Bob Wilkins, the legendary and beloved host of KTVU's "Creature Features" has been suffering from advanced Alzheimer's for several years and saddled with rapidly declining health. Now, I am afraid to report that only four hours after I received word that his wife Sally, and Bob's doctors, said that we should prepare for his passing, Robert Gene Wilkins, has left us. Read the rest of my personal tribute, here: http://augustragone.blogspot.com
What sad news indeed . A very touching tribute, what a kind man. I discovered his show in the later years and enjoyed them. Even remembered him giving the weather info on KTVU! Your news is a blast from the past. You'll be missed Bob! http://www.bobwilkins.net/
Thanks, I'd also like to add: Bob was inspired by the success of KIKAIDA in Hawaii in 1975, and eventually produced the weekday show, "Captain Cosmic" (1977-81) which ran episodes of ULTRAMAN, JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT, THE SPACE GIANTS, SPECTREMAN, STAR BLAZERS and more. A big supporter of Japanese monster movies, "Captain Cosmic" also "serialized" several films, including GODZILLA VS. THE THING and DOGORA THE SPACE MONSTER, shown in five parts during the week. So, throngs of Japanese monster-infected children of the Bay Area and Beyond (KTVU was a Superstation in those days, and could be seen from Honolulu to Hauppauge), owe him a debt of thanks!
This is indeed sad news, I grew up watching Mr. Wilkins, he shape a large part of my youth, as my freinds and I would meet up un sundays talking about the incredible films we saw. Bob's sense of humor was one many things that made him stand out among the rest of the last night monster hosts. To me he will always be the Captain and the Host with the most.
Oh, this is sad news... Like everyone else, he had a large impact on what I watched as a kid. Between Creature Features and Capt. Cosmic, I had a great time enjoying the shows/movies he presented.
There will be a public memorial in Oakland next month and this Saturday nigtht, there will be a phone-in tribute on Cult Radio A Go-Go at 9:00 pm PST. http://www.cultradioagogo.com/ Also, please visit his official website at http://www.bobwilkins.net and send your condolences to Bob's wife, Sally, Thank you! I am also planning a memorial tribute night at a local San Francisco theater with special guests... So, stay tuned for further details.
I still have the Star Trek convention program he signed for me in 1975. Time to dig it out and remember. So many wonderful boyhood dreams and nightmares, so many happy memories of staying up late to catch "Creature Features." I can still play that theme song in my head. Thank you Bob.
Mid-'70s theme song, "Creature Features" by Beauregard and the Poppers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MrQYSNYLVc Original Opening and Closing. "Gotham City Municipal Swing Band" by Neil Hefti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_3Y1XFSlMY The latter was a cue from the 1966 BATMAN music LP! You can download it, here: http://grabb.it/tracks/be697a5760e8
In the obituary piece in the SF Chronicle article, it mentions "attack of the mushroom people"... the movie that kept me from eating mushrooms for about 15 years. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 01&sc=1000
ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE (aka MATANGO) was the first movie Bob ran on his maiden show on KRCA-3 in Sacramento, way back in 1966. Everyone, thanks for your stories... I hope that you are also sending these through to the official Bob Wilkins website, where everyone's e-mails will be forwarded to Bob's widow, Sally and their kids. I'm sure that they will be as touched by your stories as I am. Thank you. Also, the "Creature Features" documentary, WATCH HORROR FILMS: KEEP AMERICA STRONG will be screened at WonderCon this year, and will also be on sale. This was planned long before Bob's passing, so Bob will be represented -- in spirit -- at WonderCon. Official Website http://www.bobwilkins.net Send your e-mails to: scottmoon@scottmoon.net
I spent many an hour glued to "Creature Features" as a kid. It formed who we became. Rest in peace, Bob.
UPDATES: In today's San Francisco Chronicle is a long and moving piece about the late great Bob Wilkins. host of the seminal "Creature Features." It appears in the last page of the B section of the paper. You can also read it on SF Gate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 15665F.DTL There is also a story on KTVU.com: http://www.ktvu.com/news/18442919/detail.html This Friday evening from 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM PST, the Joe Flynn Show will be dedicating their entire show to Bob Wilkins. Fans can call in or interact via IM, and reminisce about Bob: http://www.livenow.com/thejoeflynnshow This Saturday evening at 9:00 PM PST, there will be a tribute to Bob Wilkins on Cult Radio A Go-Go http://www.cultradioagogo with myself, John Stanley, Mr. Lobo, Will "The Thrill" Viharo and others. Please tune in! A memorial service celebrating his life will be held on Saturday, January 24 at the Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland. A recent documentary WATCH HORROR FILMS: KEEP AMERICA STRONG, will be screened at WonderCon at the end of February, with special guests sharing their memories of Bob, and DVDs of the documentary will be on sale at the show. http://www.comic-con.org/wc/ For more information about Bob, please go to the official website: http://www.bobwilkins.net
August thank you for the links and updates. Are you from the SF Bay Area? Thinking about Wilkins has got me thinking about all sorts of 1970s Bay Area memories. It wasn't as crowded here back then. There was more of a "we're all in this together" feeling in the Bay Area, whatever "this" was supposed to be. To state the obvious, in the pre-internet, pre-10,000 TV station days, local personalities were more of a shared experience and common bond. Wilkins, like Dr. Don Rose, Jane Dornacker and numerous other media locals seemed like people we knew, even if we never really got to know them in person. In the 1970s, stations like KTVU, KQED, KBHK and "The Perfect 36" had a much more folksy, less high-tech look and feel. Today everything's so slick, impersonal, homogenized. I love the 'net and all that but much has been lost along the way. Just some scattered thoughts. Although it's been a long time since Bob Wilkins was an active local personality, his passing really hits home.
Absolutely, you're welcome, Dean! I am a proud, third-gen San Franciscan, who is still here! I agree with everything you said, we had local personalities that you could grow up with back then... it's a lot different now, especially since the economic upheaval of the late 1990s. Here's a clip of me as a teenager on Bob's "Captain Cosmic" show; I was Bob's "Japanese Film Expert" or "Godzilla Expert", depending on the situation. In fact, in the clip, Bob promotes my short-lived "Godzilla Fan Club" (no, not because of Toho), and I'll let you in on a little-known secret... Bob bankrolled the whole endeavor. That's the kind of human being Bob was... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAMrVMA8bZw
That clip was great! Wow, only $2.50 to join the Godzilla Fan Club. Was that a clip of the MECO disco Star Wars track at the end? Man that was a corny single.
What "Robot Suit"? Robot 2T2 was a real machine, which was operated off camera, via a cable control box. The robot was built by some local fans at a machining company, and when Bob started the show, Bob remembered them, and asked if he could use their robot... There's some 8mm film that was shown at a couple of Bob WIlkins/Creature Features events over the last couple of years, that shows the robot being loaded up on a truck and taken to KTVU's studios. When the show went off the air after four years (1977-1981), 2T2 returned to its original owners. Here's what Bob WIlkins. himself, said about the robot: Somewhere along the line, I thought of [this] old robot in a garage back in Sacramento. Now, we had had the robot back on the old Channel 3 program [mid-to-late 1960s] maybe one time, to tie into some… maybe one of the old sci-fi movies that had robots. And really, 2T2, he was named--I forget if he had a name before we named him 2T2--after the station’s call letters [KTVU], but he was in the garage for many years, he was a high school project by a fellow named Gary Tomasec. Gary Tomasec was a young man who came on my show very early on, he did a satire on the Marlboro Man, the cigarette character, and he really showed a lot of talent, loved television, he was only about 14 years old then. Anyway, I got him a job as a delivery boy at Channel 3 because he wanted to get into television (and just a sidebar, today he films movies, he’s all over the world, he’s just an outstanding cameraman and a very nice young man.) Anyway, I said, “Is it possible to bring the robot up to Oakland, and we’ll pay you a fee, a monthly fee for him” and I said “ We’ll have him painted, and we’ll do some things with him mechanically and we’ll get him going again” and he said “No problem.” And so the robot was brought up, and we got him a paint job, electronically we got him going there, and it was quite a job—you know, there aren’t just robot repairmen around, so we took him over to people who work on motors and engines and things like that, in Oakland, and they got a kick out of getting him prepared. So while they’re working on the robot and getting him all ready, I’m trying to come up with a concept for 2T2, for the show itself. Hope this helps! Yeah, but it was a big hit at the time... Speaking of STAR WARS disco songs, here's the Japanese STAR WARS THEME, sung by Guinness World Records holder, Masato Shimon (GATCHAMAN, DAI APOLLON, INAZUMAN, RAIDEEN, GODZILLA VS. MEGALON): http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=JvW5qAuj8AM
In case anyone is interested in hearing the tribute show on Cult Radio A Go-Go: File Name: CRAGG LIVE - Marky Ramone, Roy Roger Jr., & Bob Wilkins Tribute.mp3 File Size: 156 MB Download Link: http://www.sendspace.com/file/484ugk
Late to this thread, but I, too, was saddened when I read last week about Mr. Wilkins' passing. When we were kids, my brother and I had our first exposure to Godzilla movies on Creature Features. It was always a special treat when my parents would allow us to stay up late and watch a Godzilla film on his show. Years later, I would watch Captain Cosmic every day after school. I was able to watch Spectreman, Space Giants and Ultraman, a show that, to me, was only rumor prior to Captain Cosmic. If it wasn't for Bob Wilkins, I probably wouldn't be on Skullbrain today. Rest in peace, sir.
I have been in my cave for a while and this comes as a really huge and extremely bad shock. Bob Wilkins and Capt. Kangaroo were my heroes growing up in Sacramento. I have to thank Bob and my mom for being the ones who started me down the path of Japanese SF. You are sorely missed already Bob!
From: H.H.R.N.- HORROR HOST RADIO NETWORK Date: Jan 14, 2009 10:03 PM If you missed the KDOA Radio Tribute to Bob Wilkins and the CULT RADIO A GO-GO Tribute YOU CAN HEAR IT ALL WEEK on the LIVE365 CULT RADIO A GO-GO / HHRN REPLAY all this WEEK in rotation. http://www.live365.com/stations/cragg
I too was a kid in the bay area watching Creature Features and Capt. Cosmic. I was a member of the Capt. Cosmic club and had the decoder card. Ultraman and Spectreman were the stepping stones that later had me watching Capt. Harlock Galaxy Express Yikki Yu San and that super car show (Gattiger V?) on Channel 26 without subtitles...
Some of those shows were on the Channel 20 for the Fuji TV programming (HARLOCK, GALAXY EXPRESS, DAI APOLLON, RAIDEEN, IKKU-SAN, etc.), and SUPER CAR: GATTAIGER (and others, like the LONE WOLF & CUB TV series) was on the TV Tokyo programming on KTSF 26. Most of those shows were subtitled by KIKU-TV in Honolulu, who have gone on to form JN Productions, which is now releasing programs like INAZUMAN on DVD for the US market.
