TV Horror Host: Son of Svengoolie

In the heady days of local TV programming, countless UHF channels in the U.S. showed 1950's monster movies.  More ambitious stations added a host to help the audience thumb their noses at the schlockier films.  In Chicago we're lucky to still have a station dedicated to local TV production, and our horror host has been on TV for more than 25 years.

Svengoolie started out in the early 70's as a beatnik character played by Jerry G. Bishop (Bishop is currently a radio personality in California).  After a few years Bishop passed the Sven torch to Rich Koz who carried the show into the 80's winning several Chicago Emmy Awards.  Not content to simply host the films, Svengoolie pens parody songs about each film, satirical commercials, and constant references to my home town of Berwyn.

Local TV production dried up, but Koz's Svengoolie returned to TV in the 90's on another station and has been going ever since.  Koz is among the last of the all-in-one TV talents. Along with his Sven team, he writes, performs, sings... the way that all local TV talent had to be ready to wear multiple hats back in the UHF wilderness.  The TV landscape used to be dotted with local shows (I was part of two shows myself as a boy) right alongside network fare, but now local TV is rare indeed.

I miss the local shows that I grew up with, and it's sad knowing that those times will never return.  For this reason I'm really glad that we still have a few good ghouls like Sven around.  Oh, and for those of you wondering which of us in the picture above is the horror host, I'm the one in the red shirt.

Index of horror hosts in the USA

Comments

[Jeremy Ryan Carr]

"I miss the local shows that I grew up with, and it's sad knowing that those times will never return."

I agree. In Minneapolis we had another wonderful character who hosted late night horror on our local UHF channel (not to mention a little local show called Mystery Science Theater 3000). They brought him back a few years ago when a new station was launched but I think he has once again been retired. However thanks to vidoe podcasting, Google Videos, and You Tube, industrious individuals can once again let their creative and schlocky sides out.

[bohus blahut]

It's like you're reading my mind. I've been working on this for a while, but even though there are these great distribution technologies out there it's still hard to make a real show! :) Expanding beyond a video blog that's just a face staring into a camera is going to take multiple cameras & a small crew. Add to that writing bits, a bit of graphics, adding in some funny sound effects to the movie. A lot more time than a typical video blog takes.

That's not to discourage the idea - to the contrary, I'm really excited about online video and I think that the guys who do horror hosting on public access cable are going to be the first to jump on this technology. I will likely do something along these lines in the future as well. The toughie is to find enough public domain monster movies that haven't been shown a zillion times already.

[Sean from Alesis/Akai]

Growing up in the Northern Michigan Traverse City Area we had donmelvoin.tvheaven.com/zappula/

Don Melvoin did the Count Zappulla in the eighties on Saturday afternoons and later on late at night opposite SNL.

He also had a variety interview show that interviewed summer-stock washed up stars in town for playhouses and also had the wonderful after school Deputy Don Show, with givaway pizzas from Potter's Bakery.

The shitck with Count Zappula was that he always had his dog with him. Scary Vampire! Good memories of bad television.

[Jeremy Ryan Carr]

bohus blahut,

Check out my website. I'm filmmaker in Minneapolis. I would love to do something similar to what you're describing. Drop me an email if you have any ideas.

[Rev Bucky]

Add me to the list of people who miss the old days of local TV. Remember cartoon hosts? The local morning shows with people equally talented as Regis and Kelly (or Kathie Lee) which is both insulting and yet true all the way around. I miss local Pro Wrestling, and since this is Retro Thing, you surely don't have to ask, "Der, uh, like the WWE?" And I of course miss the old Horror Hosts, or the late night waterbed salesman/movie host!!

Just like territorial wrestling, the local TV show is dead/dying. Some people may consider it progress, I see it as the blanding down of America into a generic mass, and it's a real shame, S*I*G*H*!

[james]

I am ashamed to admit that I didn't notice the dearth of local programming until Bohus pointed it out. It has been eleven years since I enjoyed a good locally produced "cult" show on a public access station, and then things dried up in this part of the world.

Let's hope that video blogging *does* unleash some polished off-the-wall shows that gain an international following. Just make sure you leave the rubber chicken off-camera... it looks like you and Sven are about to fight to the death for it.

[bohus blahut]

I guess that I should explain my face. I seem to only be capable of one expression in photographs, so I changed it to this ugly tiki idol one lately. It's always fun to bust out a face that makes people sorry that they took the picture.

[TV host Mr. Lobo of Cinema Insomnia]

Svengoolie is the best! Both of them! Total professionals! I was in a documentary "American Scary" with original "Sven" Jerry G. and I know Rich Coz through his webmaster who also does work on my website...The trend seems to be coming back. My show Cinema Insomnia has been growing steadily for the past 5 years and our Halloween Special went out to 45 million households on real TV(not public access)! The fans are out there and there is a viable market for this sort of thing if done well! New Technology will play a role but however you slice it...Creature Features are back!

Your horror host,
Mr. Lobo

[ug]

It was also shown in the Boston area and I remember it fondly, as well as Elvira of course.