WILD THINGDOM

J. GREGORY SAGER - "RODERICK VON ZIPPER"
? - "GILLGRAPPLER"



"Wild Thingdom" was a hosted horror movie show with J. Gregory Sager as "Roderick Von Zipper" presenting movies firstly on Finger Lakes Cable Channel 12, Rochester, New York from around 2007; then later on "The Monster Channel". With Gillgrappler behind the camera, the show specialized in old horror, science fiction and monster movies that are so cheesy they are classics. J. Gregory Sager passed away on 6 October 2017.

Sager was a puppeteer, writer, playwright, producer of videos for local organizations, and acted in local theater. He worked in children’s programming at Channel 3, and played the side-kick to Melinda Scott on "Mindy’s Summer Camp" and on her studio show, "Mindy, Popeye and Friends", with his puppets.

Sager and Lewis Jenkins formed Epiphany Productions and produced such classics as "Wild Thingdom", "Quest for the Holy Pail", and "Stupendous Person - Episode Three - The Blunder Years".

The show also produced unique DVD covers for some of the movies shown.



Portrait of "Roderick Von Zipper" by Bradley Beard.
"Roderick Von Zipper" - biography (taken from Bradley Beard's Facebook page)"
Look out, things are about to get WILD! Tonight I present Roderick Von Zipper, host of the Wild Thingdom out of Rochester, NY. "Von Zip", as he's known by his fans and followers, is the love child of 1960's outlaw beach party biker Eric Von Zipper and beach party dance queen Candy Johnson. As a child, he was schooled as a disciple of the legendary Ghoulardi which fueled his WILD desire to become a horror host. His show first aired on Finger Lakes Cable Channel 12, serving the Finger Lakes NY region and thanks to legendary horror host Halloween Jack, was picked up and shown on The Monster Channel as well. Von Zip's show is currently on hiatus; however, episodes can still be seen on Veoh. To quote Von Zip, "That's my story, straight from the fridge". So if you've been watching Wild Thingdom... shame on you!


The following are some clips from the show:

Wild Thingdom hosted by Roderick Von Zipper (Youtbe clips) from The Professor on Vimeo.

LINKS


Internet Movie Data Base
"J. Gregory Sager"



Facebook: Bradley Beard - Horror Host Artist
"Roderick Von Zipper"

Internet Movie Data Base
"Wild Thingdom"



Wild Thingdom
"Wild Thingdom"


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Last modified: April 2023