Svengoolie, top-hatted horror host on MeTV, has welcomed three new members to what is known as the Sven Squad. Sarah Palmer is Gwengoolie, “an enchanting Hollywood, or Hollyweird, diva from the glamour age of cinema,” according to MeTV, and Scott Gryder is IMP, or Ignatius Malvolio Prankenstein, “the devilishly ingratiating, and slightly grating, sly trickster who keeps claiming Svengoolie is his uncle.”
Casting took place at the 2022 New York Comic Con event, where attendees could audition at the Svengoolie booth.
Bill Leff also joins the Sven Squad as Nostalgiaferatoo, an 800-year-old vampire.
Svengoolie airs Saturday nights on MeTV, as Svengoolie, played by Rich Koz, hosts the screening of low-budget horror movies. The Sven Squad will help the host make sense of the movies being featured.
Palmer is a California native known for “her remarkable ability to embody iconic figures,” said MeTV, including Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball and the Bride of Frankenstein.
Gryder is a Chicago actor whose credits include the stage shows Buyer & Cellar (Pride Films & Plays) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Lyric Opera of Chicago). He studied theater at Texas Tech.
Leff studied improvisation with Chicago’s Second City Theater, performed stand-up nationwide and is a Chicago radio personality. He’s also host of MeTV’s weekday morning show Toon In With Me.
Svengoolie debuted on MeTV in 2011. Rich Koz plays the host, which was spawned on Chicago TV in the ‘70s.
The second annual Svengoolie’s Halloween BOOnanza, a month-long scary programming stunt, kicked off October 7 and ends on Halloween. Saturdays offer Svengoolie’s Halloween BOOnanza Double Feature, with back-to-back classic and campy horror movies. On October 28, it’s Kolchak: Night Strangler, a 1973 movie starring Darren McGavin, then Trilogy of Terror, a 1975 film starring Karen Black.
MeTV has scary episodes of vintage TV all day long on Halloween, including “The Haunted House” from Leave it to Beaver, “The Changeling” from The Waltons, “Trick or Treat” from The Beverly Hillbillies and “One Grave Too Many” from Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
