Anyone watch Svengoolie on MeTV on Saturdays?

I love Svengoolie. Here he is with DL icon, Mama!

I guess I don't get his appeal.

WTF is it?

Svengoolie is friends with some of the old MST3K crew (TV's Frank Conniff, and Trace Beaulieu), and that's good enough for me.

I still don’t know what the hell a Svengoolie is.

Think a trans Elvira, r5.

I sometimes watch it. I thought maybe it was suppose to be like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it wasn't.

I get MeTV over the air and occasionally watch Svengoolie if it is a film I want to see, classic '50s sci-fi for example. His shtick was very popular in the '60s and '70s on local stations, making him kind of a dinosaur I endure for the films.

He is the host of a horror/sci fi movie show on MeTV Channel. It goes back to all those similar locally produced horror movie shows of my childhood. In Miami, we had M T Graves(Carlie Baxter) who was M T Space for the sci fi movies. He was great. Just silly fun.

I see... something I should avoid watching.

Viewed best with a little weed unless the movie really sucks.

Yeah, it really depends on the films. which are generally good prints uncut. I endure the Svengoolie inserts.

I might watch it tonight.

Tonight's film is The Mad Magician, 1954, with Vincent Price. Originally shot in 3D.

He’s a local TV host here in Chicago, provides comedy during the breaks of the cheesy horror movies that are being shown. He’s been around forever — I want to say since the 1980s (yes, I’m an eldergay, ) and there was a previous Sven before the current one. I worked at the station where it’s shot for a while in the mid-90s, the gentleman who plays Sven is actually very nice.

He's alright...but he's no Stella, the Maneater from Manayunk...

Does anyone else think it's time MeTV changed it up a bit on Saturdays? I like the "Sci Fi Saturdays" lineup idea, but good Lord, how much longer can they show "Wonder Woman," "Batman," "Star Trek" and "Lost in Space"? There have been other sci-fi shows over the years. Granted, not a lot of them lasted very long, but hell, at this point, just about anything would be a refreshing change of pace than this same tired lineup.

I like Wonder Woman and Battlestar Galactica

For some reason my deep, residual love for Elvira slops over to give some credits to Svengoolie. I never really laugh but will chuckle on occasion. He does have a natural silliness and I'm a fan of the silly.

As mentioned though - it depends on the film. If it's good, he's fine but if it stinks he can't save it.

R18, don't get me wrong -- I like all of the shows I mentioned, too, I'm just saying they've been showing them all for so long now, it would be nice if they took them off for something else for a change. They were showing "Superman" with George Reeves for a while but took it off fairly quickly, also doing the same recently with the original "Outer Limits" series. Maybe the ones I listed are the biggest ratings-getters and that's why they don't touch them.

MeTV is the best of all the classic TV networks at digging up relics from years past, so why not show "Captain Video and His Video Rangers"? How cool would that be. Or maybe some of these relics from years gone by: "The Invaders," "Space: 1999," "UFO," "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," "Logan's Run," and "Fantastic Voyage," to name just a few.

R20, you should check out Decades TV if it is available to you. This weekend they are running a binge of Our Miss Brooks. Sometimes they binge on things like The Millionaire and One Step Beyond.

Like R15 said, this Svengoolie used to be called Son of Svengoolie.

Last weekend DecadesTV binged on The Doris Day show. How happy that have must made some DLers!

I watch Wonder Woman and Svengoolie.

Can't get MeTV anymore - ( live in the country) but Sven was fun. Of course, you need some weed. They used to show "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," as the last show in the lineup, and by that time - we called it "Voyage to the Bottom of Your Brain." Yeah, we were high. Good times.

It’s some Vincent Price crap on his show tonight. Watching Wonder Woman now.

Yes, r26, see r14.

Uhhhh....the WW/Svengoolie Saturday night combo is gold.

And today it's Our Miss Brooks, r23!

Yes, I posted that earlier r29! Would be watching now except that ION TV is showing an SVU I've never seen before,

^ If it's a post Meloni SVU, Our Miss Brooks is probably better,

It is, r31, and you are probably right.

It’s on now

I love Svengoolie and those old horror movies he shows. I like how he can come up with a little song about the movie and his intros segue into the script of the movie.

used to watch this

Speaking of "Wonder Woman," here's an interesting little factoid: tonight's episode, "The Girl with A Gift for Disaster," first aired exactly 39 years ago tonight -- March 17, 1979.

Thank you, R21, that's a great suggestion. My sister first told me about Decades a while back. I'll have to check to see if Spectrum carries it here in Manhattan.

R37, I dropped Spectrum here in Manhattan for financial reasons because with a $20 antenna I can get nearly 60 over the air channels. That's really enough for TV, though I do miss NY1 and TMC, I realize most people can't get so many over the air channels.

Regardless, most TVs allow multiple inputs so you can have both cable and over the air and switch between them.

r37 Decades is an over-the-air channel, so you should be able to get it irrespective of your cable company.

I grew up in Chicago and Svengoolie was a big deal in the early 1980s. Teenagers and young adults tuned into his show because it was silly, clever, and hip -- he really was very creative. He won local Emmy awards, and I can remember me and my friends would get together to watch and would laugh out loud.

He doesn't seem as clever now, but there is still a lot of good will toward him, just for the sake of nostalgia.

Just because I like it...

Gave up on ION's post Meloni SVU reruns and am now watching The Mad Magician on MeTV. Clean, clear print. I'm i the only one who's noticed there isn't much work watching on Saturday night OTA TV?

^ Am I, not I;m i., and worth watching, not work watching.

Meh, MeTV is back to Batman reruns and I am back to SVU on ION.

Lost In Space would be great back at the start of their primetime Saturday night lineup leading into Svengoolie, instead of being buried at the god-awful 2 am hour.

Yeah, that is a pretty lousy time slot, R45. At least move it up to 11 or even midnight.

Thanks for introducing me to Sven OP. I watched him tonite and enjoyed it. The song about the movie was the best.

I watch for the Godzilla and mothra movies😀

^ Yep, I posted above it depends on the film and your tolerance for old local TV shtick.

Luv Svengoolie! One of my only must see TV shows...red wibe and kitty on my lap and Sven...goofy fun!

I would love to get Decades but it’s not listed on any service I can get on the west coast. Is it an east coast thing?

I guess kids might find Svengoolie amusing but I don't. The guy is obviously adept at being a host, but the jokes are lame, and the movies, which are edited to make room for the lame jokes, tend to be very bad.

r51 It's a broadcast service. Usually on one of the digital sub-channels in your area. (In LA it's on 56.3 and 24.2) Where are you?

San Diego

Unfortunately there's no Decades affiliate in San Diego.

I was always more of a Monstervision and USA Up All Night fan. Although, I do wonder how those segments have aged. All the movies were edited, but at the time, that was as good as it got for a 6 year old kid. I'd stay up on Friday and Saturday nights and watch anything they aired. I discovered some real gems from both of those shows. We don't really have anything quite like that anymore, but TV has become so much more lax these days. I couldn't even imagine seeing something like The Walking Dead on TV when I was a kid with all the blood and guts. Hell, I remember first seeing Halloween on TV as a kid and they edited out any shot of a knife. Ridiculous!

Svengoolie is great when you're high, 1O years old, or a high 1O-year-old. That said, his "Svenards" parody is a favorite.

Shit

We never had a local horror movie host and it seems like everyone did but then this area sucks for many reasons.

I'm suck home again this Saturday night. I guess I'll watch that shit again.

It's must see TV for me...love the trashy flicks and dumb humor

Tonight they're showing some horrible tv movie called "Ants." The movies are generally so bad they're unwatchable.

This Ants movie is terrible. Slow paced and dull.

If they're going to show made-for-TV movies, there are many good movies from the 1970s they could show -- but in the 1970s, made for TV movies were genuinely probably too scary for the kids! Movies like:

Karen Black in Trilogy of Terror (gave me nightmares!) Bad Ronald The Initiation of Sarah Night Gallery Pilot Episode (That painting with Roddy McDowell in it was freaky!) Haunts of the Very Rich The Legend of Lizzie Borden with Liz Montgomery (Loved it!) The Devil's Triangle with Kim Novak

Even if they did show GOOD creepy tv movies of the week it still wouldn't be satisfying because they edit the movies and leave out key scenes. There was a scene in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" where the old ladies who live in the boarding house with Luther are discussing the haunted house. They mention the organ playing of the ghost who supposedly haunts the place; one of the old ladies says "he doesn't play as well as he used to." And another old lady says "YOU'VE heard him play?!" And the one who said he didn't play as well as he used to turns up her nose in superiority. It's a great, funny scene but it was cut out in the version shown on "Svengoolie."

R63, don't forget Crowhaven Farm

Sometimes he says they are edited for content, I don't understand what could be in a TV movie from the 70s that can't stand to be broadcast 40 years later

[quote]Tonight they're showing some horrible tv movie called "Ants."

There must have been some kind of error because "Ants" is not what they've been advertising all week. They'd been advertising that tonight's movie would be "Revenge of the Creature," which is also what was listed on my cable channel guide. Must've been a screw-up somewhere.

Plus, Ants was on a few weeks ago.

Damn, R62, they were supposed to be showing [italic]Revenge of the Creature[/italic] tonight, but you're right, it's [italic]Ants,[/italic] which I think they showed like a month or so ago. Fuck you, Svengoolie. You've ruined my weekend.

svenshitty

Sven Goolie? Sven Nasty!

Anyone remember this former horror host and convicted pedo who became one of YouTube's first viral stars?

We love it and so does our granddaughter. She stays overnight and wears her huge Svengoolie T-Shirt. We have a huge bowl of popcorn. He's kitschy and corny but that's what makes him fun. If you don't appreciate kitsch and corn you will not appreciate him. Mark Hamill and Marianne from Gilligan's Island are huge fans.

Most posters on this thread seem to like him.

It's so shitty.

I just wish they would show the movies in their entirety instead of editing them. I think that sucks.

Especially since he has a two hour timeslot, and most of the movies are well under that, there so much joking and songs and fooling around, but I guess that's a large part of his appeal. Or not.

i have enough stupidities in my life without this jerk in it..

When’s the next airing?

For anyone who wants to watch this dumb show it's on at 8:00 p.m. every Saturday night on MeTv. But I don't know why anyone would want to. The movies are generally atrociously bad and the jokes and skits are unfunny.

That IS NOT Svengoolie but "Son of Svengoolie."

What’s Son of Svengoolie?

From Wikipedia: "The character was originally portrayed by former WCFL personality Jerry G. Bishop, who held the role from 1970 to 1973. When the show returned in 1979, Rich Koz took on the role of "Son of Svengoolie", which he portrayed until 1986, when the show was cancelled. In 1995, Koz was set to bring the show back and Bishop told him he was "all grown up" and could drop the "Son of" from his character name. Koz has been playing "Svengoolie" ever since."

Svenshitty

I set a reminder so I can finally catch it this Saturday. As a kid, I loved Joe Bob Briggs and Monstervision on TNT.

Rich Koz used to host the "Koz Zone" (cartoons for kids) on Channel 32 in Chicago right when it became the Fox Affiliate in Chicago (WFLD - for Fields, yes, Marshall Fields). I'm surprised that nobody mentioned that Bette Midler did a musical promo for Svengoolie with the Harlettes featuring Katey "Peggy" Sagal (both of whom looked great).

It’s on after Wonder Woman on Saturday nights.

The movie that traumatized me more than any other when I was 5-6 was Not of This Earth. For decades I had no idea what the name of it was and only remembered certain parts that my 5-6 year old self found very unsettling.

Took over a month but I’m finally catching an episode.

Does he still make fun of BERWYNNNN?

Sardonicus!!

My brother has Down Syndrom and is a big fan. So, that's the target audience right there.

What’s on the menu for tonight?

R93, "The Blob."

what drive me nuts is when I hit info on my DVR, I can't tell what bad cheesey movie they're showing; of course, it's easy enough. I just recognize an actor and then look 'em up on IMDB.com

r94 Steve McQueen's chef d'oeuvre? Or the remake?

I think they're showing the original, which is a cult classic. But the movies are always edited, so there are always parts left out of it.

I heard McQueen was offered a flat fee or a percentage of the gross for his role in "The Blob." Thinking the movie would not do very well he chose the flat fee. Big mistake! "The Blob" did quite well at the box office and he would have made a lot more money if he hadn't taken a fee.

There was a Blob remake in the 80s. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that good, either. There's ANOTHER remake of "The Blob" in the works. Rod Zombie was originally supposed to have done it, but that fell through, thank God. Rod Zombie makes execrable movies. In 2015 somebody named Simon West would be directing the remake and the executive producer would be Jack H. Harris, the producer of the original. I wonder if it will ever get made. It would be be just as well if it didn't.

Call me crazy, but Rich Koz in the late 1970s and early 1980s was kind of hot in his own nerdy way. He was not fat back then (as he is now), he had great hair, thick eyebrows, and beautiful eyes. No mention of a wife or girlfriend, and no word on the internet on whether he is gay or straight. He may not be leading man material, but back when I was younger (and he was younger) a cute nerd with a clever sense of humor was a real turn on.

Tonight it's the camp classic The Leech Woman.

Would agree with the weed advice upthread but lacking that at the moment I'm having a Tom Collins.