Son of Svengoolie - "The First Episode!" (1979) 💀

[remastered - see below] Here's where it all began, in a galaxy far, far away . . . no, not really, but rather in the city of which Berwyn ("Berwyn?!") was and is a major suburb (not to mention a long-standing running gag): the debut of Son of Svengoolie on Chicago's own WFLD Channel 32, with Rich Koz in the title role, picking up where the original "Sven" (and Mr. Koz' main mentor), Jerry G. Bishop, left off some six years before.

This maiden edition featured the 1969 made-for-TV film "In the Year 2889," (marked down from $29.95. narf-narf-narf...) (weird to think that the movie was only 10 years old at this point!)

As this is from a master tape, we only see the show opening and the very first between-movie-scenes "break" sketch - and sadly no station ID's, promos or commercials, nor the film itself.

Includes:

WFLD Sheet slate indicating title, number ("Open"), director ("Oher" - Joe Oher), recording and designated air date, accompanied by less than brief 400 Hz tone heard every second. Interesting that these clips were actually recorded on May 24th 1979 and held until the broadcast date on June 16th, with the director being the late Joe Oher (who was a friend and sadly passed away in 2019).

Panoramic shot of set, starting with "The following pre-scribe is transcrammed" audio, followed by the voice of Jerry G. Bishop describing "the famed split-level dungeon studio where, many years ago, the legendary Svengoolie burst into television prominence," and putting him in the same league as shows like Hello, Larry and My Mother, the Car, before "dropping from sight," rumors circulating about him (among them that he dyed his hair and became Phil Donahue), and conjuring "Son of . . . " scenarios, after which the second-generation Sven emerges from his crypt for the first time and, in his own inimitable fashion (as Link Wray's "Rumble" is played in the background), describes and introduces the movie coming up

Another WFLD sheet slate indicating "Brk 1" with low tone beeps

First break sketch, "Rots" - er, "Roots (sorry)," in which SoS, after a fact-finding mission in Sheboygan and Berwyn, tells a convoluted story about his ancestors (one of whom, from Transylvania was an indentured servant "and we still have his dentures here to prove it" of Kunta Kinte's American cousin, another being Rubber Chicken George), and in the end traces the Svengoolie family history to Gong Show host Chuck Barris, with various pictures including Superman, Khigh Dhiegh, and a film photo still; after his tale is finished, Sven signals for a return to the movie

"His mother was a medium, and his father was an extra large."

This aired on local Chicago TV on Saturday, June 16th 1979 during the 8:00pm to 10:00pm timeframe. (Recorded on Thursday, May 24th 1979.)

(Note: This is a remastered posting of a previous old clip of ours that has come down with the YouTube "We're processing this video. Check back later." disease - meaning it inexplicitly stops working, so this clip replaces the original one here, now unlisted:    • Son of Svengoolie - "The First Episod...  . If you know of any other clips of ours that do not play and only display this message, please let us know so it can be eventually replaced - e-mail: [email protected] Thanks!)

About The Museum of Classic Chicago Television:

The MCCTv (FuzzyMemoriesTV) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose primary mission is the preservation and display of off-air, early home videotape recordings (70s to early 80s, mostly) recorded off of TV (in Chicago or other cities now too); things which would likely be lost if not sought out and preserved digitally. If you have any old 1970s videotapes recorded off of TV please email: [email protected] Even though (mostly) short clips are displayed here, we preserve the entire broadcasts in our archives - the complete programs with breaks (or however much is present on the tape), for historical preservation. For information on how to help in our mission, to donate or lend tapes to be converted to digital, please e-mail [email protected] Thank you for your help!