June Rocks On with a Meteoric Menace- the "Monolith Monsters" -Tonight!

Tonight on MeTV- we start June off in a rather rocky manner- with some unearthly meteor fragments that have the power to turn flesh into stone- and  mutate into towers of destructive terror to become the "Monolith Monsters"!

This 1957 science fiction classic begins just as several other movies have- with some wayward meteor making a crash-landing in the arid desert. On impact, it smashes itself into thousands of pieces. When Ben, a local geologist, happens to stop on a desert road near the point of impact to add water to his radiator, he spots an unusual fragment of stone that he can't identify-and, being a geologist, has his interest peaked and decides to take the mystery rock discovery back to his office for further investigation. He gets back to his office with the fragment, where neither he nor local newspaper publisher Martin are able to identify it. Ben goes to sleep there-only to be awakened in the night by a major rainstorm! He notices something odd happening to that unidentified rock sample he left out in his office- and goes to get a closer look- which turns out to be a VERY bad idea.

The next day, Dave, the head of the federal geology office, makes a routine visit to Ben’s place – only to be met by a horrible sight! The office has been completely trashed, with hundreds of strange rocks all over. Even worse- he is shocked to find his geologist pal appears to have turned- to stone! This mind-boggling discovery has him at a loss to figure out what has happened- or how a human could possibly be transformed into the equivalent of a statue!

Meanwhile, Dave’s girlfriend, Cathy, the local school teacher- has her class out on a field trip to the desert- where one of the kids picks up a black chunk of meteorite, and takes it home as a souvenir. While this is going on, an autopsy is being performed on Ben- as much of an autopsy as would be possible on a stone corpse! No answers come from that- resulting in the body being sent to a specialist. Dave returns to the shambles of the office along with Martin- who notices that the many pieces of rock scattered around the destroyed office look just like the single piece Ben found in the desert that they had examined!

The office tragedy proves to be only the beginning-as Cathy recalls her student that found a similar fragment- leading to a frantic trip to the girl’s home and a horrible discovery. Soon the locals face more destruction, more odd stones- and more victims of strange petrification- and the shocking fact that other people who have had contact with the stones are actually slowly TURNING to stone! It falls to Dave and his girlfriend Cathy to enlist his old college professor in solving the riddle of what is happening- and how to stop it! Time is running out, as they have mere hours to find a cure for the victims who are transforming to stone. Not only that- but the meteor rocks begin to multiply, expanding and becoming towering stone pillars that grow, and then collapse, with their massive weight crushing anything in the vicinity. Inexplicably, the smashed rubble starts growing again, forming more towers that are slowly moving toward the populated areas. Will the monoliths continue to advance, wiping out towns -and their inhabitants- with pulverizing force?!

Most 1950s science fiction films seem to use atomic radiation as the source of a deadly menace- but this movie goes down a slightly different path, having the unique idea of inanimate objects becoming the monstrous threat- with a totally different cause. We’ll fill you in on the cast, which includes some recognizable actors-including Grant Williams, the lovely Lola Albright (Peter Gunn’s songstress girlfriend), Les Tremayne, and more- and rock your world with the usual Sven shtick- including bringing back a favorite commercial for an asteroid-avoiding product- and a vintage Sven song. Plus, we say a final goodbye to our friend the great comic book artist George Perez.

"Monolith Monsters" crash onto your TV set tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central, or check your local listings (or at www.metv.com) for specific time and channel where you live. Some of you who have trouble getting our signal, or have been deprived of it by a provider, might want to know that MeTV now streams in real time on the FrndlyTV app. There is a minimal monthly charge for it.

MeTV invites you to join the many folks on Twitter who live-Tweet during our show- putting us among the highest trending topics during that time most weeks- using the hashtag #svengoolie . Chicago area viewers get a second visit to Vincent Price’s “House on Haunted Hill” at 11 am this morning on our main local station, CW26.

We appreciate that so many of you have taken advantage of ordering the new Sven store items, as well as our other merchandise. We think a lot of Dads and grads will be gifted with Sven stuff! Check it all out at our store (“I have a…” well, you know the drill.) By the way, we ARE working on some new commercials that just might feature those favorite catchphrases that so many of you tell us you’ve been missing!

Come rock with us tonight on MeTV- where we prove the old saying is true-people who live in trashed houses should not grow stones!