Svengoolie February 2023 Newsletter

## Intro

**JANUARY**

Welcome to the month where we salute presidents, Valentines, and groundhogs — I will be the first to say I probably don’t qualify as any of those (well, maybe a Valentine — there’s no accounting for taste.) I think we have come up with a box of cinema chocolates that Forrest Gump would agree he never knew what he was going to get. We’ll let you decide if any of the movies this month might describe any of the three things we are saluting!

## Body

We’ll start off the month with the Gill-man — if he sees his shadow, does that mean 6 more weeks of terror? This is, as I always mention, one of my favorite films, and I think this Universal 1950s creature belongs in the top listings with the classic 1930s and 40s monsters. Of course, one of the fondest memories of this film, for most of us, include Julie Adams’ swim in her stylish white bathing suit — but the Creature himself made such a great impression, they made two sequels to this first appearance. Next up, a true cult classic, and one many viewers have been begging us to show — Killer Klowns from Outer Space! Some people have noted there is a similarity of this film to The Blob — see if you agree. Along with the bizarre alien clowns — or is it klowns? — we get John Vernon, the overly-strict Dean Wormer in Animal House as an equally strict police officer... and some weird special effects!

The week after, it’s another encore that viewers have asked for: Duel — Stephen Spielberg’s early directorial starring Dennis Weaver as a driver menaced by a mysterious huge killer truck. We wind up February with yet ANOTHER film many viewers have asked for — War of the Gargantuas! Russ Tamblyn must find a way to save Tokyo from — not a giant lizard — but two huge neanderthal-like creatures! Yes, plenty of toy tanks sacrifice themselves for this epic battle. Consider this month’s variety of films as our Valentine to you!

We are very happy that our new two-and-a-half-hour show has been well-received by our viewers! We have already been adding footage back into films that we previously had to take out for time, and being able to bring back various segments that people remember fondly — or have never seen — has proven to be popular with Sven fans. (If there is a segment you would like us to bring back, feel free to e-mail it to me at sven@svengoolie.com — we can’t promise it will be available, but we can try!) Though our movie schedule was locked in before it was decided to expand the show, there will definitely be some longer movies included that will benefit from the added time.

We have begun work on the new Svengoolie comic book we are doing under the auspices of “Frank Miller Presents”! There has already been some sample cover artwork which is really amazing. We will keep you up on when the book will be coming out, and maybe a few hints about the content!

It's been a while since we did one of these, and I always hear from you guys about how much you enjoy them — and learn a lot from them — so, we have put together a new Sven quiz regarding my career. Please do not look up the answers — just play along and see if you come up with the right answers! Let’s begin:

1. Which of these movies have I NEVER run in my career?

A. John Carpenter’s Vampires

B. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes

C. C.H.U.D.

2. In the early 80s, the Chicago Tribune included me in an article, in which they included a photo of — what?

A. My costume collection

B. The inside of my refrigerator

C. My car

3. Which one of these did I NOT write for?

A. The famed Chicago Bozo show

B. WWE

C. PBS’ Electric Company

4. Which have I NOT been invited to do?

A. Be grand marshal of a parade

B. Officiate a wedding

C. Cut the ribbon at a store opening

5. When I worked with the original Svengoolie, Jerry G. Bishop, what character did I NOT play when we did public appearances?

A. A skeleton-headed lackey

B. A big rubber chicken

C. Groucho Marx

6. Which character did I voice in a commercial?

A. A wacky werewolf

B. A cow

C. A space alien

That’s the quiz! We’ll put a little space between the questions and the answers so there’s no scrolling/peeking!

Starting off, let's see if you were paying attention. Did you see the banner above for the MeTV Mall's Love Me sale? Everything in the mall is 14% OFF this month with promo code LOVEME entered during checkout. This includes everything in the Svengoolie Store! Maybe you want to pick up our popular I Heart Sven design for your Valentine? You can really show your heart by gifting them one of these hoodies, shirts, or coffee mugs! Click here to shop everything in the MeTV Mall by using the discount today!

Speaking of Valentine's Day, can yours truly help you out? Remember when you were a young ghoul and you would write those little paper square cards and pass them out to everyone in school? We have our very own Valentine designed that you can save, print, and pass out this year! Click the image below and save this image and send in an email, post on social, or go old school and print it out!

Okay... time for the quiz answers! Let’s see how you did!

1. The answer is B-Attack of the Killer Tomatoes ( though we are trying to remedy that be watching later this year!) The other two were run during our local Chicago run – in fact, C.H.U.D. was the first movie I ran when I came to WCIU.

2. The photo-illustrating the content of the article — showed B-what was inside my refrigerator! I think we even added in some props — like a skull, and a rubber chicken. I remember that I was kind of confused when the lady writing the article, for each beverage in the fridge, would ask if I had it for enjoyment or thirst. I believe I answered “both” to each one.

3. The correct answer is B — WWE — although my friend Jerry “The King” Lawler did use a joke of mine while doing commentary on air! I briefly wrote some sketches for the longest running Bozo show in the nation right before I came to work for WCIU — and, while working with the great Dick Orkin (“Chicken Man”, “The Tooth Fairy”, and scores of hilarious radio commercials) I helped write a sequence for the Electric Company — which played off the question “did you SPOT any bears?” — with the payoff being, of course, that someone had painted spots on a bear. I’m sure that taught young kids watching something — possibly not to try to paint spots on bears.

4. The answer is C — I don’t recall ever cutting a ribbon at a store grand opening — and, before anyone inquires, though I have been asked, I do NOT officiate weddings! Not divorces, either.

5. Amazingly, the answer is B — a big rubber chicken. FYI, I did the skull-headed guy only once — I was uncomfortable and made it hard to talk.

6. The answer is B — a cow. It was for a Kraft cheese commercial, and the character was Super Cow. They gave no explanation of why the cow was a male. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

If you got 3 or 4 right, you are a fairly knowledgeable Sven fan. If you got them all right — you probably remember more about my career than I do!

Last note this month is a new place you can find me! Kerwyn and Sventoonie have been laughing at videos they see on TikTok. In fact, Sventoonie even posted this video that revealed to many of you that the eyes in my coffin can move! (Did you know that already?) Well, we heard from lots of fans on TikTok that I should be there too. So, I'm there now! You can search and follow RealSvengoolie on TikTok to find me, and see our first two videos today!

## Upcoming Appearances

**Note**

Right now, it’s looking like our first appearance of 2023 will be at the C2E2 convention at Chicago’s McCormick Place in late March. To watch for further information of possible updates, please check occasionally at the “appearances” tab on our website.

## Photo of the Month

I never thought a Sven fan would go to the ends of the earth to represent me — but Greg Petecki of Joliet, IL, has done it! He wore his Sven shirt while visiting Antarctica! He has been watching me since he was a kid — and thinks that this maybe the furthest away that any viewer has gone to display being a Sven fan! We think he is correct — of course, if he had just waited at home until now, he could experience the same snow and cold without travelling so far away!