The archnemesis of Rolling Stone Boss.
Speaking of Swamp Thing showing up in places you wouldn’t expect, I was speaking to longtime ProgRuin reader Wayne (buy his books!) and he let me know that for seemingly inexplicable reasons, the retro-TV channel MeTV has a Swamp Thing shirt available for sale in their online store. I already own that particular design, natch, but it struck me as odd as well, since as Wayne and I thought, Swamp Thing‘s various video incarnations (old non-sweary TV show, cartoon, movies) don’t seem to be candidates for their usual programming. I wondered maybe it had something to do with the Svengoolie program, which specializes in presenting horror movies of, shall we say, varying quality, though I imagine I would have heard from about a million people if Swamp Thing made it on there.
But after some extensive Googling, it would appear…maybe we were wrong about Swamp Thing not sharing a channel with Columbo, Gilligan and the Skipper, and Barney Fife. (Though wotta crossover that would be, right?) Doing some searching, it seems that the older Swamp Thing live-action show was part of MeTV’s “Red Eye Sci-Fi” lineup. There are even a couple of articles I found on MetTV’s site from 2017 discussing the series, such as their “8 Muckracking Facts” or their motivational posters. Look, apart from anything else, at least those articles gave me the term “Moss Boss” for ol’ Swampy, and for that alone we all owe ’em.
No idea if Swamp Thing is still on MeTV, or even rerunning anywhere. Half surprised it hasn’t turned up on the DC Universe streaming service yet.
I don’t know how much of the show any of you have sampled. It’s…well, there are lots of episodes, so if you’re into it, lucky you. I own the DVDs, and have owned them for years, but still haven’t watched them all the way through. It’s…rough going at times, and not because “oh my they changed this and that and the other thing from the comics,” but because it’s just a hard show to watch. Everybody does their best, but it’s just kinda muddled and occasionally off-putting. Now granted it’s been a while, so maybe I’m just being harsher on it based solely on my fading memories more than the actual experience, but it’s just one of those things I never find time to revisit.
Anyway, if you’ve been in need of a Swamp Thing shirt for a special occasion, here you go. It’s a nice design, recommended for all formal events and gatherings, once we start having those aqgain.
Thanks for the name drop, Mike! After our phone chat, I got to thinking about the letters, STerling, SVengoolie, SWamp Thing. I guess we can throw in SUperman, since Alan Moore wrote a team-up but can we do the entire alphabet and turn it into a Sterling Silver Comics story that will end up being made as a film?
I didn’t even know about Red-Eye SciFi, mostly because MeTV (and MeTVToo) is something I’m barely aware of at times, as it is at the far end of the local channels dial. For a long time, they ran Black & White Noir like The Fugitive and Mr. Lucky (who?) on Sunday nights.
Still, the t-shirt looks so…new, compared to the Etsy-like versions of Barney and Andy (not that Etsy is bad). As I mentioned, Svengoolie films in the old Harpo studios, where Oprah did her thing. There’s more to this story, I just know it.
Got the books, by the way. I flipped all 30 upside down just to look at the various ads and wondered again why I saw TANGO & CASH in the theaters more than once.
Everyone reading the blog here should take advantage of Mike’s deal!
COMING THIS FALL ON MeTV:
CDC researcher Abby Arcane (played by Ginger Grant) is on an isolated island in the Pacific to investigate a deadly virus.
She develops a surprising bond with the Professor Roy “Smart Alec” Hinkley — and soon discovers that the local swamps hold numerous secrets after Holland seemingly dies and transforms into the show’s titular creature “The Swamp Gilligan”. But powerful forces, including Mary Anton Arcane, Thurson Sunderland III, and Captain Jonas “The Kipper” Constantine, are on the island intent on exploiting the mysterious properties for their own purposes.
“Off-putting” how? I have never seen this show, but have always been curious about it. Thanks!
from twitter: “folks did not care for Dreadstar’s new outfit at the time”
Nope, it was too Superhero looking. Dreadstar still ruled, though.