For more than a decade, Michael "Mike" Charles Frisbie was known as the floating host of Iowa Public Television's weekly science-fiction program block called Sci-Fi Friday Night (renamed Sci-Fi Saturday Night after the program block's move to Saturday nights in 2001). Every week, Frisbie's clever introductions to the shows within the block contained a mixture of humor and information. In a 2003 interview with Cityview, Mike Frisbie dismissed his own celebrity status, claiming that he didn't have fans. However, the large number of video clips of Frisbie's SFFN introductions (which were uploaded to YouTube years after Frisbie's death) would tend to indicate otherwise.
According to his obituary, Mike Frisbie was born in Chicago, Illinois on January 4, 1948. After graduating from Clear Lake High School in Clear Lake, Iowa; Frisbie attended Drake University, where he managed theater and also taught the history of rock and roll. Mike Frisbie was the publisher of an underground newspaper called The Daily Planet and the founder of the Nosferatu Society. He was also president of Nosferatu Productions. Mike Frisbie worked as a disc jockey for KFMG-FM in Des Moines, Iowa.
During the early 1990's, Mike Frisbie became the host of IPTV's Sci-Fi Friday Night science-fiction program block. During his interview with Cityview, Mike Frisbie said that he liked and appreciated Doctor Who; but, he acknowledged that he really wasn't a Whovian, preferring Red Dwarf instead. Initially, he wore three-piece suits during the SFFN segments; but, he later became known for wearing more unusual clothes during the SFSN segments.
Mike Frisbie retired from television after Iowa Public Television made its 2004 announcement that it would be discontinuing the hosted segments for Sci-Fi Saturday Night. Afterwards, he worked for Borders Bookstore in Des Moines, Iowa and then moved back to Clear Lake, Iowa in 2007. Mike Frisbie passed away in Mason City, Iowa on July 9, 2008.
Mike Frisbie is still remembered fondly and missed very much by his Sci-Fi Friday/Saturday Night fans!
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 host of the weekly TV program block.