Why Svengoolie is the classiest show ever to prominently feature rubber chickens*

I've been on a Weigel kick recently so I should probably take a moment and say a few words about the Man in the Hat. Last night Svengoolie aired the seldom seen 1931 Dracula. It was lovingly presented with the commercial breaks placed at varying intervals that followed the breaks in the story. There was also a split-screen comparison of Browning/Lugosi's version with the Spanish language one filmed simultaneously on the same sets.

Svengoolie has a long history with Drac in particular and with the classic Universal horror films in general. Here's Wikipedia's account:

In August 2006 it was announced that WCIU obtained broadcast rights to the classic Universal Monsters films of the 1930s and 1940s. These films had been requested since Svengoolie aired in the 1980s. By December 2006, the show had featured four of the Abbott and Costello "Meet" series, with the Universal Studio Monsters, and several Hammer Film Productions, which had been distributed by Universal-International. On May 5, 2007, Svengoolie presented a one-time-only show featuring Bela Lugosi's Dracula (1931), which he claimed to be the first time the movie has been shown on local television in over a decade.

Having been following the larger story for a while now, this strikes me as an extraordinarily representative Weigel moment. The company has an exceptional commitment to getting things just right (like debuting Sven on MeTV with the Bride of Frankenstein), even when the majority of the audience wouldn't notice if they settled for pretty close.



* Yes, I do make it a point to often split my infinitives.