Should Old Arachnids Be Forgot? Not Tonight - It’s “Earth vs the Spider”!

We wind up the year on this New Year’s Eve with everything covered in- neither snow nor confetti- but webbing! While we prepare for midnight and the beginning of a brand new year, we’ll end this year in a big way- thanks to Bert I. Gordon ( notice his initials)! We bring back his 1958 feature in which a small town is endangered by a big (yes, like the initials) arachnid-as local teens try to warn the authorities that a deadly battle is eminent- with “Earth VS the Spider”! ( I always thought the small town should have been named “Earth” to make the title ring true, but that’s just me…)

Mr. Jack Flynn is driving home late at night, having gotten a nice birthday gift for his daughter Carol, when tragedy strikes! The next morning, teenaged Carol, worried because her dad never came home that night before, heads to high school and gets a little angry at her boyfriend Mike, who hints that her father’s absence may be due to some –uh- “liquid distraction”. She knows her dad used to take part in that sort of thing, but the suggestion upsets her almost as much as him not coming home.

The teens make up in class (is that like a make-up test?), and Carol convinces Mike that they should borrow a buddy’s car, so they can go looking for her dad. They do so, but make a terrible discovery-they find his vehicle- but he is nowhere to be found. Spotting a cave nearby, Mike wonders if he would have gone in there for shelter from the cold of night. The couple heads into the cave, and, while searching, find the bracelet that father Jack had planned to give to Carol. As they continue to search, they stumble upon the lair of a gigantic tarantula that comes after them! They barely escape, and head to town to tell the authorities about the menacing creature.

As you might guess- the authorities find it hard to believe, and scoff at the kids’ warning-but fortunately, their science teacher Mr. Kingman stands up for them, and joins the local sheriff, along with his deputies and some pest control men ( upon Kingman’s suggestion) as they go to the cave. The search yields some terrifying and deadly results- they encounter the huge spider for themselves, and attack it with DDT, which appears to have killed the menace.

Mr. Kingman wants to have the spider studied in order to find some answers about its existence, and has it put on display in the high school recreation room. In a somewhat questionable move, the school photo club is allowed to practice their art, using the inert arachnid as a model. A little time and the sound of an amateur rock band result in the big spider miraculously reviving, creating a panic, claiming more victims, and threatening the town!

Missing out on this mayhem are Mike and Carol, who have gone back to the cave, in search of the gift bracelet that she dropped when they ran from the spider the first time. They aren’t the only ones to return to the cave- as new disasters strike in the cave, thanks to the hairy horror- and Kingman and the authorities must undertake both a rescue and a “search and destroy” mission! Who are you putting your money on- the spider or the “Earth”?!

This film was indeed produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who specialized in films involving over-sized (BIG) menaces, like “Village of the Giants”, “The Amazing Colossal Man”, and “Beginning of the End” with its giant grasshoppers invading Chicago. You will see some familiar faces in the cast, not just from other Gordon films, but from TV shows and short subjects. We’ll tell you all about them, bring you a song with Doug Graves, plus a Kerwyn-hosted game show concentrating on spiders, and- wind up 2022 with another round of our drawing game “Too Drawn Out”!

The epic battle of “Earth VS the Spider” begins tonight at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central- if you need help finding the time or channel in your area, please check your local listings or at www.metv.com , where you can also get help on finding where to watch us (under-what else- the tab “where to watch”!) MeTV reminds you that you can join in the live-Tweeting during the show on Twitter- just use the hashtag #svengoolie. Our local Chicago viewers get an encore of “Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man” at 11 am on our main local station, CW26!

Please be aware that- starting next week- our show will be expanding to two and a half hours in length. Since a lot of our schedule was set before the decision to add more time was made, we will probably tinker with the format over the course of the new year. As I have mentioned, it does mean that we will have some longer movies in full length- will restore footage to some shows where we previously had to take content out to meet the run time of the show- and also add in some extra Sven content along the way.

If you didn’t get the Sven merchandise you were hoping for as holiday gifts, or got some cash to use as you wish, check out our store! Save 15% through Jan. 1 with promo code SHOPFORME! You may also want to go to toynk.com and search “Svengoolie” to see the incredible high-quality Sven enamel pin set, complete with collectible coffin box!

Thanks for your support this past year. Though we talk about whether or not to make any new year resolutions, let us all resolve to show kindness and tolerance- and we hope you will join us tonight for some early fun before the countdowns to 2023 begin- and we wish you a very happy new year!