We had a little bet going as to whether this ‘Marty’ would actually be here; looks like I lost!
I loved SCTV growing up and am saddened by this loss. Monster Chiller Horror Theatre was a part of my childhood. My friends and I would often quote Count Floyd (and others like John Candy) from the extremely scary classic films Dr. Tongue’s 3-D House of Stewardesses and (shown below, includes several hilarious clips) Dr. Tongue’s Evil House of Pancakes. A genius. It might not have been obvious that Count Floyd was dressed as a vampire but howled like a werewolf, or was apparently the night job of SCTV news anchor Floyd Robertson…
Scary Voice: Would you like… some more syrup?
(Cheesy 3-D effect of camera repeatedly focusing and moving away from object)
Count Floyd; Sorry kids…
I need to find my SCTV - Network 90 Volume 1 DVD set.
I can put my hands on mine right now, Johnny.
Sad to hear about Joe Flaherty. I loved him as Count Floyd and as Floyd Robertson and as Guy Cabellero. He wasn’t just SCTV though; he did do other things, but I’d suggest that none are as memorable as the characters he created in SCTV.
Joe, you made us laugh, and laugh a lot. Rest well.
Back in the '80s, there was a “Count Dracula” on late night TV in MPS/SP (Channel 29, KITN, I think), played by a guy named “Jake.” At the time, I was working at a dry cleaner’s and often took in his dirty laundry. He always came into the shop in beachwear (it was summer), so I wouldn’t have recognized him in a million years.
For some reason, he and I got off on the wrong foot. For a while, we talked to each other as little as possible. One day, I happened to read one of his checks, where “TV’s Count Dracula” was printed under his name, and things clicked immediately. The next time he walked into the shop to collect his order, I automatically grabbed two pens and held them up in the form of a cross.
Jake’s hostility disappeared immediately and he started laughing. We spent the next half hour talking about TV, crappy horror movies, and comedy in general.
wasnt he count floyd in martin short’s ed grimley cartoon also ?
Joe Flaherty was a scene stealer. Even in bit parts like the border guard in Stripes, he owned the scenes he was in.
It would have been nice to see him have a big second or third act like Eugene Levy and Catharine O’Hara did, but I guess it wasn’t to be.
Yes, Count Floyd appeared in each episode of The Completely Mental Misadventures Of Ed Grimmley. In at least one episode, we see a prototype Count Floyd doll. Ed Grimmley dolls were made and sold (I have the talking and non talking versions). But sadly AFAIK no Count Floyd dolls were.
Flaherty also wore a vampire costume as Harold Weir in the Halloween episode of Freaks and Geeks.
I think my favorite Count Floyd bit was when they showed some Ingmar Bergman style movie by mistake. “Ooh, that was scary, huh?”
“They sure were depressed, huh? You think it’s not SCARY to be depressed?”
Next week on Monster Chiller Horror Theater, The Odd Couple. One guy is real sloppy and the other is very neat and picky… and they both DRINK BLOOD!
He was great in Used Cars (who wasn’t?). Typical Flaherty.
Second. His role there was actually the first one that came to mind when I learned of his passing. It just showed how a great actor can make even a small role great.
Yep the Count and Guy Caballero, amongst many others,
Surprised he was 83. Had to look it up and John Candy would only be 73.
Here is Martin Short talking about Joe on CBS yesterday. He talks about a Zoom call the SCTV cast* had recently and that they knew his time was about up.
A lot of the news articles about his death highlight Freaks and Greeks. A show cancelled after 12 episodes.
* No qualifier to exclude Ramis and Candy.
“Mr. McFly? Is your name Marty McFly?”
“…Yeah…”
shrugs “I’ve got something for you…”
Oh shit!
“…A letter!”
My sister and I love to quote that scene.
Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday. These are. The Days Of The Week.
I had half-forgotten this gem (I can’t believe I found the first episode, linked below!), which appeared in Season 4 of SCTV and starred Flaherty as both Guy Caballero and the incompetent criminal Rocco. My brother and I used to split our sides laughing at this hilarious parody. But I don’t think anyone has yet mentioned Rocco. It is among Flaherty’s funniest work, but seems not so well known.
12 stone cold classic episodes, that most youngish people only know Flaherty from.
Inspired by this I’ve been rewatching SCTV a lot lately. I grew up watching re-runs on Nick at Nite and still remembered some bits but I forgot how small the cast was at the beginning and how it had a weird sense of continuity between episodes.
I always thought it had a weird sense of Canadian-ness.
I remember thinking “I’d understand the pacing and concepts better if I lived farther north…”