06/17/2026
Happy Anniversary! We love Sven!
📺On June 16, 1979 the series “Son of Svengoolie” debuted on WFLD, with Rich Koz in the title role! The show originally debuted as Screaming Yellow Theater on September 18, 1970, on WFLD channel 32 and ran on the station until September 7, 1973. Svengoolie was played then by Jerry G. Bishop. In later seasons, Koz (a fan who sent in sketch ideas) became a show writer. In 1973, Kaiser Broadcasting took over WFLD from Field Communications and Screaming Yellow Theater was cancelled and replaced with The Ghoul from Cleveland. The Ghoul lasted until 1974 when it was taken off the air. Field Communications re-purchased WFLD back from Kaiser Broadcasting in 1978, which led Bishop and Koz to discuss the show's resurrection.
After 334 shows of Son of Svengoolie, the final episode aired January 25, 1986. Neal Sabin, executive vice president of locally based Weigel Broadcasting, brought the show back on December 31, 1994, on independent station WCIU (channel 26, later a CW affiliate). Using "Svengoolie" as the name; Koz took the role of Svengoolie when Bishop told Koz that he "believed he was grown up enough now to no longer be just the Son." The series was aired on Chicago's WWME-CA, Milwaukee stations WBME-CD and WMLW-TV, and occasionally on WMYS-LD in South Bend, Indiana. Beginning on April 2, 2011, Svengoolie's show became available nationally on the MeTV network. Starting January 7, 2023, Svengoolie expanded from two hours to two and a half hours, filling out a full three hour block with Sventoonie.📺
