This weekend’s Ghoulardifest may give Cleveland’s most beloved TV host top billing, but it’s the Big Chuck & Lil’ John Show reunion that’s hogging all the attention. The local weekly program — which originated with Ghoulardi’s Shock Theater in the mid-’60s — went off the air in June. Stars Chuck Schodowski, John Rinaldi, Art Lofredo, and others will appear at the fest. So will Bob “Hoolihan” Wells, who was Schodowski’s co-star from 1966 to 1978. “This is really a tribute to Cleveland television history,” says Schodowski.

Schodowski got his start working with Ghoulardi, who left town in 1966 for California — where he had a long career at ABC as a voice-over artist under his real name, Ernie Anderson (his son is Boogie Nights director Paul Thomas Anderson). “He was only Ghoulardi for three years,” says Schodowski. “But people still crave him.” Ghoulardifest features tons of C-list celebs (including a pair of Three’s Company actresses), horror-movie memorabilia, and continuous screenings of old TV clips starring Big Chuck & Lil’ John, Hoolihan, and, of course, Ghoulardi. “We did some good stuff,” says Schodowski. “Looking at all of it really makes me nostalgic.”
Fri., Aug. 31, 5-9 p.m.; Sat., Sept. 1, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sun., Sept. 2, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 4, 2007.