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Off Beat Cinema is a locally produced, nationally syndicated television show now in its 18th year featuring the best of sci-fi classics, campy creature features, foreign and classic art films. Find it online at www.offbeatcinema.com.
Off Beat Cinema is a locally produced, nationally syndicated television show now in its 18th year featuring the best of sci-fi classics, campy creature features, foreign and classic art films. Find it online at www.offbeatcinema.com.
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Off Beat Cinema moves to WBBZ

by jmaloni
Sat, Jul 7th 2012 01:00 am

Now on Channel 67 after 18 years at Channel 7; opportunity to re-energize show

Off Beat Cinema announced this week that, effective Saturday, Aug. 4, the show will move to WBBZ Channel 67 and will air at midnight on Saturday nights.

Off Beat Cinema is a two-hour hosted movie show featuring the best - and worst - of sci-fi classics, campy creature features, foreign and classic art films. The show was created by Paragon Advertising principal James Gillan and Channel 7's then Program and Creative Services Manager John DiSciullo, and first aired as a local program, launched on Halloween weekend 1993, went national in January 1997, and quickly became a late-night cult favourite with legions of loyal fans. It can now be seen in more than 100 markets nationwide on the RTV network and numerous independent stations.

Bob Koshinski, vice president and general manager at WBBZ, said of the move, "I have always been a fan of the midnight movie concept and the colorful hosts who have made long careers out of entertaining viewers. Off Beat Cinema has stood the test of time and has become a fixture in the Buffalo market. We are thrilled to add it to the classic and nostalgic themes programming we offer at WBBZ-TV."

The show is set in the fictitious Hungry Ear coffeehouse and hosted by the coffee-guzzling beatnik hipsters, the Hepcats: Maxwell Truth ("Airborne Eddie" Dobosiewicz); Bird (Tony Billoni); and Zelda (Connie McEwen Caldwell) who are joined each week by a rotating array of actors/actresses and musical guests. Over the years luminaries such as William Shatner, Lauren Bacall, Keanu Reeves, Pete Best, the Barenaked Ladies, Ani DiFranco, the Goo Goo Dolls and countless others have stopped by to share their love of off-beat movies with the Hepcats.

Gillan concluded: "We are deeply grateful to everyone at Channel 7 who, over the years, helped make the show possible. And at the same time, we are very excited about the new time slot and promotional opportunities this move to WBBZ will generate, and the ability to reach a new audience. To all of our longtime fans and to those who will discover the show for the first time, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or check our website at www.offbeatcinema.com for updates, and keep watching the skies."

Viewers can find WBBZ Channel 67 on the following carriers: Time Warner Cable (Channel 5); DirecTV (Channel 67); Dish Network (Channel 5); and Verizon FiOS (Channel 5).

WBBZ Channel 67, "Buffalo's Buzz," is online at www.wbbz.tv.

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