Local Programming
On September 29, 1962, WHBQ-TV premiered Fantastic Features, a collection of classic horror films from the RKO Pictures library. The series was hosted by a Transylvanian-styled vampire named Sivad, played by Watson Davis. The show's opening sequence, which included film footage of Sivad riding through a misty forest in a horse-drawn hearse (filmed at Overton Park), proved so unsettling to some children that the series was moved from its original 6:00 p.m. timeslot on Saturday evenings to the later time of 10:30 p.m. At the height of its popularity, Fantastic Features aired on both Friday and Saturday nights. The program concluded its run on February 5, 1972, after 623 episodes (although the final two years were rerunning older films because the station was getting more raunchier horror films that Davis did not feel comfortable with and wanted the show to be family friendly), though Sivad has remained a well-remembered local personality. There were several attempts to resurrect the character, though a retired Watson Davis refused all offers, the sole exception being promos for the syndicated run of Dark Shadows, acquired by WHBQ in April 1982. Mr. Davis died on May 23, 2005 and is buried in Monroe County, Arkansas.
In the 1960s and 1970s, WHBQ produced several local programs featuring Memphis personalities. Disc jockey George Klein hosted Talent Party, an afternoon rock-and-roll series aimed at Memphis' teenage audience. Talent Party was hugely successful, giving many garage bands their first television appearances, and the ratings were so high that it regularly beat The Edge of Night, a nationally top-rated soap opera on CBS.
Another staple of WHBQ's programming was Happy Hal's Funhouse and Cartoon Time, hosted by Hal Miller. While he hosted both shows twice daily and on Saturday morings, it also provided Miller with the opportunity to sell toy products from his local toy store during his telecasts. Miller continued to host both shows from 1957 to 1974. Another children's program that aired on WHBQ from 1955 to 1957, Mars Patrol, featured a young Wink Martindale as the titular character before he would go to be a game show host.
During the 1970s and early 1980s, news anchor Marge Thrasher also hosted a local talk show titled Straight Talk (a title used on other RKO General stations), aired at 8:00 a.m. on weekdays. WHBQ was also the Memphis station for the local/syndicated program PM Magazine featuring Byron Day and Lynn Sitler.
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