![]() I told them that was an idea that one of the country cable stations was already doing, and that I had my own idea. Their semilame idea was “the Fox Phantom” who lived in the station basement and showed movies. So they called me in and said they wanted me to host movies again. What was the genesis of having your own “out of character” evening show? It all started when, on what would have been the tenth anniversary of the Son of Svengoolie show, Rob Feder wrote an article saying it was a shame that the show wasn’t still around, and the folks at WFLD (then having become Fox 32) must’ve been worried that it made them look bad. Many fans know you for the Sven character, but I have fond memories of The Koz Zone. TVwise, it started with Two-Ton Baker, the Lunchtime Little Theatre folks (am I showing my age yet?!), and then all the WGN talent: the Bozo cast, Ray Rayner on various shows, Frazier Thomas, and then, on WFLD, the wonderful Bill Jackson, and, again, Jerry. Radiowise, it was the guys on WCFL: Jerry, Jim Runyon, Ron Britain, and, of course, the great Dick “Chicken Man” Orkin, who I actually got to work with in my pre-Sven days-guys who were being creative. ![]() He liked what I sent him, found out I was a broadcasting student, and invited me to a taping.Īs a lifelong Chicagoan, tell us about some of your local broadcasting favorites from growing up. ![]() Svengoolie meets the dc universe for sale tv#I was a fan of his radio and TV work, and sent him some jokes and material, strictly as a fan. He started doing funny rejoinders to the movie, and it evolved into his character, and went from voice-overs to actual video eventually. I had just graduated from high school earlier that year, and tuned in for the movies at first. To trace the Svengoolie history, Jerry was the staff announcer on duty (live) on Friday nights in late 1970, back when all TV stations had live announcers on duty. What were the early days of the show like? Was it a smooth transition taking over from Jerry Bishop, or did you have to build an audience? Well actually, it wasn’t immediately going from Jerry to me! There was a little over six years in between his show and my show. You recently were honored by 15th Ward alderman Raymond Lopez and the Chicago City Council for your 40 years of Svengoolie. We e-mailed some questions to Koz and, amazingly, he was able to get out of the coffin during this busy Halloween season and answer a few for us. Tickets are $50 and include a meet and greet with Koz proceeds benefit the museum. The exhibition kicks off with a gala at the museum on Saturday, October 26, at 7 PM. The Museum of Broadcast Communications is celebrating Koz’s 40 years playing Svengoolie with a new exhibition that will feature the Son of Svengoolie coffin and other items from the original set. A great highlight from those years: “Blob of Red,” a parody song to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann,” created for an 80s airing of the 1972 independently produced British stinker Beware! The Blob. You can check it out almost every Saturday on MeTV, but I also recommend finding and watching the Son of Svengoolie show that aired on WFLD in the days before the Fox network. The national version is pretty much the same as the old show, with the same lineup of spooky but not really gory horror fare, like Creature From the Black Lagoon and the 1931 Frankenstein. ![]() In 2011, Koz and the Svengoolie crew started making their mark on the national stage when locally owned network MeTV (current home of Svengoolie) started airing the show on its national cable broadcasts. Koz created his own version of the character with the input and blessing of Jerry Bishop, a radio and television announcer who originated Svengoolie while hosting WFLD’s Screaming Yellow Theater program in the early 70s. Svengoolie the show is the antithesis of slick, with its parody songs, low-budget set, and audio cues culled from 30s movies, but it’s also an incredibly important (and hilarious) link to 50s and 60s television. Koz is the affable and spooky host of Svengoolie, the long-running Chicago television program that airs classic horror, sci-fi, and B movies intersected with comedy and trivia by Svengoolie, his friends, and an arsenal of rubber chickens. But many might not realize that he’s been working in Chicago broadcasting since the 70s. Local television legend Rich Koz doesn’t need an introduction to most of our readers, especially when he is dressed as his character Svengoolie, wearing his classic raccoon-eyed ghoulish face paint and top hat. ![]()
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