Meet Svengoolie, the host of Me TV’s eponymous Saturday-night throwback TV show mixing kid-friendly horror/sci-fi movies (just scary enough) with campy shtick.

Once upon a time, these types of locally produced, low-budget TV shows were ubiquitous, including Zacherle (in New York and Philly), Vampira and Elvira (both in LA) and Marvin, a beatnick ghoul who hosted “Shock Theatre” in late-’50s Chicago. But “Svengoolie,” which also originated in Chicago, has been airing nationally on Me TV since 2011 — so host Rich Koz (pronounced “Koze”) is both the last of a dying breed and a trailblazer in this digital age (YouTube, etc.). “We had to drop a lot of local references [when the show went national] other than Berwyn, which is a small town just west of Chicago,” says Koz, 65. “We used to make jokes about local commercials and local personalities … but we pretty much had to tone that down.”

Koz, who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, has been playing Svengoolie since 1979, when the character was called “Son of Svengoolie.” Jerry G. Bishop, who originated the Svengoolie character on Chicago’s WFLD in 1970, gave Koz his blessing to remove the “Son of” title. “I was a fan of Jerry’s and started sending him material, which he liked,” says Koz. “Eventually he drew me into working with him on TV and on radio.”

“Svengoolie” — airing 8 p.m. Saturday as part of Me TV’s “Super Sci-Fi Saturdays” block — screens horror and sci-fi movies that are readily available (Saturday’s movie: “Brides of Dracula”). “In the beginning [of the show], there were all sorts of distributors constantly shopping around vast libraries [of movies],” says Koz. “These days there’s so much competition thanks to different cable networks that it’s much harder to make deals. We’re fortunate to have the Universal Studio classics, and starting next year we’ll add additional [movies] from other distributors.

“There are movies I’d love to have but we can’t [show them] because someone has an exclusive contract,” he says. “There’s a tremendously good sci-fi movie from the ’50s called ‘Fiend Without a Face’ that I’d like to get … stop-motion brains that look like caterpillar-like creatures crawling around on spinal columns. It’s a warped, really great, goofy movie.”

Koz, who writes the “Svengoolie” shows himself, says his on-air appearance differs from Bishop’s original ’70s character. “Jerry’s outfit was quite different — he took a hint from Marvin … and wore hippie sweatshirts and multi-colored, striped bell-bottoms,” he says. “His facial makeup was pretty close to what I have. When I auditioned [for the role] the station management was like, ‘We don’t know about this hippie thing’ so I took stuff I had at home. I used to make silent movies with my friends and had a black top hat and a black coat and I took a chain off a big clock on my wall that looked like a pocket watch.”

Koz says Svengoolie (the character and the show) have adapted to changes in technology.

“As we’ve gone along we’ve updated things — how many people can say they got a new coffin?” he says, alluding to one of the show’s props. “We have a new set done by Acme Design [in Elgin, Ill.] and, of course, we air in high-definition. We have cleaner, better prints of movies.

“Obviously there are better cameras and lighting — but it’s the same old bad jokes.”

“Svengoolie” 8 p.m. Saturday on Me TV