Late Night Memories: Special Delivery

When it came to bubbly, buxom blondes in the early nineties, Rhonda Shear obviously reigned supreme. A goddess among women, Rhonda single-handedly taught me what it meant to lust after a startlingly sexy, two-dimensional form on my television screen. Yet, when it came to late night movie hosting, Rhonda’s pal Joe Bob Briggs brought along his own bubbly, buxom blonde whose eye-popping cleavage practically spilled out of her tops and into the laps of horny teenage boys all across America (If only!). Honey Michelle Gregory (her actual birth name) was the first in a long line of “Mail Girls” on Joe Bob’s various movie shows, and to this day she remains a fan favorite.

Joe Bob, about to be smothered by Honey’s jugs.

Honey would join Joe Bob on set during certain interstitial segments, bringing along reader mail, first on Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater on The Movie Channel and then TNT’s MonsterVision. Both shows followed the same format—the witty and intelligent Joe Bob hosted horror and exploitation movies while dropping copious amounts of knowledge on viewers over the course of each episode. Honey, whose blonde bimbo exterior belied sharp comic sensibilities, served as a perfect foil to Joe Bob’s scholar of horror. Honey’s reaction shots to Joe Bob’s entertaining dissertations on horror were priceless. She had a real flair for playing the exasperated straight woman, laying the foundation for a series of Mail Girls who would do the same after Honey moved on (I’m especially looking at you, Rusty, for a future post).

Honey‘a patented lean forward sent ratings through the roof and sent young viewers’ hormones raging.

After leaving MonsterVision, Gregory went to law school and today practices family law. A few seasons ago, Honey returned to visit Joe Bob and Darcy (the current Mail Girl!) on an episode of The Last Drive-In, Briggs’ current movie-hosting gig on Shudder. It was a nice reunion, and a reminder that this trailblazing blonde deserves recognition for her place in Joe Bob’s illustrious, horror-hosting history. After all, Honey Gregory is basically the Neal Armstrong of Mail Girls. Back in the day, she flew us to the moon every weekend, and it was always a helluva ride.