In the wake of this past weekend’s prime time special, Variety has announced that longtime horror host Svengoolie is eyeing an expansion with a nationwide talent search!
The campaign has been titled “Spawn of Svengoolie,” and it looks like the plan is to find fans who can be woven into “Svengoolie’s expanded character universe.”
Svengoolie has been a horror host for over 40 years and the official horror host for MeTV for over 10 years, with more fans tuning in here in 2022 than ever before.
“I always say he’s the number one horror host you’ve never heard of,” Donna D’Alessandro, exec VP and head of content at Weigel Broadcasting, said in a statement.
D’Alessandro added, “The show grew 30% in two years, hitting about a million viewers every Saturday night. That to me was unbelievable statistic. A lot of the coastal cities are learning who Svengoolie is now. But we’re still trying to get him out there. He is a huge asset, loved and beloved. I couldn’t believe the amount of audience that he has, his following. I’d walk by his desk, and I couldn’t believe the amount of fan mail he still gets on a weekly basis.”
“I became an overnight success in about 43 years,” joked Rich “Svengoolie” Koz. “Believe me, I’ll take it. It’s been pretty amazing and flattering to me to see this. And the fact is, not only have we gotten such a huge audience, but it continues to grow. To be involved in this nationally and to have the show trending in the top topics on Twitter every week, it’s amazing to me. Never when I started did I think, first of all that I’d still be doing it this many years later. And secondly, that it would get to this level. It is it’s very flattering, but it’s also kind of overwhelming to me.”
“We always wanted to expand the Svengoolie universe,” Koz continued. “Even though young people are going to say, ‘Oh, are you retiring?’ No, I’m not I’m not going anywhere. I’ve always said, as long as I’m enjoying it, and my health is good, I’ll continue doing it. And with the success we’ve had, I’d be a fool to retire at this point. But we thought that we could add some fans who have been influenced by me. I hear about that all the time that there are people who have been influenced by our show on what I do, and we want to bring them into this world.”
Before the “Spawn of Svengoolie” campaign kicks off on MeTV, Variety notes that in-person auditions will first be held at the upcoming New York Comic-Con later this month.
Patrick Bromley celebrated Svengoolie here on BD a few years back, writing: “As far as being a Monster Kid is concerned, I can think of few figures who have meant more.”
“Svengoolie is responsible for creating new Monster Kids week after week, year after year. For this reason alone, the show is a gift,” Patrick continued, referring to the weekly MeTV series.