09/18/2004 Entry: "X-E's Halloween Season: 2004!"

Well guys, it's up. It's friggin' up. This one took a WHILE to put together. X-Entertainment's 2004 Halloween Season has been activated, and it's already bursting with creepy content -- but we're barely getting started! I'll make the intro quick, because I've been up all night on this and I'm ready for whatever creature this night calls itself to be over.

First of all, huge thanks to Brian Jacks for putting together what's gotta be one of the best layouts X-E's ever had -- and it may just be my personal favorite. As you can tell, it's a lot cleaner, sharper and just outright cooler yo than what I'm usually able to piece together from Google Images Searches and scanned Tang advertisements. I fucking love it, to be honest. Make sure to take notice of the new scrollbar on the list o' articles -- that'll keep the page from running a mile long from now on. Yay Ween! If you like what you see, send Brian some love in the comments. He worked really, really hard on this for us.

I'll get into the assorted other features tomorrow -- there's a great one near the bottom, and much much more to come. The 2004 Halloween Countdown has begun, with five days' worth of entries. They're all linked on the main page, but we'll have a master index for those as well come early next week. In case you missed the fun last year, here's how it works: everyday, from now until Halloween, a short spooky article gets published. It can be anything from Halloween candy to decorations to costumes to movies and beyond, infinity. The first batch is a good mix, but I've saved the extra ghoulish stuff for later. We've got chocolate, body parts, death soda, Shockfreakintober, and these weird pills that turn into skeleton-shaped sponges in water. I lack the energy to say anything else, but expect more insanely creepy content this weekend -- lots of it.

PS, I wrote this last night, obviously. We had a small technical issue that kept the site from going up till just now. Enjoy!

Chestnuts roasted by Evin @ 09/18/2004 03:44 PM EST

Now, I wish I hadn't found Freddy on the main page. That's some scary and disturbing music right there. Haha.

I must say that the layout is pretty damn cool.

Chestnuts roasted by Jessica @ 09/18/2004 03:59 PM EST

I swear Pitch Black MD looks like it was ripped right from a 70s cop show.

"Time to stick to those drug dealin' mofos...with FLAVA."

Great blog icon btw.

Chestnuts roasted by Grandmaster Useless @ 09/18/2004 04:03 PM EST

Mmm...Halloween tastes like...pennies and caramel apples.

Chestnuts roasted by Dan @ 09/18/2004 04:07 PM EST

Matt-A fine job. It's the first time I've ever heard someone use the word "sucky" in along time (we used to say that about all the NES games we hated back in the day).

I liked the sponge capsule stuff. I think you should also cover the blood capsules that you always see around Halloween (including the green monster-blood ones).

I disagree with some of your opinions on the Nestle candy, but I still like the way that you described them. And I do have to admit, I like the M&M/Mars and Hershey's stuff (especially Reese's Peanut Butter Cups) a lot better.

Overall, I'd say the new Halloween thang be all bang-droppin' an' aw' 'dat! We'en props to you and word to yo' mutha, Matt.

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 09/18/2004 04:13 PM EST

Oh yeah, and props to Brian Jacks, too! And word to his mutha'!

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 09/18/2004 04:15 PM EST

FINISH THE CHIA ARTICLE!

Chestnuts roasted by ANdrew @ 09/18/2004 04:31 PM EST

Yeah!

Chestnuts roasted by Jessie @ 09/18/2004 04:34 PM EST

*gets up on soapbox*
In addition to reviewing green monster blood capsules, I think you should also review glitter blood. I just saw it for the first time, and of course bought it. Not that there's any hurry, 2005 is close. Perhaps in 2005 we could kick the Halloween season off at Easter?
*gets down from soapbox*

Chestnuts roasted by Mara @ 09/18/2004 04:42 PM EST

Just finished reading and it is awesome so far! Great job Brian!

Chestnuts roasted by Jessie @ 09/18/2004 04:48 PM EST

Thanks for the most insane music ever. "Whenever I want you all I have to do is dream?" Love songs for Freddy?! Fucking brilliant! Matt, please tell me you're not giving those Rasinettes out at Halloween, they really don't qualify as candy.

Chestnuts roasted by Gnarkll @ 09/18/2004 04:53 PM EST

Also, the site is tits! Great job guys

Chestnuts roasted by Gnarkill @ 09/18/2004 04:54 PM EST

Never give up. Never surrender.

Chestnuts roasted by The Unstoppable @ 09/18/2004 05:01 PM EST

Wow...that was a long wait. But worth it for more Matt-brand narratives than ever seen in weeks.

This stuff may be creepy, but it doesn't come close to a bar full of rubber politicians. Wooooooooo!!!

Chestnuts roasted by Mars @ 09/18/2004 05:09 PM EST

Raisinettes and Crunch Bars DEAD LAST?

I don't know who your are anymore, Matt. I'm taking my stalker equipment and going home.

O_o

Chestnuts roasted by Night_Trekker @ 09/18/2004 05:12 PM EST

Think about it, NT. If we were sharing candy from these bags, we'd both get our first picks.

The glass is half full and all.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 09/18/2004 05:13 PM EST

finally. Jesus.

Now that I've read it all, I can peel my ass off the chair and go outside, or something.

don't ever do that to me again, Matt. My child went hungry because daddy had to see spooky x-e. Not really. but I hope you feel bad. not that you should.

I have no point.

Great update though, kudos to you and the other guy.

Chestnuts roasted by Whirred @ 09/18/2004 05:21 PM EST

Well... okay, that's a good way to look at it.

And the site-designer-guy did a GREAT job

Chestnuts roasted by Night_Trekker @ 09/18/2004 05:26 PM EST

Great start to halloween, nice work Matt

P.S. Thank jesus for the return of zombie movies

Chestnuts roasted by sexynigelthepharoahwizard @ 09/18/2004 05:38 PM EST

AWESOME. Excellent job, much love to Brian. The new layout is cool and much easier for navigating. Can we keep it until it's time for Xmas, IhopeIhopeIhope?

Doesn't goober mean peanut? Heh, apparentely the Brits call em groundnuts or monkey nuts. I hate Butterfinger too, I always wished El Barto had chosen a better candy to shill for.

Chestnuts roasted by squee4242 @ 09/18/2004 05:47 PM EST

THIS LAYOUT ROCKS MY SOCKS!!!!

Crunch bars are good!
Now I hate you 1% more, but the layout made up for it.

Chestnuts roasted by RPharazon @ 09/18/2004 05:48 PM EST

I love it, as always.

But is it just me, or does Freddy's voice on his album just sound a little bit like Leonard Cohen's? It doesn't help me to shake that feeling when they both overemploy the hell out of female backup singers. Oh, and they both kill people in their dreams.

Chestnuts roasted by beastofbourbon @ 09/18/2004 06:14 PM EST

I remember those Shocktober ads. If I recall correctly WPIX did a variation on that for every month 'The November movies of Ch 11' ''The July movies of ch 11' etc, but October was always coolest. Only Pix could get away with including "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" as a horror film.

Chestnuts roasted by Garrison @ 09/18/2004 06:16 PM EST

GOOD JOB, BRIAN! ps. that freddy kruger lp kicks ass.

Chestnuts roasted by ieatpoop @ 09/18/2004 06:21 PM EST

Shocktober beats the hell outta the "Rocktober" radio stations usually have. One OKC station has a "Zepptember" and does Led Zepplin-themed giveaways all month. A little Led for the head does a body good.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 09/18/2004 06:34 PM EST

Hold on, I need to masturbate to this glorious new layout and start decking out the house in my own Halloween garb.

I'm too excited for words. So all I have left to say is: IUQFHRUI6`2356546541$#%*&&#^%fg$#@#$#&^%&^$!!!!!!!!1 WOO!

Chestnuts roasted by Meg @ 09/18/2004 06:42 PM EST

Matt, DON'T SLEEP! DON'T DREAM!

Thanks to you, I know have that Freddy song stuck in my head. Is that even supposed to be Freddy singing or what? I'm sooo confused.

If possible, try and keep the same general layout all year round. Just change the colors, if you will. Because this setup r0xxx0r!

Chestnuts roasted by Evan @ 09/18/2004 06:56 PM EST

I'm compelled to post for the first time to ask: What's with the hostility towards the Crunch bar? You admitted to munching on Krackle in the Shocktober article, so I can only assume you prefer the red wrapper over Nestle's red, white, and blue. Damn commie rat!

Chestnuts roasted by EricG @ 09/18/2004 07:01 PM EST

Thanks for the comments on the design. Matt's modest; he had a ton to do with the concept as well. Glad everyone is enjoying it.

Now get out there and find a costume. I'm going as the Warriors.

Chestnuts roasted by Brian J @ 09/18/2004 07:05 PM EST

G*d damn that Don Dokken...

Chestnuts roasted by Cerebral Parsley @ 09/18/2004 07:40 PM EST

site looks great! thanks brian!
ah the halloween countdown, finally.

they need to have a mcdonalds 'im lovin it' commercial with a little kid trying to rap about XE

Chestnuts roasted by ralph @ 09/18/2004 07:48 PM EST

Matt-I just thought of something. Are we gonna have a return of Madd Matt?

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 09/18/2004 08:05 PM EST

I have to say, that layout fucking rules all. Out of anything I could've expected, I must admit, i'm blown away.

Viva la Countdown!

Chestnuts roasted by Doctor Plusbee @ 09/18/2004 08:11 PM EST

I was the type of kid who if in 5th grade discovered "Instant Halloween" in my plastic pumpkin, would have mistaken it for giant Tic-Tacs and ended up with a new form of Halloween Bellyache altogether. I can't imagine how I escaped a stomach full o-sponge all these years???

Chestnuts roasted by Compton @ 09/18/2004 08:28 PM EST

Brian bend over, cuz I gots lots of kissing to do. I'm with Matt, I've been reading the site for about two years now and this is without a doubt the best layout I've ever, ever seen. All together now, WAY TO GO BRIAN!!!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by The Dude @ 09/18/2004 09:09 PM EST

You better have the Count. I found him in a search on Google for "Killer Rabbit."

I have no idea what the Count thinks he's doing there. He may have fangs, but he doesn't have a cotton tail or floppy ears. And therefore, he's not a rabbit.

Chestnuts roasted by Yama @ 09/18/2004 09:31 PM EST

Why did i see Star Trek and Blade Runner in that clip?

Chestnuts roasted by Led Hed @ 09/18/2004 09:32 PM EST

My comments on here are few and far between but This one struck a chord with me because depsite living in Maryland my cable company carried WPIX in its basic cable line up for years and I LOVED when Shocktober came around since I got to see alot of my favorite horror flicks albeit in horribly edited form

Chestnuts roasted by The Krypt Angel @ 09/18/2004 10:07 PM EST

Awesome layout, Matt! Frequent lurker (all the way back to 2001) and this Halloween version of X-E blows all the others away.

By the way, that's The Creeper (played by Tom Savini, if I remember correctly)from "Creepshow" at the end of the WPIX Shocktober TV ad. I'm not exactly certain which "Creepshow" though.

Chestnuts roasted by Jason @ 09/18/2004 10:07 PM EST

I love the Halloween layout. After reading several of your new Halloween articles, I am reminded of my Halloween experiences as a child. One of the worst being the time I went trick-or-treating with my sister and my mom's friend's daughter. One of the last homes we visited gave my sister and the other girl a dime, the fat bastard threw a piece of popcorn in my bag. That's right, one f'n piece of popcorn. Out of his bowl. From the same bowl he was eating out of.

Then there was the time I received a kid-sized bag of pretzels or or some shit. I was with my friend Mike, and his brother, James, and we were out hitting the usual places that year. Anyway, I was pretty happy about getting an actual snack and not some tooth-rotting candy, so I proceeded to eat the snack. A few minutes later, there's a rumble in my stomach, and then I took off faster than a speeding bullet, for home. I believe that snack was tainted, because no sooner than I got home and sat on the toliet, did the worst case of explosive diarrhea ever occur. It was horrible. Needless to say I didn't go out again that night or the year after.

Oh,and there's the time my friend Mike and another kid ambushed me with Silly String. I was out with a few other friends, and I see my friend Mike walking down the street. We talk for a little bit, and he asks me to hold his candy while he ties his show. I grab the candy and Mike and the other kid whip out two cans of Silly String and just cover me from head to toe. I dropped Mike's candy on the ground and gave him a DDT on someone's front lawn. Good times.

On a more positive note, one year my father gave me this huge cardboard standee of Frankenstein. The thing was used to promote some Halloween candies or snack foods, or even Pepsi, and it was pretty tall. Sadly, my mother threw it out a week later, but it was still cool to have a cardboard Frankenstein in the living room.

Just in case there's a shortage Mountain Dew Pitch Black or it isn't released next year, I'm stocking up. I have about five twelve packs sitting in my basement refrigerator. Maybe in five years or so I can sell it on eBay much like people are doing with Crystal Pepsi.

Anyway, your site kicks ass and keep up the good work.

Chestnuts roasted by charliecucumber @ 09/18/2004 10:25 PM EST

Matt,
The new layout looks awesome...good job Brian. And the articles were a nice beginning to the season...I am looking forward to the next batch...

Chestnuts roasted by Goody @ 09/18/2004 10:29 PM EST

"The package also claims that the body parts look and feel just like the real thing. I'll give them the "look" part, but my fingers and ears don't feel like used condoms. "

Best. Sentence. Ever.

Also, I have read on the net that Pitch Black can turn your feces green if you drink enough of it. Some sort of reaction between the dye and your bile. Do I smell an experiment??

Chestnuts roasted by Dane E. Coffey @ 09/18/2004 10:49 PM EST

Ho...Lee..Shhhhhhhh...hit...That's fricken awesome!

Chestnuts roasted by Mr. Mr. Mr. @ 09/18/2004 11:00 PM EST

HOOORAY! its here! I love halloween and this site makes it that much cooler for every pro and con in the halloween universe!.

Chestnuts roasted by alitnil @ 09/18/2004 11:01 PM EST

Pretty tight layout you got here Matt. Speaking of horror movies, I'm watching Nightmare on Elm Street on Monsters HD.

Chestnuts roasted by Jonathan @ 09/18/2004 11:04 PM EST

This article gets a straight (A) for quotables.

Chestnuts roasted by Creature SH @ 09/18/2004 11:11 PM EST

Awesome layouts, articles, and just plain good site...

... But am I the only one that counts only seven varieties of candy bars on those packs, instead of the promised eight?

"That's right -- eight kinds of candy." <-- Oi?

Chestnuts roasted by Kowai @ 09/18/2004 11:48 PM EST

Ahh, wonderful work, Matt and Brian. I was wondering when you were going to get this year's Halloween layout up, as holidays seem to inspire much of your best work. Last year's Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas articles and the Christmas and Halloween Countdowns were among the best things you ever did, and I've been looking forward to this year's go-around.

As someone who watched the original, pre-WB WPIX a lot as a kid, I do vaguely recall their "Shocktober" festival....but more for the scare-themed episodes than for the movies. I'm not a horror movie fan and still generally avoid them to this day.

I've tried the Pitch Black soda at the grocery store where I work at. They always have big sales on the 20 oz versions of the new soda flavors when they first come out. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, since I normally loathe any kind of grape soda. While not tasting like real grapes, it doesn't taste like grape medicine, either, which is what most grape soda tastes like.

Chestnuts roasted by starwenn @ 09/18/2004 11:55 PM EST

Good God... it's wonderful! Yey Matt and Brian!

Chestnuts roasted by Fairy @ 09/19/2004 12:40 AM EST

1. You reviewed SEVEN candies, not eight. I know someone else mentioned this, but since I'm so original I'm going to mention it again.

2. Raisinettes l-l-last? You couldn't've. You shant've. You mustn't! Why, Matthew? Why Raisinettes? Why not Toblerones or Milky Ways...why? There was time, Matt, all the time in the WORLD, Matt. Why, Matt?

Chestnuts roasted by Josh @ 09/19/2004 01:07 AM EST

Yay for Big Boo getting his due at the title banner! Yay for the really cool music for the Vanilla Dome (da DUM dum da dum...da DUM dum da dum...good Halloween music, come to think of it) and Forest of Illusions! Boo for the Special Zone for no halfway checkpoints. But yay for using two compound words in a row!

Chestnuts roasted by Josh (again) @ 09/19/2004 01:20 AM EST

I agree with you matt I also have a strong disliking for butterfinger bars, I hated getting those for halloween. I'd just give them to my mom.
P.S. Brian did a great job on teh layout.

Chestnuts roasted by pikachulover @ 09/19/2004 02:21 AM EST

I'm not a big fan of chocolate but I have to say my favorite is "Baby Ruth" and "O'Henry" there're both alright. Good article. I'll never get tired of the "Butterfingers", "Simpsons" comericals all good stuff but I don't like picking it out of my teeth.

Chestnuts roasted by Caylor @ 09/19/2004 02:48 AM EST

Freddy how could you?! What a sell out and it wasn't even that good, AUUUUGGGGHHHHH!!! Why?

Chestnuts roasted by Caylor @ 09/19/2004 03:13 AM EST

Normally I'm not a big fan of iframes, but here it looks good. Man, what a layout. It's almost depressing after just finishing that layout for Progressive Boink, but then, I didn't spend very long on that one. Well done. WELL done.

Chestnuts roasted by Fireball @ 09/19/2004 03:56 AM EST

You hate all my favorite candies Matt. You wouldn't happen to like tootsie-rolls, dots, and cinnamon candy would you? It'd be cool if you did, because I'd have an evil twin in candy tastes. A famous evil twin in candy tastes...

Chestnuts roasted by RewolfJ @ 09/19/2004 04:44 AM EST

I miss the old WPIX, especially around halloween. I remember those movies and those spots all too well. "Tonight on WPIX, New York's Movie station (SHOCKTOBER!)" awesome.

Then the WB had to come along and ruin everything with their crappy programming. My area has TWO WB stations, but no UPN. Ridiculous.

Chestnuts roasted by Number 5 @ 09/19/2004 09:07 AM EST

worth the wait, Matt, definately worth the wait.

Chestnuts roasted by jaysee @ 09/19/2004 10:11 AM EST

I do hope we'll get a visit from Madd Matt...

Chestnuts roasted by annalalala @ 09/19/2004 12:53 PM EST

My friends and I have made a new drink with Pitch Black and all the other Mountain Dews. We call it Codename: Mountain Berry Black-Wire Blast. Basically mix equal amounts of all of the five Mountain Dews (Pitch Black, Livewire, Code Red, Baja Blast from Taco Bell, and Regular) in a big pitcher, stir with an old school Kool-Aid spoon, and serve. It's great, highly recommended. The original test was just Pitch Black, Livewire, and Regular because that's all we had when we came up with the idea. The Baja Blast really adds to the flavor and the Pitch Black gives a great after taste. It also tastes very Dewy. I'm also curious if anyone else has ever tried this or if my friends and I are the only ones.

Enjoy

Chestnuts roasted by Pinski @ 09/19/2004 01:01 PM EST

Love the new layout. It looks great and suitably spooky. Especially love the shot of Pennywise the clown. Nothing says Haloween like evil clowns.

Chestnuts roasted by Kay @ 09/19/2004 01:30 PM EST

Aww man I love Crunch bars ha.

Chestnuts roasted by david @ 09/19/2004 02:22 PM EST

I just have to say wow, Brian, Matt, Halloween....hell yea, best website ever.

Chestnuts roasted by NEO @ 09/19/2004 03:12 PM EST

Well, you said it would be worth the wait, so I expected something good. But this is SO much more than I expected. Thanks for the Freddy album!

Chestnuts roasted by Mike @ 09/19/2004 03:26 PM EST

it looks great matt. you never cease to out-do yourself.

Chestnuts roasted by mikey @ 09/20/2004 12:08 AM EST

Something for you to try regarding pitch black mountain dew:
http://www.poopreport.com/Dew/experiment.html

Notice your poo turning green Matt?

Chestnuts roasted by Cobra Soldier #18 @ 09/20/2004 10:09 AM EST

Son of a brat.

Chestnuts roasted by Sweetie @ 09/20/2004 12:08 PM EST

Great job Matt. You truly make the Halloween season that much more fun & interesting (I'm f'n serious). Matt, U Da man!

Chestnuts roasted by J-Dog @ 09/20/2004 12:59 PM EST

Congrats to Brian & Matt on the design, it's great. Always good to see Halloween back up on X-E, this is when things really start to kick off around here and it doesn't slow down untill after New Years. I couldn't make it past the second song on that album so I couldn't say if anything else was worth listening to on it.

Bring on the horror movies and junk food.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt (#2?) @ 09/20/2004 03:51 PM EST

Great site!
Concerning the 9/18 Halloween Countdown. I can't believe you don't like Butterfingers! They remind me so much of Chick-O-Sticks(click name) they were so great! I loved those! Except instead of coconut it's chocolate, but it's the crunchy peanut butter that I liked the most anyways!

Chestnuts roasted by ButterMan @ 09/20/2004 06:59 PM EST

Click on my name for L8est chiaplot parody... Matt's fanbase just expanded.

Yeah well, I'd hardly call S'Affricka the Childlike Empire, klash, too much crime, too many invader weed-species and *gasp* no mountain dew. We have pepsi, but most people save money and drink cat pee - tastes the same, lol.

I see some one else, Unstoppable, loved GalaxyQuest! YESSS!!!!

Chestnuts roasted by childlike eminentfreak feckless mole person @ 09/21/2004 02:41 AM EST

C.E.F.M.P.,

Dude, your link doesn't work. Unless that's what you did that on purpose.

Chestnuts roasted by J-Dog @ 09/21/2004 12:53 PM EST

I've been havin' problems getting to eminentfreak's page, too. But she has said before she does her postings from university, and their computers can get persnickity. She's got evil ponies. I think a few glue traps would help that. heh... glue traps...ironic.

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 09/21/2004 05:05 PM EST

Beware of Mountain Dew Pitch Black! It turns your poop GREEN! http://www.poopreport.com/Dew

Chestnuts roasted by Tydirium @ 09/21/2004 07:00 PM EST

I bought some Pitch Black. Then I went home and stared at the bottle for a few minutes. After contemplating the meaning of existence I was much tiredand needed a refreshing something to drink. So I opened the Pitch Black and Vin Diesel popped out

Chestnuts roasted by Some Random Guy On The Internet @ 09/21/2004 07:46 PM EST

Sorry guys. Shoulda been www.geocities.com/eminentfreak/horsy2.html

Dammit! I didn't do it on porpoise, though.

Chestnuts roasted by eternal -- feckless---mole--etc @ 09/22/2004 10:09 AM EST

Any News on the ever elusive Eighth Chocolate bar?

Chestnuts roasted by MetalRaven @ 09/22/2004 02:08 PM EST

Wow, great layout. Who is the "dracula" guy next to the Halloween Countdown title? He looks familiar.

Chestnuts roasted by schavera @ 09/22/2004 11:43 PM EST

The new layout is beautiful, but Pitch Black tastes like carbonated cough syrup. Or carbonated santorum.

Chestnuts roasted by Barfolomew @ 09/23/2004 10:46 PM EST

Hey Matt-

Did you see they're relaunching Wacky Packs again?

Chestnuts roasted by Daveyw101 @ 09/24/2004 01:01 AM EST

what does mountian dew pitch black
taste like rite me and tell me

Chestnuts roasted by adam edward foresi @ 09/25/2004 01:08 PM EST

brain get a life, it's just a drink . people tell me suicide would be the solution to your problem you loser.

Chestnuts roasted by blue @ 09/26/2004 07:39 PM EST

dude, i love grape. grape soda is the best soda. EVER

Chestnuts roasted by blurr @ 09/27/2004 05:24 AM EST

have you noticed that the pitch black mountain dew fizzes BLUE when you pour it over ice?
And, if you drink enough of it, your poop comes out green. whats that about?

Chestnuts roasted by klwnzilla @ 09/27/2004 06:29 PM EST

Classic New York TV RULES! Loved your nod to WPIX's past...wonder if there are any chances we can see more articles in the future, from not only vintage WPIX (aka 11 Alive back in the day), but also from NY's other Big Three members, WNEW/WNYW-5 and (W)WOR-9?

Do you remember...
TV-PIX (Channel 11 call-in video game where you controlled the action by yelling "PIX!"?
WOR's holiday montage to the tune of Sleigh Ride?
The "mysterious" (and weird to me as a kid) WOR Head logo which was used for I think some promotional events for the station? Would that I could see that one again! I remember seeing it not only on TV, but also on tote bags and baseball caps.
Channel 5's "Forty Years of Fine Tuning" campaign?
"Your choice is 5"?
The Magic Garden?
D.J. Kat?

And the list goes on and on. For the time being, let me also suggest the following two Yahoo! groups:

Vintage NYC TV: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintagenyctv

Channel 5 Fans:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/channel5fan

Chestnuts roasted by James Fabiano @ 09/28/2004 04:36 PM EST

Classic New York TV RULES! Loved your nod to WPIX's past...wonder if there are any chances we can see more articles in the future, from not only vintage WPIX (aka 11 Alive back in the day), but also from NY's other Big Three members, WNEW/WNYW-5 and (W)WOR-9?

Do you remember...
TV-PIX (Channel 11 call-in video game where you controlled the action by yelling "PIX!"?
WOR's holiday montage to the tune of Sleigh Ride?
The "mysterious" (and weird to me as a kid) WOR Head logo which was used for I think some promotional events for the station? Would that I could see that one again! I remember seeing it not only on TV, but also on tote bags and baseball caps.
Channel 5's "Forty Years of Fine Tuning" campaign?
"Your choice is 5"?
The Magic Garden?
D.J. Kat?

And the list goes on and on. For the time being, let me also suggest the following two Yahoo! groups:

Vintage NYC TV: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintagenyctv

Channel 5 Fans:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/channel5fan

Chestnuts roasted by James Fabiano @ 09/28/2004 04:37 PM EST

Classic New York TV RULES! Loved your nod to WPIX's past...wonder if there are any chances we can see more articles in the future, from not only vintage WPIX (aka 11 Alive back in the day), but also from NY's other Big Three members, WNEW/WNYW-5 and (W)WOR-9?

Do you remember...
TV-PIX (Channel 11 call-in video game where you controlled the action by yelling "PIX!"?
WOR's holiday montage to the tune of Sleigh Ride?
The "mysterious" (and weird to me as a kid) WOR Head logo which was used for I think some promotional events for the station? Would that I could see that one again! I remember seeing it not only on TV, but also on tote bags and baseball caps.
Channel 5's "Forty Years of Fine Tuning" campaign?
"Your choice is 5"?
The Magic Garden?
D.J. Kat?

And the list goes on and on. For the time being, let me also suggest the following two Yahoo! groups:

Vintage NYC TV: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vintagenyctv

Channel 5 Fans:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/channel5fan

Chestnuts roasted by James Fabiano @ 09/28/2004 04:38 PM EST

In reference to the Mountain Dew Pitch Black... it was not released as a holiday-themed "halloween" drink. It's just another experiment that soda companies are doing in terms of adding flavors.

Chestnuts roasted by Jessica @ 09/29/2004 05:42 PM EST

>have you noticed that the pitch black mountain dew fizzes BLUE when you pour it over ice?
And, if you drink enough of it, your poop comes out green. whats that about?

The way to get black color is to mix a lot of blue and a little red food coloring.

Blue food coloring doesn't get absorbed by your body at all; it simply goes through you and comes out the other end. Poop is normally full of a bunch of yellow pigment (the "normal" brown is actually a lot of yellow with a little bit of green and a little bit of red). Mix yellow and blue, and you get green.

Chestnuts roasted by Eric @ 09/30/2004 03:00 AM EST

I didn't realize it until I read it in a book that WPIX's stylized "11" logo (seen as the second "O" in the "Shocktober" logo in Matt's writeup) was supposed to be both the number 11 and the World Trade Center.

It has nothing to do with Halloween, but I watched a lot of 'PIX in my day growing up in Northern N.J., and I never even thought about it.

Chestnuts roasted by R.W.Mead @ 10/04/2004 01:14 PM EST

Oh God MAtt, we've seen you eat some not so good stuff on this site. But Mountain Dew?????

Now we know oyu've lost it.

Chestnuts roasted by top1214 @ 10/07/2004 11:50 AM EST

My boyfriend is from Canisteo(that place with the "Living Sign" - he used to actually have to trim that damn thing every other day one summer), so I showed him this ad, and he actually remembered it.

Chestnuts roasted by Sara @ 10/11/2004 03:22 AM EST

Ah, man Shocktober....the one TV event that promised each and every kid in the Tri-State area at least TWO FULL viewings of "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow", and probably "The Fog", as well.

"Hurry, before The Fog rolls in!"

Come to think of it, WPIX really prided itself far more than any other station on its ample access to "Dark Night Of The Scarecrow"......

Chestnuts roasted by Handsome Sam @ 10/11/2004 04:53 PM EST

I've tried the Pitch Black Mountain Dew, not great and if you mix it with gingerale, you'd swear you were drinking Schwepps Dry Grape Gingerale.

Chestnuts roasted by drkcloud4u @ 10/27/2004 12:29 AM EST

Hell, I remember WPIX Shocktober very well. I was glued to the couch each and every night with the promise of a truly horrible TV edit version of some of the worst in horror films (the Night of the Creeps, anyone?). I even remember going through the TV Guide in order to plan my weekly schedule around the best movies. On another note, does anyone remember the Saturday Morning Cartoons Against Drugs special episode? Has X ever done a write-up on it? Please say yes.

Chestnuts roasted by dancejimmy @ 11/05/2004 04:59 PM EST