History Series / Svengoolie

* OnceAnEpisode: Every episode ends with an audio clip of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny saying "So long, screwy! See you in St. Louie!" from "Hare Trigger", followed by "We're the Boys of Chorus" from "WesternAnimation/WhatsUpDoc".

* OnceAnEpisode: Every episode ends with a WesternAnimation/BugsBunny audio clip: "So long, screwy! See you in St. Louie!" from "WesternAnimation/HareTrigger", followed by "We're the Boys of Chorus" from the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/WhatsUpDoc".

* OnceAnEpisode: Every episode ends with a WesternAnimation/BugsBunny audio clip: "So long, screwy! See you in St. Louie!", followed by "We're the Boys of Chorus" from the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/WhatsUpDoc".

* CreditsGag: Each episode has one, below the copyright logo and is a pun relating to the movie in question. One example, after the episode which featured the 1972 made-for-TV film ''Gargoyles'':

** Svengoolie's response to his 1986 cancellation...[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QDJRLb8C3w in music form]].

** ''Son of Svengoolie'' kept the old sign-on phrase and theme song from the original run in its early episodes, before adding "clear the airwaves" and the Son's Theme in 1980.
** The earliest WCIU episodes used a MIDI version of the Son's Theme and a very basic set (consisting of a black drape with Sven's coffin in front of it, as well as a table with old TV monitors). The set was updated in 1995, followed by the current version of the Son's Theme debuting the following year. Also, the intro was different, first consisting of footage of the set, before the live-action footage was introduced with the current version of the Son's Theme, and the CGI intro was first used in 1998. A different, simpler logo was used as well.

** Bishop started out with a plain white coffin lying on a table, which would be signed by the episode's special guest if there was one, before it was replaced with the more ornate one with his face on it. (The coffin-signing tradition was succeeded by a guest book.)

** Bishop started out with a plain white coffin lying on a table, which would be signed by the episode's special guest if there was one, before painting it to become the more ornate one with his face on it. (The coffin-signing tradition was succeeded by a guest book.)
** Bishop's coffin became Koz's coffin when he took over the show in 1979; about a year into the run he repainted it with his own face. In 2013, after almost 45 years with the same coffin, it was finally replaced. The original is now located in Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications.

** Durwood the puppet is modeled after Bishop's Svengoolie. Even decades after Koz took over with a different make-up design and outfit, Durwood retains his resemblance to the original.

** ''Son of Svengoolie'' kept the old sign-on phrase and theme song from the original run in its earliest episodes, before adding "clear the airwaves" and the Son's Theme in 1980.
** The earliest WCIU episodes used a MIDI version of the Son's Theme and a very basic set (consisting of a black drape with Sven's coffin in front of it). The set was updated in 1995, followed by the current version of the Son's Theme the following year. Also, the intro was different, first consisting of footage of the set, before the live-action footage was introduced with the current version of the Son's Theme, and the CGI intro was first used in 1998.

* LegacyCharacter: The current Svengoolie started as the Son of Svengoolie; the original Svengoolie (played by Jerry G. Bishop) aired from 1970-1973 on ''Screaming Yellow Theater''. ''Son of Svengoolie'' ran 1979-1986. When [=SoS=] returned to regular broadcasting in 1994 he received the blessing of the original to just be called "Svengoolie."

* LimitedWardrobe: Bishop!Sven's headband, sunglasses, red shirt and striped pants; Koz!Sven's black top hat, green neckerchief (replaced with a red turtleneck in the WCIU run and eventually a red dress shirt from 2007 on) and black suit; Doug's fedora, sunglasses and blue collared shirt.
* LongRunners: ''Screaming Yellow Theater'' ran from 1970-1973, Koz's first show ran 1979-1986; his current show started in 1994. All three runs have gone for almost a combined 40 years as of 2022.

** Very much so over the years, with regards to Sven being Transylvanian, and ''how''. It's pretty much gone straight into NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent, he'll start a segment with it or enunciate a word in it here or there but that's all. Sven tends to put more effort into it if the movie that week is a {{Dracula}} film.

** Svengooli's name is a portmanteau of "Svengali" from ''Trilby'' (and the subsequent reuse of the name as "a person who with evil intent manipulates another into doing what is desired") and the monstrous "ghoul".

** "BER-WYN?" whenever a city name, or a word that sounds similar is mentioned. Berwyn is a suburb of Chicago where they have an annual mushroom parade. Used as a gag similar to ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' "beautiful downtown Burbank." That and [=SoS=] used to regularly take credit for burning down the Berwyn Theater (again). Said theater was in sad disrepair in the early 80's and had multiple fires.

** And whenever food is mentioned, you'll hear Pete Puma from the 1952 ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short, ''Rabbit's Kin'', licking his lips... ''"MMM-mmm-MMM-yum-yum-SLURRRRP!!!"''

* SecretWord: Whenever a character in the movie says "Larry", "Curly", or "Moe", the movie will briefly be interrupted by a clip from ''Film/TheThreeStooges''. It doesn't have to be these names, either; in "Jungle Woman", a character says "Take the stand", which prompts a clip from the ''Three Stooges' short [[Recap/TheThreeStoogesDisorderInTheCourt "Disorder in the Court".]]
** In one episode, a character's name was Homer; when the name was first uttered, an audio clip of Homer Simpson saying "D'oh!" played.
* SelfDeprecation: Svengoolie re-showed ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' in 2007, and made a few cracks about his infamous 3-D showing of the movie.

* ShaveAndAHaircut: The Judge Jerry sketch features a part where Jerry bangs his gavel but hears a ''second'' bang afterwards. After testing a couple more times with the same results, he knocks the first five notes of "Shave and a Haircut". After a pause, the last two bangs are heard.

** The intro sequence was changed to a CGI sequence in 1998.
* SpecialGuest: ''Very'' frequent during the Bishop days. Koz managed to swing a few as well during his initial run[[note]]most prominent among them being Creator/JonPertwee, there to plug an appearance at a Chicago ''Series/DoctorWho'' convention, and cookie creator and businessman Wally "Famous" Amos[[/note]], his second run dispensed of them almost entirely. The [=MeTV=] era (especially 2014-onwards) has seen a return of frequent guest appearances; if they're not at conventions that Sven goes to, they appear on the set itself.

** Bishop's opening narration in the first ''Son of Svengoolie'' episode features jabs at the short-lived series ''Hello, Larry'' and ''Series/MyMotherTheCar''. The former received a CallBack during the "Cancelled" song in the series finale.
** Svengoolie's response to his cancellation...[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QDJRLb8C3w in music form.]]
** ''Son of Svengoolie'' featured copious cheap shots at Creator/AlanThicke; the "Cancelled" song also features a jab at Thicke's failed talk show, ''Thicke of the Night''.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Doug Graves takes one of these in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpoqG_-1i-c musical bit]] from 1984. With no context, it can't be determined whether this was a one-off sketch or an episode-long plot, but considering that Doug's still around almost thirty years later it clearly didn't last long.

* TruncatedThemeTune: Depending on how long the featured movie is, the intro may be a shorter version which opens with the camera traveling through the doors. This version is used for every episode from 2017 onward.

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: While Koz does a more typical Transylvanian one, Bishop's for a long time could only be described as "familiar" and was later described by him as a cross between Transylvanian and ''Yiddish''.

* TheArtifact: Durwood the puppet is modeled after Bishop's Svengoolie. Even decades after Koz took over with a different make-up design and outfit, Durwood retains his resemblance to the original.

* MythologyGag: One Sven Cave background used in 2020 episodes features capsules with the costume of Bishop's Sven, as well as Koz' 1979 and 1994 Sven costumes. Another background shows a portrait of Bishop's Sven.

* CostumeEvolution: Koz' Sven started out with a longer hairstyle, a green ascot, and a red ''Son of Svengoolie'' t-shirt in the ''Son of Svengoolie'' era. When his show was revived on WCIU, he ditched the ascot, got a shorter hairstyle, wore a different blazer with a 1994 Hallmark Dancing Skeleton lapel pin, and swapped out his t-shirt for a red turtleneck sweater. In 2007, the sweater was replaced with the current collared shirt and a red bead necklace with a rubber chicken pendant.

* MythologyGag: One Sven Cave background used in 2020 episodes features capsules with the costume of Bishop's Sven, as well as Koz' 1979 and 1994 Sven costumes.

The character has gone through many incarnations throughout its run, starting in 1970 on Chicago's WFLD as a part of ''Screaming Yellow Theater'', where the character was played by Jerry G. Bishop, and a key writer was Rich Koz. When a controlling stake in WFLD was bought out by Kaiser Broadcasting, ''SYT'' was cancelled and was replaced by a HorrorHost from their Cleveland station; it barely lasted a year in Chicago. It was resurrected in 1979 after Field Communications took over Kaiser, with Koz portraying "Son of Svengoolie" in a show of the same name. Said show was cancelled when Fox bought out WFLD in 1986, but returned as simply ''Svengoolie'' (with Bishop's blessing) on stations in Chicago and Milwaukee on New Year's Eve 1994 and has been running since.

On April 2nd, 2011 Svengoolie went national when the Creator/MeTV network expanded out of UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} and UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} and became a full-fledged nationwide network. [[http://svengoolie.com/ Find out more here.]]

* OnceAnEpisode: Every episode ends with a Bugs Bunny audio clip: "So long, screwy! See you in St. Louie!", followed by "We're the Boys of Chorus" from the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "What's Up, Doc?".

* CostumeEvolution: Koz' Sven started out with a longer hairstyle, a green ascot, and a red ''Son of Svengoolie'' t-shirt in the ''Son of Svengoolie'' era. When his show was revived on WCIU, he ditched the ascot, got a shorter hairstyle, wore a different blazer with a Hallmark Dancing Skeleton lapel pin, and swapped out his t-shirt for a red turtleneck sweater. In 2007, the sweater was replaced with the current collared shirt and rubber chicken necklace.

* CostumeEvolution: Koz' Sven started out with a longer hairstyle, a green ascot, and a red t-shirt in the ''Son of Svengoolie'' era. When his show was revived on WCIU, he ditched the ascot, got a shorter hairstyle, and swapped out his t-shirt for a red turtleneck sweater. In 2007, the sweater was replaced with the current collared shirt.

* AffectionateParody: Sven's coffin Boddy Sorrell is a coffin take on Buddy Sorrell from ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'': his name is similar, his voice is a Morey Amsterdam impression, and he has a habit of calling Sven "Rob".

* AffectionateParody: Sven's coffin Boddy Sorrell is a coffin take on Buddy Sorrell from ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'': his name is similar, his voice is a Creator/MoreyAmsterdam impression, and he has a habit of calling Sven "Rob".

* CallBack: Across three decades, as Sven reacts to the airing of ''Film/TheBirds'' in HD with a reference to his disastrous 1982 3D airing of ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature''...

* TheArtifact: Durwood the puppet looks just like Bishop's Svengoolie. When Koz took over with a different make-up design, Durwood retained his resemblance to the original and continues to today.

* CouchGag: Bishop's goodnight poem in SYT, and the person at the door during the Koz era.

* ShoutOut: Rich Koz did not hide the fact that he was a huge ''Series/DoctorWho'' fan during the classic series' run, and sometimes worked Who-related jokes into his comedy sketches, not to mention throw in the sound of the TARDIS every now and then. The crowning moment of this has to be getting Third Doctor Creator/JonPertwee onto the show for a cameo (he happened to be doing a convention in Chicago at the time). His other fandoms make themselves known via the stock audio he chooses to interact with: if it's not something recorded during the Bishop era, it's likely ripped from the Three Stooges, the Marx Brothers, or Warner Bros. cartoons.

* ThreeDimensionalEpisode: When [=SoS=] [[http://neatocoolville.blogspot.com/2007/10/1982-television-event-revenge-of.html?m=1 broadcast]] ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' in 1982. The effect didn't work well.
* {{Transplant}}: Nostalgiaferatoo originated on ''Toon In With Me'' in 2022, offering assorted trivia details about a given topic (plus annoying Bill and Toony with his quirks and ever-changing job title). He's made occasional appearances there ever since, but thanks to his vampire motif, he'd start turning up to bother Sven and his cohorts in 2023. He ended up appearing far more often here than on ''Toon In With Me'', ultimately being officially dubbed as a member of the Sven Squad by the end of the year.

* UnPerson: In Sven's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfknZhB7ufQ 150th Episode music video]] "Stop Calling Him the Son" [[note]]based on "Walking on the Sun" by Music/SmashMouth[[/note]] Sven mentions giving thanks to "that broad on the bench," referring to Series/JudgeJudy which also aired on WCIU at the time. In a later edition of the video, after Judy had moved to the local CBS affiliate and was replaced on WCIU by Series/JudgeMillsLane, a clip of Lane is inserted with the text "NOT ANYMORE!" superimposed. Still [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzqG1b1n2XA later versions]] of the song have Judy's clips replaced by a clip of Judge Marilyn Milian of ''Series/ThePeoplesCourt''.

* BitingTheHandHumor: The 6/11/16 airing of ''Pillow of Death'' had "Dy Pillow", a parody of "My Pillow", an on-and-off sponsor on the show.

** ''Son of Svengoolie'', bizarrely, begins and ends with a TakeThat to failed sitcom ''Hello, Larry'': Jerry G. Bishop, introducing the first episode, sarcastically quips that "many fondly remember Svengoolie providing the same classic entertainment as such time-honored shows as ''Hello, Larry''"; and the "Cancelled" song in the finale claims the show's been cancelled "like [=McLean=] Stevenson."

* ButtMonkey: Sven is frequently the butt of jokes: Doug constantly complains about working for him, Boddy Sorrell (Sven's coffin) has a habit of calling him "[[Series/TheDickVanDykeShow Rob]]", and uses BaitAndSwitch punchlines, Kerwyn the rubber chicken takes constant potshots during the mail segments, and Tombstone seems pathologically incapable of referring to Sven by name (usually opting to call him "dummy" instead.) However, whenever "head writer" Rich Koz turns up, Sven makes ''him'' the butt of all the jokes instead, and constantly accuses him of trying to steal credit for the show's success.
* CallBack: Across three decades, as Sven reacts to the airing of ''Film/TheBirds'' in HD with a reference to his disastrous airing of ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature''...

* CatchPhrase: When showing some fan submissions: "Hit the theme for us, Chas," referring to audio engineer Chas Alling. Became "Hit the theme for us, Credo" after Alling stepped down as audio engineer and was replaced by Chris [=DeQuick=] and Michael Manuszak.
* CelebrityCameo: Sven occasionally interviews celebrity guests on the show, usually actors from horror or SciFi movies. The crowning achievement though has to be the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ5gxAtXU-Q Svengoolie Stomp]]," written and performed by Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, which featured a video with a whole line-up of celebrity fans who just wanted the fun of showing up in a Svengoolie video and stomping on some rubber chickens. (From the credits: [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff]], Wrestling/JimCornette, Creator/DavidDastmalchian, Creator/LouFerrigno, Creator/GilbertGottfried, [[VideoGame/{{Gex}} Dana Gould]], Creator/JohnCMcGinley, Amy Hersey, [[Creator/{{CBS}} Bill Kurtis]], [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Larry Thomas]], Creator/PennAndTeller.) Among those who have shown up outside of the aforementioned have been [[Music/TheGoGos Gina Schock]] and, from his original ''Son'' run, [[Series/DoctorWho Third Doctor]] Creator/JonPertwee and cookie magnate Wally "Famous" Amos. The current show has also had recorded inserts from stars of some of Creator/MeTV's other shows, including [[Series/{{Mash}} Jamie Farr]] and [[Series/GilligansIsland Dawn Wells]], bantering with Sven. And then there's the clips of Sven on the convention circuit, interviewing such horror luminaries as Creator/MalcolmMcDowell and Creator/RobertEnglund, as well as Victoria Price, daughter to Creator/VincentPrice.

** ''Son of Svengoolie'' kept the old sign-on phrase and theme song from the original run for a bit, before adding "clear the airwaves" and the Son's Theme.
** The earliest WCIU episodes used a MIDI version of the Son's Theme and a very basic set (consisting of a black drape with Sven's coffin in front of it).
* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The June 2020 episodes have seen Sven hosting the show from his secret Sven Cave instead of the usual coffin set. The RealLife reason for this temporary setting change, obviously, is due to the stay-at-home precautionary orders amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

* InherentlyFunnyWord: Berwyn.

* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Whenever Doug and Sven are on at the same time. Special mention goes to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpoqG_-1i-c I Want a New Doug]]", where they both spend the entire song insulting each other to the tune of [[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews I Want a New Drug]].

** The intro sequence got a budget boost in 1998.

** Back in the ''Son of Svengoolie'' days you couldn't get through a month without at least one cheap shot at Alan Thicke.

* ThreeDimensionalEpisode: When [=SoS=] broadcast ''Film/RevengeOfTheCreature'' in 1983. The effect didn't work well.

* AnimatedCreditsOpening: The opening is done in CG animation, while the show itself is live action. The recurring segment "Sven on the Road" also has a brief animated intro.

-->-- Opening line for ''Son of Svengoolie'' from 1980 onwards and ''Svengoolie''

* CelebrityCameo: Sven occasionally interviews celebrity guests on the show, usually actors from horror or SciFi movies. The crowning achievement though has to be the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ5gxAtXU-Q Svengoolie Stomp]]," written and performed by Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon, which featured a video with a whole line-up of celebrity fans who just wanted the fun of showing up in a Svengoolie video and stomping on some rubber chickens. (From the credits: [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff]], Wrestling/JimCornette, Creator/DavidDastmalchian, Creator/LouFerrigno, Creator/GilbertGottfried, [[VideoGame/{{Gex}} Dana Gould]], Creator/JohnCMcGinley, Amy Hersey, [[Creator/{{CBS}} Bill Kurtis]], [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Larry Thomas]], Creator/PennAndTeller.) Among those who have shown up outside of the aforementioned have been [[Music/TheGoGos Gina Schock]] and, from his original ''Son'' run, [[Series/DoctorWho Third Doctor]] Creator/JonPertwee and cookie magnate Wally "Famous" Amos. The current show has also had recorded inserts from stars of some of Creator/MeTV's other shows, including [[Series/MASH Jamie Farr]] and [[Series/GilligansIsland Dawn Wells]], bantering with Sven. And then there's the clips of Sven on the convention circuit, interviewing such horror luminaries as Creator/MalcolmMcDowell and Creator/RobertEnglund, as well as Victoria Price, daughter to Creator/VincentPrice.