Before every television network began airing their very own original dramas, basic cable was like the Wild West. TBS, TNT, and USA would air whatever they could get their hands on, be it shoddy prints of Three Stooges shorts, Atlanta Braves baseball, or made-for-TV movies. And for horror fans who maybe actually had some boundaries at home and weren’t allowed to rent the latest Friday The 13th flick from the video store, basic cable was probably their first introduction to Jason Voorhees. By the mid to late ’80s, the Friday night horror host concept had gone largely by the wayside, but the USA Network kept the Elvira/Svengoolie flame burning with Commander USA’s Groovie Movies and Up All Night. Today being Friday The 13th, The A.V. Club is featuring both hosts introducing films from the Camp Crystal Lake saga.
Commander USA is the second superhero from New Jersey—The Toxic Avenger being the first—and broadcast horror double features from a secret base underneath a shopping mall. The show ran Saturday afternoons on the USA Network and would feature a double feature of trashy cinema ranging from horror, to sci-fi to Mexican luchador movies. Commander USA was portrayed by Jim Hendricks, a working actor who drove a cab on the side to make ends meet. After Commander USA ended in 1989, Hendricks went on to do Broadway shows and even made an appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which, ironically, is what viewers are more likely to see Saturday afternoons on the USA Network these days. Due to issues with licensing rights to the films Commander USA would showcase, there will probably never be an official release of the show on home video, but thanks to YouTube user CommanderUSAFan818, fans can enjoy the bumper segments. In this clip, the Commander introduces Friday The 13th Part 3: