SCTV

Second City Television, commonly shortened to SCTV, is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran between 1976 and 1984. It was created as an offshoot from Toronto's Second City troupe. It is a rare example of a Canadian show that moved successfully to American TV.


The show's premise is the broadcast day of a fictitious TV station (later network) in the town of Melonville. Melonville's location is left unspecified; the very earliest episodes imply it is in Canada, but most later episodes place it in the US.
A typical episode of SCTV presents a compendium of programming seen on the station throughout its broadcast day. A given episode could contain SCTV news broadcasts, sitcoms, dramas, movies, talk shows, kid shows, commercial send-ups hawking nonexistent products, and game shows. Several "shows" are seen regularly on SCTV, including SCTV News; soap opera The Days of the Week; late night movie features Monster Chiller Horror Theater and Dialing For Dollars; and Great White North (a show centered around two Canadian 'hosers'), among others. Many other SCTV shows are seen only once, such as game shows like Shoot at the Stars in which celebrities are literally shot at like shooting gallery targets, or full-blown movie spoofs like Play It Again, Bob in which Woody Allen (Rick Moranis) tries to get Bob Hope (Dave Thomas) to star in his next film. Episodes also feature a range of SCTV-produced promos (for imaginary future shows) and commercials, such as spots for "Al Peck's Used Fruit" or "Shower in a Briefcase", or a PSA that helpfully describes "Seven Signs You May Already Be Dead".
Also seen fairly frequently, particularly in later episodes, are behind-the-scenes plots focusing on life at the station. These often feature Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty), SCTV's cheap, tyrannical owner and president, who, despite being perfectly ambulatory, uses a wheelchair to earn "respect" (i.e., sympathy) from employees and viewers. Also seen regularly are weaselly, sweating station manager Maurice "Moe" Green (Harold Ramis), succeeded in the position by flamboyant, leopard-skin clad, foul-mouthed Mrs. Edith Prickley (Andrea Martin); vain variety star Johnny LaRue (John Candy); washed-up entertainers such as singer Lola Heatherton (Catherine O'Hara) and comedian Bobby Bittman (Eugene Levy); news anchors Floyd Robertson (Flaherty) and Earl Camembert (Levy), talk-show host Sammy Maudlin (Flaherty), cult-stardom-destined and beer-addled brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie (Moranis and Thomas), and many others.
The small cast, typically six to eight members at any given time, play a wide variety of other station roles ranging from program hosts to commercial spokespersons. They also impersonate numerous popular celebrities appearing on the station's programming.

Bob and Lou host this star-studded golfing event. Begin has a bad lie, and argues with Arafat. King Fahud shows Lola how to hold her putter. Charlton Heston helps Golda chip through a pipeline. Arafat occupies the 12th hole, while Begin takes the 13th fairway. Lou gets lost off the 18th hole.

Lou Jaffe - Eugene Levy 
Bob Hope - Dave Thomas 
Menachim Begin - Joe Flaherty 
Yasser Arafat - Eugene Levy 
King Fahud - John Candy 
Lola Heatherton - Catherine O'Hara 
Jack Nicklaus - John Candy 
Cheap Bogie - Joe Flaherty
Golda Meir - Andrea Martin 
Charlton Heston - Flaherty
Richard Nixon - Joe Flaherty 
American businessman - John Candy 
Announcer - John Candy 
miscellaneous Arabs - extras

The complete original broadcast of the much talked about, but never reran or seen again SCTV ABC special from the night of September 5, 1988. Many classic skits here along with the on trial story line in between. I recorded this as it was airing back then on WPVI Channel 6 in Philadelphia. And since I did it by VCR timer and wasn't watching live, we have all the original commercials in tact for the full retro experience.

A collection of TV spots starring Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas recreating their beloved Bob & Doug McKenzie characters to sell Molson product. BEAUTY EH! Extra special thanks to Daniel Swan for donating these classics to the Retrontario archive!

Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on SCTV for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and Doug is played by Dave Thomas. Although created originally as filler to both satisfy and mock network Canadian content demands, the duo became a pop culture phenomenon in both Canada and the United States.
The characters were later revived for an animated series, Bob & Doug, which premiered on Global in 2009.^[1]

A Comp I made with my favorite skits from the very first season of SCTV. I will be making one for season 2 as well.

Second City TV Season 2, episode 2 (1979). with The Young Weasels, A Fireside Chat with Tommy Shanks, Tex & Edna Boil, SCTV News with Consumer Action Line.
* Family Crisis has been cut out of this version by the syndicators.

Pepi is ostracized by the other kids because he is different.

Pepi Longsocks - Candy; Father - Flaherty; The other kids - Moranis, Levy, Thomas, Martin, O'Hara; Cyclist - extra

Our Thanksgiving comes first, in October, so we must have invented it.

Announcer - staff announcer
Canadian - Eugene Levy