The legendary horror icon Rich Koz (aka Svengoolie) has returned to television as part of MeTV‘s October slate of scary movies. Beginning Saturday, October 8, the block is scheduled to premiere It! Terror From Beyond Space, followed by The Addams Family [October 9], The Twilight Zone [October 16], Alfred Hitchcock Presents [October 23], and, of course, Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
As part of New York Comic Con 2022, the horror meister sat down with Damian Holbrook in the TV Insider and TV Guide Magazine video suite to discuss Svengoolie’s Halloween BOOnanza, his origins, his favorite horror movies, and the greater Sven Universe, which is inhabited by thousands of his most loyal fans.
When asked about his start as a local TV host making jabs at horror movies, he explained it all began with the original Svengoolie in Chicago, Jerry G. Bishop, a radio and TV guy Koz was working with and writing for at the time. Apparently, Bishop was approached by a local station for a show and while he wasn’t interested, he suggested his protegé.
“Then to me, he says, but you could do it. You could be the son of Svengoolie!” he recalls of the moment Bishop passed the torch.
When talking about the upcoming program block on MeTV, he says the network really stands for “Memorable Entertainment,” and that his old show, “people brought it up as comfort food TV. … And when people see this that brings back some pleasant memories for them, and maybe creates some new ones and with the people who have never seen this kind of thing.”
He also says he would love to get some of his favorites involved in the horror block to poke fun at, but some folks don’t want the properties made fun of. “I’d love to get some of those American international films like I Was a Teenage Werewolf or When I Was A Teenager Frankenstein. … the widow of one of the producers has the rights to it, and she will not let anybody use it because she didn’t like what Mystery Science Theater did with it,” he says. “But our boss is working to see if he can contact her and maybe tell her, you know, watch the show and see that we’re respectful to stuff we have fun with it. But it’s not like we’re going to be tearing it apart. So cross your fingers. Maybe we’ll end up with that.”
Svengoolie’s Halloween BOOnanza, Saturday, October 8, 8/7c, MeTV
