Jerry G. Bishop, 1936-2013

[the_archfiend]

Adios and thank for all the fun, even if I was a bit too young for Screaming Yellow Theater:

In a more than 40-year career as radio and TV host, Jerry G. Bishop won three Emmys and toured with the Beatles, but he may be best remembered as the original Svengoolie.

Mr. Bishop hosted "Screaming Yellow Theater," a horror-film show on WFLD-Ch. 32 from 1970 to 1973, as the coffin-dwelling hippie with a wacky sense of humor. His character has a devoted following to this day, family and former colleagues said.

"He was making really creative TV on almost no budget," said Wally Podrazik, curator at Chicago's Museum of Broadcast Communications. "I'd call Jerry G. Bishop the master of the non sequitur and running gag. Not just as Svengoolie, but as a radio DJ with a superb timing and a sense of unabashed silliness."

...which is exactly what you want in a horror movie show host, right?

To wit:

Plus a few clips with his chosen (?) successor, Rich Koz:

And let's not forget one of the most obvious ploys a horror show host can utilize: shameless pandering to the sensibilities of those male fans who've already hit puberty, shown right here (NOTE: there's nothing in this clip that's so raw that it can't be shown; it's just that FuzzyMemoriesTV insists on starting them on Play mode automatically, which means that the sound for this Tina McDowall segment possibly might be on whenever you arrive at this site. Hence, the link.