Tonight on MeTV- we kick off September with a film we haven’t run in a while-the final part of the Universal Gill Man trilogy! This conclusion to the saga of the strange amphibian missing link takes him several steps further up the evolutionary scale- as the aquatic terror unwillingly becomes an air-breathing denizen, dwelling on land, in "The Creature Walks Among Us"!

The story starts with us sharing a car ride with a wealthy couple -Dr. William Barton and his lovely wife Marcia. They’re headed to the docks to meet up, aboard their boat, with an expedition team they’ve assembled. It seems Barton has heard tales of the legendary Gill Man having survived his supposed demise down in the Everglades- and put together this team to see if the Creature is indeed alive- and if it can be captured! Among his crew- geneticist Tom Morgan, a couple biologists, and an arrogant young guide named Jed ( no, not Clampett). They set out to track down the Gill Man, but onboard tensions are already rising- Mrs. Barton is unhappy with her abusive and somewhat maniacal husband- and is having to combat the unwanted advances of Jed. That, along with some fundamental disagreements on the reason for capturing the Creature, creates an uneasy atmosphere that can – and will- only get worse!

The pursuit of the Gill Man leads to some underwater exploration- not to mention the opportunity for Marcia to take a swim in the traditional (most likely) Creature-approved white bathing suit. The search leads them into some extremely shallow waters- necessitating them heading out in a smaller boat- only to be confronted by the Creature itself! As they fight the Gill Man off- he accidentally becomes severely burned- with his gills so badly singed, they are completely destroyed- leaving him suffocating.

However, x-rays show that, among his internal organs, the Gill Man actually has a back-up set of lungs- and the decision is made to operate on him- in order to allow him to use the lungs to breathe and survive. Through skill and a lot of luck, they pull it off and save the Creature- leaving him confused- because he no longer has the ability to breathe underwater as he always has in the past. However, it is revealed that this falls into place with the reason Barton wanted to find the Creature in the first place- to prove his theory that evolution can occur on an individual basis! As the Gill Man recovers on board, he finds himself attracted to Marcia (as seems to be his nature, based on the first two parts of the saga)- meanwhile, on the human side, Jed also keeps forcing his attentions on her, causing more conflict.

Upon arrival back in the U.S., Barton has the Gill Man brought to his sprawling rural compound near San Francisco- where the Creature tries to cope with being a land animal and learn to co-exist with other land creatures- including the humans. He is exposed to the fact that there is great cruelty in this brave new landlocked world. The question arises-is the Gill Man evolving- is he still a danger to those around him- and will his original hatred of the humans who once dared to invade his underwater world become more focused after exposure to some degenerate human beings?

This 1956 "final chapter" in the trilogy features a cast of familiar faces ( including a couple we’ve seen in “This Island Earth”, as well as one that's under the Creature mask, whose name we know from the previous films)- we'll introduce you to them and bring you some additional Creature capers, including getting the Gill Man to behave, a parody of what was a long-running theatrical one-man show, visits with our friends the Sven Squad. Joe Bob Briggs, Dana Gould, David Dastmalchian as an ornery outdoorsman, memories of our dear departed friend Gilbert Gottfried-plus, a song and some vintage fun!

"The Creature Walks Among Us" strolls onto the Me-TV airwaves tonight at 8pm eastern/pacific, 7 pm central, or, check your local listings (you can also check for station and time at www.metv.com ). You’re invited to live-Tweet along with other fans during the show on Twitter/X, and post live on Bluesky- just use the hashtag #svengoolie in your posts on either of them. Chicago viewers can take an encore trip into the “Dead of Night” on WCIU the U at 11 am.

We are just about a month away from our Halloween season, which will bring you the third edition of “Svengoolie’s BOO-nanza”- with spooky selections from various MeTV shows, weekly double-features (including some special movies)- and a few public appearances. More information will be forthcoming as we get nearer the start!

The new artists design by Joe Staton is proving to be very popular, and is available on shirts, mugs and more- check it out in our store, the MeTV Mall!

Tonight-join us to see Gill Man transformed into a lethal landlubber amid toxic humans!

SCHEDULE ALERT: Next Saturday, Svengoolie starts ONE HOUR EARLY as we premiere "The Dark Seed" starting at 7P | 6C.