Morgus the Magnificent: New Orleans' Mad Scientist

The Morgus

Before horror hosts became a national phenomenon, before Elvira and before the internet turned every city's local TV weirdness into a shared memory, New Orleans had Morgus the Magnificent — and he was magnificent.

Sid Noel Rideau created the character of Morgus in 1959 for WDSU-TV in New Orleans. The premise was simple: a mad scientist named Dr. Momus Alexander Morgus hosted horror movies from his laboratory in the abandoned Old City Ice House. His assistant was a mute, hooded figure named Chopsley. The humor was dry, the special effects were nonexistent, and the show was absolutely beloved.

Morgus ran on and off for decades — on WDSU, then on other local stations — and became one of the most enduring characters in New Orleans television history. The show spawned a feature film, The Wacky World of Dr. Morgus, in 1962. But the real legacy was the character himself: a mad genius in a lab coat who felt like he belonged in New Orleans the way Jackson Square or the Café Du Monde sign belonged in New Orleans.

Rideau played Morgus with a commitment that elevated what could have been a cheap gag into something genuinely entertaining. The character became a local institution — the kind of thing that New Orleanians of a certain generation remember with a fondness that borders on reverence. You either grew up watching Morgus or you didn't, and if you did, you never forgot him.

In a city famous for its characters — both real and invented — Morgus the Magnificent holds a special place. He was New Orleans television at its most creative, most eccentric, and most fun. And like all the best New Orleans traditions, he kept coming back, decade after decade, because some things are too good to let die.