The final week is upon us and the final entry in the “Regional TV Horror Hosts” series is Philadelphia’s Stella.
In September 1984, Philadelphia NBC affiliate KYW-TV continued a local, but near-forgotten, tradition. They decided to follow the national broadcast of Saturday Night Live, with a locally-produced show with a home-grown host. Tapping Philly actress Karen Scioli to play the provocative street-wise, slightly-slutty “Stella,” the self-proclaimed “Man-eater from Manayunk” [a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood], Saturday Night Dead presented low-grade and long-forgotten horror movies as a vehicle for some hometown humor. During breaks in the film, Stella and her crew would perform skits fraught with double entndres that often pushed of boundaries of TV censorship. Stella, with her feather boas, low-cut gowns, push-up bra and wicked sense of humor, would spin bawdy tales of “the single life” with a very Philadelphia slant. She welcomed local “legends” of Philadelphia television, like childrens’ TV hosts Pixanne, Sally Starr and Wee Willie Webber as well as bigger names like Rip Taylor and those with Philly roots, like Bobby Rydell.
Stella and Saturday Night Dead ran for 141 episodes, until it left the airwaves in late 1990. Karen Scioli, Stella’s alter-ego, won a local Emmy for her late-night efforts in 1985. Sure, she “borrowed” a lot of her shtick from the more well-known Elvira, but Stella was just as much fun.
That wraps up JPiC’s “Inktober” for 2024. Happy Hallowe’en!