Svengoolie

I was really surprised at the # of negative comments. Is this a great show that shows shows - no but I give it a 10 anyway because it's the kinda of thing I like.

At its core, it's not much different than TCM intro'ing and closing out a movie or MS3K which I also enjoy, but it's uniqueness is what is special.

Are the jokes generally bad - yes, but so bad they're good for those that like that kind of humor. I'd prefer it to have more guests as it's guests are generally really interesting.

So will this appeal to everyone, definitely not. One thing that I think I can safely say is just try and watch one. If you like it, then you'll be generally hooked on the show, but if you don't like it don't try and watch more because you'll not like any others any better.

This nightmare theater is fun. I enjoy everything about that this show. Every part of it is pure entertainment! Reminds me of the fun Friday nights watching Nightmare Theater in the 1970's when I was a kid!

The origin of "Svengoolie" is in a show called "Screaming Yellow Theatre" with Jerry Bishop as the Svengoolie character. When this show was cancelled, his young writer Rich Koz took up the mantle and "Son of Svengoolie" began airing on UHF channel WFLD-32 in Chicago. When WFLD became part of the FOX network in 1986, Son of Svengoolie was deemed "not suitable" and promptly discarded.

Finally, in 1993, after 7 years with FOX (with "The Koz Zone" and in other capacities) Koz resurrected the Svengoolie character and found a new home for the series on WCIU (a small local Chicago cable channel). Now simply called "Svengoolie", the show airs to this day, showing a long list of old science fiction and horror movies (mostly low budget) with gags, cheesy effects and skits thrown in during the segue to and from commercial.

Very funny and original idea which was a major influence on things like Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

My family has a long history with this show. My older brothers used to watch it with my dad a long time ago, until we lost the MeTV channel from our TV. None of us had looked at this for years after that, but recently, when we were able to bring it back. Now, every Saturday night, we watch an episode of the show, and it's nice to have something to look forward to after a long week.

"Svengoolie" is basically a show that resurrects old horror, sci-fi, and mystery films from the thirties, forties, fifties, and so on. The host, 'Sven', credited as the "Man in Hat" on the credits (played by Rich Koz), is conceptually creepy but in execution is portrayed as no more than a laughable, pun-loving persona who presents facts about the films, makes ridiculous jokes, and sings absolutely hilarious songs during the intermissions. The movies are about an hour and a half each; the rest of the two-hours is taken up on commercials and Sven's brief commentaries.

The movies, I would say, are quite good for their time period despite the negativity surrounding how bad some of them are. Personally, I quite enjoy them for what they are and despite poor effects and maybe slower pacing, most of them work very well today. I especially enjoy Sven's ridiculous songs that play upon events from the movies - if you like this kind of humor, the show is for you. Of course, this kind of thing is getting harder and harder for most people to appreciate these days, due to the plethora of more fancy, special-effects-based horror movies audiences indulge in now. But this show has an audience, and I'm all for it.

Whether it's a horror classic or a bad one, Svengoolie provides great Saturday night entertainment. The show is full of humor and movie trivia! Go Sven!