I was 10 when there was an open house in 1963 at the channel 8 studios, they had a meet and greet. Gene King was there as Jungle Jay. And every one that walked through was on TV. Pretty cool back then.
No known copies of Jungle Jay or Chiller Theater remain. If you have memories, pictures or film of either of these shows, please email me! It would be terrific to hear from you to help tell the story of Jungle Jay, Dr. Ygor and Gene King!
Jungle/Chiller were on for a couple of years. I remember having Dr. Igor sign my cast when I broke my leg in 1964. He may have been let go from the station, as they had money problems at one time and let lots of people go. Gene drove an old Cadillac hearse around town and I'm assuming he owned it, as it was always parked at his house on 27th Street in Moline. Where he went after channel 8 is unknown, but I do know Gene is dead and I believe he died in the early 1990's. As I remember, Jungle Jay was on from 4:00 to 5:00 M-F and Chiller Theater hit the airwaves at 10:30pm.
Think that's about all I can come up with. Jungle Jay was unique for its time in using the jungle pictures. It was actually a pretty good show. Same with Chiller Theater. Both were fairly popular, as they were something new, especially Chiller.
WOC Alumni, historian and author of "Someplace Special...KSTT - Dave Coopman
I was 10 when there was an open house in 1963 at the channel 8 studios, they had a meet and greet. Gene King was there as Jungle Jay. And every one that walked through was on TV. Pretty cool back then.
I remember a song Ygor sang to the tune of Walk Right In. It went - "walk right in sit right down Dr. Ygor going to cut you up!" And every one sent Jungle Jay garters for his socks.
I had a quiet day in my office so I was fooling around trying to remember how he looked, I think the Jay is close ... John Hullinger
My memory of the show, was that the lead actor was every week, trying to do "experiments". This actor, I believe also portrayed a character named "Jungle Jay" in an after school children's show, which featured Raymar of the Jungle. This actor I believe left the Quad City area, but I don't know where he went next. Could you identify this actor who portrayed Jungle Jay and the lead in Chiller Theater and where he eventually ended up. Thank you for you time, and the web site.
Chip Goodsman
12/12/2007 ...
Jungle Jay hosted the station's film adventure series, with the help of his wacky sidekicks Heathcliff the monkey and Zelda the zebra.
Horror fans were terrorized by Chiller Theater, hosted by light-hearted demons ``Dr. Igor,'' ``Vampira'' and ``Plasma.'' The Saturday night show offered old horror movies and newer science fiction.
Source: Kurt Allemeier, Moline Dispatch
Hey, I remember that Igor person myself. Seem to recall he had a very scary beginning with a shot from his view of various signs as he walked down the street. Signs like "Go Back" etc. He also was Jungle Jay. I even seem to remember them meeting one time. He had a female named Vampira if I am not mistaken. Would love to see some old footage of them!
Am I correct in my foggy memory that Dr. Igor (and his alter-ego Jungle Jay) had the first creature feature on Saturday nights and then a "Jungle Show" (i.e., Tarzan, Jungle Jim, etc.) on Sunday mornings on WQAD-TV 8. My mother took me to a Dr. Igor "show" at some theatre in the Quad Cities when I was probably 8 or 9."
Does anyone else have memories of this show?
One of the other great shows on WQAD was Acri Creature Feature do you remember that? How about Jungle Jay? Jungle Jay showed Tarzan movies during the day and same guy would do Chiller Theater Friday or Sat nights. Those were some fun memories!
12/12/2007 ...
Max wrote on the House of Jitters message board;
12/12/2007 ...
Jay Bowman wrote on the House of Jitters message board;
05/08/2007 ... Michael Conner wrote;
I have long wanted more information to bolster my memories. Here's what I can add: There is a picture of Dr. Igor out there somewhere. I lost my copy of it, but Gene King made a personal appearance during the Christmas season one year at Thriftown (located on the site of the present Jewel-Osco in Moline). He signed autograghs on a small (2"x1" maybe) white fold-out card. The front cover was his photograph (in character); inside he signed his name. Also available were white Dr. Igor sweatshirts with his image sketched on the front. The line of kids to see ol' Doc Igor (I can still do an impression of his vocal mannerisms) was greater than that for Santa Claus, also appearing on that occasion. Can anybody pin down the run of his (2) shows? The attached photograph of my friend Dave Thompson wearing the sweatshirt bears a processing date of Apr 1967. This may have been taken after the show was gone, but might also be contemporaneous. I also remember a spin-off show that ran briefly on Sunday nights at 10:30 that featured another character host and offered up old science fiction movies. I think the host may have been an alien scientist type with a big head. The Jungle Jay show had a sidekick character named Bigfoot Barney and, yes, I also remember the "plotline" where a feud was established between Igor and Jungle Jay --with King playing the Igor character stalking the Jay set. Naturally the two characters could not appear on screen at the same time, so I believe Bigfoot had to represent the Jungle Jay faction during the crossover.
Martin Anderson
IF YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF GENE EDWARDS AS DR. YGOR ON CHILLER THEATRE OR JUNGLE JAY, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME!
If you have any memorabilia, pictures or stories of Jungle Jay, Chiller Theater on WQAD or any of the Quad City kids show hosts or any memories, film or pictures from the 1950's, 60's and 70's of Quad Cities live TV, please email me!
