NOTES ON DR. MONGO'S SHOWS BY THE CREATORS!

SUBJECT:  Thanks for the listing.

Hello George!

Or should I address you as E-gor?

Anyway, a close friend who works on the Dr. Madblood program on WTVZ 33 in Norfolk, VA, e-mailed your site to me. I was shocked to find a listing for Dr. Mongo, our contribution to late-night cinema schlock. How ever did you find our show? We've been off air since 1993 but we are planning a comeback as soon as our production schedule allows us the time. As you know, most of these shows are a labor of love and usually don't come with a paycheck attached. Thanks again for the listing.

Russ Dougherty
Video Excellence
VideoXLnz@aol.com

SUBJECT:  Dr. Mongo Info! Hope this helps...

He's always been listed in the credits as playing himself. (Dr. Mongo is played by Dr. Mongo). This added a layer of mystery for the fans. This also allowed the person playing Dr. Mongo to play other characters on the show. I can assure you that it was not me.

Dr. Mongo is short for Dr. Montague B. Gourley, who's degree is in filmology from the Millard Film-More Film School. After the death of his film-loving grandfather, Horatio Marcucci, Dr. Mongo received Marcucci Manor (later changed to Mongo Manor) as part of his inheritance. Here, Dr. Mongo, with the help of his lab assistant Quiso, would be able to show the finest films known to man,...right after he cleans out the film vault in the basement and shows all the schlock! The show almost always took place in the basement.

Other characters included Quiso, (pronounced Kweezo and played flawlessly by Larry Lechan) the hunchback greasy lab assistant with the really bad teeth, an hunger for spiders, and the incredible ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Quiso's full name is Quize N. Art.

There was an unseen tennant in Mongo Manor, a retired mad scientist of sorts who lived upstairs in room 4D. He communicated with Dr. Mongo via the intercom and was simply known as 4D. This was another uncredited role although I can tell you that I played 4D.

As Mongo Manor was originally a boarding house, there were many guest rooms where various characters would show up each week. The characters included a fem-fatale secret agent named Jane Blonde, Agent double O-No, Vlademir Pouvnienski, the cosmonaut from the former Soviet Union, Dr. Mal Practice, Bruce, the repair man from England, and Felini Bergman, the unseen projectionist.

The credits list for Dr. Mongo's Midnight Movie is as follows,...

Producers: David Sinclair, Russ Dougherty, and Larry Lechan
Directors: same (We took turns!)
Writers and performers: same as above with the addition of Gail Dougherty, Sean Dougherty, Cecile Sinclair, Ian Sinclair, Neil Sinclair, Joe McDonald, David Johnston, Mike Motta, David Silva, Chris Ackernacht, Tom Viall, Jon Doughtie and Johnna Doughtie.

(Both Jon and Johnna work on Dr. Madblood's Movie on WTVZ Fox33 in Virginia).

Set design was a simple 3-wall basement set with a door on the left wall and a high window on the right side of the back wall. The set was constructed using 4' x 8' lightweight plywood panels painted to look like cement. The set was dressed with movie posters, bumper stickers, photos, drawings from fans. (The most fan mail with drawings came from inmates at the Bristol County House of Corrections.) There was a desk in the center loaded with various film and projection tools as well as some toys. All in all, it was a cheesy looking set, but it was supposed to look that way.

Dr. Mongo's Midnight Movie
began late Friday nights at 12:30AM
(actually very early Saturday morning if you want to be technical!) on WNAC Fox 64 from November 1991 to September 1992.

Then the time was changed to Saturday at midnight until January 1993 when the genius program manager wanted to boost Saturday afternoon ratings by putting us on in the afternoon to kick off Sci-Fi Saturday.

We changed the name to Dr. Mongo's Sci-Fi Cinema and hosted two movies beginning at 1PM. In addition to the move, our original six segment program which usually ran about 15 to 20 minutes total was now cut to 5 segments totaling 12 minutes and spread over four hours. Needless to say, this move did not work. Our last show aired in May of 1993. There were a total of 75 episodes not including the unaired pilot and three unfinished shows.

Thanks again for your interest, E-gor!
Russ (4D)

SUBJECT:  Re: Dr. Mongo Info! Hope this helps...

Hey Russ...You forgot the Weasel...or is that Wiezel!!!

Also, for any and all who cares, the extensive cast list of performers was highly versatile, with any one of the "regulars" playing any number of roles. In my short time with the show, I was a repairman, a hippie, a cop, a lawyer, a Quizo wanna-be and a few other roles I can't remember.

I think it's time for a WEBSITE!!!

Joe McDonald
(Bruce the repairman)

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