Svengoolie

[Abbey Marie]

How did I just discover this little oddball treasure? Anyone else watch? (I'm not sure how many markets he is actually in). The movies are fun, but he makes them even better with his puns and goofy commentary during commercial breaks. There is a long tradition of these ghoulish movie hosts (i.e., Elvira), but I like Svengoolie best.

In case you haven't had the pleasure, he and the old horror movies he comments on, air on Saturday nights.



http://www.debatepolicy.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9961&stc=1

[Kathianne]

Wow, used to watch this back in high school! I thought it was a Chicago program, shows what I know.

[Gunny]

How did I just discover this little oddball treasure? Anyone else watch? (I'm not sure how many markets he is actually in). The movies are fun, but he makes them even better with his puns and goofy commentary during commercial breaks. There is a long tradition of these ghoulish movie hosts (i.e., Elvira), but I like Svengoolie best.

In case you haven't had the pleasure, he and the old horror movies he comments on, air on Saturday nights.



http://www.debatepolicy.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=9961&stc=1Never heard of it. Local channel? He looks like a geeked out Werner Krauss from "The Cabinet of Dr Caligare", considered the world's first true horror fil

[Abbey Marie]

Wow, used to watch this back in high school! I thought it was a Chicago program, shows what I know.

Wow! I'm pretty sure he was not on in NYC back in the day. I think the local guy there was called something like "Zackarly".

[Abbey Marie]

Never heard of it. Local channel? He looks like a geeked out Werner Krauss from "The Cabinet of Dr Caligare", considered the world's first true horror fil

I think it is on some odd cable channel. Kath said he was also on in Chicago years ago.

[Kathianne]

Ok, my day off, just had to google Svengoolie/Chicago:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-17/entertainment/chi-original-svengoolie-dead-20130917_1_svengoolie-role-radio-and-tv-host-rich-koz


Jerry Bishop, the original Svengoolie, dead at 77


September 17, 2013|By Lauren Zumbach | Tribune reporter















[*=center]http://www.trbimg.com/img-523905e6/turbine/ct-met-obit-bishop-0918-mh-jpg-20130917/222/180x222 (http://www.trbimg.com/img-523905e6/turbine/ct-met-obit-bishop-0918-mh-jpg-20130917/222/180x222)


Jerry G. Bishop's career in radio and television spanned 40 years.




In a more than 40-year career as radio and TV host, Jerry G. Bishop won three Emmys and toured with the Beatles, but he may be best remembered as the original Svengoolie.
Mr. Bishop hosted "Screaming Yellow Theater," a horror-film show on WFLD-Ch. 32 from 1970 to 1973, as the coffin-dwelling hippie with a wacky sense of humor. His character has a devoted following to this day, family and former colleagues said.


"He was making really creative TV on almost no budget," said Wally Podrazik, curator at Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications. "I'd call Jerry G. Bishop the master of the non sequitur and running gag. Not just as Svengoolie, but as a radio DJ with a superb timing and a sense of unabashed silliness."


Mr. Bishop wasn't the first to host a horror-movie show, but he attracted a devoted following, said Rich Koz, Mr. Bishop's co-writer and protege who inherited the Svengoolie role.


"The material was so fun, people liked the character, and it still had a really local feel," Koz said."He was an incredibly talented, generous man."


Mr. Bishop, 77, a resident of San Diego, died of a heart attack Sunday, Sept. 15, at the University of California at San Diego Medical Center, according to family members.


He was born Jerry Ghan in Chicago on Aug. 3, 1936, and graduated from Wright City College, the University of Illinois and Columbia College, then got his start in radio at the former WNMP in Evanston in 1962. Within a few years, he was a popular nighttime DJ at Cleveland's KYW who traveled with the Beatles during their 1965 and 1966 U.S. tours.


He returned to Chicago in 1967 to lead WCFL's morning radio show and moved to WFLD-TV in 1969. A year later, the show that introduced Svengoolie was born. He saw the role as a great vehicle for comedy, even though he didn't particularly like horror films, Koz said.


Mr. Bishop's daughter, Melissa Moore, said she loved watching her father's show as a child.


"A lot of that shtick was improvised, and I know he was really proud of that," Moore said. "He had a natural silliness that made it work. I watch it today, and it still makes me laugh."


Though "Screaming Yellow Theater" was canceled in 1973, Mr. Bishop's character lived on. Koz, who landed a spot writing for the show after mailing Mr. Bishop ideas for jokes, launched the "Son of Svengoolie" TV series in 1979 and continued to play Svengoolie — with Mr. Bishop's blessing — ever since. He still uses some of their original jokes, including frequent mocking references to Berwyn and flocks of flying rubber chickens. In 2011, Mr. Bishop — as his character — was inducted into the Horror Host Hall of Fame.


Mr. Bishop moved to San Diego in 1978 to host the "Sun Up San Diego" weekday morning talk show and won three Emmy awards in his 13 years as host.


Though proud of Svengoolie and "Sun Up San Diego," Koz said, Mr. Bishop referred to the 1960s as a "magical time" in radio. "Talented DJs were given the time and freedom to do entertaining comedy that stricter formats no longer allow," Koz said.

[Gunny]

Wow, used to watch this back in high school! I thought it was a Chicago program, shows what I know.

A lot of these type shows that haven't had their timeslots realocated for a buck are locally produced in the Studio. Elvira Mistress of the Dark was one such on KTLA in LA.

We had one here called Project Terror that would run on KENS 5 at midnight for years. We Creature Feature on WCIX Ch 6 in Miami. The first two are network affiliates so I'm sure the late night shows killed local programming on the. Ch 6 in Miami was a local channel so who knows?

[Abbey Marie]

Ok, my day off, just had to google Svengoolie/Chicago:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-09-17/entertainment/chi-original-svengoolie-dead-20130917_1_svengoolie-role-radio-and-tv-host-rich-koz


Thanks! It all makes sense now- Son of Svengoolie. :coffee:

[NightTrain]

Never heard of it before.

Is that because I'm off the grid?

[Abbey Marie]

Never heard of it before.

Is that because I'm off the grid?

Do you mean you have no cable?

[NightTrain]

Do you mean you have no cable?

As far as I know I'm not missing anything, but I'm told that I'm still off the grid.

On second thought, I don't have pink flamingos in my front yard.

[Gunny]

Thanks! It all makes sense now- Son of Svengoolie. :coffee:

I watch a lot of late-night TV. :)

[Abbey Marie]

As far as I know I'm not missing anything, but I'm told that I'm still off the grid.

On second thought, I don't have pink flamingos in my front yard.


I think you lost me- all I can think of is CCR's "Looking Out My Back Door".

:cool:

[Black Diamond]

I watch a lot of late-night TV. :)
You like informercials.

[NightTrain]

I think you lost me- all I can think of is CCR's "Looking Out My Back Door".

:cool:

A weak joke. I'm in a weird mood today.

Petey and Gabby have asserted that I'm off the grid and therefore have no idea what's going on.

[Gunny]

You like informercials.Not at all. If TCM or Investigation Discovery don't have something on worth watching. I got a whole storage bucket full of movies. A lot of 20s-30s-40s movies. A lot of the classic Universal horror movies. Sherlock Holmes, Dick Tracy, Charlie Chan (I know, I'm a racist) :), Chaplain, Lareul and Hardy ...etc. Put me right to sleep.:laugh: They serve their purpose.

[Abbey Marie]

A weak joke. I'm in a weird mood today.

Petey and Gabby have asserted that I'm off the grid and therefore have no idea what's going on.


Ah so. :cool:

[Gunny]

I used to like Mystery Science Theater 3000. Crappy movies, but I like the robots wisecracking about them.:laugh: