Barry Lee Hobart (June 23, 1941 – January 14, 2011) was a local television personality widely known to fans as Dr. Creep. He was a horror movie host on WKEF Television in Dayton, Ohio.
In 1971, WKEF management began looking for a gimmick to garner ratings on Saturday nights. When Hobart suggested a late-night horror movie show, station management accepted the idea; encouraged by colleagues, Hobart himself auditioned for the hosting job by donning a monk's robe, fangs and skull-like make-up, initially calling himself "Dr. Death". After Hobart was given the job the fangs were abandoned and the skull face motif toned down for being too fearsome, and the character's name was changed to "Dr. Creep".
Shock Theater premiered on Saturday, January 1, 1972 and was a fixture on WKEF for thirteen years. The title was also spelled Shock Theatre and by 1977 that spelling remained. During that time, Dr. Creep co-hosted Clubhouse 22, a popular weekday afternoon kids show, adding to his local star power.
Like many other late-night horror shows, Shock Theater/Shock Theatre played classic "B" horror films, with bumpers and breaks featuring the host, leaning more toward the humorous than the horrific.
By the mid 1970s, Shock Theater/Shock Theatre had moved to Saturday afternoons, garnering a younger following. The show was moved back to late Saturday night by 1977; then was renamed Saturday Night Dead when WKEF changed network affiliations on January 1, 1980 and the show followed NBC's Saturday Night Live. But by the early 1980s, the show's humor had become more risqué, causing increasing clashes with station management. Consequently, Shock Theater/Shock Theatre ended its run in March 1985, but Hobart remained a Master Control Operator at WKEF for six more years.