The 1965 Halloween Episode of Shindig!

Shindig! was a rock/pop music show that aired on ABC from September 16 1964 to January 8 1966. The show is notable in that it featured keyboardists Billy Preston and Leon Russell as part of its house band, not to mention Teri Garr as one of its dancers (she also danced on Shindig!'s rival show Hullabaloo on NBC). Among the show's regulars were also The Blossoms (led by Darlene Love) and The Wellingtons (now perhaps best known for performing the theme song for Gilligan's Island). Today Shindig! is perhaps best remembered for two things. The first is that The Who made their debut on American television on its October 2 1965 episode. The second is its Halloween episode, on which Boris Karloff was the guest host and Ted Cassidy, as the Addams Family's butler Lurch, was among the guests. On the episode Boris Karloff performed a portion of "Monster Mash," while Lurch performed his novelty song "Do the Lurch."

Shindig! was the creation of Los Angeles disc jockey Jimmy O'Neill, who would also host the show,  his wife, songwriter Sharon Sheeley, British television producer Jack Good, and Art Stolnitz, It largely made it to the air because of the failure of another music show. ABC's folk music show Hootenanny. Hootenanny tumbled in the ratings after the British Invasion brought an end to the early Sixties folk revival. In its first season Shindig! proved popular, actually holding its own against CBS megahit The Beverly Hillbillies. In fact, it proved successful enough that NBC debuted its own rock/pop music show, Hullabaloo, and it inspired such syndicated  rock/pop music shows as Shivaree and Hollywood a Go-Go.

For its second season ABC began airing Shindig! twice a week. Having aired on Wednesday night in its first season, it now aired on Wednesday night and Saturday night. The historic Halloween episode of Shindig! aired on Saturday, October 30 1965. Beyond guest host Boris Karloff, guest Ted Cassidy, and guest Bobby Sherman, I seriously doubt many today would recognize many of the guests on that night's show. Jim Doval & The Gauchos were a Fresno, California band that released several singles in the early to mid-Sixties, as well as one album, The Gauchos Featuring Jim Doval. Jackie & Gayle were Jackie Miller and Gayle Caldwell. The duo released a few singles in the mid-Sixties, and saw much more success as members of The New Christy Minstrels. The Spokesmen were a vocal trio who released singles from 1965 to 1967, as well as one album, The Dawn of Correction.

The 1965 Halloween episode of Shindig! began ordinarily enough with Billy Preston playing keyboards, followed by Bobby Sherman performing a medley of The Beatles' songs "Help!" and "I'm Down." This was followed by a performance of "Get on the Right Track, Bobby" by Jackie & Gayle, Ted Cassidy as Lurch, The Blossoms, and The Spokesmen. Host Jimmy O'Neill then introduced guest host Boris Karloff.

This was followed by performances of "Tell Me What You're Gonna Do" by Jim Doval and The Gauchos, "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" by Jackie & Gayle, "Memphis" by Bobby Sherman, and "There But for Fortune" by The Spokesmen. It is then that Boris Karloff, seated in a chair, recites a "fairy tale" called "Peppermint Twist." Afterwards there were performances of "Some Enchanted Evening" by The Wellingtons and "Bonie Maronie" by Jim Doval and The Gauchos.

Sadly, for whatever reason, film of Boris Karloff's performance of a portion of "Monster Mash" appears to be lost.  This situation is both curious and sad, as Shindig! is one of the best preserved of all the rock/pop music shows of the Sixties. In fact, its episodes appear to be largely intact except for the missing footage from the 1965 Halloween episode. Fortunately, someone recorded Boris Karloff's performance on a reel to reel tape, so we at least have the audio of the performance, which was part of a medley performed by multiple artists. The medley begins with Boris Karloff, backed by Jim Doval and The Gauchos, performing the first part of "Monster Mash." This segues into Jim Doval and The Gauchos performing one of the musical interludes between the songs, after which Ted Cassidy performs the song "Do the Lurch." This is followed by another musical interlude by Jim Doval and The Gauchos and "Scully Gully" performed by The Wellingtons. The medley ends with Jim Doval and The Gauchos performing "Out of Sight."

Here I should discuss the song "Do the Lurch." "Do the Lurch" was a novelty record by Ted Cassidy as Lurch, released on Capitol Records in late 1965. The song was written by Gary Paxton, who had produced The Hollywood Argyles' novelty song "Alley Oop," as well as singing lead vocals on the song, and the classic "Monster Mash." Ted Cassidy as Lurch had earlier performed "The Lurch" on the syndicated rock/pop music show Shivraree that September.Despite the exposure "Do the Lurch" received on television, not to mention the popularity of The Addams Family, "Do the Lurch" failed to chart.  For ABC Ted Cassidy appearing on Shindig! probably meant good business sense. Like Shindig!, The Addams Family aired on ABC, so Mr. Cassidy's appearance on Shindig! was a clever bit of cross-promotion.

The 1965 Halloween episode of Shindig! closed with a bit between Jimmy O'Neill, Ted Cassidy (as himself rather than as Lurch), and Boris Karloff, and Mr. Karloff announcing next week's guests. Over the closing credits, Bobby Sherman performed "You Can't Sit."

Sadly, Shindig! would last only a few months after its legendary 1965 Halloween episode. The change in the show's time slots had seriously impacted its Nielsen ratings. The Saturday edition of Shindig! performed particularly poorly. This should have come as no surprise, given its primarily teenage audience probably went out on Saturday night. ABC cancelled Shindig! at mid-season. Its Thursday night time slot was filled by the second weekly episode of Batman, which would prove to be an outright phenomenon. Its Saturday night time slot would be filled by elderly sitcom The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, which had forfeited its Wednesday night time slot to, you guessed it, the first weekly episode of Batman.

Regardless, the 1965 Halloween episode of Shindig! would be well remembered by those who saw when it first aired and would become a legend for those of us who were either too young to remember it or simply weren't born yet. Indeed, it is something of a touchstone for both fans of Boris Karloff and fans of The Addams Family.

Update: I want to thank Robert M. Roberts in his comment for pointing out that the big finale of the 1965 Halloween episode of Shindig!, including Boris Karloff's performance of "Monster Mash," has recently resurfaced. Someone uploaded it to YouTube on October 10 of this year. Sadly, it is with a gigantic watermark in the middle of the screen. Regardless, individuals can finally see it. You can watch it here.