It was 10:30 p.m. on a Friday night during the mid or late 1990s! Science-fiction fans from across Iowa (and from near the Iowa border in neighboring states) would tune into Iowa Public Television to be greeted by the image of a bearded middle-aged man who appeared to be floating in front of a what looked like a computer screen saver. This man, who was (during the 1990s) typically dressed in a three-piece suit, was Mike Frisbie (born January 4, 1948-died July 9, 2008). He would first introduce the viewers to an episode of Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler before returning to introduce the viewers to episodes of science-fiction/fantasy programs, which always included Doctor Who in the program block's weekly line-up.
This weekly program block was Iowa Public Television's Sci-Fi Friday Night. This wasn't IPTV's first hosted presentation of science fiction. During the mid-1980s, IPTV once had a series called Watch the Sky in which the show's host presented (and later analyzed) older science fiction films. Although Watch the Sky was an excellent television series, the Sci-Fi Friday Night program block was probably much more popular. Sci-Fi Friday Night started from the weekly broadcasts of the British series, Doctor Who, which had aired on IPTV every Friday night since the 1980s.
One Friday night during the early 1990s, Mike Frisbie made his first appearance as host (without any explanation or fanfare). Frisbie was most often seated and appeared to float around in front of a constantly-changing computer-generated image. This block of shows expanded to include other science-fiction/fantasy shows, most of which were from the UK. The program block's title, Sci-Fi Friday Night, was also added. The shows in the middle of the program block varied over time; but, the block always started with Jack Horkheimer: Star Hustler and always included Doctor Who (with the individual episodes of a given story edited together into a longer movie format).
After September 11, 2001, the program block was moved to Saturday nights (and renamed Sci-Fi Saturday Night) to make room for BBC news on Friday nights. This move from Fridays to Saturdays was reported to have been very unpopular with the program block's fans, who were reported to have always been vocal whenever they didn't like something. During its run on Saturday night's, Mike Frisbie became known for wearing bizarre costumes. The program block continued on Saturday nights until IPTV's 2004 announcement (on its official Sci-Fi Saturday Night website) that the hosted segments would be discontinued due to budget constraints. Afterwards, the Saturday night line-up of shows continued but without Mike Frisbie serving as host.
Mike Frisbie's introductions to the various shows were brief, perhaps no more than a couple of minutes in length. He would include a mixture of information and humor within each introduction. More than anything else, Mike Frisbie was the master of ceremonies who would turn Sci-Fi Friday/Saturday Night into a weekly event for its fans. Mike Frisbie also gained a fan following of his own.
Most fans of the Saturday night program block will probably always remember it (affectionately) by its former name Sci-Fi Friday Night. Viewers who tune into IPTV (now called Iowa PBS) on Saturday nights will still find Doctor Who on the weekly schedule. However, fans of Sci-Fi Friday/Saturday Night will probably always miss seeing Mike Frisbie's hosted segments.
Whenever Iowa Public Television held one of its pledge drives, the ones which were held during the weekly Sci-Fi Friday Night time slot were especially fun for fans to watch. For a number of years, Mike Frisbie was joined by pledge drive host, Mark Pearson (born September 8, 1957-died June 3, 2012), who was better known as the host of the nationally-syndicated farm series, Market to Market. However, during the pledge drives after 10:30 p.m. on Friday nights, Pearson demonstrated that he had a much more playful side, exchanging humorous remarks with Mike Frisbie while expressing enthusiasm for Doctor Who as the high-energy co-host. During these pledge drives, the telephones were answered by volunteers who were usually dressed as science-fiction characters (most frequently as the various Doctors from Doctor Who).
During the pledge drives, the Sci-Fi Friday Night program block often aired special programs for its fans. The twentieth anniversary Doctor Who episode, The Five Doctors was occasionally aired during these pledge drives. Sometimes, a Jon Pertwee Doctor Who story with newly-restored color or a recently-recovered lost Doctor Who episode would be shown. Other programs, which showed interviews or behind-the-scenes footage (from different shows in the program block's line-up), were often broadcast. One year, Iowa Public Television even aired its own interview with Doctor Who's Janet Fielding (an interview which was recorded when the British actress happened to be passing through the Midwestern part of the US). Colin Baker, who had played the sixth Doctor on Doctor Who, was hosted by IPTV on December 5, 2003.
Sci-Fi Friday Night and Sci-Fi Saturday Night were the copyrighted properties of Iowa Public Television (IPTV). IPTV is not responsible for the contents of this article. No copyright infringements were intended in the writing of this article, which was written as a tribute to the weekly TV program block.
This web project should not be confused with SFFN.COM, which is a separate website (which has been online for more than two decades longer than this article has been). SFFN.COM has enjoyed a long association with (as well as the blessing of) the Sci-Fi Friday Night program block's production staff at IPTV. Cheers to T.R. Sammis (the author/curator of SFFN.COM) for keeping that website online long after IPTV reverted the Sci-Fi Friday/Saturday Night program block back to the simple unhosted weekly Doctor Who broadcast from which that program block originated in the first place.