I’ve held off on this story as long as I could but wanted to share a fantastic experience I had late last year. It started back in October after I’d finished assisting the Svengoolie crew at their annual Volo Auto Museum appearance. Svengoolie’s alter ego, Rich Koz, thanked me for my assistance (as if I hadn’t enjoyed every minute of it) before asking if there was anything he could do for me in return. On several occasions, his producer, Jim Roche, has offered to pay me for my services but I’ve always refused on the grounds of it being a labor of love. I told Sven it wasn’t necessary but did put out there that if the station had lifted its tight COVID restrictions, I’d love to attend another taping – casually throwing in my desire to be his “hand at the door.” Seasoned Svengoolie fans know this refers to the show’s final skit which finds our frustrated host trying to share information about next week’s show only to be interrupted by his doorbell. After begrudgingly leaving his coffin to answer the door, he is then greeted by an expressive hand/arm that comes into view before telling a bad joke or two. I’m told this type of gag originated from an old comedian named “Soupy Sales” but he was before my time and I’ve only ever seen it performed by Svengoolie and the horror host, Zomboo, in Nevada. Sven told me he’d make it happen and, before the year was out, made good on his promise.

On Monday, December, 11th, Jim sent me a text stating, “Hello Sir! Any chance you can come to the studio on Wednesday around noon? Rumor is, we could use a hand…at the door!” I quickly agreed before making arrangements to take the day off from work. Getting a day off on short notice wasn’t a problem but, if it had been, you best believe I’d of called off sick! 

Over the years, I’ve been at the station several times and on three of those occasions had the honor of throwing rubber chickens. They were during his national TV debut presentations of The Leech Woman (1960), Dracula (1931), and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953). I’ve also seen the filming of several mail segments as well as a couple musical numbers with Doug Graves. The only thing I’d never witnessed was a taping of the hand-at-the-door, so this was a real treat. 

I live about 30 minutes south of the station and, on a clear day, can see Chicago’s Willis Tower from the deck of my upper-floor apartment. Windy City traffic can get tricky so I left earlier than my Waze app suggested. It was a good thing, too, since traffic was tight and I walked into 26 N. Halsted at exactly 12:00. 

I was just giving the receptionist my name when Jim bellowed my name from behind. He was already in the lobby greeting two other guests – a couple of guys who were friends of the station. One appeared older than me while the other was a lot younger. Jim said they’d been waiting patiently the last few years waiting for the opportunity to finally visit the set and throw the rubber chickens, and this was their big day. 

Jim took us all through a secured door and into MeTV’s main offices. Towards the back of the room is a set of desks designated to Svengoolie and crew. While the other two guests checked out the control room, I hung out with Jim at his desk and greeted Svengoolie who was in costume sans wig and hat. I had brought a gift for the show which I’d intended to give to them at Volo but it didn’t arrive at my doorstep until after. It was the Boris Karloff Trick-or-Treat Studios Frankenstein’s monster mask that only had a brief window of sale before they lost the Universal license to sell them.  I managed to snag one just before they sold out specifically for Svengoolie’s desk during a future Frankenstein airing – though it’s certainly their business how they choose to use it if at all. They were delighted to see it and commented how much it looked like Boris. Trick or Treat Studios does an amazing job with their likenesses and this was never more apparent than the one created of Svengoolie, himself, last year (and discussed in one of my 2023 Flashback Weekend blogs).

Svengoolie’s Director, Chris Faulkner, asked if I’d help move some things around the set, and we headed over. While doing so, we discussed the movie Sven would be presenting. To my delight, it was The Monster that Challenged the World (1957). Ever since I was a kid, I have been enamored with the giant bug (or in this case, molluscs that resemble caterpillars) films. Now, I know this is a bit of a hot take, but I’m a much bigger fan of atomic monsters and alien invasion films than I am of the classic Universal Monsters (excluding The Creature from the Black Lagoon which I adore). Needless to say, I was super excited to witness Svengoolie’s first MeTV airing of it; even though it was obvious the crew didn’t share my enthusiasm.  

As Svengoolie would also be filming a mail segment, his desk and Kerwyn were already set up. I came over and paid my respects to Sven’s longest-running mail assistant before helping Chris move some furniture. 

Soon, a fully costumed Svengoolie arrived and it was show time. Sven taped his mail segment with ease before taking his place in the coffin for the show’s introduction.

I wasn’t slated to throw chickens this time around but after the younger visitor declined for some reason, I ended up doing so anyway. Chicken throwing is always a two-person job. On the floor in front of the coffin are two separate piles of rubber mats along with a mound of rubber chickens. Each person sits on a stack of mats and, at the appropriate time, starts throwing. The rules are simple: throw them underhanded, never too hard, and always aim for Svengoolie’s hand on the opposite side you’re sitting on. Consequently, the projectile chickens are crisscrossing each other and the throwers must take great care not to accidentally hit the other person’s chicken out of orbit.

I was sitting on the right side and aiming for the left (Svengoolie’s right). My big challenge was not to accidentally knock over a display of collectibles placed near that side of the coffin. This display included a “Scary Godmother” doll from his artist and friend, Jill Thompson. I know this because my daughters were obsessed with that show when they were growing up. Despite Svengoolie doing two takes for good measure, and having two men over 50 years old sitting on the floor lobbing chickens, everything went without a hitch. 

Now came my big moment. Jim took me behind the set door and showed me a line of duct tape on the floor. “The Hand at the Door” must never step past that line lest he become the “body at the door.” You don’t know what the jokes are going to be until they start taping and are just shaking your hand expressively to go along with whatever you’re hearing in real-time. We did two takes and the segment included multiple jokes. I had a blast trying to match the dialogue. I should mention that during a past visit, I had a chance to pretend to be the hand at the door while telling my own bad joke to Svengoolie. It went like this…

Me: “Hey, Sven…did you hear about that poor man who died drinking furniture polish?”

Svengoolie: “What? That’s terrible! No, I haven’t.”

Me: “Oh yes, it was a terrible end…but a beautiful finish!” (Zing!).

So, yes, it’s long been my dream to actually do it for real and I was so grateful to have finally had the chance. Incidentally, the reason I put off sharing this story until now is because I was waiting for the show to come out. It will be airing tomorrow (as of the date of this post) Saturday, February 10, 2024!

After my role in the day’s taping was over, I received another great surprise – the arrival of Nostalgiaferatoo! Rich Koz’s good friend and the host MeTV’s successful morning cartoon show, “Toon in With Me!” Bill Leff has been part of the new Sven Squad for the past several months. His Notalgiaferatoo character seems to be universally loved by the fans (which is not an easy feat for any newcomer) and for good reason – he’s friggin’ hilarious! Leff is so good that he often ad-libs his material which I did not know until witnessing it firsthand. Also, he’s an incredibly nice guy!

Once they started filming, the energy level in the studio jumped sky-high. In all the tapings I’ve witnessed, I’ve never seen Svengoolie laugh as hard as I saw him while working with Bill. Even Jim was doubled over behind the scenes. 

Nostalgiaferatoo had all of us in stitches with each take funnier than the last. Truly, the only thing that could have made this visit better would have been the additional presence of the beautiful Gwengoolie.

Unfortunately, Nostalgiaferatoo’s taping was cut short after filming an Instagram segment involving his eating a Chicken McNugget. MeTV’s social media team abruptly showed up and set up a table with a McDonald’s adult happy meal – ironically called the Kerwin Frost Box though it had no relation to Sven’s Kerwyn spelled with a “y.” This completely unendorsed bit had him eating a nugget while checking out a possible resemblance between Svengoolie and the McNugget Buddy toy included with the meal.

It also had Kerwyn yelling from Sven’s desk, “Hey, you’re not eating chicken are you!?” and Nostalgiaferatoo replying, “No…I am eating a nugget!” Kerwyn’s outburst was thought up by Svengoolie mere seconds before they taped it and Nostalgiaferatoo’s reply was totally improvised. Also unscripted was his breaking off one of his fangs while eating the nugget. This entire bit (minus the fang revelation) can be viewed on Svengoolie’s Instagram page.

After Nostalgiaferatoo’s departure, Svengoolie filmed a few more bits before wrapping for the day. 

I thanked Svengoolie before Jim walked me out of the studio and back to his desk. “We have a surprise for you!” he beamed. He handed me a box which I was shocked to see contained one of those sold-out Svengoolie inflatable yard decorations. 650 of these beauties dropped in the Svengoolie store one fateful day last October at $100 a pop…only to completely sell out seven hours later. It was an amazing gift to top off an equally memorable day. 

Anyone reading this at the time of posting (and so inclined to check out the dramatic national television debut of my right hand and arm) check out the Svengoolie show this Saturday on MeTV!

~Dave