# SCTV Network 90 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414 "2005-01-24T15:30:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/21 "2005-01-25T05:24:20Z")
No mention of one of my favorites, the Schmenge Brothers? “Ahhhh, John Villiams!” I had the opposite reaction to the show. Initially I didn’t like it at all and I’m surprised I kept watching it. Later I came to realize how genius it was. I haven’t seen them for a long while, and was always very disappointed in the cut-down-to-30-minutes syndicated versions (you lost so much of the behind-the-scenes power struggle stuff) so I’m looking forward to seeing them again as soon as my local video store gets around to stocking them. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lodoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@Jeff\_Lodoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lodoen)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/22 "2005-01-25T06:09:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if the first six episodes weren’t up to later levels. Actually the two sets released so far (and #3 in March) are from SCTV’s mid-life on NBC. SCTV started way back in 1976 on Canada’s Global Television (with syndication, later, in the US). Went to CBC in 1980, NBC in 1981 and finally Cinemax in 1983. I think the second set is a cut above the first with CCCP1, Zontar, and The Godfather. The first was a bit generic and included a bit of pre-NBC filler. Set #3 looks like a winner, too. (Global Golden Choice Awards, Chariots of Eggs, Battle of the PBS Stars, Days of the Week) ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/23 "2005-01-25T07:18:45Z")
SCTV was hilarious in its early days as well. Back when it was taped in Edmonton, and Harold Ramis was part of the cast. Back then, the focus was less on recurring characters and more on funny one-off sketches. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/24 "2005-01-25T07:33:49Z")
Harold Ramis had left the show by the time production moved to Edmonton. He was on the show when it was produced in Toronto. He appears on some of the shows done in Edmonton when older material was cut in and for a couple brief appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/25 "2005-01-25T09:45:01Z")
I think SCTV holds up pretty well, relatively. I mean, next to newer, brighter stuff like _Kids In The Hall_, _Codco_, _Little Britain_, or _Harry Enfield and Chums_, yeah, it’s pretty weak – but when you compare it to its contemporaries, like _SNL_, _Bizarre_, _The Carol Burnett Show_, etc, well, there’s no comparison. All that crap of the time was three steps away from Vaudeville. (And in the wrong direction.) Really – _Mrs. Falbo’s Tiny Town_ still puts me on the floor. _Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood_ isn’t in the same league. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/26 "2005-01-25T11:27:15Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > Plus, SCTV was not scared of taking on fairly intellectual targets. I remember a hilarious dead-on parody of a Bergman film they did which was just draw-dropping in its accuracy. The greatest part- it was a Count Floyd film! “Ooooh! Wasn’t that scary?!? What? You don’t think depression is scary, with the faces and all?” One of my favorites, which I think I only saw once, was New Year’s Eve going into 1984- and at Midnight, it was taken over by Big Brother (graphic of Orson Welles), with a Telescreen Exercise Show, the DoubleThink Game Show and the PBB Club (“Praise Big Brother!”) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/27 "2005-01-25T13:29:35Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Harold Ramis had left the show by the time production moved to Edmonton. He was on the show when it was produced in Toronto. He appears on some of the shows done in Edmonton when older material was cut in and for a couple brief appearances. I remember Harold Ramis doing an Undercover Mountie sketch which still leaves me laughing. Picture Harold Ramis dressed slightly shabbily, in an alleyway, on horseback asking a drug dealer if he had any dope. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/28 "2005-01-25T13:49:21Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > I want to know why the OP kept getting more and more CDs of the show if he disliked it so much. Why not just cancel the order and get something you like? I didn’t “dislike it so much” - like I said, it was mediocre. And I’ll finish out the set because I am Pop-Culture Man, and must therefore understand all referential humor, before my work will be done. The Bergman parody was a bright spot. Didn’t care for PolynesianTown. the one instance of Mrs. Falbo’s Tinytown I’ve seen so far amused me, but the bit at the beginning of it where she gets into a car accident feels… odd. My favorite thing so far has been the aforementioned Bob Hope/Woody Allen collaboration. Because the impersonations are so spot-on. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/29 "2005-02-03T14:25:10Z")
Finished out that season - some more bright spots - better than SNL of the period, but that’s not saying much. the Elephant Man running amok in the station was amusing; I especially liked the extended Fantasy Island riff in one of the last episodes, as it showcased wonderful Bing Crosby and Bob Hope impressions. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/30 "2005-02-03T14:50:40Z")
Strong humor, no. Counterculture-influenced humor, now that was the attraction to SCTV, much like SNL. I see a trend from the stuff the networks wouldn’t touch, thru Dave Letterman’s humor, and now it has become mainstream. Part of the joke was the lack of polish; to see what could be accomplished on a budget. The audience was in on the cheesy effects, much like Letterman’s giant rat running through a tiny set. You are less laughing at the actors than sharing a yuk with them. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/31 "2005-02-03T14:52:51Z")
Their best episode, IMHO, was when SCTV janitors went on strike, and the network picked up the CBC feed. _It’s a Canadian fact!_ The Canadian side of Niagara Falls is bigger and better than the American side. _It’s a Canadian fact!_ Canadian footbal actually has four downs, not three - but we always punt on the third down just to be safe. _It’s a Canadian fact!_ Canada declared war on the Japanese before the Americans. _It’s a Canadian fact!_ The Canadian Thanksgiving comes first, in October, before the American Thanksgiving, so we must have invented it. “Moose Beer: the one beer you can’t get in the States.” Monday Night Curling - SWEEP! SWEEP! Having watched my share of CBC frowing up south of the border in the States, these little “Canada is better than the US” affirmations really are common in their broadcasts. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/32 "2005-02-03T16:37:08Z")
I have one vivid memory of SCTV that no one’s mentioned; and based on what’s being said here, maybe I’ll leave it as a cherished memory – the parody of Evita, “Indira”. “Don’t cry for me, Rawalpindi…” The best part: Slim Whitman as Che. “you were supposed to beeeEEEEEEE immortal…” ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/33 "2005-02-03T17:09:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh, and there’s Dr. Tongue, with his 3-D house of fear (or 3-D House of Stewardesses…) Count Floyd’s 3D glasses are getting a little fogged-up. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/34 "2005-02-03T17:14:25Z")
In set #2 there is one of Joe Flaherty’s funniest moments that appears to be totally improvised. As Count Floyd, because the lost the film for that night, he starts relating the entire plot of “Blood Sucking Monkey’s from West Mifflin” It doesn’t seem great at first, but it builds and builds getting stupider and stupider and the more he gets into it and the plot the funnier it gets. Finally ending with the line “It was so scary it isn’t funny” ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/35 "2005-02-03T17:36:28Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > In response to the OP… SCTV was supposed to appear as a lame Canadian version of lame TV, and perhaps in that way it hasn’t aged super well. A lot of the celebrities that they impersonated so well are have long ago fallen off the pop culture radar (if, in the case of some of the Canadian celebrities, they were ever there in the first place). I would be pretty impressed with anyone under about 30 who gets most of the references. I would be too. Some were pretty obscure, even by Canadian standards. Flaherty’s “Floyd Robinson” character, for example, was modelled after Lloyd Robertson, a national news anchor on the CTV network. Levy’s “Earl Camembert” was CBC newscaster Earl Cameron. John Candy’s “The Fishin’ Musician” was a parody of “The Red Fisher Show,” a Saturday-afternoon staple of Canadian TV. And for some characters, you had to be local to get the joke: Martin Short’s “Brock Linehan” was a dead-on impression of Toronto’s CITY-TV celebrity interviewer Brian Linehan. For those of us who knew these people and shows, the references were funny, but I’m not surprised if they don’t work for others, especially those who are younger and/or never had the chance to see (or in some cases, _endure_) the original source material. Some of the sketches didn’t work or were confusing, but some were, IMHO, pure gold. I still recall all the words to the “Hey, Giorgi!” theme song, I can still do a close impression of Gerry Todd (“Let’s just put this foil up…change the colour a little…and get back into some vudeo [sic]. Here’s ‘Turning Japanese’ on the Gerry Todd Show…”), and I well recall the “3-D House of Stewardesses”: “Hi, I’m Mandy, this is Brandy, and this is Candy; we’re your cabin attendants from Flight 505, and we just came in through those doors…” [At the same time, she is gesturing like she’s pointing out an aircraft’s exit row.] ---
**Author:** ![RevCo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@RevCo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RevCo)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/36 "2005-02-03T17:59:22Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I have one vivid memory of SCTV that no one’s mentioned; and based on what’s being said here, maybe I’ll leave it as a cherished memory – the parody of Evita, “Indira”. > > “Don’t cry for me, Rawalpindi…” The best part: Slim Whitman as Che. “you were supposed to beeeEEEEEEE immortal…” You know, every once in a while I’ll think of this skit and start cracking up like an idiot! I can almost guarantee 10 years from now I’ll be thinking of SCTV a lot more than anything I’ve seen on SNL or MadTV in the last 10 years. “I want to have your child!” “Peoples Golden Global Choice Awards” “Quincy - Cartoon Coroner” “I’m taking my own head, screwing it on right, and no guys gonna tell me that I ain’t!” “Yellowbelly” with Dave Thomas as Tom Bosley as Benjamin Franklin ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/37 "2005-02-04T01:45:41Z")
“Yellowbelly” was hilarious. And how about the high school quiz show? Damn, the name is eluding me now (Hi-Q?). Every one of the kids was a complete moron, and Flaherty doing Alex Trebek (“Alex Trebel”) losing his temper long before Wil Farrel did him on SNL. God, those cracked me up. It was a parody of a Canadian show called “Reach for the Top”. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/38 "2005-02-04T01:58:30Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > It was a parody of a Canadian show called “Reach for the Top”. Randomly, I was on my school’s Reach team. We never got on TV. We kicked ass in the Juniors, but Juniors never go beyond regional. We were totally ripped off one year in the Seniors - I got a (vague) question right, was ruled right after the fact, but the quizmaster refused to consider my objection. By the time it was decided I was right, it was also decided it was too late to take the win away from the other team - lost fair and square the next, then most of the team graduated. [/High school musing] ---
**Author:** ![pokey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ebca7d/32.png) [@pokey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pokey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/39 "2005-02-04T02:37:59Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > “Yellowbelly” was hilarious. > > And how about the high school quiz show? Damn, the name is eluding me now (Hi-Q?). Every one of the kids was a complete moron, and Flaherty doing Alex Trebek (“Alex Trebel”) losing his temper long before Wil Farrel did him on SNL. God, those cracked me up. > > It was a parody of a Canadian show called “Reach for the Top”. Ha ha. Are you sure it wasn’t Eugene Levy as Alex and Joe Flaherty was a guest? Is that the one where they have to guess “types of balls”? “Is it a red-white-and-blue ball?” “Nope! It’s a furball!” I probably have that a bit wrong. I always get my SCTV references just a bit wrong. I totally have “I’m taking my own head screwing it on right” in my head now! Oooh it’s so empowering! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414/40 "2005-02-04T02:45:22Z")
You’re right. It was Eugene Levy. I loved Catharine O’Hara as “Margaret Meehan - Central!”, who kept answering before the question was asked: Alex Trebel: “What is the…” \ Alex Trebel: “Margaret Meehan, Central!” Margaret: “The Pacific Ocean?” Trebel (doing a not-so-slow burn): “No! Just…Wait…For…The…Question! What is the…” \ Trebel: “MARGARET MEEHAN, CENTRAL!” Margaret: “A horse?” Trebel: “NO!!!” \ Trebel: “MARGARET MEEHAN!” Margaret: “What is a Horse?” I can just picture the look of utter stupidity on O’Hara’s face. Hilarious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-network-90/286414.md?page=3)