Fantastic Features 60-70's WHBQ MemphisTV Intro

[nassaumom]

I grew up in Jackson,Tn. Every Friday night we were gathered in the living room watching Sivad. Oh how I wish the station would air these again!

[themusica1]

So fun to see this!  I never missed Fantastic Features!

[MaverickBAS]

I grew up going in the 1960's to Coleman Elementary School in Shelby County outside Memphis.

Every weekend (I think it was Friday night) we watched Fantastic Features. Sometimes my parents made me turn it off, which made it seem even more scary and wonderful to watch.

The intro with Sivad pulling the coffin out of the hearse,that eerie fog, the doom music: It's scary today.

I didn't notice Sivad had a southern accent in the 60's, growing up in Memphis I thought that was how everyone spoke

[barbj9]

I love this!!!! I always knew I have always loved vampires since I was a kid, and he is the reason why!!! toooooooo cool!

[grizzlyfan41]

Sivad scared me too....it looks harmless now, but it was too much for me back then!

[Ammo08]

I loved Fantastic Features and I got to meet Mr Davis many times...

[summerzzzzz55]

Haha! He used the word , "Edification " I wonder if he was also a southern preacher!

[jagguy1225]

I lived in Memphis in the mid-60s and Sivad was my hero - when my parents took me to the annual Christmas parade downtown one year, I was much more interested in seeing Sivad than Santa Claus! Great times!

[bz4mom]

Thank you for posting this!!! The three of us (sisters) would pull out the sofa bed and watch sivad with pillows on our laps to cover our faces and shriek at the scary parts. I am so sorry to hear Watson Davis died. His family should know his show is much missed to this day!

[dandamagetoo]

i never missed Sivad when I was a kid in Memphis. His name was Davis, just spelled it backwards. too cool lol

[jaelahd]

Pepsi, Popcorn and Sivad on Saturday Nights.! Loved it

[larryjs518]

hey sknyrd77...ley me download t5his and I will hook you up with 30 to 40 old sivad videos via straight download from my ftp server

lawrencejs518@yahoodotcom

[larryjs518]

I watched this everyweek for years when I was a kid. It was the highlight of the weekend for our whole neighborhood. The next day the whole gang would gather,about 10-15 six and seven year olds and talk about it, I was a great story teller and would retale both of the movies for the kids whose parents wouldn't let them watch

[18whls143]

i remember watching this with my dad when i was a boy!

[eyeguy81]

I rememeber Sivad very well. He was shown on the Memphis channels we got in the Bootheel of Missouri. Dreamed one night he came out from under the TV and was running at me. Scared the hell out of me. Must have been about 4-5 years old. Needless to say I slept with Mom and Dad that night...LOL

[troyal77]

I'm too young to remember Sivad. I am well aware of him, though. He is local television history, and his legacy remains in the minds of those (like me) who came well after he was gone. They should try to revive Fantastic Features, maybe with a "Son of Sivad" character. Say, lat night Saturdays. I bet it would work.

[ewicher01]

I lived in Memphis and Blytheville, Ark. in 60's and 70's and loved this show. Haven't seen that opening scene in quite some time!

[stlrockn]

I too lived in Blytheville, Ark. (1964) and watched this show every Saturday night. I was 10 years old. This brings back such good memories. I'll never forget that music. Sivad once made a personal appearance at the old Roxy Theater (now gone) to host a showing of Vincent Price's "Pit and the Pendulum" and he lip synced his record "Sivad Buries RocknRoll." Thanks so much for posting this little bit of history. None of us who were around back then will ever forget it.

[Actionguy1]

Those were the days!

[tenhirankei]

I think it has been at least 40 years since I last saw this. And it's still just as creepy as I remember it!

[jarvo222]

Great stuff, those were the days, growing up in Memphis with Elvis and Sivad. I wished that WHBQ TV would have some sort of special that we could see Sivad again. I was lucky I got to meet Elvis and Sivad, Elvis even bought me popcorn, a coke and a hotdog when I was watching Speedway at the Malco theater.

[JonM11100]

We attended the "Sivads of March" event at Brooks Museum of Art last week March 25h, 26th, 27th & 28th). It was great. They had a bunch of Sivad relics (his top hat, cape, cane, record, vampire teeth, pictures, etc." They showed several horror movies that Sivad had shown back in the 60s, like Night of the Demon, The Giant Claw, From Hell It Came, Bucket of Blood and I Was a Teenage Werewolf.

[AngelaKarnes1]

I watched this all the time when I was little. I had to sneak up to see it with my older brother/sister who were allowed to stay up late. So many nightmares but I couldn't miss it! Thanks for the blast from the past! :)

[shelton442]

I guess Elvis was a fan. There is no documented facts ,but you know Elvis watched this and the horror movies that Sivad hosted during the 60s when Elvis was not making films in Hollywood. I can see him in the Jungle Room watching Sivad.

[MediaWatchDawg]

That southern drawl is enough to creep anybody out.

[Actionguy1]

@MediaWatchDawg Yes it was! LOL! I met Sivad at an event at the Fulton Theatre on the TN/KY border in 1972 or 73. It was a double feature on a Sturday night and he hosted the whole thing with a wonderful musical interlude between movies. He played the "coffinola"! Excellent show!

Exciting time for a kid who was a big fan of this "Southern Vampire"!

[rocknrollnurse]

SIVAD ROCKS!!

[HerbWalker]

I watched SIVAD as a kid in Memphis in the 1960s. Scared the crap out of me! hehehehe

[astrofist]

Cool!

[GospelPhil]

I watched this every time it was on back in the 1960's. A hoot since I grew up in Memphis!

[hilarioph]

I wish there will be a dvd series of that :-(

[buddyshogs]

Sivad will always remain in my memory, I would never miss him on the weekends. This takes me back many years seeing this again, THANKYOU for posting this.

Buddy from West Memphis.

[windersjt]

this reminds me, i gotta buy bacon tonight

[razbak21]

I have only met him a couple of times and he was the nicest man i the whole word our whole family was deeply sadend when he passed on but we realy are happy that his memory lives on in his shows/commercials and fans that still aperciate the work of the great Sivad! Love The family of Wiliam Watson Davis

[razbak21]

Sivad is my aunts grandfather.its so cool she gust showed me his funeral program his cape that he had on the show the the actual casket used on the show.she told me that when she was younger he would dress up in it and scare all of his grandkids and all the kids around the house.

[chaney19579]

Sivad creeped me out more than his movies, i grew uo in jonesboro and waited till saturday night to see him open that coffin. may he rest in peace.

[drewster1118]

I would love to see some of the great SIVAD in between those bad movies. You have to admit those films were bad. Sometimes WHBQ got some great classics and then they got some stinkers. Oh well , SIVAD made the best of all the films shown. RIP We do need to get a petition to see and buy what is left in the WHBQ archives. I am sure there is plenty.

[georgesmay]

I was about 7 years old..it freaked me out. When WHBQ changed to color his in studio appearance was so intense I couldn't watch it. It made such an impression, that everytime I found myself in the dark I would see Sivad. How funny to hear a dracula/monster with a southern accent!

[cbnurse77]

Sivad is Davis spelled backwards...my dad met him when he was a kid...said that the thing with him slung crap on people

[jhrunion]

i NEVER got to see this as a kid. i lived 100 miles north of memphis. we had a short antenna and could not pick it up! all the non-monster lovin' kids got to watch! life is not fair! john

[rainbowgirl678]

my mom is from memphis she said this really creeped her out so she made her aunt stay in the room while she watched it!!

[ravevden]

My parents wouldn't let me watch F.F. because I had NIGHTMARES!! Of course I watched it anyway.

[jmc33rd]

Man this was a mind blower. This brough back some great memories.

Thank you

[cgsimpson]

I emailed Fox 13, They do not have the Fantastic Features programs anymore. Sivad's real name was Watson Davis. He retired to Arkansas and passed away in 2005

[drewster1118]

I hate that WHBQ doesn't have any other the videotapes any longer. So I guess the intro and the few other things that I have seen are what is left of this childhood touchstone. At least we have the intro to remember those Friday or Saturday nights of television where there was no cable and we only had three or four channels to view and there was a such thing as airoff time .

[wildflowerwoman1]

wonder who has these tapes? maybe his family? wish i could reach them and tell them Sivad is not forgotten and is in demand! love to see them again!

[wildflowerwoman1]

do they have any idea who actually has the programs? i'd sure like to see them! great stuff!

[digpoop]

Thanks, this what you watched on the weekends in Blytheville Ark. :)

[Bigarnj1]

MAN! What memories this brings back! Sivad scared the hell out of me when I was a little boy. Thanks for posting Sknyrd 77.

[arcarrjr]

The horse-drawn hearse scene was filmed in Overton Park just east of the zoo on the old trolley line.

What a memory this brings back.

[JackFlemingFan]

I grew up at NAS Millington in the mid 1960's where I remember trying to watch Sivad. I could never watch Creature Features all the way through as I was scared to death not only what monster movie was playing, but by Sivad himself as well! Thanks for the memories Sivad and God bless you and your family.

[anubispro]

WOW!

THAT takes me Waaay back!

THANK YOU for posting that.

Any more to add?

[treyball357]

i seen this guy at the ritz theater in blytheville arkansas, back in like 1971,i would say about 800 people waz there to see him. after his show ,he went down the the pasttime poolhall and got drunk! but it waz a lot of fun to see him live.

[stv42blk]

How great. I can remember being a little kid at a Christmas parade in Memphis, (late 60's) and all of a sudden, here comes Sivad in that horse drawn carriage. Scared the crap outta me so bad I didn't even want to wait for Santa at the end of the parade because I was worried Sivad would show up again. Thanks for the vid.

[drewster1118]

Yea Sivad came to the Dixie Theater in Ripley, MS for a Halloween week double feature and scared the bejesues out of all of us. My sister had her photo taken with him in the Lon Chaney drag. He was quite frightening to kids in the early 70s. My mom was glad the show got cancelled in 1972. She was tired of my sleepless Saturday nights, even though the films he hosted were s***.

[gfruita]

Great memories. Use to go to my grandparents for steaks on the grill, play cards and watch Sivad. Saddened to hear that he Mr. Watson died last year.

[HerbWalker]

I grew up in Memphis in the 60's. When I watched this,you can bet Grandma left the lights ON at bed time. I wonder if Elvis watched Sivad in Memphis too? What memories of my childhood and Thanks for the Memories.............

Goooooooooood evening!!!!

[drewster1118]

I am sure Elvis watched Sivad. No question about that. Sivad was phenomenal in Memphis area and Elvis probably watched every chance he got when he was in Graceland. Especially during the 60s.

[HerbWalker]

You know....I often wondered IF "E" watched Sivad. I bet your right. It was really BIG in memphis ........scared the crap out of ME!!! LOL L8R!

[Actionguy1]

"Goood eev'ning!"

Nothing quite like a Southern vampire!

Thanks' for the memories!

[Actionguy1]

I loved Sivad! I got to meet the "Grand Old Ghoul" back in the early 70's when he payed a visit to the Fulton Theater in Fulton, KY/ South Fulton, TN. It was a double feature, and I can't even remember what was playing!

There were people of all ages waiting in line around the block just to get in the theater to see "HIM"!

Watson Davis' last appearence, that I know of, as Sivad was a promo for the "Dark Shadows" when it ran in sydication on WHBQ Channel 13 in 1983.

[123stoneman]

Great vid of the great one. I am from the Memphis area and grew up never forgetting this great master mind of Horror flicks. I too had some vids on You Tube regarding Watson Davis as Sivad and others; but canceled my account. Now I'm back and will resubmit some of my videos. Check me out! Once a Sivad head always a Sivad head. Ha. Thanks for keeping the legend alive.

Happy Hallowen!

[utjoed]

This is my great Uncle Watson from Clarendon, AR.

[drewster1118]

Oh SIvad. I was terrified of this intro when I was a kid.  I use to run in the kitchen where mother would be working and tell her Sivads on Sivads on. He was quite a scary character. It still is spooky and I am in my early 40s.

[llewellynturner]

Man, when I was a little boy,I may have been 5 or 6 this intro used to scare the begibes out of my sisters and my brother.  We would watch Sivad and the Sons of Hercules. This brings back memories