2015? ALREADY?!

It seemed , last night, that it was just a few months ago that I struggled through a snowstorm to the Squared Circle restaurant ( home of the Svengoolie burger) in Chicago's Lincoln Park area to meet legendary wrestling personality Jim Cornette, who was a special New Year's Eve guest of our dear friend Lisa Marie Varon. I was happy to know Jim and his wife Stacey are fans of the show- and that night lead to the April "Svengoolie Burger Challenge" at the same location!

Wait- that was a FULL YEAR AGO?! I spent last night in a more calm, sedate celebration (minus the snow!)- and had a chance to reflect on everything 2014 contained. First of all- my coronary health was pretty good; my pacemaker/defibrillator has yet to ever go off! I'm keeping my weight down and doing my best to keep active.

And, boy, we did keep active in the old year- though we purposely tried to limit the appearances (for the sake of that silly health thing), my friend and right hand man Jim Roche certainly had the opportunity to meet (and, yes, this is pretty amazing) THOUSANDS of Sven fans at myriad events. Conventions, businesses,radio broadcasts, sports  and special events- those who attended and expressed their happiness with the show truly reminded me why I'm still doing this.

Once in a lifetime stuff? That was there- having a day in my honor in both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois- having an event at the Museum of Broadcast Communications commemorating  35 years of being Sven, plus the opening of the permanent exhibit with my original coffin and set pieces- as I said, isn't this stuff done for people when they're...uh...going away?! I'm not going anywhere yet, honest!

The flattering number of people I have admired who have turned out to be Sven fans grew this year- like the GoGos' Gina Shock,comics icons like Scott Shaw!,entertainers like Dana Gould and Penn Gillette , and horror effects master Rick Baker-and I even got to spend time with a few of them- like Robert Englund, Mick Foley, and Jerry "the King" Lawler! Getting photos of such people in their Sven t shirts- like Gina at a rehearsal, and Mark Hamill outside Pinewood Studios-  makes me feel so honored.

As for the shows themselves- I'm so happy that the entire country (well, the slightly over 91% of it that MeTV is in- as well as small parts of Mexico and Canada) has taken to the program. The feedback from and acceptance of fans across the nation has been overwhelming. One thing I truly feel honored by- so many people watched legendary local hosts in their own area, and have not outright rejected me, just because I wasn't "their host"- while honoring their old favorites, they have kindly accepted me as my own persona. Our ratings on MeTV often show that we are always in the top programs on the network that appeal to the most desired audience demographic! Hey- though Chicago is proud of me, it turns out that Sven is not strictly "a Chicago thing". This was underlined when I won-for the third time- the national Rondo award (voted by fans ) as favorite horror host!

And now- it's 2015.Can we surpass last year? We'll certainly try- bringing you shows shot on the brand new dungeon studio set so incredibly created by Acme Design Inc. Yes, you'll see movies we haven't shown before- a few we've never shown to our national audience- and some old favorites. We'll try to add updated material to as many of the previously-run shows as we can with the production time that we're allowed.

CLARIFICATION TIME: Let me explain again, since , from some Facebook posts, it appears  some viewers misunderstood me-  yes, we will have 52 different movies in the 2015 calendar year , just as we did in 2014. They will NOT be 52 new movies, as I mentioned above-due to our contract with Universal, which does require us to re-show certain films. Also, just because you might see the show open with me in the old coffin- don't think all the Sven material in the program is also previously aired; as I said, we try to add as much new stuff into the shows as we are allowed by production restraints- and there is ALWAYS a new mail segment.

I've also learned- you can't please everyone. Some people love Abbott and Costello- some don't. Some people LOVE to see the classic Universal monsters over and over- some don't. Some people like the movies, and not me. I can live with that. And- some people either don't always watch, listen and/or read, or just don't pay attention. I can live with that too-it comes with the territory.

I hope all of YOU can live with another year of me- and I'm honored and proud to have you along for the ride. I have a list of people I'd especially want to thank, but I'd hate to post it here, for fear of not remembering everybody. I'd hope that they all know that I appreciate their  friendship and support.

And, of course, I appreciate yours, as well. Thank you for a memorable 2014- let's make this year just as memorable!