Do you remember Saturday nights in Pittsburgh? Do
you remember "Chilly Billy" Bill Cardille and Channel
11's Saturday Late Show Chiller Theater?
Chiller Theater was Pittsburgh's favorite place to see
Horror, Fantasy, and Science-Fiction movies on
television.
Chiller Theater Memories .com
A tribute to Bill Cardille and Chiller Theater
It's Saturay Night. It's time for family and friends,
pizza parties, and good times.
It's Time Once Again For Chiller Theater!
On September 14th 1963 the first episode of "Chiller
Theatre" premiered on WIIC, Channel 11 in Pittsburgh.
Bill Cardille was the off-screen booth announcer for the
show. The first movie shown was "The Brain From Planet
Arous" and it had a Saturday afternoon start time of 3:00
p.m.
The above advertisement from the Pittsburgh
Press  was found on microfilm at a local Pittsburgh
library. As you can see a Chiller Theater movie was
shown on Sunday night as well.
On September 19th 1964 Bill Cardille became the
on-screen host of Chiller Theatre and the show
moved to Saturday night following the 11:00 p.m.
newscast. Bill's  first show as on-screen host  
featured "It! The Terror From Beyond Space"
followed by "The Screaming Skull".
Unlike the majority of TV Horror Movie Hosts, Bill Cardille
didn't wear any "scary" make-up, he appeared as himself,
and would come to be known as "Chilly Billy". Throughout
the show, he portrayed a variety of characters such as
"Captain Bad" and "Maurice The Matchmaker". At the end of
the show "Chilly Billy" would be back with his signature
signoff, "Good Night and Sleep Warm".
The opening segment of the first shows featured Chilly Billy
striking a match and lighting a cigarette. The Laboratory and
Castle sets were added later. In 1976, we were introduced to
the Chiller Theater Family. The cast included Norman Elder
as Norman The Castle Keeper, Donna Rae as Terminal Stare,
Steve Luncinski as Stefan The Castle Prankster, Joyce
Sterling as Sister Susie, and Bonnie Barney as Georgette The
Fudgemaker.
Chiller Theater was so popular in Pittsburgh and the
tri-state area that it kept NBC's Saturday Night Live from
airing on Channel 11 (NBC's Pittsburgh affiliate) for four
years. Although Chiller Theater remained popular, it
eventually lost it's time slot and was forced to follow SNL
with a 1:00 a.m. start time.
After more than twenty years on the air, Bill Cardille's Chiller
Theater aired it's last episode on New Years Eve 1983. The
last two movies that were shown were "The Wolf Man" and
"It Came From Outer Space".
Bill Cardille can currently be heard on the radio at 1320
AM,  WJAS in Pittsburgh. His show airs from 10:00 a.m. to
3:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday. All his fans have great
memories of watching Chiller Theater. Thank you Chilly Billy!
Throughout the years Chilly Billy and the Chiller Theater
Family have continued to make public appearances, especially
around Halloween time. The 1990's saw two Chiller Theater
TV specials. The first appeared in 1991 and was called the
"Chiller Theater Reunion Special". It featured Chilly Billy and
the Chiller Theater Family in various comedy routines as well
as some clips from the original show. The second special was
called "Chiller Theater, One More Time". This special aired in
1998 with Bill Cardille and special guest George Romero
hosting "Night Of The Living Dead".
1)    Dreams
2)    Double Bill
3)   The Pittsburgh Subway System (PSS)
4)    Chilly Billy Sillies
5)    Chilly Billy Quickies
6)   Good Old Days
7)    Mr. Magnificent
8)    Strange But True
9)    The Prophet
10)  Signs, Omens, & Superstitions (SOS)
11)  The All-Purpose Word
12) Trivia
13)  Sheer Torture (Puns)
14)  Maurice The Matchmaker
15) The Bela-Phone
16)  Captain Bad
17)  Bill Views The Movies
18) Personality Profiles
19)  Did You Know?
20)  Radio Oldies
21)  Mess World Contest
22)  Believe It...Or Nuts!
23)  The Break In
24) Ghoul Of The Week
25)  Grafitti Wall
26)  Who Dat? (Puzzle with Clues)
27) Super Blooper
28)  Chiller Kar-Toon
29)  Chillergram (Pictures with Music)
30)  Chillergraphics (Pictures with Captions)
31)  Movie Casting - Re-Cast Current Movies
  With People In The News
32)  Books - Best Selling Book Titles With
  Current News Persons As Authors
33) Chillerisms
The following is a list of Chiller Theater "Bits" that
appeared on the show from 1964 through 1983.
These Chiller bits were conceived and written by
Bill Cardille.

In the early days of Chiller Theatre Channel 11
promotions manager Bob Willis contributed
additional material.