Scary Funny: The Svengoolie Legacy

     On April 30, 1954, KABC-TV in Los Angeles premiered a show featuring an unemployed actress named Maila Nurmi.  This show involved Ms. Nurmi playing a horror movie and providing selected commentary on it.  The idea proved to be a hit and was soon spreading across the country like wildfire.  Eventually, cities all across the country had their own horror movie hosts.  And then Chicago got its hands on the concept.

     In September of 1970, WFLD rolled out Screaming Yellow Theater, featuring former WCFL DJ Jerry G. Bishop as the host, Svengoolie.  The original show ran for 3 years before being cancelled in favor of The Ghoul from Cincinatti, but not before inaugurating its own style of humor, one that would be pretty much maintained even up till the present day.  To appreciate Svengoolie humor, you really need to see it.  And so, here you are:

     In 1979, the show was brought back with Rich Koz as the Son of Svengoolie, which ran until 1986, when it was cancelled amidst the founding of the FOX network.  On December 31, 1994 the show made its triumphant return to Chicago television on WCIU, where it remains to this day.  In 2011, Svengoolie was broadcast nationally for the first time as part of the Me-TV network.  In 2013, Svengoolie came out with an updated design for the coffin the character stays in during the show, ensuring that the show will go on tickling the funny bones of Chicagoans for years to come.