The Original "Turn Blue!"

An earlier post today ended with an image of a goateed man's face and the slogan "Turn Blue!"  Attentive readers of a certain age, raised in a certain geographical area, will recognize that grinning visage as that of Ghoulardi, a.k.a. Ernie Anderson. 

In the early 1960's Ernie Anderson was the unknown station announcer for WJW-TV, Channel 8 in Cleveland, Ohio.  But then, improbably, he became the hottest thing on the local broadcast airwaves in those pre-cable days.  Given the job of hosting the Friday late-night horror movie "Shock Theater," he created the character of "Ghoulardi" -- a wise-cracking hep cat in a fright wig, lab coat, and sunglasses with one lens missing.

From 1963 through 1966, Ghoulardi's irreverent on-air anarchy was a phenomenon in northeastern Ohio.  The WJW station managers lived in fear of what he might say or do next, who he might piss off, but his sky-high ratings gave him cover.  Kids thought he was cool -- we loved him and imitated him.  Parents worried he was corrupting their impressionable youth.  His popularity soon earned him a second time slot on Saturday afternoons.  He had exhibition softball and basketball teams.  He was a merchandising goldmine.  For four years, Ghoulardi was everything and everywhere. 

Disdainful of TV norms, his show was only marginally about the movie.  It was more about Ghoulardi's schtick.  He made fun of the movies he hosted:  "If you wanna watch a movie, don't watch this one."  He inserted himself into the movies he showed.  He blew up dolls and plastic cars with firecrackers.  He played nonsense songs like "Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" and "The Bird's the Word" by the Rivingtons.

He adopted his own odd, beatnik-ish lingo:  He told us to "Turn blue."   You could be a "knif"  (fink backwards), or even a "purple knif."  (Was that better or worse?  We didn't care.)  Other Ghoulardi-isms:  "Stay sick!"  "Hey, Group!"  "Cool it with the boom-booms."  "You won't believe!"  "Ovah-dey!"  

Dorothy Baby!

He made relentless fun of local TV personalities like the sacharrine kiddie show hosts Barnaby and Captain Penny, talk show host Mike Douglas, and the elderly, ultra-serious news commentator Dorothy Fuldheim ("Dorothy Baby!").  He ridiculed the middle-class suburb of Parma.  According to his Parma Place skits, the town was nothing but plastic yard flamingoes, polka music and white socks.   (Consequently, I grew up referring to white socks as "Parma socks.")

It was unscripted, live TV and anything could happen.  Ghoulardi once rode a motorcycle onto the set, and another time set some curtains on fire with his on-air firecracker explosions.  He may or may not have done his show while drunk.  He was assisted in his mayhem by sidekicks "Big Chuck" Sodowski, Bob "Hoolihan the Weatherman" Wells, and in the early days, Tim Conway.

After the 1966 season, he followed Conway's lead by abruptly quitting WJW and moving to Los Angeles.  Once again just plain old Ernie Anderson, he became the main network voice-over announcer for ABC-TV in the 1970's-1980's.  Anderson's son is the film director Paul Thomas Anderson.

Ernie Anderson died in 1997.  But Ghoulardi lives on in memory, and on YouTube.