April 2007 Archives

AAARGH! The Chia Head is….sob…DEAD! Almost. Quick update for those who don’t read here all the time- we’ve been growing (or, attempting to grow) a Chia Head here in the WCIU production office. After a few weeks, it was sporting a very Bozo or Larry Fine-like fringe of growth, heavier on the left side, but completely bald on top. But now- Chia’s days seem numbered. After a typical weekend with no one to water it- plus, most likely, some intense direct sunlight for many hours- our little Chia has withered locks- the sprouts, once lush and thriving (yes, I am over-doing it here) are now mostly dried-up strands, looking more like Chia is some fanatic hermit who hasn’t washed his hair , but has been treating it with garden variety sludge. But wait- all is NOT lost! Amid these dead sprouts lie a handful of tiny, still green sprouts! The Chia still lives! Perhaps, as our production assistant Nikki has said, if all of you who believe in the Chia would just clap your hands- perhaps the Chia’s growth will not be in vain! If we…oh, look- I’m tired of having to constantly water the stupid thing. And, why did they design it so stupidly that the very top seeds never get enough water to sprout? Am I supposed to stand there, constantly topping off the water supply, so the terra cotta holding those very top seeds will finally burst forth in a lush, plush Chia follicle frenzy? Shouldn’t they provide a sort of Chia head bandana- so, with the current failing growth, the Chia can look like Hulk Hogan- and possibly sprout a TV reality show, “Chia Grows Best?” (see, Hulkster has “Hogan Knows Best” and…I’m not helping myself here, am I?) I guess I’m pretty much of the opinion that the Chia Head was a bold experiment for our production department- but not a very successful one. Perhaps we should’ve started with the basic Chia Pet, and seen if we could nurture that before embarking on the full human-like experiment. Maybe we should have aimed even lower, and just attempted the Chia Herb Garden, which remarkably resembles- uh- small potted plants. Maybe they can develop the Chia Astro-Turf… a small patch that you can plant the seed on, and it grows to resemble a small patch of artificial grass. Or, maybe just have a small patch that IS artificial grass. No watering! No dying! Kids love it! So, my fellow Chia followers- let this be my final entry in our Chia Watch 2007. No more Chia blogs once a week- no appearance slated for the future of the Chia on a Svengoolie show. Let this officially close the case of the WCIU Production department Chia…. …unless that little bit of growth starts to expand….

It’s a Svengoolie night tonight- and a modern favorite from Universal. I remember that people back in our offices, when I started screening this one, got very excited that it would be appearing on Svengoolie- it’s “the People Under the Stairs!” This Wes Craven flick is a great mix of the bizarre and black comedy- as a young boy from the ghetto, whose mother is sick, too poor to afford the operation that could make her well- AND behind in the rent to an unscrupulous landlord- is enlisted in a scheme to rob the landlord’s house, where there is supposedly a fortune in gold coins! Little are our Robin Hoods from the hood aware that the house is a huge trap- and that the landlord’s family is crazy- and deadly! The boy finds himself trapped in the house, where the basement holds strange misshapen freaks, and the walls hold skittering beings- while upstairs, the man and woman of the house keep a young woman a captive who never gets outside! The battle against the landlord duo, the quest to escape, and The discovery of just WHO the people under the stairs are, make for another modern horror classic from Craven. The story is that Wes Craven decided to write the film after seeing a legitimate news story about some parents who decided to lock their offspring up inside of their house- and never allowed them to go outside! He never mentioned if the real-life couple had the same reasoning as the people in his story. You get some people in this film that you’d hear much more from in the future- and that includes Ving Rhames, as Leroy, the guy who puts together the plan to invade the landlord’s sanctuary. Another guy who’ll look very familiar is Sean Whalen, who portrays Roach- you’ll recognize him from scads of bit parts in television shows and movies- but he’s most recognizable from a fairly recent milk commercial- where he’s a guy working in a history museum who hears a radio contest where he can win if he identifies who shot Alexander Hamilton in a very famous duel. However, since he’s got a mouthful of peanut butter- but he doesn’t “got milk”- he can’t be understood as he tries to say “Aaron Burr.” He’ll soon be appearing in the about-to-be-released “Delta Farce” movie- about some national Guardsmen who are accidentally dropped off in Mexico, but think it’s Iraq. I would guess that hilarity ensues. Hilarity, horror, and more will ensue tonight on Svengoolie with “People Under the Stairs!” And- be ready for NEXT week- for the one-time-only airing of one of the ultimate original classic Universal horror films!

And, we’re back with more of your comments, questions, etc… as I promised yesterday… Time to answer another FAQ (Frequently Asked Question, for those of you new to this hip initial stuff the kids are all into): Many of you ask where you can get the lyrics to our Sven songs, or, if we can send them to you. We get SO many requests, we can’t send them out, and we really don’t post them anywhere- maybe that’s an idea for the future-but, it seems like, if you really want the lyrics, you’ll have to tape the show, and then write them down. Just pretend it’s a game, called “Sven Stenographer…” Jerry, who mentioned a couple of HIS favorite Sven parody songs (“Waiting for the Robert E. Lee” from “Horror Express” and the “Norwegian Wood” parody for the Ed Wood movies) Says he’s a big fan of “Svensurround” –and, though he enjoys the Universal films we’ve been showing, he really tunes in for the Sven content. He was wondering if we would ever do what we had done for a couple previous anniversary shows a few years back- that is, do a show that’s ALL Sven bits- with no movie, just the various Sven segments. Well, Jerry, we’d love to- however, putting one of those shows together, with so many little clips from so many shows, takes a LOT of production time, and, with our usual production schedule here at the station, it would be very difficult. BUT- maybe, if we get enough of a break, we could do one. Maybe a salute to all these Universal movies, once we get several more of the classics under our belt? I’ll run that by the powers that be… “The Great Gaileena” sent me a message after we ran “Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible man”- she said that, though I talked about the other actors, I didn’t mention William Frawley. Actually, I did mention him, but didn’t go into great depth about his career, since I thought everybody was pretty familiar with the man who was Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.” But, Gail, you’re right- let’s give him a nod-Frawley also played “Bub”- the maternal grandfather on “My Three Sons”- until a stroke forced him to retire, and be replaced by William Demarest, who played Uncle Charlie .Did I ever tell you guys about when I worked with three of the “Sons”- and played Uncle Charlie in a skit with them? Hmm…sounds like a blog topic for next week! One more quick question- Andrew asked how often I rehearse the songs I do on the show. Uh- here’s how it works- when Doug brings the sing in to our show taping session-that’s the first time I hear his arrangement- usually, I’ll practice it once or twice, and then we tape it.And- to answer another question- the tradition of me singing on the show was established by the original Sven, Jerry G.- who would play his 4-string guitar and sing the songs (many times, written by me!) I just continued the tradition, with Doug providing the music- first, with an upright piano at WFLD, and finally, with the complete arrangements he produces and records. Enough with the singin’ already- and the bloggin’- by the way, if you want to ask me a question or send a comment- it’s svengoolie@wciu.com …

Since I got a chance to vent yesterday and clarify the misconception that some correspondents have about me- it’s only fair that, today, I delve into the mailbag and answer some of the other questions that are sent to me. Gwen (not Stefani, right?!) says that she has enjoyed the recent movies featuring Boris Karloff, and wants to know if we will have any other Boris films in the future…well, Gwen, we most definitely will- from his portrayals of the Monster in “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Frankenstein” to the mummy Imhotep in –what else? “The Mummy!” I wonder if you might’ve caught Boris in a couple movies that ran early on in our WCIU stint- “Voodoo Island” and “the Black Sleep.” We no longer have rights to those, but they do prove that Boris has been a part of our program here at “the U” from right at the beginning! And-for all you Karloff fans, here’s a bonus - a commercial featuring Boris, courtesy of Me-TV! Just click here! Jim has asked if it might be possible to have a “Svengoolie history page” here on our website, so newer viewers can learn about the history of the original Sven, Jerry G. Bishop, right up through how I became Son of Svengoolie and eventually arrived at my home here at “the U.” Jim, there’s definitely a chance that could happen in the future, along with a whole Svengoolie page with all sorts of goodies. In the meantime, you can find out a lot about that backstory in these blogs- I’ve told the story in the past- plus, earlier in the week, I mentioned the latest issue of “Scary Monsters” magazine, which has a lot of that info in there. Also, due out in a month or so is the new book from Ted Okuta, along with Mark Yurkiw, entitled “Chicago TV’s Horror Movie Shows: from Shock Theater to Svengoolie.” This book will include the story of how Jerry G. became Svengoolie- and how I was passed the torch. When the book comes out, I will definitely write more about it here, and give you guys fair warning that it’s available. It’s a book that Chicago horror fans will definitely enjoy! Bill read in one of my blogs that we will only be able to run “Dracula” once (it’s coming up really soon- don’t miss it!) because Universal has so decreed- and wants to know if there’s anything that fans can do to change Universal’s mind. Bill, I appreciate your offer of help, but- the reason we can only run it once, is because it was previously contracted to others, most likely cable, at all other times, and there was only a very short “window” of time that the rights were available to us. We opted to get the movie during the extremely short amount of time it was available- so you guys could at least get to see it once on the Sven show. Since the other contracts are, of course, legal commitments previously set up- all the letters you would send couldn’t change the circumstances…but, I appreciate that you’d go to “bat” for us (get it- bat? Dracula?) Okay, after the typical bad joke like that, even though I’m out of space for today- I owe it to you to pick up with more of your feedback in tomorrow’s blog…

Please allow me to state something- since some of you seem to have a false idea of my importance around here at WCIU. I do NOT have any great power here. I am NOT THE owner, nor AN owner of this, or any of our stations! I do NOT make programming decisions. I don’t buy the programs. I don’t hire people. (I don’t fire people either, but, if I could…) You see, every week, I get letters and e-mails from viewers who really do think that I own this station- or, at the least, Me-TV. Some viewers ask me why I don’t get Abbott and Costello TV shows, or why I don’t run Laurel and Hardy shorts instead of the 3 Stooges. They ask why I don’t purchase all the Gamera the Giant Flying Turtle movies to show on Svengoolie. They ask that I hire them as writers, co-hosts, artists, chicken-throwers, and/or personal assistants. They ask me to move Batman to a better time on Me-TV…or complain, wondering why I moved the Honeymooners to a different time. They want to know why I would pre-empt my Stooges show for a basketball game- or why I don’t bring back Knight Rider. They ask why I don’t wear the old Sven green neck scarf anymore… no, wait, that’s one I DO have control over! I don’t wear that wacky disco scarf anymore because it had a tendency to untie itself constantly (maybe because it’s made of cloth of such a slippery, silky consistency)- and, yes, I still have it- and, no, I don’t miss it. The bottom line here is- though I’m flattered you might think I have a lot of power- I don’t. This station is owned by lovely people who allow me to work here. It is run by people who are much smarter than me. There are people here who are responsible for the choice and purchase of programs- who decide where to air programs- and when to move programs to a different time slot. None of those people are me. Would I like to won the station? Sure. However, I’d have to hire a lot of people to run it correctly, since there are so many things I have no clue about. I’m just little mister goof boy, who does these shows that , hopefully, entertain you. There are no jobs available on my show. I’m happy that you like it enough to want to be a part of it, but- it’s not possible. Sometimes, it seems like only dumb luck that I’m allowed to be a part of it. The only reason I’m bringing all this up is, simply, because it’s been becoming part of the FAQs in my mail and e-mail. So-unless you hear different from me- I’m not in charge. I’m just one of the worker bees in our television hive…or, just creating programs that will GIVE some people hives.

Drop your weedwhacker, grab your watering can, and pray for the pottery that grows- it’s time once again for – CHIA WATCH 2007 ! Yes, that weekly waste of time and sunlight, where I give you the latest developments in the WCIU production office’s attempt to grow greenery on a Chia Head. And now- the latest news: it’s- not that much different from last week. The greenery that’s there has grown more- and it looks like there are small strands of new growth branching out from them- but, the top of ye olde Chia Head remains…well, bald. Nothing growing up there- just the dry seed. Slightly resembling the close-cropped stubble of Curly Howard. The left side of the Chia Head still seems to be the most lush (and you’d pretty much have to BE a lush to stay worried about that) while the right side, despite being turned for extra exposure to the sun, is still lagging behind. This again encourages me that we might perhaps have the potential for a large Chia Comb-over to hide the bald spots. Many of you have suggested spraying the top of the Chia with a spritz from a spray bottle, and the advice to put MiracleGro on it has pretty much been denounced as too powerful, in that it would “burn” the growth rather than promote it. You know, I can hardly believe that I’ve been writing about this for weeks on end here. With spring weather (apparently- this IS Chicago) finally here, Perhaps we’ll get a growth spurt that will make our Chia Head look like Sideshow Bob – but, I think I’m losing hope, and definitely patience. The growth over the next week will determine if I continue with this Chia Blog, or, if it shrivels up and dies, much like some of the less-fortunate sprouts of the Chia Head. We do wonder if perhaps our air system in the office is too dry, and the water that we pour thru the hole in the top of the head evaporates too quickly without being absorbed by the terra cotta cabeza. And the darn thing keeps grinning at me! Arrgh! Stop smiling, you green-haired patio pot! I’ll put you on the roof in one of our satellite dishes-THEN we’ll see if you’re smiling, you …you…ahem. Sorry. I think this Chia- sitting job has started to get to me. Should he continue to grow- or , at least seem to be holding steady- I promise we’ll display him on an upcoming show.(Now THERE’S a real ratings grabber…) This concludes this week’s edition of Chia Watch 2007. Should you have any Chia advice you’ve been withholding from me- SEND IT NOW! svengoolie@wciu.com

Recently, I was happy to take part in a special “Celebrity Day” at CRIS Radio. Okay, before you start tuning around trying to find the station- chances are you can’t. It’s a special station that broadcasts to the visually- impaired and handicapped via special frequency radios. The station is carried on a sub-carrier channel of WBEZ, and is the source of news for over 40,000 Chicago area listeners! Volunteers read aloud newspapers and magazines, covering everything from the big news stories to sales circulars and classified ad listings. Every year, they ask celebrities to come read on a special day, and, I guess that means even bottom-feeder celebs like yours truly. Some of you who work downtown, and have used the pedway to travel underground from the CTA trains, or just as a short-cut, might remember that their studios used to be down there, right near Michigan Avenue. They are now located at the Chicago Lighthouse, a great facility that helps blind, visually-impaired, and multiple-disabled people become more independent. They even have a factory there, where various people who are part of their industrial training and employment program build the clocks that are used in most government facilities! Anyway, my job was to read articles from a recent edition of People magazine. You can choose what you’re going to read, And, since you will be reading straight through for a little less than a half-hour, non-stop, you kind of need to choose enough articles of interest, of the correct length, to make sure that, when you get down to that last minute of your time, you’re not just at the point in the article where Brittney Spears is about to decide if she should shave her head or not- and you’d have to stop! The kind people at CRIS always allow me to ad-lib a little and add my own comments, so , hopefully, it’s a little extra fun for those listening. I know this year, my old pal John Records Landecker, currently heard on the True Oldies radio channel, was among the folks scheduled to read there- and, I’m sure John would agree with me that it’s a real privilege to be able to help CRIS Radio provide news and entertainment for their listeners. You can find out more about the Chicago Lighthouse and CRIS Radio at www.thechicagolighthouse.org - if you know somebody who can use their services, you’ll find the information there to hook them up. Maybe next year, they’ll be listening to me reading from People- like I did this time, telling how Martha Stewart went to Russia to watch a wealthy pal blast off into space!(Too bad he couldn’t get her to stow away for the ride…)

Head out to wherever you pick up your favorite magazines- book store, newsstand, comics store, wherever- and look for the current issue of “Scary Monsters” magazine. It shouldn’t be too hard for you to spot- because you’ll see ME staring out from the cover at you! It’s actually called the “Sixty-second Scary Svengoolie issue” of the magazine, and I couldn’t be more flattered. Dennis Druktenis, a long-time horror fan, has been publishing this locally produced/nationally and internationally distributed magazine since the mid ‘90s- and he has always wanted it to have the look and feel of the monster magazines that many of us grew up with- and, he has certainly succeeded! Dennis first covered us here at “the U” back in his eighth issue, when we had just started here at WCIU- in fact, we were back in the original WCIU studio up in the Board of trade building. That was back when we didn’t have the stone wall set, or the door- just black drapes!!! He did a nice article back then in 1995, and with our acquisition of some of the fright films from the Universal library, decided this would be a great time to re-visit the show in his magazine. Not only that- but he decided to let YOU- the loyal fans and viewers have your say regarding the show! The end result is this latest issue, with a beautiful cover painted by “Scary Terry” Beatty ( I especially like the fact that, on the wrap-around painted cover, the Frankenstein monster is holding a rubber chicken!) I wrote an article for the issue, and donated some pictures, drawings, and a few rare artifacts- like a “bio” page from a fan club packet done at WFLD that hasn’t been seen in over twenty years! In addition, there’s a LOT more Sven content- the nicest being the Sven memories sent in by many fans of the program. Many of you even sent in pictures from your visits with me! Plus- there are several pictures Dennis and his son Dylan took of our current studio – with a couple pictures from our old Board of Trade building studio set for contrast! As I said, I’m very flattered and honored by this great issue… and hope that you’ll seek out a copy! And, yes, you can feel free to bring it along to any public appearance I make for me to autograph! To think, this whole things started when , a while back in this very blog, and in one of our webisodes- I told you guys that Dennis wanted you to send in your Sven memories!!! According to Dennis, you responded SO well- he couldn’t fit them all into the issue ! A special thanks to everybody who took the time to contribute! (Watch for a Sven webisode where we’ll give you a peek at the magazine!)

Back when I was in high school, I did radio shows on the school’s fm station- I was always amazed that, here was an actual radio station that I could pick up at my house- and I could do real radio programs on it! One of the things I did was a comic super-hero program called “the Raven.” This has nothing to do with anything, other than to lead me into the plug for the Sven movie tonight- surprisingly titled- “the Raven!” It features the big guns of Universal horror once again- Bela Lugosi (who will appearing in his classic role next month- hint-hint!) and Boris Karloff! Unlike last week’s film, which was related only barely to the works of Edgar Allan Poe- this one is steeped in Poe! Bela is a renowned doctor who is a fanatic about Poe and his works- to the point where he actually has a dungeon with implements of torture mentioned in Poe’s stories and poems! He saves the life of a young woman- and starts to show more interest in her than her father would like…meanwhile, Boris shows up as an escaped killer who wants him to do surgery on his face- so he can finally put his life of crime behind him and fade into oblivion. The wily Bela, however, has an angle that will put Boris at his mercy- and performs a hideous operation on the convict! Bela then sues his leverage to get Boris to join him in a scheme to take out Poe-etic punishment on those who have thwarted his plans for happiness. Horrific torture from “the Pit and the Pendulum” is only one of the fates Bela has in store for his unwitting guests in “the Raven!” I especially like Boris’ portrayal of the escaped killer- certainly a vile individual, but, at the same time- tired of the criminal life, yet unwilling to go back and pay his debt to society. And- Bela truly descends into madness as the story progresses; for those who only know these actors from their greatest roles (or, in Bela’s case, from his more pitiable performances in the Ed Wood epics)- you can really appreciate their dramatic prowess in this film- even more so than in last week’s film, “the Black Cat.” Certainly, there is some over-the-top acting, as we’ve seen in many of these thirties fright films- but the chilling atmosphere still works! Of course, there’s Sven stuff added to the mix- including Tombstone’s version of the classic Poe “Raven” poem. So, tune in for the fun- whether it’s at 9 pm on WCIU, or at 1 am on our sister station, Me-TV! You know I don’t want to start without you…

Embarrassing things happen in everyone’s job…but, when you’re in broadcasting, and the moment goes out to a wide viewing public, things have a tendency to feel ultra- embarrassing! I don’t think I’ve had too many of those type moments- probably because a lot of my shows have been on tape, allowing us a second chance… but little things do occur. One live moment came back when I was doing the weather at WFLD, and, when I stepped in front of the green screen, which normally allowed me to appear in front of the weather map that was displayed on my computer- all people at home saw was the weather map! It was as if I was the Invisible Man! They heard my voice, but they didn’t see me! The floor director motioned for me to step back out of the green screen area, as the technical director rectified the situation (so I wouldn’t just “blink” in like a fugitive from “I Dream of Jeannie”)- then, I stepped in, finally visible to the folks at home. This, of course, ate up some of the time allotted for the weather segment, and also confused people at home, who obviously have no idea why they’re not seeing you, or what’s going on. And, you can’t take the time to explain it too fully, since you’re already short on time…and, management would rather you not dwell on a mistake that was made! So, it just looks like Weather Boy is some kind of idiot… Even worse- doing something that looks like blatant plagiarism. We were doing a “Son of Svengoolie” show at WFLD, and a guy from the offices had wandered in- we had gotten on to the subject of “the Deerhunter” which the station had made a big deal out of running, uncensored…and the guy laughingly said something about “the Beerhunter.” Back then, on SCTV and elsewhere, the characters of beer-swilling Canadians Bob and Doug McKenzie -played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas- were very popular, and I said – “hey! That’d be a great bit- a take-off on ‘the Deerhunter’ with the McKenzie Brothers!” The guy laughed –and didn’t even bring up that, the reason he said it was- the McKenzie Brothers had just put out an album, with a comedy bit on it about- “the Beerhunter!” Oblivious, I wrote and recorded a bit that aired the next week- during which somebody called me and asked why I was ripping off the McKenzie Brothers?! He then told me about the bit on their record- and I felt like such an idiot, even though I had no knowledge of their bit, and had written what I performed on my own. Had I known about the bit, I never would have done my version. I asked the guy who had mentioned it in the first place, why he didn’t tell me the bit already existed when I said it’d be a great bit for me to do, and he just said- “oh, I thought you already knew about it!” So- I looked like a plagiarist- a truly embarrassing situation. I always think about that when I see someone doing a bit similar to something I wrote…and give them the benefit of a doubt- as long as it’s not a little too word for word. Then, it’s time for me to call Peter Francis Geraci…

My reminiscence yesterday about my first public appearance brought to mind another the first- the very first parade I was in as “Son of Svengoolie.” It was in late November or early December of 1979- and it was what was then the big State Street Christmas parade! Now, I’m not sure if, back then, they didn’t have separate floats for the various television and radio stations, or if they just wanted to include a bunch of celebrities in different places, but, I ended up in a fire engine with a whole group of people from various stations. I’m not sure if I’m blurring two different Christmas parades or what, but I recall they first had us all crammed into a sort of penthouse at the old Executive House, and I do mean, shoulder to shoulder! I met Linda Yu (who had very nice shoulders) who introduced me to her new co-anchor , the newly-arrived Ron Magers! I also met, for the first time, my friend the late Tim Weigel, who told me what a fan he was, and introduced me to his two children, Jennifer and Rafer (who are now all grown up with media jobs, and, boy , am I feeling old right about now!) Eventually, we were moved down to a staging area, possibly in a restaurant that used to be called “the Little Corporal”-where I was placed at a table with singer/actress Stephanie Mills (who was Dorothy in the stage version of “the Wiz” and didn’t seem to want to be in a parade right then) and Chicago broadcast legend Lee Phillip (who later, with her husband, Bill Bell, created many successful network soap operas) and two of her young daughters. One of them, seeing my top hat, asked me “are you some kind of magician?” (Guess Son of Svengoolie wasn’t standard viewing fare in the Bell household…) I know one of these two girls later became a featured actress in her parents’ show “the Young and the Restless”- that day, she certainly seemed both. Eventually, they brought me out to a fire truck, which I shared with several broadcast personalities, including Jay Levine. Some wandering clown with a squirt gun came by, and all the celebs on the truck were cringing to avoid any spritzing, as Jay Levine intoned to me, “you know, It’s YOU that he’s trying to hit…”- the one thing I remember is that the truck had some huge round balloons on it, and every time we’d get to , say, El tracks that crossed over State Street, we had to pull them down so we could go under the tracks. Then, when the truck would speed up, the balloons would come down and hit us in the head! Well, that was somewhat better than in another State Street parade, when I was presented with a travel mug filled with hot chocolate – that preceded to leak when I put it into the inside pocket of my Sven coat… or, other parades where they had me on a fire truck WITH THE SIRENS GOING FULL BLAST THE WHOLE TIME! I…I’m sorry, was I screaming, trying to be heard over the sirens?! My ears were ringing for a couple days after that kind of exposure… anyway, I’ll expose you to more Sven blog tomorrow!

At one of my latest public appearances, a viewer was asking me “aren’t you embarrassed to go out in public dressed like-” no, wait- a different viewer asked me if I remembered any of my very first appearances as the Svengoolie character. That took me back to 1979, when I was known as “Son of Svengoolie” at WFLD…and what I think was my very first Sven public appearance! One of the women in charge of promotion had lined up an appearance at a charity “Christmas in July” event. Now, she was a nice woman, but I was pretty sure she didn’t get my show or the humor- we had done some promos for the show, take-offs on other programs currently running on the station- “Six Million Dollar Man” and “Brady Bunch” –which she didn’t want to run, because she didn’t understand them. Anyway, we went to this benefit, and she told me I was actually supposed to do something as entertainment for the crowd (gee, thanks for the early warning!) I decided to do a bit that used people in the audience, which I learned from the original Sven, and that I still do today- a thing about a new ecologically-friendly type dance (I’m not going to explain it here, but maybe I’ll do it again at an upcoming appearance!) Just as I was looking for some women to portray trees (it’s part of the bit-really!) two very lovely tall willowy identical twin ladies walked into the room! They agreed to help out, we did the bit, and it got laughs (my work here is done!) Actually, it wasn’t, because I also had to help pull winners for a raffle. One of the prizes was an odd- looking actual mink pillow… which the winner gave to me later, so I guess she enjoyed my act! On the way back to the station, I told the promotion woman that I wasn’t quite sure what to do with such a strange thing, and she graciously volunteered to take it. I gave it to her, only to have someone chastise me later, saying “do you know what that was probably worth?!’ Hey, whatever- I’m not quite a mink pillow kind of guy…one interesting note- also appearing as entertainment that night was comedienne Judy Tenuta- but, this was before she had hit upon her accordian-playing “goddess” character. She was doing material about Hare Krishnas at the airport ( who wasn’t back then?!) and dressed normally at that time. Maybe this was before the great and unusual Emo Phillips had any influence on her… I know that same year of 1979, I did a lot of Halloween appearances, as well- if you were at any of those, or other first year gigs, drop me a line and refresh my memory! I’m at svengoolie@wciu.com.

All right – time for another update in “Chia Watch 2007!” I’m getting a wide range of reactions on this- some of you think I could just as well be doing “Watching Paint Dry 2007” while others are fascinated, having never gone through the miracle of Chia birth. Personally, I’m kind of in the middle on this- a sort of love/hate relationship. Regardless, let our quest for greenery continue… Again, for those of you unaware- a Chia Head has been “seeded” in our office, and we’re attempting to bring it to a full lush head of plants. Here’s the latest- well, the same greenery I’ve mentioned before, around the bottom and back has now stretched to even longer stemage, with the tiny leaves at the end…however, there’s trouble in Chia-dise… it would appear some of the growth is shriveling and dying! Perhaps the weekends, with no one here to water the Chia Head, are taking their toll…again, it seems like there will never be any growth on the top of the head, since the water level inside the hollow piece of …uh…pottery seems to drop rapidly, never giving those upper seeds any chance of growth. Is the Chia Head actually a poorly-designed novelty? Or, should we have opted for the traditional Chia Pet for better results? Jack at the Yahoo groups “Svengoolieweb” group thinks I should spray it with MiracleGro, and then spray more water on it every day… One thing I’ve noticed- I have gotten very few comments from any of you who have actually grown a Chia of any sort! Seriously- with SO many of them sold every year, especially at Christmas time- NOBODY has ever grown one?! Are there scads of Chia Pets, Heads, and Herb Gardens still sealed up, sitting in the back of closets and down in basements? Are there attic-loads of Chias, gathering dust while the seeds lay dry and brittle in a small plastic bag, never to be spread like so much hummus onto some terra cotta creature? Again, I beg you, kind blog-ingestor- if you’ve ever attempted to bring a Chia to life- share your secrets with us! Send your story to svengoolie@wciu.com - perhaps some small nugget of wisdom can be gleaned from your experience to help us on the road to a scalpfull of greenery. I’m getting to the point where I might never put the Chia on display during one of our shows- quite honestly, unless there is some drastic improvement in …oh, say, the next week or so…Mr. Chia Head may end up in the Chia Unemployment Line, or , at least visiting Chia Hairline Creations ( I’m not just the president- I’m also a compost heap.) We’ll keep watering, making those subtle turns of the Chia Head on the window sill to catch more sunlight, and breathing our excess carbon dioxide onto the little fellow…but perhaps he is on his way to…herbicide…

A friend of mine show me a picture of herself when she used to work at that Renaissance fair up over the border in Wisconsin, and that reminded me of a few visits I had to “ye olde stomping grounds” of yore. The last time I was up there was during my run at Fox doing the daytime kids “Koz Zone.” Someone in the sales department thought it’d be a great idea for me to be up there to sign autographs one day. And, indeed it might have been- if they’d let anyone know I was going to be there. I made the drive up to Bristol, Wisconsin (did you know the kids in Bristol are sharp as a pistol, when they do the Bristol Stomp? Neither does anyone else born after 1989…)-and spent some time in the ticket booth complex with some really nice folks who worked there…and waited. Eventually, someone decided that they could station me out in the fair area, far out behind a refreshment stand. I don’t think there was any indication anywhere that a) I was there and b) where I could be found. Occasionally, someone would wander by and get an autograph, or, more likely, ask me for directions to some attraction or location that I had no clue where it might lie. I could’ve made a fortune selling fried dough or turkey legs, though. After an hour and a half, I was finally released, having signed more autographs for the people working there than for the visitors. A much more successful visit took place in the “Son of Svengoolie” days, when it was still “King Richard’s faire” and we actually shot a whole show there, with Sven prominently featured through-out the day. I was a participant in a lot of things I should’ve been smarter than to undertake- including having two guys throwing knives back and forth past me, or holding a pretzel stick out for a whip-wielding comedian to snap off. I also performed a song and dance with some singing executioners, and met one of those wacky beggars who will eat mud (some guys will do anything to be in show biz!) On the plus size, I was part of a skit involving pirates (no, I didn’t have to wear the “Seinfeld” puffy shirt) that wound up with me winning my freedom by giving a kiss to a fiery-haired pirate queen! On the minus side, I was riding an elephant in the big parade through the fairgrounds, when some jackass who worked at the fair (and obviously knew what the results of his actions would be) ran up and handed the elephant a little “treat” –one of the dill pickles usually sold on a stick at the fair. The elephant took one taste of the pickle, and immediately used its trunk to fling it over its back- right at the poor sap riding on it- that being yours truly! So, I had slobbered pickle all over my costume for the rest of the day. Actually, I just realized that I bought the hat I’ve been wearing for the past several years right at that fair that day! (No pickle included.) It was a lot of fun to take part in the festivities that day- even if I did mislead some knights to think that the Holy Grail they were searching for was in the shape of a rubber chicken…

That’s right, kiddies, it’s the traditional dreaded Income Tax Deadline Day- April 15th! However, it being a Sunday, with no regular mail service, our benevolent federal government is giving us one more day to get the tax forms sent. This also gives local television news reporters a reprieve of one day until they have to go out, and station themselves by the main post office or whatever to get useless footage of people dropping off their last-minute tax returns. They could rerun footage from any other recent year, and you’d never tell the difference. Remember that joke tax form we’d always show on the program? A realistic looking “E-Z” form with three parts: 1) How much money did you make last year? 2) How much is left? 3 ) Send it. I remember doing a fill-in shift at WGN radio on an April 15th evening, and we ran supposedly “live” reports from the main post office, with commentary by the then-popular Scottish race car driver Jackie Stewart, as the cars would zoom up to drop off their tax forms. Other reports would feature the postal workers sorting the forms (the workers supposedly being the Three Stooges- a pre-cursor of my future?!) and sports announcer Howard Coselle stationed INSIDE a mail box for an in-depth inside look at the proceedings. I barely remember, but I think the last report had “Dragnet’s” Joe Friday pulling up to arrest Jackie Stewart. It’s funny to see how dated those bits were, with characters so obviously from that time period. Reminds me of a recent program of the WGN Morning News, where they had on some lame “man of a thousand voices” who did celebrity impressions that were all circa 1983. I kept waiting for him to do some celebrity who was actually still breathing. Hey, I admit I do some out-dated character voices, but at least I don’t try to pass them off as hot current stuff. In an interview someone once asked me why most impressionists still do older actors and personalities, and we kind of hit upon the fact that there are far fewer distinctive personalities and characters in show business that are recognizable. Sure, there are still great people around for impressionists to imitate, but not in the vast numbers that there seemed to be in, say, the 60s and 70s. Does it have anything to do with more reality shows on TV (although you can imitate Simon from “Idol” and Boston Rob from “Survivor/Amazing Race”!) and the lack of Bogart or Jimmy Stewart- style personalities in films? Do you hear anybody doing Brad Pitt impressions? Or, have things gotten more “specific”, in that certain groups of people will only recognize certain impressions? Or, am I just over-thinking this, while working on my Dwight Shrute impression?

There’s good news- for most of you- Abbott and Costello are NOWHERE IN SIGHT tonight on Svengoolie! Yes, our latest rerun round of A &C is now AWOL, if not DOA. Our feature tonight is an eerie Bela Lugosi/Boris Karloff collaboration, supposedly suggested by Edgar Allan Poe, but having precious little to do with any of his stories- “the Black Cat!” This is a film that shows some of the tension of wartime in Europe and the devastation it meant to many people. Boris is VERY strange in this film- sporting a sort of “New Wave” haircut and look. He also seems to enjoy having dead women in glass display cases in his dungeon basement- for reasons that we don’t really ever find out! He’s also into Satanism, among other things. Bela has an axe to grind with Boris, having just gotten out of wartime prison, and in search of his wife and daughter- but- are they dead- or has Boris had a hand in their fates? Add to all this confusion the fact that Bela has an unnatural fear of – cats! Is there one wandering the premises of Boris’ strange modernistic sanctuary, which just happened to be a military fort? (Well, what do YOU think- the movie’s title is “the Black Cat!” Come on!) One more complication- we have a young honeymooning couple, who meet Bela on the train, and, on the way to their respective destinations, end up in a car crash that requires the couple to come with Bela to Boris’ place for medical attention. Unfortunately, Boris gives the battered blushing bride more attention than he should- and has a specific fate in mind for her involving the Black Arts! This film was banned by censors in some European countries, while others felt it had to be edited due to some of the allegedly gruesome content. Another interesting feature of this film was that it had a musical soundtrack throughout most of the film, which wasn’t common back then. There was a feeling in some early sound movies that there shouldn’t be music on the soundtrack, unless it “made sense”- that is, for example, if there was a band or orchestra on screen. Obviously, film-makers got away from that kind of thinking pretty quickly! This is a pretty unusual film, and if you’ve never seen it, you’ll find it to be very atmospheric and eerie. Atmospheric and Eerie? That’s my law firm! Anyway, join me for “the Black Cat” tonight…and bring your own kitty litter. (And if you think the last two sentences had bad jokes…)

Whoa! It’s Friday the 13th! So- will it be bad luck to continue our viewer feedback blog from yesterday? (Guess it depends on how I answer some of it…) More on the Sven song question- new songs or classic tunes?- Hans checked in with a very good point- he mentioned that Dr. Demento, the famous radio personality who plays all sorts of wacky songs, once mentioned that, if you listen to an album of novelty songs, you actually get exposed to a wide variety of types of music styles. Hans also said that, if the lyrics are funny, the song will stand on its own merit, even if it isn’t a familiar tune. Maybe that’s what I should aspire to… Bill from Milwaukee is finally reading our blogs- thanks, Bill! I’ll try not to bore you too much…and mentioned that I asked if anybody used the phrase “it’s a cinch” anymore. He had one of his own- he was in an Ace Hardware store, and an older employee in the plumbing aisle attempted to get him to buy a certain item because “it’s the cat’s meow.” Bill said that immediately branded the guy as of a certain age- and did the same to Bill, since he recognized the saying! Well, it’s a cinch that I’ve shown my age as well… Carlos has asked to see some Gamera movies- you must remember Gamera, the giant flying turtle (often referred to in these films by dubbed-in voices as “the friend of all children?!”) Unfortunately, the broadcast rights for various giant Japanese monsters, like Gamera, Godzilla, and Ghidorrah, have not been available to television stations in a long time. I’m not sure if it’s because cable owns the rights, or if they simply pulled American distribution for television. A Mr. Bob Smith of Sierra Leone needs me to help him transfer 8 million US dollars to our country for investment. Say no more! You betcha, Smitty, I’ll get on it right away… Veronica (notice my restraint in not telling her to say hi to Betty, Archie, and Jughead) mentioned that I don’t look my age. Well, that’s because the wig only gets gray when some of my make-up accidentally gets into it…but, thanks for the kind, if not entirely factual, comment, Veronica! Mary, who once sent me a tea bag because it said on it that it was made in Berwyn, has been introducing the show to a new generation, with her six year old nephew David now a big fan of the show. Not sure if he also drinks tea, Berwyn- brewed or otherwise, but it’s again a great compliment to me that people who watched me years ago are still watching, and getting a new audience for my show. Time for one final comment- jay wants to know if they ever made “Abbott and Costello Meet the Wolf Man.” Yep- but it was part of “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein!” Just as Bud and Lou met Dracula and (for a brief moment) the Invisible Man in that film, they also meet Larry Talbot, who becomes a wolf when the moon is full and bright (unlike Bud and Lou, who were not so bright.) As I’ve mentioned, we’ll have “A & C Meet Frankenstein” this fall- just in time for Halloween! And, this concludes this week’s feedback- send me your questions, comments, and cheesecake pictures (not YOU, sir!) at svengoolie@wciu.com or svenonu@aol.com…

Earlier this week, I gave you a whole list of random lines from e-mails and letters that I’ve received here, with no comments from me…but, it’s back to business as usual today, as I go over some of the feedback we’ve received from all of you! People still are putting their two cents in (these days, with inflation, shouldn’t it be at least a quarter they put in?) about the songs that I do on the show, and whether they should be oldies, more modern tunes, or whatever. Our friend Al checks in, and says he’s in his thirties, and doesn’t know anything that’s in the Top 40 anymore (IS there even a Top 40 these days?) Al says he doesn’t listen to rap or hip hop, so he doesn’t recognize any of those songs when I do them. He likes the 80s songs and disco tunes, and also movie songs –like “a Goon Full of Sushi” that we did during “Sgt. KabukiMan, NYPD” (don’t ask me to explain, or to run it again- we no longer have the rights) to Mary Poppins’ “A Spoonful of Sugar.” So, I’m guessing Al prefers songs from an earlier era. For the most part, most of you who respond said that it didn’t matter, and that, if it was a newer song you didn’t know, it kind of made it more fun when you actually finally heard the original! Andrew wrote in and asked if we knew how Bela Lugosi felt , playing all these terrible monsters. Well, from what I’ve read, Bela was very proud of his role as Dracula, having performed it on stage even before the movie…but, later on, was very bitter about the monster roles, feeling he had been type-cast. He felt he was a great dramatic actor, and highly acclaimed in Europe- but, obviously, his accent and over-the-top acting (he had difficulty toning down his stage-style acting for the closer camera)- and had to accept whatever roles he could wrangle just to keep money coming in. His sad ending has been well-documented- we did an Ed Wood documentary on the show back in the mid 90s that chronicled a lot of Bela’s final years. Maybe we’ll get into that again in the future. I heard from Dale in Idaho- Dale used to live in central Illinois, and first saw me on WFLD via cable. He was bemoaning the fact that they can’t get our show in Idaho. He says that watching the movies I used to show is not the same without the Sven bits sprinkled in. Dale, I wish we could export Sven to Idaho, as well as the various locations around the country (and outside it!) that we get mail from, wishing for a healthy dosage of Sven! We’ll work on that…who knows? I do know that I’m running out of space- so- let’s continue this tomorrow!

Lots of older fans ask me quite a few questions about the original Svengoolie, who appeared on the air on WFLD back in the early ‘70s. I thought I’d write a little about him today, and Hopefully answer some of your questions along the way! First- a reality check. Although Jerry G. Bishop was the original Svengoolie, and I was “Son of Svengoolie”- we are NOT related! He is NOT actually my father! If he were, I’m sure my actual dad would be asking why he was feeding, clothing, and raising me all those years! My character started out as supposedly the son of the original character, in the horror movie tradition of “Son of Frankenstein” and “Son of Dracula.” Jerry’s character was a sort of “hippie-vampire” in the tradition of Cleveland’s Ernie Anderson as “Ghoulardi”, who was a sort of ghoulish beatnik back in the early 60s (when Jerry was on radio and TV in the same town.) Since it was the early ‘70s, Jerry’s Sven was a sort of flower child gone to seed- with long green hair, red white and blue bell-bottoms, a multi-colored headband and these really far-out sunglasses, man! I guess he didn’t wear a peace medallion because it was too close to a sort of cross, and- well, you know, vampire. He did have dark circles around his eyes like I have- but, after a while, covered them constantly with the sunglasses- because that way, you viewers wouldn’t be able to see him reading from the cue cards! (This was in the days when the teleprompter had not yet appeared at local television stations.) His face make-up was white, as opposed to my pale flesh color (which has gotten somewhat darker as I aged!) He had similar black markings on his cheeks, nose, and lips, to what I have today. He always wore sandals- not just because it fit his character, but I think he was just more comfortable wearing them! I’ll always remember him coming back from a trip to Jamaica with his foot in a cast…he had been on a rafting outing, they hit a rush of water, and he fell off the raft, banging his ankle. So, for a while, it looked like Sven was wearing a really HUGE sandal! When Jerry would do public appearances as Sven, he very often would hit his visitors with a rubber chicken (funny, nobody ever filed any lawsuits against him for doing that back then! These days, everybody wants to hit ME with a chicken!) Jerry would hand out a couple different publicity pictures- one larger one, with him playing his guitar like a violin with a “bow”- and a smaller postcard, showing him with his foot on a chair, holding the guitar, and also including Zelda, his talking skull (rumored to be the mother of Tombstone, but no DNA tests have been performed.) He also sold pennants with a Svengoolie picture on them (anybody got one of those?) and, of course, the famed Svengoolie sweatshirts. By the way, as I’ve mentioned before- if you have one with Jerry/Sven’s opening poem on it –“The time has come for scary things, “ etc.- it’s NOT an original- it’s a cheap knock-off, produced by someone else, way after his show was long gone, and not licensed by Jerry. I’m certainly proud to have been handed the torch by the senior Sven- and it makes me feel good to know that people still have such fond memories of the original Sven- even if he was my dad in name only!

All right, time again for- CHIA WATCH 2007 ! As many of you know, we started to attempt to grow a Chia Head in our production office a few weeks ago- and have been documenting the progress here in the Sven blog. And now- the latest results of our constant watering, turning the Chia Head to get even exposure to the sun, and accidentally over-filling its head hole, thereby causing a minor flood… At this point in time, the most densely-forested side would be the left side of the Chia Head, with plenty of growth up to about the equivalent of an couple inches above the ear…and the sprouts are well over an inch long, with nice little green leaves. The back and right side are catching up, as well- however- the top of the head remains…uh…bald. No growth, just the seeds that we originally sloped on there. Are we going to have to resort to growing a CHIA Toupee? Do they even sell those? Maybe a nice chunk of AstroTurf would help…again, the theory seems to be that , since the water level falls from the very top pretty quickly, the seeds don’t get enough water to sprout. Some one suggested that we place a damp cloth over the top, and keep that wet (which, it seems , would keep the light away from the seeds)- and others think we should spray water on the seeds constantly. Sure, working on those annoying TV shows can wait- we need to mist the Chia Head! By the way, I did have a blog reader who knew what “Top Coverage” was- I mentioned it in our last Chia blog, and Bluecat was the first to correctly identify it, followed closely by Gail- it was that first color spray that was intended to be used to cover bald spots in men’s hair! I remember one commercial with a Dick Butkus-looking guy who used it, and commented how totally undetectable it was! Sure, like spraying Rustoleum on the top of your head…I’m not sure if “Top Coverage” was a Ron Popeil invention, though I know that a few years ago, he was marketing a similar product. BlueCat also thought we should post pictures of the Chia’s growth…look- it’s bad enough that I’m milking this for a once-a –week blog! But- as I think I’ve said before- I may show it on the Sven program once it seems to have reached its full growth potential (now THERE’S a ratings winner!) Once again- if you know the secret to getting the top of the Chia Head to grow- help us out! Send that info to svengoolie@wciu.com . Only YOU can help get this thing green enough to finally end these Chia blogs!

You know that I welcome all your snail mail and, of course, e-mail at svengoolie@wciu.com, and svenonu@aol.com - and, while I occasionally answer questions or mention comments you send in- I thought I’d give you a sort of distilled-down taste of what it’s like when I receive the dozens and dozens of missives every day. I’m just going to list random lines form what I’ve gotten lately, without comment. Please enjoy… “ What’s with all the Abbott and Costello reruns?” “Those Abbott and Costello movies are awesome!” “ My mom says you went to high school with her…” “ What was that movie that had a monster that’s cone shaped, seven feet tall, claws on long tentacles, one large eye, when it bleeds, blood turns into little monsters, movie takes place on a spaceship?” “Didn’t you used to be Father Guido Sarducci?” “I didn’t get the name of that horror store you mentioned on TV (www.Horrorbles.com)” “ For those t-shirts- do you take personal checks? “(…okay, I wasn’t going to comment, but- see? And people ask why we always put that in the commercials! Jeez…) “This season’s episodes are unfunny…” “Do you know Elvira?” “Can Svengoolie show up at our wedding and sing us a song?” “ I think I should be on your show…” “ Didn’t you used to be Captain Dustpan?” “ Can you send me a list of every movie you’ve ever done on your show?” “ I want to do a show like yours- what do I have to do?” “ I watch your show every Friday night…” “ My dog watches Svengoolie- how can I get him on TV?” “ Will you be at Flashback Weekend this summer?” “ Will you be at Great America for Fright Fest?” “ Will you stop singing those songs?” “ I think you should run Japanese animated movies…” “ I think you should run Italian horror movies” “ I think you should run Brady Bunch episodes…” “ I had you autograph a rubber chicken for me years ago, and it finally fell apart…” “ Do you wear that stuff outside?” “ My girlfriend loves you and wants to dress up as you next Halloween…” “ Who IS that guy at the door?” “ Do you need training to throw chickens on your show?” “ You seem a lot heavier than when you used to be ‘Son of Svengoolie’…” “The guy who was ‘Son of Svengoolie’ was better…” …and that’s just a sample of what I get in the mail and on-line…and, you know what? You’d be surprised at how many of the above get asked a LOT (not the one about stopping singing, no matter what you think!) So- keep ‘em coming… and, one more thing- who IS that guy at the door?!

Okay, everybody- let’s all sing it together! “Here comes Svenny Polyestertail, hopping down the rubber chicken trail…”yes, that is as stupid as it reads. I wanted to wish those who are celebrating Easter a happy holiday, but that’s no way to do it. I remember back in the WFLD days, we once did a parody of ZZ Top’s “Legs”- about Easter “Eggs”- and, it seems to me we did a Billy Joel parody, something like “Only the Eggs Dye Young.” Even worse- we did a Styx “Mr. Roboto” parody, with the deathless chorus- “Why don’t you just quit, oh, Easter-Rabbit-o?” Sometimes I think maybe it’s a good thing that WFLD threw away most of my shows (no, not really, but- well, they can’t all be gems!) Speaking of gems (of the Easter variety) -I think I’ve mentioned you should check out the link to the Sven webisode at the upper right of this page, because we have our “talking egg” bit posted there. It’s kind of nice that, since we can’t always get some of our seasonal bits into the shows currently airing, we can still have them for you here at the WCIU website. One of the memories of Easter that I have is that, when my brothers and I would get Easter baskets that included jelly beans- my brothers would always load any black jelly beans that they got into my basket, since they didn’t like licorice! It would look like the Easter Bunny got confused with Santa Claus, and left me a basket of coal! The Easter Bunny is a big part of Easter for many people- (unfortunately, just like Christmas, often out-weighing the original point of the holiday)-recently, Rich Roeper wrote a Sun Times column about how he thinks the Easter Bunny is kind of creepy- you know what he means, some of the lower –end mall bunnies-usually totally silent, kind of strange looking – no wonder some of the little kids let out a frightened howl when they are plunked in his lap! (Take it from someone who has had tiny kids thrust into his face, only to be greeted by a terrified scream- if you have a child who gets scared- take them away! Don’t keep pushing them towards the costumed fool that obviously has scared the living daylights -and god knows what else-out of them!) I always liked bunnies – I sat next to one at a telethon years ago, who also was Playmate of the Year- and she was hardly frightening. A movie that had scads of bunnies who were supposed to be terrifying is the ever-popular “Night of the Lepus” – lepus being a scientific name for rabbit. In this epic, huge mutant rabbits overtake a town! Two of my favorite moments- one, where a giant rabbit leaps thru a window to attack a woman, and, yes- it’s a guy in a brown rabbit suit!- And, the other- a look at the quiet town that is about to be stampeded by the killer rabbits (no relation to the one in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”)- and you see a giant stagehand running off into the darkness, revealing that it’s just a tiny model of the town, and that maybe those rabbits really aren’t giant-sized! We had that movie in the early days of the WCIU Sven show- and, boy, I wish we still had the broadcast rights to it! So, Happy Easter to all- hope your chocolate rabbits are giant sized…and that your “Peeps” are marshmallow, not rubber chickens…

Who’s dying…I mean, DYEING eggs today? Doing some handy artwork to make a Sven egg? (If so, send me a picture!) If you end up with some of those plastic eggs, you can take advantage of one of my many inventions, and make- Runaway Egg Men! (I first showed this on the “Koz Zone!”) Take half of one of those plastic eggs- put a marble or small ball under it- then, roll it, and it’ll take off on any hard surface! You can put faces on ‘em, and –they’re runaway egg men! Amuse your family, surprise your children, disgust your friends… I remember making something out of hardboiled egg back in third grade- I proudly took it home, and put it on my dresser- and, yes, in a few days- it smelled like a toxic sulfur pit! Just a reminder NOT to leave your decorated eggs out too long…by the way, if you enjoyed our seasonal Sven bit with the talking egg, check it out as a Sven webisode- just hit the button right at the top of this page! See it before it disappears… …which brings us to tonight’s movie- “Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man!” A fighter has been framed for the murder of his trainer- but the mob is really behind it. He wants dopey detectives Bud and Lou to help clear him- and, when I say CLEAR him- well, he becomes an invisible man, supposedly using the same formula used by Claude Raines in the original “Invisible Man” flick. You get the great Sheldon Leonard as a thug ( a role he was born to play, and did , many times)-Leonard had a great career as an actor , in tv, movies, and even radio (he often appeared on Jack Benny broadcasts) and went on to be a major producer. Be watching early on in the movie- when Bud and Lou take the fighter to the doctor’s house because ( yes, I know I bring this up every time, but it’s cool)-it IS the house on the Universal back lot that eventually became- the Munsters’ house! (I think it is currently on “Desperate Housewives’” Wisteria Lane.) A few viewers have brought this up, since it is in a recent book about the Munsters. Plus, we’ve got an actual demonstration of how many of the “invisible” effects were done back in the era of this movie. I have to say, in spite of some of the complaints we’ve gotten about the repetition of these Abbott and Costello movies- they’ve done very well, ratings-wise for us. For those who have been a little miffed, let me at least say that, according to our current schedule- we will NEVER have all four of these A & C movies in a row again- and, we WILL have “A & C Meet Frankenstein” this fall. So, you won’t see all these movies in a row-in the meantime, you won’t see the star of this movie tonight, for the most part (he’s invisible!) in a movie you probably won’t see for a long time on our show. Hope you join me tonight!

Picking up where we left off yesterday- looking through the various missives we get from all you loyal Sven viewers and blog readers… Again, let’s hit a frequently asked question- “can you send me a copy of your lyrics for (fill in the blank) song you did on the show?” Sorry, folks, we get so many requests for various lyrics that it’s just not possible. I’m kind of busy working on shows, and we don’t really have enough man (and woman) power to handle all these requests. The best you can do is just run a tape during the show (or, okay, Tivo- jeez, I’m out of date) and then copy down the words if you want them. If not, erase the tape or program. I am flattered you guys like the parodies- I know they’re a major favorite of most of you Sven viewers. Yvette asked a good question- how many rubber chickens are there in the Sven prop department? Answer- enough to make my head ache after repeated barrages. Actually, I think we currently have between forty and fifty chickens in use…of varying ages! Now, thanks to our sponsor Horrorbles.com, we are being supplied with new ones as needed- but, there are some that have probably been flung at me since almost the first year of the show here at “the U!” A technique used by our “chicken chuckers” (the term used for those who fling them at me) that often makes it seem like we have an endless supply is a sort of “reloading” where someone just below the camera range will scoop back chickens that have already been thrown, so they can be relaunched again! Talk about recycling… John wants us to have a show hosted completely by Tombstone! I’m sure the beloved bonehead would appreciate that idea…we’ll have to see what we can do… Stacey wants to know when our full show will be available on the internet on this site. Although she asked very nicely, I’m sorry, it doesn’t seem like it’s about to happen. We get the same inquiry from Sven fans who have moved away from the areas where our show is televised. I wish we could arrange for you all to be able to see the program, but, it’s not in the cards right now… Speaking of requests, here’s a sidebar for “Stooge-a-palooza” fans- once again, we CANNOT e-mail you when a specific short is eventually scheduled. Please see the comment above about sending out song lyrics. We get too many requests to be alerted when we show a certain Stooges short. Guess you’ll have to tune in and hope we show the short you want, or, at least, check here on the wciu.com site- the shorts for the upcoming Saturday are usually posted in our video room (or, check the lower left hand corner of the main page) by the end of the week. Got question, comment, or complaint? Just e-mail me- svengoolie@wciu.com - at the least, you might giove me some content for a future blog…

Who wants a nice heaping helping of feedback from the Sven viewers that I’ve received at svengoolie@wciu.com - or svenonu@aol.com ? By the way, we’re still getting messages that your e-mails get bounced back from both svengoolie@wciu.com and stoogekoz@wciu.com - and all I can say is, they’re still trying to find out why. You can always use the aol address as a back-up. Let me address one topic that comes up a lot- “how come the tv listing was wrong?” This happens especially when the listing gives the wrong version (like when we air something that’s been remade, or is a remake)-or, when a different movie airs on our sister station Me-TV ,and the listing lists the same movie that’s on WCIU. Folks- it’s almost always the listings service. Our station provides them with the correct information- and, if it changes, we let them know. Unfortunately, the same listing service provides the information to many different places- so, if they’re wrong, a lot of places will be wrong. Also, remember these are the services that, since 1979, have refused to list the show as “Svengoolie” (or “Son of” back then) because ‘the main content is the movie.” So, you can see how special they are… One of our loyal viewers Dave, who has handed the torch of Sven viewership on to his kids as well, commented on my blog regarding doing newer v.s. older tunes. He brought up a good point- just as we kind of educate newer viewers to classic horror movies, we are sort of educating people to various eras of music- whether I’m letting parents and adults in on some newer tunes, or giving the kids a lesson in old school classic Rock or oldies tune. He mentioned how he remembered a specific tune I did in a run of “the Deadly Mantis” (and, yes, we WILL have that film in the future!)- a take-off of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” about “Eating Folks Alive”- and said that he not only remembered the movie, but the song- which is something many of you bring up. He also mentioned that, if his teenage daughter is entertained, he takes that as a good sign! Bobbi also seems happy with any era’s songs- except “grunge” from the 90s! She’s a longtime Sven viewer who was away, but has returned to the viewing area.Welcome back! Rich, another loyal viewer, asked, since we don’t want to mess up the Universal classics with “Svensurround”- how about if we do TWO versions of the show- one without sound effects, and one with- and let the late run on Me-TV be the “Svensurround” version? Not a bad idea- but we don’t have the production time to do two shows…at times, we’re lucky they give us time to get ONE finished! And, since this blog is almost finished- let’s hit more feedback- tomorrow- right here!

After last Saturday’s Abbott and Costello Mummy movie, I’ve received some e-mails asking if we will have the original Boris Karloff Mummy film. You betcha! Universal will not only fork over the Karloff classic, but will also include a few additional entries from their “Mummy” series of films. Granted, Boris only appeared as the Mummy in the very first one. Tom Tyler, who usually played cowboys in films, takes the wrap as the Mummy in “the Mummy’s Hand.” Lon Chaney Jr. tries on the bandages for size in “the Mummy’s Tomb” and “the Mummy’s Curse.” It looks like we’ll be showing these in the chronological order of the films- that is, in the correct timeline of the stories. It’s basically going to boil down to a full month of Mummy-mania on Sven this summer. Also in the mix for this summer are a couple of the Invisible Man flicks (yes, we will have the original) and –the Wolf Man! Some of you have asked if we’re getting ALL the Universal movies. Well, you have to remember there are a LOT of Universal movies- and, no, we will not be given all of them. We will have most of the big names- Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula (early warning: Universal is only giving us a single run of the original “Dracula” due to their contractual commitments- so- when you see that it’s going to air, make sure you tune in! As far as our current agreement with Universal goes, it’s going to be ONE TIME ONLY for the Bela Lugosi classic. It’s sort of amazing to me that I personally, as “Son of” Svengoolie, first showed some of these films-ahem- over 25 years ago! Even more amazing is that these films haven’t had much exposure on regular broadcast television in well over a decade. Most of them have been (and still are) on the shelves of one of the cable networks, which usually only trotted them out once a year during October around Halloween- UNTIL they got wind that we’d have the chance to show them, then they would air them on Friday nights, and occasionally during the day. Regardless, I’ve been happy to hear from so many of you who feel that our running them has brought them “back where they belong.” Obviously, almost all of us had our first exposure to the classic Universal horrors through television-whether it was that first run on “Shock Theater” in the 50s- or with Channel 9’s “Creature Features” later on, then with yours truly’s “Son of Svengoolie” from the late ‘70s through the mid ‘80s. Certainly, seeing any of these on a big screen is a fantastic experience (and I mean a movie screen, not a big screen TV!)- but, think about it- I’ll bet a majority of you have a great memory of being scared to death watching one of these flicks at home, sitting on (or hiding behind) the couch!

And now- another update in “Chia Watch 2007!” those of you who read the Sven blog regularly know that we started a “Chia Head” in our office a couple weeks ago, and the progress has been documented here. Let us now check the latest growth of the pottery that grows –somewhat. First of all- maybe it’s just dry in here, but-BOY! Does this thing use the water! Seems like every time I check it, the level inside is down. Regarding actual plant growth- the lower left and back are really going well- with sprouts over an inch or more. The right side has some growth going right at the bottom. We’ve been turning it a little to allow more sun to hit it. And yet- there is no “top coverage”(and extra points to readers who remember what “Top Coverage” was- tell me at svengoolie@wciu.com ) visible yet- the seeds look as if they remain…uh…seeds. And, oddly- there’s one sprout growing from INSIDE the whole at the top you put the water in. HIS BRAIN IS GROWING!!! What if he takes over the office?! If any of you have grown one of these before- is it sparse on top because the water level doesn’t stay up there? Do we have to mist this thing? Do we need to give it an aquatic head butt? Right now, he’s in no shape to make that appearance on the show…we’ll continue our maintenance, and report in again as conditions require. Maybe we can just put a top hat on him to compensate for the lack of foliage on top, and, with the lower growth, he’ll look even MORE like Sven!(If Sven had a sort of Stan Laurel-ish face…) I’ve also been thinking in terms of our favorite suburb Berwyn, and wonder if there should be a Fungus Friend (I just copyrighted that! Nyahh-nyah!) that grows mushrooms, the official fungus of Berwyn (and you thought I was the official fungus!) There could be various ones- the Mushroom Mama, Sam Shroom, Toadstool Tombstone…what a concept! In other news-we get a lot of questions regarding when I will be making appearances- and we’ll try to make sure the information appears on the WCIU site, and in these blogs. Right now, we have a few events waiting for confirmation. In answer to a few questions from people REALLY thinking ahead, yes, there is the possibility of another “Great America/Fright Fest” appearance this year. Also, yes, I am already booked for this year’s “Flashback Weekend”- for Saturday, July 21.We’ll most likely be repeating the video piece on our visit last year in an upcoming “encore performance” show. As far as radio appearances, we try to get those listed in the blog as well- but, sometimes, they get booked on really short notice, and I don’t have time to mention them. They do get put up sometimes on fan sites, so check the message boards, or the Yahoo groups. But- Chia news? It’s always right here at your fingertips! And, if you’ve got Chia on your fingertips, more frequent hand-washing might be in order…

I get the chance to work with some great people here at WCIU- and, while what we do is indeed work, and sometimes, very aggravating work, we still enjoy working together on the many programs and projects that we crank out here. You tend to think about all the people you’ve worked with-and which ones you miss working with, and would like the chance to work with again. One of these, for me, is my mentor, the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop. We worked together, not only on his Sven shows, but also in radio, at WMAQ- first doing afternoons and then doing the morning drive show(I was his producer, wrote bits, played characters, screened phone calls, etc.)This was such a great time for me- first of all, I was working with someone who I had always listened to and watched and admired- and the chance to work side by side with him was a great honor! Since I was only about 20-22 years old at the time, I would love the chance to work with Jerry again now, when I have more experience- if we could do so such great stuff together back then, imagine what fun stuff we could do now! Jerry was not only a very funny guy himself, but also a great straight man (it’s pretty commonly known that the straight men in a comedy team, and I’m not talking about sexual orientation here, have to be exceptional comedians to perfectly “set up” the wacky guy- that’s why, back in vaudeville, the straight men actually made more than their goofy partners!) When we’d improvise stuff- like the famed “Plywood Minnesota” ads where I’d pretend to be the company president, as a sort of dopey guy- we’d just basically take the normal informational script for the ad, and improvise all around it. The greatest compliment was making Jerry and our engineers laugh! There are guys whom I have worked at other stations- like my good friend Shawn Kennedy, who was my director for most of the “Koz Zone” shows , that I’d love to work with again. Shawn, who is still a director at Fox (but doesn’t have as much fun as we used to,) is great, easy-going guy to work with, who really cared about the stuff we were doing. We’re close pals, and I hav