Screaming Yellow Theater (Svengoolie) - "Larry Lujack" - Svengoolie's Comedy News (Transition, 1973)

Here's another segment from Screaming Yellow Theater - the original Svengoolie, which aired on WFLD Channel 32 from 1970-1973. Svengoolie was played by Jerry G. Bishop. By this point, if the clapboard is of any indication, the SYT title had been eschewed in favor of Svengoolie.

This segment is from Show #61 (according to the clapboard), with guest Larry "Superjock" Lujack. The recording date was April 11th 1973.

This segment is called "Svengoolie's Comedy News," with "Hail to the Chief" as the opening and closing theme and the announcer proclaiming "from the world, the United States, and even from Berwyn" ("Berwyn?!"). Svengoolie checks every news item from the various sheets of a paper roll and declares all of them "not funny," even mentioning that "there's nothing funny in the news tonight." The teletype sound heard in the background is from the Thomas J. Valentino/Major Records library and designated "Teletype Receiver." This sound was also used on a few episodes of NBC's Saturday Night (later Saturday Night Live) from April to May 1976 during a network technicians' strike, as well as on the "SCTV News" segments of Second City Television (SCTV) from Seasons 2 (1978-1979) through 4 (the SCTV Network 90 period in 1981-1982). Svengoolie ends his newscast with repeated "Good night, David" salutations, with an audio of Chet Huntley uttering those immortal words (and of David Brinkley's "Good night, Chet") from a prior edition of NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report (1956-1970) being played at one point. Notice during one of the faraway shots of the set, one of the Marconi Mark VII color cameras WFLD used in those days is shown on the left side of the screen (the other known Chicago station to use these Marconis at the time was WBBM Channel 2).

According to the TV listings, the two movies shown on this edition were "The Invisible Dr. Mabuse" (1962) and "The Screaming Skull" (1958), so it's possible this break aired after the end of the first movie and before the beginning of the second.

Directed by Ray Barnas.

This aired on local Chicago TV on Friday, April 13th 1973.

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