DISASTERPIECE THEATER

JAY CURTIS - "SAL U. LLOYD"
BRUCE MUELLER - "THE OTHER GUY"

"Disasterpiece Theater" (also known as "Disasterpiece Theatre") was a hosted horror movie show with Jay Curtis as "Sal U. Lloyd" from XETV Channel 6, San Diego, California, USA from 1980 to 1981. From Wikipedia: Disasterpiece Theatre was a comedy television program that aired in the early 1980's on XETV, a station in Tijuana, Mexico, owned by Mexican media company Grupo Televisa, which broadcasts in English across the border to neighboring San Diego, California. The show's title is both a play on the long-running PBS anthology program Masterpiece Theatre and a reference to the low-budget, campy science fiction and horror films that were lampooned each week. At the time of Disasterpiece Theatre's run, XETV was an independent station; today it serves as the Tijuana affiliate of Canal 5. The premise of the show was simple: show the worst movies ever made and make fun of them. Among the films shown were: Big Boy Rides Again Born to Speed Curse of the Undead. First Spaceship on Venus Monster on Campus Shriek of the Mutilated The Mummy's Hand The Thing That Couldn't Die Comments would be written as subtitles during the movie; for example, in Track of the Moonbeast a character says, "I'm somewhat of an...(laughs) an adventurer," and the word "IDIOT" appeared on screen during the pause in the middle of the sentence. Sometimes music would be added and, in some cases, redubbing by the writers would occur. On a showing of First Spaceship on Venus, the soundtrack was replaced by the writers' voices arguing about which television show they are going to watch, similar to the overdubbing idea in What's Up, Tiger Lily? Jay Curtis hosted the show as Sal U. Lloyd, a play on the word celluloid. Bruce Mueller played "The Other Guy" and would often dress up as The Mummy, A Lion Tamer, and the Network Producer. Curtis and Mueller wrote and produced the show. Fred Stern was a constant contributor and served as the show's musical director. Stern chose popular music that was added to scenes for comic punctuation. As an example, during the film Beginning of the End, giant grasshoppers are attacking Chicago, scientists decide to use the grasshopper mating call to lure the creatures into Lake Michigan, but instead of the mating call coming from a boat loudspeaker, the audience hears "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors and the monsters hop in and drown. San Diego radio announcer Gary Cocker appeared on the show many times. Guests included Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Simmons, and J. Michael Straczynski. The show was done so cheaply, the producers would tape over the same reels, thus erasing the previous episode. In the show, Curtis and Mueller's microphone cords are easily visible, but it is the poor production quality that makes the show. Sal U. Lloyd was portrayed as a big loser who hates his job. In one episode, he explains his position: "I'm sick of television... I wanna be a rock and roll star. I wanna make some money." He is often seen receiving some kind of brain damage after showing a movie. Several times, Lloyd has a run-in with the network producer, George Mucas (obviously a parody of George Lucas), who hates the show. In reality, Curtis had a strong rivalry with the actual network producer of XETV, who eventually cancelled the show. BRUCE MUELLER From Legacy Bruce Carl Mueller was born in San Diego, California, on 20 January 1954. A San Diego native, Mueller worked in the entertainment business for most of his life, primarily at XETV Channel 6. While at XETV, Mueller co-hosted the late-night show Disasterpiece Theater with fellow XETV colleague Jay Curtis. They were known as Sal U. Lloyd and the "Other Guy". The show, which aired for 52 episodes, had a large local cult following. The show was a play on the PBS show Masterpiece Theater, and lampooned campy low-budget science fiction and horror movies. Mueller often played multiple zany characters and was known for his creativity and his hilarious sense of humor.Mueller and Curtis also worked together in Hollywood on the PromaxBDA State of the Art sessions for CBS and NBC network television. Mueller was well known by his family and friends for his friendship, his almost encyclopedic body of knowledge, and his sense of humor. On 7 May 2021, Mueller died tragically, a victim of gun violence; he was only 67 years old. Ironically, many San Diegans witnessed this tragic event unfolding on television as the gunman died after a long siege. Disasterpiece Theatre Theme Song: Well, have you seen any good movies lately? Well, you're not gonna see one tonite. I hope you're in the mood for something really lousy. 'Cause if you are just hold on tight. Well, our boy Sal U. Lloyd is gonna take you on down. to where the silver screen gets covered with slime. So come on in, you're just in time for a disaster. This is Disasterpiece Theater. This is really gonna be a disaster. This is Disasterpiece Theater. Say, you probably never saw anything this bad, boy, in your life. This is Disasterpiece Theater. I mean this is really, really rotten. Whoa! This is Disasterpiece Theater. Who writes this junk anyway? This is Disasterpiece Theater. Oh! Pass the popcorn. This is Disasterpiece Theater. Oh! Argh! This is Disasterpiece Theater. This stuff oughta be against the law! This is Disasterpiece Theater. Bleagh! The following are some clips from the show: Disasterpiece Theater hosted by Sal U. Lloyd (clips). from The Professor on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Disasterpiece Theater"	Wikipedia "Disasterpiece Theatre"	Internet Movie Data Base "Jay Curtis"
Internet Movie Data Base "Bruce Mueller"	E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts "Sal U. Lloyd"	The Ken Padgett Blog "Jay Curtis and Disasterpiece Theatre"

Back to the USA

Send mail to:
professor@hotkey.net.au  
with questions or comments about this web site.
Page Content Copyright 2016 Paul Gerard Kennedy