- THE ADVISOR, aka THE ADVISER
- (Robert Hersh; died April 30, 2006: see obituary)
- Visit Milwaukee Hosts of Horror,
an incredibly comprehensive website maintained by supreme horror hostorian Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski,
for great information and pictures of The Advisor and other hosts from that area.
- Shock
- Friday night at 11:30
- WITI, Channel 6 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- August 22, 1958 - March 27, 1959
- Double Shock
- Saturday night at 9:30
- WITI, Channel 6 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- August 23, 1958 - March 28, 1959
- The Advisor's Mystery Theater
- Friday night at 9:30
- July 24, 1959 - December 18, 1959
- Saturday night at 9:30
- July 25, 1959 - December 19, 1959
- WXIX, Channel 18 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- Friday night at 10:05
- December 25, 1959 - January 29, 1960
- Saturday night after the 10:00 p.m. news
- December 26, 1959 - January 30, 1960
- WXIX, Channel 18 (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
- Magazine references:
- Shows discussed in depth, and Bob Hersh interviewed, in
boodacious feature article, "A Consultation with 'The Advisor,'"
by Milwaukee hostorian/webmonster Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski,
in issue #36 (September 2000) of Scary Monsters
magazine, p. 82-87.
Included are a number of advertisements for Shock, Double Shock and
The Advisor's Mystery Theater, as well as photos of Hersh in his incarnations as "The Advisor."
- Fabulous feature article by tireless shockaeologist
Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski,
"How Television Horror Came to Town, Milwaukee's First Horror Host, The Advisor!"
in issue #29 (December 1998)
of Scary Monsters magazine, pp. 76-79.
Illustrations include numerous advertisements, photo,
and a "horror club" membership card.
- Additional promotional club cards found in "The Advisor"
Scarebook Pages in issue #30 (March 1999) of Scary Monsters magazine, pp. 76-77.
In the lower right hand corner of page 75 of the same issue is an
original advertisement for Shock and Double Shock.
- NOTES:
-
Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski,
who wrote a terrific article
on the same station's later host, Dr. Cadaverino (see entry) in
Scary Monsters #20, researched Milwaukee's very
first horror host and dug up lots of info which he
generously shared here before publishing his findings
in Scary Monsters (see magazine references above)
and on his own incredible
Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website:
Milwaukee's first horror host was
"The Advisor" (occasionally spelled Adviser), "Your Monster of Ceremonies."
These shows
(Shock and Double Shock)
replaced Haunted
which began running in January of 1958.
In August of 1958, the station (The "-ITI" stood for the
name of the company, "Independent Television, Inc.")
was sold to the Storer Broadcasting Co.,
who promised to build up the station's programming.
The station then purchased the "Shock" package,
while keeping its own movie library.
The show went off-the-air when CBS (which owned the only UHF
station in town, WXIX, shifted to WITI-TV.
(The -XIX came from the fact that it was originally channel 19,
until interference problems caused the FCC to switch the
frequencies of UHF stations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa.
At that time, WXIX shifted to Channel 18.
The Storer purchase was
most likely in anticipation of this move.)
WXIX went off-the-air for a time.
WXIX went back on-the-air as an independent UHF station on
Monday, 7/20/1959.
Hersh went back on-the-air as "The Adviser" (note spelling),
but rather than horror movies, showed mysteries.
The Adviser's Mystery Theater ran Saturday nights
at 9:30 from 7/25/1959 thru 12/19/1959.
After 12/19/1959 it was listed as Mystery Theater and
later as the Eighteen Million Dollar Mystery.
I have to assume that Hersh left the program.
The Advisor's sidekick was a pet monkey named Sancho
whose real name was Doodles.
- On a televised 1976 interview with legendary horror host
Zacherley, TV talk show host Tom Snyder said he worked with Bob
Hersh, helping to write the shows at a time when he was young and
out of work.
- Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski
sent this very sad news in May, 2006:
Bob Hersh 1933-2006
Bob Hersh, aka "The Advisor," passed away on Sunday, April 30, 2006.
Bob played the character first on WITI-TV from August of 1958 through March of 1959.
He had been an actor in the area for many years when he was asked to host Shock and Double Shock.
He moved to newly independent WXIX (Ch. 18) where he hosted The Advisor’s Mystery Theater
from July of 1959 through January of 1960.
Bob later built a successful law practice in the area.
I was privileged to know Bob.
Six years ago I interviewed him for an article.
It was the first time he had spoken about his TV character in many, many years.
Dan Guenzel, Dave Bruess, Jim Feeley, Mike Stauff and I shot some footage of Bob reprising his role in January of 2004. '
We also shot an interview with him.
Although a successful attorney, Bob still loved to discuss his acting days.
More than once a tear would come to his eye in a pre-production meeting.
When he heard Dan and I talking about Darlyne Berg (Haertlein),
he inquired if it was the same gal who had appeared in a play with him.
It tuned out it was!
During the closing of the interview segment we shot,
Bob emotionally confessed that while doing live TV was nerve racking,
the preparation and writing provided him with the most creative time of his life.
We had some problems during our 2004 shoot,
and had scheduled Bob to re-shoot the whole thing in early February of this year.
He called me early in the evening the night before we were to do so,
confessed that he wasn’t feeling well,
and said that he had to cancel.
He was scheduled to take his semi-annual trip to California in a week or so,
and suggested that we reschedule things for his return this month.
I was just thinking about that this week.
Bob was a wonderful, warm human being.
He threw himself into planning for our shoots.
He reviewed and suggested changes to the shooting script, and admitted that,
"once a ham; always a ham"!
You could see a gleam in his eye as he worked.
We’ll never be able to redo that footage now,
but I’m happy that we were able to get him on videotape.
Rest in peace Bob!
You touched so many people in your lifetime.
Dick
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The late-great Bob Hersh as The Advisor,
first-generation horror host on stations
WITI and WXIX in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Photo courtesy of Dick (Nitelinger) Golembiewski
and his
Milwaukee Hosts of Horror website.
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