Any self respecting Bay Area nerd knew Bob Wilkins from his days as the host of “Creature Features” and “Captain Cosmic” (my secret crypto-code fan club card is number 08236 in case you are interested) on Channel 2 (KTVU) during that bygone age of the mid to late 70′s. Bob passed away on January 7, 2009 due to complications from Alzheimers. Both of his shows had a profound effect on my life and Bob’s enthusiasm for all things Horror and Sci-Fi has fueled my passion for VFX for as long as I can remember. This is the man (along with his faithful side-kick 2T2) that single handedly introduced me to Ultraman, Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robots, Starblazers and who could forget Bambi vs Godzilla. I don’t know if he set out to do anything more than capitalize on the Star Wars craze that was sweeping the nation at the time, but whatever the reason Wilkins ended up bringing a lot of joy to the kids of the Bay Area. So long Bob, thanks, and remember “Truth Prevails”.
LINK to memorial slide show on Bob’s site
Here’s the “Capt. Cosmic Secret Crypto-Code”. I waited 3 weeks to get my card back in 1978/9 … I was watching Star Blazers when a 4.5 earthquake hit while in San Jose … I loved this show. At least San Francisco’s KTVU channel 2 had some good programming on at the time …
A – 5 B – 11 C – 19 D – 6 E – 13 F – 22 G – 15 H – 7 I – 20 J – 17 K – 1 L – 12 M – 25 N – 8 0 – 24 P – 14 Q – 26 R – 10 S – 23 T – 2 U – 4 V – 3 W – 16 X – 21 Y – 9 Z – 18
P.S.: My card is for sale to anyone who has interest…? Desire Duesenburg – you’ll find me in “Second Life” also a project out of freaky San Francisco! Hope to hear from you – who know’s who’s listening if at all!?