History Trivia / Svengoolie

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: Twice.

* RealSongThemeTune: ''Screaming Yellow Theater'' and the first two years of ''Son of Svengoolie'' used Link Wray's "Rumble", with added sounds of a woman's scream. ''Son of Svengoolie'' used Music/BillyJoel's "You May Be Right" as an ''ending'' theme.
* RecycledSet: Episodes of ''Screaming Yellow Theater'' from 1972 on and ''Son of Svengoolie'' used the backdrop from another horror show, ''Shock Theatre''.

** The reason the original Svengoolie show was canceled in 1973 was that the local TV station he originated from was bought by an out-of-town TV station that had its ''own'' local Horror Host, which it then syndicated in the Chicago area in Svengoolie's timeslot. Said show didn't last six months in the Chicago market but by then the original Svengoolie had moved on with his life.

** In 1986 the fledgling {{Creator/FOX}} Network bought WFLD, the local channel from which ''Son of Svengoolie'' originated (notice a pattern?), and decided to cancel the show because it didn't fit with their vision of how the nascent network should present itself. That, and they wanted the time slot for ''The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers''.

** The 300th episode of ''Son of'' and ''Svengoolie'''s 20th anniversary special feature [[https://youtu.be/ghgkoHAzysI?t=893 a portion]] of the original 1978 audition tape, in which Koz's Sven was dressed just like Jerry G. Bishop's Sven. This was changed because it was decided that Koz's Sven should look different, so his Sven's green hair was changed to brown. This may be why the early ''Son of'' episodes still featured the likeness of Bishop's Sven on his coffin lid. Then WFLD told Koz to look less like a hippie (as the hippie movement had long died out by 1979), leading to his suit and top hat.
** While Rich Koz was adamant that his character would be the "Son of Svengoolie", WFLD insisted on giving him a different name, as they were "out-of-towners" and unfamiliar with Bishop's character. Koz reluctantly came up with a few different names ("Baron Video" was stated to be his favorite, but his producer vetoed that name, claiming that "video" was an archaic term, before MTV was launched). WFLD also wanted Koz to create a contest for his character's name with people writing in potential names, but this didn't work; in fact, the name "Son of Svengoolie" was only settled on right when the show started airing, hence why early advertising didn't use that name.

* CreatorsPest: In 1995, Sven had a short-lived sidekick in Ed the Bat, who spoke in a high-pitched voice. WCIU head Neal Sabin hated the character for that reason, so much that when the character was retired, a segment was filmed in which Ed was called into Sabin's office where Sabin ''personally attacked him with a club''.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The 300th episode of ''Son of'' and ''Svengoolie'''s 20th anniversary special feature [[https://youtu.be/ghgkoHAzysI?t=893 a portion]] of the original 1978 audition tape, in which Koz's Sven was dressed just like Jerry G. Bishop's Sven. This was changed because it was decided that Koz's Sven should look different, so his Sven's green hair was changed to brown. This may be why the early ''Son of'' episodes still featured the likeness of Bishop's Sven on his coffin lid. Then WFLD told Koz to look less like a hippie (as the hippie movement had long died out by 1979), leading to his suit and top hat.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The 300th episode of ''Son of'' and ''Svengoolie'''s 20th anniversary special feature [[https://youtu.be/ghgkoHAzysI?t=893 a portion]] of the original 1978 audition tape, in which Koz's Sven was dressed just like Jerry G. Bishop's Sven. This was changed because it was decided that Koz's Sven would be dressed less like a hippie. This may be why the early ''Son of'' episodes still featured the likeness of Bishop's Sven on his coffin lid. The costume settled on was their third attempt.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Son of'''s 300th episode and ''Svengoolie'''s 20th anniversary special feature [[https://youtu.be/ghgkoHAzysI?t=893 a portion]] of the original 1978 audition tape, in which Koz's Sven was dressed just like Jerry G. Bishop's Sven. This was changed because it was decided that Koz's Sven would be dressed less like a hippie. This may be why the early ''Son of'' episodes still featured the likeness of Bishop's Sven on his coffin lid. The costume settled on was their third attempt.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Svengoolie's 20th anniversary special features [[https://youtu.be/ghgkoHAzysI?t=893 a portion]] of the original 1978 audition tape, in which Koz's Sven was dressed just like Jerry G. Bishop's Sven. This was changed because it was decided that Koz's Sven would be dressed less like a hippie. This may be why the early ''Son of'' episodes still featured the likeness of Bishop's Sven on his coffin lid.

* RealSongThemeTune: ''Screaming Yellow Theater'' used Link Wray's "Rumble". ''Son of Svengoolie'' used Music/BillyJoel's "You May Be Right" as an ''ending'' theme.

** In 1986 the fledgling {{Creator/FOX}} Network bought WFLD, the local channel from which ''Son of Svengoolie'' originated (notice a pattern?), and decided to cancel the show because it didn't fit with their vision of how the nascent network should present itself. That, and they wanted the time slot for ''The Joan Rivers Show''.
* SerendipityWritesThePlot: The famous use of rubber chickens originated when Bishop decided he wanted to have things thrown at him after a bad joke. As the usual rotten tomatoes would be too difficult to clean up, it was decided to use rubber chickens, a classic vaudeville prop.