# SCTV-The show SNL wanted to be when it grew up! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604 "2005-10-10T18:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/41 "2005-10-11T22:27:17Z")
I was rather surprised when I found out _SCTV_ was a Canadian show. I had always assumed it was produced in Chicago – which is known as America’s “Second City” and is the home of the famous Second City comedy club. Why did they call the show that? Does anybody know? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/42 "2005-10-11T22:30:59Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I was rather surprised when I found out _SCTV_ was a Canadian show. I had always assumed it was produced in Chicago – which is known as America’s “Second City” and is the home of the famous Second City comedy club. Why did they call the show that? Does anybody know? Because the cast/writers were from the Toronto offshoot of the Second City troupe (which started in Chicago, but spread). As mentioned by Otto and Fishbicycle. ---
**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:** [October 11, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/43 "2005-10-11T22:40:34Z")
Out of curiosity, I checked the [Second City website](http://secondcity.com/), and there are 5 cities with permanent SC theaters - Chicago (of course), Toronto, Detroit, Las Vegas, and LA. Their [SCTV page](http://secondcity.com/) is fairly informative. ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/44 "2005-10-12T02:41:41Z")
(stage whisper) _Kids in the Hall_! _flees_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/45 "2005-10-12T03:19:03Z")
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember SCTV doing a “Canadian version” of the Wizard of Oz. “Follow the Yellow Line in the Snow?” The one that sticks out from my memories (for no apparent reason) is the John Cougar show, where Ed Grimley took some sort of chemical potion and transformed into John Cougar. Was that SCTV as well? “What’s your name?” (background) “There’s a Cougar in the parking lot with its lights on!” “Cougar.” (background) “I gotta go to the john” “John Cougar.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/46 "2005-10-12T04:03:19Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember SCTV doing a “Canadian version” of the Wizard of Oz. “Follow the Yellow Line in the Snow?” > > The one that sticks out from my memories (for no apparent reason) is the John Cougar show, where Ed Grimley took some sort of chemical potion and transformed into John Cougar. Was that SCTV as well? I remember both of those. Another memorable SCTV sketch: “Beauty and the Beets.” The princess is having dinner with the king and queen. While she relates a fairy-tale kind of story about her day, the queen says, “My dear! You haven’t touched your beets!” In obvious terror, with _Jaws_-style hearbeat-music playing in the background, she replies, “I don’t like beets, Mother . . . I’ve tried to like them . . .” And then the king orders her off to the dungeon to be tortured. This repeats several times, with different tortures vividly portrayed. Finally the princess (covered in fresh, bleeding wounds) is continuing her story with a dazed look on her face, while mechanically eating her beets . . . Queen: “My dear! You haven’t touched your brocolli!” . . . da- DUM . . . da-DUM . . . da-DUM . . . ---
**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:** [October 12, 2005, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/47 "2005-10-12T04:10:39Z")
> [@Bytegeist](#): > > \*Now hhere ees Texas — ze “Lone Star” state. How does eet compare to Mother Russia? > > - click \* > > WAAH HA HA HA HA HA! > \* And “Tibor’s Tractor”, which is the reincarnated ghost of Lenin, but decadent Uzbeks drank his battery acid. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/48 "2005-10-12T05:48:11Z")
Here’s something I never understood before about _SCTV_ – the premise. From [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second\_City\_Television:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_City_Television:) > [@](#): > > The basic premise of SCTV is that it is the television station for the city of Melonville. Rather than broadcast the usual TV rerun fare, the business, run by the greedy Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty) who sits in a wheelchair only for respect, puts on a bizarre and humorously incompetent range of cheap local programming. This can range from a soap opera called “The Days of The Week”, to game shows like “Shoot The Stars”, in which celebrities are literally shot at like targets in a shooting gallery, to full blown movie spoofs like “Play it Again, Bob” in which Woody Allen (Moranis) tries to get Bob Hope (Thomas) to star in his next film. In-house media melodrama was also satirised with characters like Candy’s vain, bloated variety star Johnny La Rue, Thomas’ acerbic critic Bill Needle and Martin’s flamboyant, leopard-skin clad station manager Mrs. Edith Prickley. > > \ > > As one chronicler has noted, the TV station concept gave the show the ability to parody virtually any TV genre, as well as advertising. Some of the most memorable sketches involved parodies of late-night low-budget advertising, such as “Al Peck’s Used Fruit”, in which viewers were enticed to come early with the offer of free tickets to ‘Circus Lupus’, the Circus of the Wolves (accompanied by mocked-up photos of wolves forming a pyramid and jumping through flaming hoops). Equally memorable were the faux-inept ads for local businesses like Tex and Edna Boil’s Prairie Warehouse and Curio Emporium. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/49 "2005-10-12T11:49:40Z")
What’s not to understand? Seems perfectly straighforward to me. And, as I noted in my first post, it gave SCTV an excuse to recycle their 1970s stuff as material for that channel. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/50 "2005-10-12T13:16:24Z")
> [@](#): > > The basic premise of SCTV is that it is the television station for the city of Melonville. Rather than broadcast the usual TV rerun fare, the business, run by the greedy Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty) who sits in a wheelchair only for respect, puts on a bizarre and humorously incompetent range of cheap local programming. Which makes it somewhat similar to the Weird Al Yankovic movie _UHF_ (which, by the way, is the rebuttal to **Mr. Blue Sky’s** claim in Post #20). ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/51 "2005-10-12T13:35:17Z")
I howled at SCTV, but only on occasion. The show seems to me to have fallen into that special rut reserved for good 70s sketch comedy, wherein you get successful enough that you and your writers begin buying a more serious grade of drugs and begin thinking it’s all about You and The Industry, and do entirely plot-driven half-hours like Python, or get all deadpan and insider and self-referential like Albert Brooks. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/52 "2005-10-14T06:10:54Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > . . . and do entirely plot-driven half-hours like Python . . . 😕 I can think of only two examples in Python: The “Pole of Africa” episode, and the one where all the English turn into Scots so they can’t beat the Blancmange from the planet Skyron at tennis. Are there any others? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/53 "2005-10-14T11:12:13Z")
“Pole of Africa”?! Doesn’t ring a bell. But other “plot-driven” Pythons are Cycling Tour and Buying an Ant. Oh, and there was the horrible Mr Neutron episode, but I try not to dwell on it. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/54 "2005-10-14T15:23:26Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember SCTV doing a “Canadian version” of the Wizard of Oz. “Follow the Yellow Line in the Snow?” > > The one that sticks out from my memories (for no apparent reason) is the John Cougar show, where Ed Grimley took some sort of chemical potion and transformed into John Cougar. Was that SCTV as well? > > “What’s your name?” > (background) “There’s a Cougar in the parking lot with its lights on!” > “Cougar.” > (background) “I gotta go to the john” > “John Cougar.” Actually, the Canadian version of “Wizard of Oz” was a SNL sketch. IIRC, it was called “The Incredible Man” and was sponsored by Mackenzie Paper Towels (with appropriate product placements). Gilda Radner played the “Dorothy” role, I think.Good to see some fans out there. How 'bout a quick trivia quiz? [ol] [li]What was the name of Libby Wolfson’s one-woman stage show (NOT her TV show)?[/li][li]On the game show “Hi-Q”, who was the contestant who kept buzzing in early?[/li][li]What did Johnny La Rue want for Christmas?[/li][li]Which cast member’s sibling was a musical guest?[/li][li]What was the name of Jackie Rogers Jr.'s “tell-all” book?[/li][li]What is the full name of Tex and Edna’s souvenir shop?[/li][li]Why did Floyd the barber go to see the Godfather, Don Caballero?[/li][li]In “Zontar”, how did you know that someone was possessed by the aliens?[/li][li]What are Bobby and Skip Bittman’s real first names?[/li][li]What program was on the first time CCCP1 jammed their broadcast?[/li][/ol] ---
**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:** [October 14, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/55 "2005-10-14T16:39:02Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > Which cast member’s sibling was a musical guest? Dave Thomas’s brother. > [@](#): > > In “Zontar”, how did you know that someone was possessed by the aliens? A cabbage leaf on the back of their head. I’m annoyed I can’t remember the others. ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/56 "2005-10-14T16:50:59Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Dave Thomas’s brother. > > A cabbage leaf on the back of their head. > > I’m annoyed I can’t remember the others. Both right (4 & 8). ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/57 "2005-10-14T17:25:15Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > “Pole of Africa”?! Doesn’t ring a bell. But other “plot-driven” Pythons are Cycling Tour and Buying an Ant. > > Oh, and there was the horrible Mr Neutron episode, but I try not to dwell on it. I loved the Mr. Neutron character; but the sketch went on too long, and the bit about Teddy Salad was kind of dumb. When I first got online about 11 years ago, I often used Mr\_Neutron for a handle. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/58 "2005-10-14T17:31:24Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > Actually, the Canadian version of “Wizard of Oz” was a SNL sketch. IIRC, it was called “The Incredible Man” and was sponsored by Mackenzie Paper Towels (with appropriate product placements). Gilda Radner played the “Dorothy” role, I think.Good to see some fans out there. How 'bout a quick trivia quiz? [ol] > [li]What was the name of Libby Wolfson’s one-woman stage show (NOT her TV show)?[/li][li]On the game show “Hi-Q”, who was the contestant who kept buzzing in early?[/li][li]What did Johnny La Rue want for Christmas?[/li][li]Which cast member’s sibling was a musical guest?[/li][li]What was the name of Jackie Rogers Jr.'s “tell-all” book?[/li][li]What is the full name of Tex and Edna’s souvenir shop?[/li][li]Why did Floyd the barber go to see the Godfather, Don Caballero?[/li][li]In “Zontar”, how did you know that someone was possessed by the aliens?[/li][li]What are Bobby and Skip Bittman’s real first names?[/li][li]What program was on the first time CCCP1 jammed their broadcast?[/li][/ol] I’m trying to remember without resorting to google… [ol] [li]Me? She? Her? [/li][li]a scotch? actually, all I can remember is the crane shot at the end[/li][li]Dave Thomas[/li][li]Jackie… We Hardly Knew Ye[/li][li]the kids were harrassing him[/li][li]cabbage[/li][li]Herschel and something[/li][li]probably something about Uzbeks[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/59 "2005-10-14T18:08:30Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > I’m trying to remember without resorting to google… > [ol] > [li]Me? She? Her? [/li][li]a scotch? actually, all I can remember is the crane shot at the end[/li][li]Dave Thomas[/li][li]Jackie… We Hardly Knew Ye[/li][li]the kids were harrassing him[/li][li]cabbage[/li][li]Herschel and something[/li][li]probably something about Uzbeks[/li][/ol] When answering the questions, please try to use the actual question numbers to avoid confusion, M’kay?I shall endeavor to straighten this out: [ul] [li]1. Libby’s TV show was “You!”, but I’m going for the one-woman stage show she produced on one episode.[/li][li]2.The contestant on “Hi-Q” who always buzzed in early–still unanswered.[/li][li]3. Johnny’s Xmas present–I’ll give it to you–it _was_ the crane shot![/li][li]4. Dave Thomas (correct, but already answered).[/li][li]5. Jackie Rogers’ book–nope! Your answer was the TV special.[/li][li]6. Tex and Edna’s souvenir shop–still unanswered[/li][li]7. Floyd the barber–but what did the kids specifically do to Floyd?[/li][li]8. “Zontar”–correct[/li][li]9. Bobby’s real first name is Herschel–what’s Skip’s?[/li][li]10. What program was running _on SCTV_ when CCCP1 first broke in?[/li][/ul] ---
**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:** [October 14, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604/60 "2005-10-14T18:31:41Z")
[QUOTE=want2know7. Floyd the barber–but what did the kids specifically do to Floyd?[/quote] They messed with his barber pole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sctv-the-show-snl-wanted-to-be-when-it-grew-up/325604.md?page=4)