GASP THEATER

TOM LABRIE
? - "ANNOUNCER"

"Gasp Theater" was a hosted horror and science fiction movie show with Tom LaBrie presenting movies on KTXL-TV Channel 40 Sacramento California, USA from around 1982-1984. The show featured a range of horror, science fiction and thriller movies, both classic and more recent movies. The exact dates are not know or if LaBrie was the host for the entire run. The name of the show's introduction announcer is not known. What is known is that "The Creature Walks Among Us" was presented on 28 August 1982, with "Dracula Has Risen from the Grave" presented on 7 July 1984. In 1981, a special one off Halloween show was aired hosted by Paul Merta and Mike Parlette as the "Monster Kid". From Tom LaBrie's IMDB profile: "From 1976 to 1990, Tom LaBrie was a local icon and the most televised businessman in town. He greeted night owls watching late-night movies on Channel 40 with his signature "Night Comfort". LaBrie would introduce movies, offer reviews and interview visiting celebrities, from actors George Peppard to Debbie Reynolds. And amid backdrops of a comfy leather chair, soothing string music and varnished water bed furnishings, the owner of LaBrie's Sleep Center in Sacramento extolled the relaxing benefits of sleeping on water. He became so well known that the likes of comedian Bill Cosby parodied LaBrie's commercials for California water bed relaxation - which LaBrie softly delivered in his signature East Coast accent. LaBrie's commercial spots were aired across the West, drawing in movie viewers and attracting customers for LaBrie's water bed empire, which eventually totaled six stores, including three in Sacramento and one each in Stockton, Fairfield and Pleasant Hill. Before going into the water bed business, LaBrie graduated from Michigan State University and taught eighth-grade math, science and sex education in a small town in Michigan. In 1970, seeking a warmer climate, he moved to Berkeley and went to work for a water bed retail chain - pitching the mattress of the counter-culture. He later opened his store in Sacramento. LaBrie died of a natural but undetermined cause on 28 December 2014, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office". The following are some clips from the show: Gasp Theater hosted by Tom LaBrie from The Professor on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Gasp Theater"

Internet Movie Data Base "Tom LaBrie"

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