The Hilarious House of Frightenstein

Did You Know?

• Comedian Mike Myers acknowledged the show as an important formative influence on his comedy in his 2016 book Mike Myers' Canada.
• In 2024, Lev Gleason's New Friday announced a continuation of the series as a one-shot digest comic written by Carson Demmans with art by Jason Sylvestre.
• The show was referenced in the first episode of the Ed the Sock program This Movie Sucks!, with Ed commenting they have the coffee maker from the series.

Origins

The concept originated with Riff Markowitz, who invited creative friends to a brainstorming dinner party at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Toronto. CHCH had previously broadcast two Markowitz shows: The Randy Dandy Show and The Ed Allen Show. The station approved Frightenstein to capitalize on its new ability to reach the Toronto market for advertising revenue. Horror icon Vincent Price starred in introductions, attracted by the chance to do something for children; he filmed nearly 400 segments in four days for $13,000. Julius Sumner Miller, an American scientist, appeared in every episode with straightforward science lessons. In Canada, the show aired as a children's program in after-school or weekend morning slots, while in the United States it often aired late night for college students. Mitch Markowitz noted the show was always intended to appeal to both kids and young adult alternative comedy fans. Writers included Markowitz, Paul K. Willis, and Michael Boncoeur.

Characters

Each episode was nominally structured around Count Frightenstein's efforts to revive Brucie J. Monster, but most sketches depicted unrelated castle events. Count Frightenstein (Billy Van), the 13th son of Count Dracula, was exiled to Castle Frightenstein in Frankenstone for failing to revive Brucie; he could return to Transylvania only upon success. He preferred pizza over blood and fancied himself an inventor, though his inventions were dangerous, useless, or not improvements on common objects. Igor (Fishka Rais) was his incompetent assistant. Supporting characters played by Van included the Wolfman, a werewolf disk jockey at radio station EECH who spun rock records while doing a Wolfman Jack impression; his theme song was Sly and the Family Stone's 'I Want to Take You Higher'. The Grammar Slammer was a disembodied voice challenging Igor to correct grammatical errors, accompanied by an eight-foot purple monster named Bammer (Joe Torbay) who threatened Igor if he failed. Van never appeared on screen opposite Miller or Price.

Home media

A single DVD of U.S.-syndicated episodes, complete with a laugh track, came out from Empire Pictures on October 18, 2005. The next year, on October 17, Alliance Atlantis Home Video in Canada issued a three-disc set of 13 full-length episodes with the Wolfman segments put back, though the episodes were not in order because only those with cleared music were included. The Wolfman theme was swapped for new music by the Tijuana Bibles, and a Toronto actor redubbed Van’s voice after his 2003 death. Critical Mass Releasing Inc. brought the series to CHUM Television stations in 2006, and a second set of nine episodes followed in late 2008. On July 19, 2019, the full series, minus the Wolfman segments, began streaming on Crave in Canada.