On September 24, 1992, The Sci Fi Channel officially launched on G-5 Channel 4. I watched great shows on that channel as such as Amazing Stories, Dr Who, Defenders of the Earth, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and the Incredible Hulk. Some of these shows I watched inspired me to draw a silly picture at school.
Classic Monsters Month -- Hosted by Christopher Lee
In October, 1993, The Sci Fi Channel held a Classic Monsters Month featuring the four monsters. October 4 - 8, 1993 was The Mummy Week, October 11 - 15 was Dracula Week, October 18 - 22 was Frankenstein Week, and October 26 - 29, 1993 was The Wolf Man Week. On October 30th was The Wonderful World of Zombies, a day devoted to zombie flicks like White Zombie. On Halloween Day, The Sci Fi channel had a Marathon of Scary Movies including the Puppet Master, Phantasm, The Evil Dead, and more. After October 1993, I was inspired to watch some classic horror films including Dracula and Frankenstein.
Doppleganger
The Sci Fi Channel screened the movie Doppleganger Sunday, February 20th, 1994 to kick off Boris Karloff Week. I watched this film intermintely during the screening. Towards the end, I got frightened and I turned off the TV. This was a memorable BUD Scary Moment.
Boris Karloff Week -- Hosted by Peter Bogdanovich
Between February 21 - 25, 1993 was a special week devoted to 5 Boris Karloff films. The Sci Fi Channel screened on Monday Corridors of Blood, Wedensday, The Invisable Ray, Thursday, Targets, and Friday, Frankenstein to close the week.
Watch this Boris Karloff week video. There
is a short Count Dracula
trailer you will love and remember
On Saturday, February 26, The Sci Fi channel screened Count Dracula. A few days following Boris Karloff Week, the Sci Fi Channel was silenced forever.
Mad Doctors Week
In March of 1994, The Sci Fi Channel had another horror week based on Mad Doctors. I did not get to see this event because the channel was silenced.
Why did the Sci Fi Channel get Silenced?
The Sci Fi Channel has changed its status on the C Band from a Free (Clear, Unscrambled) to a subscription channel. This means you have to contact your satellite dealer and get the code to re activate the sound. Occasionally the sound will be activated for a few days to give viewers a sample of what the channel is like before obtaining the code.
According to Wikipedia, Paramount was sold to The V of Doom (Viacom) = Sci Fi channel silenced. The channel was silenced intermittently in February until the conclusion of Boris Karloff Week.
Why Codes?
The BUD satellite receiver requires you to get a decoder chip installed every year to access all the subscription channels like Nick, Family, Etc. If you cannot afford the chip, you can contact your satellite dealer and they will fax you the codes for the channels you want to subscribe to. After punching in the code, the sound will magically turn on. You can still watch the channel without sound if you can read lips. When you want to enter a subscription code, you must turn to the channel, and enter the 10 - 15 digit code. If you enter the code correctly, you will hear the people talk again for one month.
The Legends of Horror Month -- Hosted by Christopher Lee
In October 1994, The Sci Fi channel had its second annual classic horror movie month. The Legends of horror featured films by key actors like Peter Cushing, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and, Lon Chaney Jr. When the Legends of Horror Month was underway, the Sci Fi Channel was silenced. Unfortunately we did not want to spend the money on subscription codes because there were some clear channels including Fox, NBC, Etc.
Horror VHS Rental Number 1
On November 5, 1994, I rented the original 1931 Bela Lugosi Dracula at Jumbo Video.
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| This was the first horror film I rented from Jumbo Video, |
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