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"Shock Theater" became a popular Friday night feature on Ch.7 until the program moved to WOR TV Ch.9 in NYC around 1960. Sadly, the studio space at WOR TV was even smaller than the one at WABC TV which again made it hard for Zacherle to perform his sight gags and special effects. He was also hampered by restrictions for acquiring props for the series due to union regulations. If props were needed for a certain skit, they had to obtained by a stage hand from the union and it took them a while before those items could be obtained. The series also had to be pre-taped on Thursday afternoons at Ch.9's 1440 Broadway facilities where one of those shows was inadvertently edited by the station's videotape editor. As Zacherle explained, "We taped the show and I had to go (back) to Philadelphia so I wasn't able to pick up the show down there but people were telling me that they (the station) were doing something wrong with the screening (of your movie). It turns out that during the taping (the video editor) was fast forwarding the tape of the show because he had to catch the last train to long Island. So he wiped out five minutes of a segment of the show." The series was also forced to accept a film package where Zacherle screened old murder mystery films most of these crime dramas featured character actress Edna Mae Oliver as a school teacher, who solved murders aided by a frustrated police detective played by James Gleason. The series did air one movie that came as close to a classic horror flick Mighty Joe Young. Where Zacherle was able to appear in numerous scenes with the movie’s three leads: Terry Moore, Bruce Cabot, Frank McHugh and Robert Armstrong. Eventually, the program's title changed to "Zacherley At 12" later to "Zacherley At Large" and finally "Zacherley." The show also moved to a Saturday morning timeslot but with the change in the schedule he had to cope with technical problems due to the fact that the tape machines were installed at The Empire State Building and the studio was still at 1440 Broadway which made it difficult for Zacherle to prepare his programs for broadcast. Hence "Zacherle" was seen briefly on Ch.9 during the 1960 tv season. He didn't return to the NYC airways until the fall of 1963 when he was invited to mc a cartoon show. During the early 1960s, many TV stations were showing programs featuring comedy performers who did humor aimed at adults, teens and kids. WPIX TV decided to create and present a block of shows that utilized the talents of Chuck McCann, Eddie Lawrence and John Zacherle. McCann hosted a weekday afternoon version of his Sunday morning comedy/variety series "Let’s Have Fun," Eddie Lawrence would perform comedy skits and read viewers mail between the reruns of "The Three Stooges" films and Zacherle would perform skits in-between the presentation of "The Mighty Hercules" cartoons. Former Providence, Rhode Island kids TV host/performer turned NYC based children's television producer and scriptwriter Chet Dowling recalled how Zacherle was chosen to MC the program in a March 13, 1988 interview. "I believe that I first joined WPIX TV (in the fall of) 1962. I was set to work on all of them (Ch.11's kids tv shows) not just one. At that time The Merry Mailman, The Friendly Fireman" (Editor's note: the show's actual title was "The Three Stooges Firehouse"), "Captain Jack" (McCarthy), Joe Bolton and Chuck McCann." "The formats were never different, I didn't change any of the formats whatsoever. The only thing that I did later (on) was when Todd Russell was leaving (and) he was to be replaced by a new kids show. I had to go out and audition a lot of people to decide what was to go in there and wound up doing The Mighty Hercules Show with John Zacherle." "John Zacherle set up his basic laboratory that he used on Shock Theater which was old medical laboratory things that actually belonged to his brother. His brother was a doctor, who collected old medical props and he gave them to John and John used them on the show." Chet also changed Zacherle's interpretation of his monster character making him more kid friendly. "It was pretty much the same format that was used on the horror show. We just gave it a little more smoother effect for the children, a little more tongue in cheek, a little more lighter and more things to go wrong for John and not frighten them (the kids)." Zacherle also appeared in and out of the cartoons and commented on the stories and character of the films. On one program Zacherle appeared as himself and as his horror show persona via a primitive version of split screen. He also made guest appearances on "The Clay Cole Show," on The United Cerebral Palsy "Celebrity Parade Telethons" on his former station WOR TV and both he and Chuck McCann made a brief cameo appearance on "The Eddie Lawrence Show." When Chuck McCann was unable to do his show for a week, Zacherle mc'd the program as himself dressed in a suit and tie. Despite the success of the comedy skits that he performed on the program. He felt uncomfortable hosting a cartoon series. Zacherle left "The Mighty Hercules Show" and he briefly mc'd "The Three Stooges Show" on Ch.11 during the late fall of 1963 (following Eddie Lawrence's abrupt departure from the series) into January of 1964. Eventually, he returned to the horror show concept when the station execs at Ch.11 assigned him to mc "Chiller Theater" on Saturday nights during the 1964 season but the series wasn't successful due to the fact that the only films that were screened on the program were science fiction movies from the late 1950's and forgettable flicks like "Attack Of The Puppet People." "Chiller Theater" only lasted one season. Zacherle left WPIX TV in NYC and went to WNJU TV Ch.47 in Newark, New Jersey to mc his last regular TV series a weekday afternoon rock and roll dance and music show for teens "Zacherle’s Disco Teen." The program was on the air from 1965 until it was cancelled in 1967. Zacherle left local TV for a new career as a rock radio DJ first for WNEW Radio and later for WPLJ Radio. He also made guest appearances on TV talk shows and specials EG's WOR TV Ch.9 NYC's 35th anniversary on Tuesday night October 11, 1984 on WPIX TV Ch.11 NYC's 40th Anniversary tribute (which was taped inside of the last Horn and Hardart Automat on E. 42nd Street and Third Ave) airing Thursday night September 29, 1988 on WCAU TV Ch.10, Philly's 40th anniversary tribute also in 1988, and on a tribute to Philly's kids TV shows which aired on the PBS TV affiliate in Pa. He was also the subject of numerous books about his career on horror shows and in NYC kids TV Zacherle also rereleased his shows on VHS and later on dvd. And he was reunited with his fellow NYC kids TV contemporaries: Soupy Sales, Chuck McCann, "Capt. Jack" McCarthy and Sonny Fox at a seminar honoring their efforts as popular kids TV personalities at The Museum Of TV & Radio in November of 1994. Zacherle was also inducted into The Horror Hosts Hall Of Fame in 2011. His last public appearances was at "The Chiller Theater" conventions in The Meadowlands, New Jersey and in Parsippany, New Jersey. John Zacherle passed way on Thursday October 27, 2016 but his contributions
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