Garrett Bauer ... second unit director / second unit (6 episodes, 2007-2008) Jan Shimek III ... assistant director / associate director (2 episodes, 1997-1999)
Svengoolie is an American hosted horror movie television program. The show features horror and science fiction films and is hosted by the eponymous character Svengoolie, who was originally played by Jerry G. Bishop from 1970 to 1973, before Rich Koz succeeded him in the role from 1979 on. Before and after commercial breaks, Svengoolie presents sketches, tells jokes, and …
Excerpt from Svengoolie show starts playing. Svengoolie: I was a fan of the original Svengoolie. Jerry G. Bishop, both from radio and his TV stuff, he just happened to be the staff announcer who’s on duty Friday nights when WFLD was running horror movies and instead of just doing his announcements straight, he started to goof around with it ...
 · After Bishop retired from Svengoolie in 1973, Koz saw an opportunity to do his own show and pay homage to his mentor. In 1979, with permission from Bishop, Koz aired the first episode of Son Of Svengoolie, a sequel to Bishop’s original character where Svengoolie’s son, dressed in a top hat and a painted-on devil beard, would resume the show and feature jokes …
The show airs both low-budget and classic horror and science-fiction movies, with host "Svengoolie" – a telescoping of the words Svengali and ghoul – played by Rich Koz (pronounced "Koze"), who wears thick skull-like makeup around his eyes and cheekbones, a moustache, goatee, and long wig, all black, and a black top hat with ...
The character was originally portrayed by former WCFL personality Jerry G. Bishop, who held the role from 1970 to 1973.
The series was aired on Chicago' s WWME-CA, Milwaukee stations WBME-CD and WMLW-TV, and occasionally on WMYS-LD in South Bend, Indiana. These stations are owned by Weigel Broadcasting. Beginning on April 2, 2011, Svengoolie's show became available nationally on the MeTV network through the efforts of Neal Sabin.
On June 16, 1979 , Son of Svengoolie debuted on WFLD, with Koz in the title role. The show also aired on Field Communications -controlled stations in Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, and Detroit.
Svengoolie was played then by Jerry G. Bishop. In later seasons, Rich Koz – a fan who sent in sketch ideas – became a show writer. In 1973, Kaiser Broadcasting took over WFLD from Field Communications and Screaming Yellow Theater was cancelled and replaced with The Ghoul from Cleveland.
Jerry G. Bishop as the original "Svengoolie". The show's original title was Screaming Yellow Theater with host Svengoolie. The title was derived from Screaming Yellow Zonkers, a yellow, sugary glazed popcorn snack, first produced in the 1960s. It wasn't until the revival that the show was titled after the host's name.
Rich Koz did most of the artwork for the show when he revived it as Son of Svengoolie at WFLD. For every episode, Koz researches the film to find interesting facts, then writes each episode, spending about four hours doing so.
Koz got his start in radio, as many television hosts do. After finishing school at Northeastern University, Koz found himself working in television. In high school, he started to develop a love of film, especially the classic Universal horror monsters like Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and his favorite The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
After Bishop retired from Svengoolie in 1973, Koz saw an opportunity to do his own show and pay homage to his mentor.
Son of Svengoolie aired until 1986, then Koz took a bit of a hiatus after the show was canceled by the network. That was until 1995, when it came time for him to reintroduce the show. This time, however, Bishop advised Koz that it was time to drop the “Son of” from his name and that he should take ownership of the Svengoolie brand.
Eventually, Svengoolie began to develop a cult following outside of Chicago as the show would reach audiences in Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and several other parts of the upper midwest.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic was a major setback for Koz, one thing that helped him gain national celebrity and made him a success was his appearances at comic book and sci-fi conventions.
Thanks to his interviews at conventions, we know that Svengoolie has quite an impressive fanbase. Stars like Mark Ruffalo and Gilbert Godfried have made appearances on his show and shown proper gratitude.
Thanks to signing with ME-TV, Koz was given an ample avenue to merchandise the Svengoolie name with minimal overhead.
Svengoolie. Koz first created the Svengoolie character while a student. While Rich was at Northwestern University, he sent material for the horror-movie program to Jerry G. Bishop (a television and radio personality who is known for being Chicago’s original “Svengoolie”). Jerry subsequently invited Rich on to the show.
When Jerry left for San Diego in 1978, he gave Rich permission to create a show known as ”Son of Svengoolie,” currently simply known as Svengoolie.
Jerry subsequently invited Rich on to the show.