WGN Weekend Theater - "Charlie Chan in The Chinese Cat" (Complete Broadcast, 12/23/1984) 📺 🐱

[@blackphoenix77]

Man, that theme song for WGN Weekend Theater has lived rent free in my head for decades

[@Musicradio77Network]

That theme was used from 1984 until 1990.

[@tnawcwvictoria]

I ❤️ the theme song to the WGN Weekend Theater, grew up with it as well.

[@ken_danerdiest1]

The vaudeville version of Louie Bellson's "The Oracle Speaks" really spoke volumes until 1990. Best theme ever!

[@Musicradio77Network]

@@ken_danerdiest1 There were a few variations of “The Oracle Speaks” that were used for WGN-TV’s movie umbrella. One for “WGN Presents”, “Sunday 5 O’Clock Movie”, “Action Theater”, “Weekend Theater” and “Late Night Movie”, all from the 1980’s that used different variations of “The Oracle Speaks”.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

To be clear, "The Oracle Speaks" was not written by Louie Bellson. Louie Bellson was a jazz drummer and he did a version of the tune on one of his albums. A section of this version was used as the theme for WGN Presents for many years starting in the 1970s, and then later the same bit of the tune was redone in various incarnations. However, the original tune was composed by George Roumanis (whose name was anglicized to Romanis, especially in the early days). So to sum up, for credit purposes it should be written as either "George Roumanis's "The Oracle Speaks" or Louie Bellson's *VERSION* of "The Oracle Speaks".

[@ChrisConnolly-Mr.C-Dives-In]

My dad was always quoting the Charlie Chan lines he was so into these movies.

[@Musicradio77Network]

“Weekend Theater” was Chicago’s version of the “Saturday Afternoon Movie”, “Sunday Morning Movie”, “Sunday Afternoon Movie”, “Sunday Movie Special” and “Sunday’s Great Movie” all on WPIX-TV (channel 11) in NYC back in the 1980’s.

[@wmbrown6]

Although on WPIX, the "Sunday Morning Movie" was basically, after 1973, the "Abbott & Costello Theatre." Prior to then, they did air other "programmer" films, like the Blondies. And then, as now, WPIX and WGN were sister stations. (Though the owners then and now are different.)

[@jackdemus7890]

The employee in the Taco Bell commercial is Julie Piekarski, who was on The New Mickey Mouse Club, and the first season of Facts Of Life.

[@logan5girl405]

I miss these days a lot

[@joewojtecki9991]

I never seen those vapors when I used Halls.

[@FuzzyMemoriesTV]

You had to suck harder to see them.

[@TheRealPynkPanther]

I'll never forget that theme song😊

[@mysticakhenaton1701]

Thumbs UP.

[@darrylh1971]

Aired on WGN Chicago 2 days before Christmas 1984!

[@pamczech5984]

I remember wgn Friday night late movie late late movie and early morning movie and if there was still time you got to watch laurel and hardy or Abbott and Costello

[@SagittariusQueen1980]

I had just turned 4 years old at this time.

[@HereForTheComments]

Christmas weekend at Grandma's and we've all agreed to watch this boomer movie. I wanted to watch the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Christmas Special, but I'm just a kid so my vote counts for nothing.

[@TheShortsDepartment]

An old "Associated Artists Productions" tv print of a Monogram Studios film. A.A.P. is the same company that got the Paramount Popeye theatrical cartoons (and the pre-1948 Warner Brothers cartoons) for television distribution. Funny how all of the stuff mentioned above fell into Warner's ownership now.

[@wmbrown6]

I know that, as of 1990-91, in NYC, the 1946-49 Monogram Chans were held by WABC Channel 7 and WLIG (now WLNY) Channel 55. Does anyone know which New York station would have held the '44-'45 Monogram chans as this one? Incidentally, the 1944-45 Monogram Chans were put out on DVD by MGM Home Video.

[@Musicradio77Network]

@@TheShortsDepartment Monogram Pictures was the company that did the “East Side Kids”. (AKA “Dead End Kids”) franchise.

[@TheShortsDepartment]

@Musicradio77Network and Monogram reissued The Little Rascals shorts theatrically. They would become Allied Artists (and their television subsidiary was Interstate Television).

[@ThePreviewsGuyVHSOpenings2024]

Charlie chan takes on a chinese cat, meow!.

[@fratzogmopars]

Hope he served rice with it…..

[@royalsfan]

Taco Bell nachos used to have olives?

[@theylied1776]

I watched a documentary on the underbelly of Hollywood, and the actor playing Charlie Chan was an overly demanding Diva. Directors and other actors hated to work with him. He would use racist slurs when referring to the actors playing his sons.

[@wmbrown6]

Which actor? From the 1930's to the '40's there were three - Warner Oland, Sidney Toler and Roland Winters (who, in reality, was as old as Keye Luke who played Number One Son - and who appeared with Winters in the last two Chans ever made, "The Feathered Serpent" [1948] and "Sky Dragon" [1949]).

[@Foxonian]

This reminds me of the "Mystery Movie" that used to run every Sat. morning at 11:00am on WSBK TV38 in Boston.They always ran Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto or Sherlock Homes with Basil Rathbone.