertainers who served as late-night horror hosts of The Big Chuck and Lil' John Show on television station WJW in Cleveland, Ohio from 1979 to 2007. In addition to hosting a movie with a live audience, they also performed original sketch comedy 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.
Chuck Schodowski (b. June 28, 1934) started as a producer/engineer at WJW-TV (and before that at KYW-TV), and became a close friend of Ernie Anderson. When Anderson's previous sidekick, eventual Hollywood actor Tim Conway, was fired for a fabrication on his résumé, Schodowski was hired as Conway's replacement. Schodowski worked closely with Anderson (as Ghoulardi) on Shock Theater, and 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.
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.
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Wikipedia