Svengoolie
Encyclopedia
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
programs in the Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
metropolitan area. It has been added to other markets around the United States via Me-TV.
The shows re-air various (and often low-budget) horror and science-fiction movies, hosted by horror host
Horror host
Horror hosts are a particular type of television presenter, often tasked with presenting low-grade films to television audiences. This tradition is primarily American, though there have been a few international hosts over the years.-Film Packages:...
"Svengoolie" (a play on the word Svengali
Svengali
Svengali is a fictional character of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. Svengali "would either fawn or bully and could be grossly impertinent. He had a kind of cynical humour that was more offensive than amusing and always laughed at the wrong thing, at the wrong time, in the wrong place...
), currently played by Rich Koz
Rich Koz
Rich Koz is a Chicago area actor and broadcaster best known as horror-movie host Svengoolie. Out of costume, he is also the knowledgeable host of the syndicated Three Stooges Stooge-a-Palooza program.- Beginnings :...
, who wears face makeup, a wig, and top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
. Just before, and just after, commercial breaks in the film, the character presents various sketches, tells corny jokes, and presents song parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
spoofing the film being aired. Some shows were even presented in what was later dubbed "Sven-surround" (a pun on the phrase "surround sound
Surround sound
Surround sound encompasses a range of techniques such as for enriching the sound reproduction quality of an audio source with audio channels reproduced via additional, discrete speakers. Surround sound is characterized by a listener location or sweet spot where the audio effects work best, and...
") in which Svengoolie would make jokes as the film aired (similarly to MST3K); but, sound effects would be played over the movie, as well. This was discontinued for a short time, but brought back due to viewer request -- though only as a clip segment aired outside the actual film, not as the previously-done over-dub.
History
Svengoolie debuted on Screaming Yellow Theater, which aired on WFLDWFLD
WFLD, virtual channel 32 , is the Fox owned-and-operated television station, based in Chicago, Illinois; through its parent company News Corporation, the station is owned in a duopoly with area MyNetworkTV affiliate WPWR-TV...
(Channel 32) from September 18, 1970 until late-summer 1973. Svengoolie was played in this series by Jerry G. Bishop. In later seasons, Rich Koz -- a fan of the show who used to send-in sketch ideas -- became one of the show's writers.
On June 16, 1979, Son of Svengoolie debuted on WFLD, with Koz in the title role. The show also aired briefly on other sister (i.e., Field Communications
Field Communications
Field Communications was a division of Field Enterprises, which owned the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Daily News. The company owned independent television stations in the United States, with WFLD-TV in Chicago as its largest-market station....
-controlled) stations in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Detroit. This series ran until WFLD (at that time owned by Metromedia
Metromedia
Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...
) was sold to Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
's Fox Television Stations Group
Fox Television Stations Group
Fox Television Stations, Inc. is a group of television stations located within the United States which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of the Fox Entertainment Group, part of News Corporation...
in 1986 to become a part of the newly-created Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
network. The new management canceled the show after deciding it was not an appropriate fit for their new programming direction. After 334 shows, the final episode aired January 25, 1986. Koz later returned to WFLD in various capacities, mainly as the host of its Fox Kids Club and The Koz Zone weekday afternoon children's programming, even appearing as an announcer on the Fox network's 1988 New Year's Eve broadcast.
The series returned to the air on December 31, 1994 on WCIU
WCIU-TV
WCIU-TV is an independent television station located in Chicago, Illinois. It operates on UHF digital channel 27 and is Chicago's oldest UHF station, signing on the air in 1964. WCIU-TV is the flagship station of Weigel Broadcasting, a locally-based broadcaster which has owned the station since...
(Channel 26), using just "Svengoolie" as its name; Koz took over the role of Svengoolie when Bishop told Koz that he "believed he was grown up enough now to no longer be just the Son." The show opens with a reference to early radio broadcasting: "Calling all stations, clear the air lanes, clear all air lanes for the big broadcast." Koz also hosts a weekly Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
Stooge-a-palooza show on WCIU.
A running gag
Running gag
A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling....
throughout the series is the repeated utterance of the word "Berwyn
Berwyn, Illinois
Berwyn is a city in Cook County, Illinois, co-existent with Berwyn Township, which was formed in 1908 after breaking off from Cicero Township. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,016.-Demographics:...
", the name of a Chicago suburb
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
. (This was a parody of the way "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" and Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
would jokingly refer to "Beautiful Downtown Burbank."
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
) Another recurring gag involves rubber chicken
Rubber chicken
A rubber chicken is a prop used in comedy. The phrase is also used as a description for food served at speeches, conventions, and other large meetings, and as a metaphor for speechmaking.-Comedy:...
s being thrown at Svengoolie after a cornier-than-usual joke -- usually at the end of each episode's closing sketch. Koz and the show have won numerous regional Emmy awards, and Koz was admitted to the Emmy "Silver Circle" in 2004 for "outstanding contributions to Chicago television."
The series also airs on Chicago's WWME-CA
WWME-CA
WWME-CA is a class A station in Chicago, Illinois. It is owned by Weigel Broadcasting, which also owns sister stations WCIU-TV and WMEU-CA. This station is the flagship of the Me-TV network. Me-TV is also broadcast on WCIU's digital subchannel 26.3....
("ME-TV"), Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
stations WMLW-CA
WMLW-CA
WMLW-CA, channel 41 , is a LPTV independent television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its transmitter is located in Milwaukee's Lincoln Park...
and WBME-TV, and occasionally on WMYS-LP
WMYS-LP
WMYS redirects here. For the Indianapolis radio station formerly known as WMYS, see WXNT.WMYS-LD is a digital low power-TV station on channel 23 which maps via PSIP to virtual channel 69 in South Bend. Previously, channel 69 was South Bend's WB affliliate, which then moved to sister station WMWB-LP...
in South Bend, Indiana
South Bend, Indiana
The city of South Bend is the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a total of 101,168 residents; its Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 316,663...
. All of these stations are owned by Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting
Weigel Broadcasting is an American locally based television broadcasting company. The company is based in downtown Chicago, Illinois, alongside its flagship station WCIU-TV , at the apt address of 26 North Halsted Street in the Greektown neighborhood.- History :The company was founded by Chicago...
. Beginning on April 2, 2011, Svengoolie's show also became available in many other markets over the Weigel-owned Me-TV network.
A complete account of the Svengoolie story, including interviews with Bishop and Koz, may be found in Chicago TV Horror Movie Shows: From Shock Theatre to Svengoolie by Ted Okuda
Ted Okuda
Ted Okuda is an American non-fiction author and film historian. He has many books and magazine features to his credit, under his own name and in collaboration with others.-Career:...
and Mark Yurkiw (Chicago: Lake Claremont Press, 2007).
Universal Studio Monsters
In August 2006 it was announced that WCIU obtained broadcast rights to the classic Universal MonstersUniversal Monsters
Universal Monsters or Universal Horror is the name given to a series of distinctive horror, suspense and science fiction films made by Universal Studios from 1923 to 1960...
films of the 1930s and 1940s. These films had been requested since Svengoolie aired in the 1980s. By December 2006, the show had featured four of the Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
"Meet" series, with the Universal Studio Monsters, and several Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions
Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later...
, which had been distributed by Universal-International. On May 5, 2007, Svengoolie presented a show featuring Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
's Dracula
Dracula (1931 film)
Dracula is a 1931 vampire-horror film directed by Tod Browning and starring Bela Lugosi as the title character. The film was produced by Universal and is based on the stage play of the same name by Hamilton Deane and John L...
(1931), which he claimed to be the first time the movie has been shown on local television in over a decade.
Syndication
In June 2007 word came out that several markets including Los Angeles (KDOC-TV) and San Francisco (KOFY-TV) would be "quietly" trying out Svengoolie-hosted movies.Sightings
- Svengoolie is visible as an easter eggEaster egg (media)Image:Carl Oswald Rostosky - Zwei Kaninchen und ein Igel 1861.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Example of Easter egg hidden within imagerect 467 383 539 434 desc none...
in the Justice LeagueJustice LeagueThe Justice League, also called the Justice League of America or JLA, is a fictional superhero team that appears in comic books published by DC Comics....
graphic novel JLA: Liberty and Justice, where he is shown on a security monitor in Arkham AsylumArkham AsylumThe Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, commonly referred to simply as Arkham Asylum, is a fictional psychiatric hospital in the DC Comics Universe, usually appearing in stories featuring Batman...
as a patient alongside the JokerJoker (comics)The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
, Two Face and the Riddler.