GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - Paul Magers has been gone from KARE 11 and the Twin Cities for 13 years, but his time here remains burned into the memory of many Minnesotans. That's due in large part to his unique voice and on-camera cool under fire, but also because he loved a good gag... and never took himself too seriously.
The list of Paul's shenanigans is long (he was here for 20 years), but one of the most memorable and recurring bits was 'Count Randula', where he would deliver the nightly 10 p.m. sports tease by reading a list of fictitious stories that viewers would not see, all in a voice that would make the real Count Dracula jealous. But the cheesiest part of the gag is that Paul's mouth would be superimposed over a graphic of Randy Shaver made up as a vampire, complete with widows peak and cape. Theme music from the vampire-inspired soap opera Dark Shadows would lurk eerily in the background.
The tease would always end the same way, with a loud howl... followed by a spasm of coughing.
Tonight in the extra, Paul will talk about the creation of Count Randula, what he'll remember about his time at KARE, and where his life is headed now since retiring from the world of television news.