Wow, back in the days when USA network had no illusions or delusions of grandeur, there was a little show...a show called Commander USA's Groovie Movies. Before UP all night, and whatever other crapola the network came up with. We had blue collar Super Hero, Commander USA, a regular joe in the mold of Schneider (One Day at a Time), Cliff Clavin (Cheers) and maybe even a little Dennis Farina. The Commander would show us the only movies USA could get (bad bad ones) from the safety of his hidden bunker. Classics like Vampire Circus, old Buck Rogers serials, and so many I can't remember....all broadcast on that dazzling new medium, Cable Television. I have a lot of fond memories of this show, it came on Saturday afternoon, right after the regular gamut of cartoons, and my brothers and I would watch raptly as Commander and his sidekick Lefty would show us goony movies we might never have discovered on our own. Surpassed only in later years by Mystery Science Theater 3000, this was THE show for me, chock full of sci-fi, horror, and whatever else the commander could get his red gauntleted hands on. There were little comedy bits in between the lousy, but still often scary, flicks...and they were FUNNY. Whether it was the commander waxing poetic about his super hero cronies, or often weirder stuff, the bizarre sense of humor exhibited by the show was a primary factor in warping my fragile young mind.
We miss ya Commander...Oh Commander, My commander! Peace.
