COUNT SCARY (SPECIALS)
MASTERRORPIECE THEATRE
SHOCKTOBER HALLOWEEN MOVIE MARATHON

TOM RYAN
- "COUNT SCARY"
- "VAL SCARY"

"Count Scary" was a hosted series of horror movies specials with Tom Ryan as "County Scary" presenting movies on WDIV-TV Detroit, Michigan from July 1982. There were nine specials that Tom Ryan hosted. "Count Scary,s" alter ego was Val Scary, was also played by Ryan. From the Detroit Kids Show website: "In 1982 WDIV obtained the broadcast rights for the 1954 3-D movie Gorilla At Large. Program manager Alan Frank approached producer/writer Tom De Lisle to come up with a vehicle to showcase the film. Both De Lisle and Ryan were fans of the Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, especially Joe Flaherty as the bumbling horror movie host Count Floyd. They decided to do a takeoff of Flaherty's vampire character and named him Count Scary, after Count Floyd's tag line, "Oooh, that's scary!" Wendy's distributed the 3-D glasses needed to view the film. The special was the biggest TV hit of the summer, earning a 49 share, with 50% of the viewing audience tuning in". The following is a clip from Count Scary Halloween specials: "Count Scary" - Halloween Special clip from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo. For further information on "Count Floyd", click on the link below:

"Shocktober Halloween Movie Marathon" was a hosted horror movie marathon with with Tom Ryan as "Count Scary" presenting movies on WDIV-TV Detroit, Michigan in October 1984 (as Count Scary), and October 1987 (as The Count). From the Detroit Kids website: "Count Scary was a combination of Bela Lugosi meets Richard Nixon meets Steve Martin's wild and crazy guy. Tom De Lisle and Ryan were fans of the Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV, especially Joe Flaherty as the bumbling horror movie host Count Floyd. They decided to do a takeoff of Flaherty's vampire character and name him Count Scary, after Count Floyd's tag line, 'Oooh, that's scary'!".

"MasTerrorpiece Theatre" was a horror movie special with Tom Ryan as "Count Scary" and Ron Sweed as "The Ghoul" presenting the 1968 "Night of the Living Dead" at 8:00pm on Thursday, on WKBD-TV, Channel 50 Detroit, Michigan on 31 October 1996. From the Detroit Kids Show website: "Count Scary was a combination of Bela Lugosi meets Richard Nixon meets Steve Martin's wild and crazy guy." The following are some clips from "MasTerrorpiece Theatre": "MasTerrorpiece Theatre" - opening from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo. For further information on Ron Sweed as "The Ghoul", click on the link below: Portrait of "Count Scary" by Dave Dunlap.

Portrait of "Count Scary" by Bradley Beard.
"Count Scary" - biography (taken from Bradley Beard's Facebook page)"

He's scary good! Today I present Count Scary who hosted nine "scary" TV specials on WDIT-TV Channel 4 in Detroit, Michigan throughout the 1980's. He also hosted the Shocktober Halloween Movie Marathon and MasTERRORpiece Theatre on WKBD-TV Channel 14 in Detroit, Michigan. Count Scary is simply... hilarious. The character is brilliantly played by Tom Ryan; Ryan's frenetic energy drives the character of Count Scary to the edge of insanity and greatness. Count Scary once showed a movie so scary that thousands of people in the City of Detroit had their pants scared off and were running around the streets in their underwear. If you have never seen it, the forgotten birthday skit is true comic genius and can be found on Youtube. Always remember, the Count can't dance in the daytime. Oooooooo, that's scary! In 2019, Tom Ryan - "Count Scary", was inducted into "The Official Horror Host Hall of Fame". In the late 1960s - early 1970s, "Captain Detroit" was a hosted children's show, with Tom Ryan as "Sgt. Sacto". For further information on Tom Ryan in "Captain Detroit", click on the link below:

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