EXCERPT FROM SVENGOOLIE NEWSLETTER 7/29/11

Our “Photo of the Month” is actually an autographed picture this time, thanks to our pal Dave Fuentes of the “Terror from beyond the Daves” website that he does along with Dave Albaugh. Dave went to a convention, where he met David Naughton- star of “An American Werewolf in London” – and those “I’m a Pepper/You’re a Pepper” TV commercials from the 70s. He told David about the old commercial parody we did years ago at WFLD where I combined the soft drink commercial with his werewolf transformation from the movie. Mr. Naughton said he had indeed heard of me, and thought the parody idea was “genius” (oh, now, you’re making me blush!). He also signed the below autographed picture for me, indicating that he drinks Dr. Rabies, too! He also told Dave to give me his congratulations on our program going national!

True story! The Dr. Rabies parody commercial was always one of my favorite clips from those “Son of Svengoolie” days.

I was about 10 years old and Mondays on the playground were often characterized by us Sven kids getting together and, after trading Wacky Packages cards, reenacting many of Sven’s skits and songs. I remember we did the “Deadly Cologne” one (parody of Charlie perfume) and various parody songs featured on the show. Of course we butchered the lyrics, relying on our young memories to carry us through. Best of all, it was based on those great aforementioned Dr Pepper’s commercials that still stand as thier catchiest and most fun ad campaign to date!

Original (sorry for the bad quality but this is favorite version of the commercial)

Son of Svengoolie version….

I had always wondered if actor/singer David Naughton had ever seen or heard this parody. I found his fan site on Facebook a year ago and sent the clip –  never hearing anything back. This isn’t all that surprising since there are many celebs on Facebook who have nothing to do with their own pages. While attending the FRIGHT NIGHT FILM FEST last weekend, I would finally be able to meet Naughton and ask him directly (this is what happens when a horror host fan “thinks” too much).

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