A couple of days ago, I wrote about the amazing Catherine O'Hara. Not only did that post allow me to honor one of the finest comedic actors of our time, it reminded me of some awesome memories. It allowed me to revisit some of my favorite scenes from one of the most incredible shows ever made: Schitt's Creek. It also reminded me of my dad who introduced me to Catherine O'Hara and the rest of the cast of the hilarious SCTV.
My dad passed away when I was less that ten years old. Before he died he introduced me to some very funny, and quite inappropriate, sources of humor. The most notorious of these is probably the movie Slapshot... that I was way to young to have watched. But he also introduced me to SCTV. Some people may think of SCTV as a Canadian knockoff of Saturday Night Live. But it really was more of a Tesla vs Edison type relationship. They were both brilliant! While Saturday Night Live was a live skit show with no common theme, SCTV was supposed to be content on a fictional TV station. Both shows employed some of the greatest comedic talent form the 1970s and 1980s. Even the name of the TV station was a play on the name of the greatest improv farm ever created: Second City ... which happens to have begun in Chicago thank you very much. So it was really "Second City Television" and it was spectacular. Although it started on Canadian television in 1976, it only aired on American television from 1981 to 1984. They packed in a ton of laughs during that brief time.
If you have never seen the show, just imagine some of the funniest people in the world pretending they worked for a TV station and then making all sorts of content. This included fake Soap Operas, Game Shows, Interview Shows, News Programs, Documentaries, low rent Cable TV shows, basically anything that could be on a local TV station. This gave those comic geniuses a blank slate on which to work. They were able to flex their comedic genius and create incredible characters.
We already know that Cathrine O'Hara played a pivotal role on the show. But it is astounding who else starred on SCTV. Here are just some of the comedic geniuses of SCTV:
John Candy Joe Flaherty Andrea Martin Rick Moranis Eugene Levy Harold Ramis Dave Thomas Martin Short
Obviously you all know some of the heavy hitters, but don't sleep on Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, or Dave Thomas. You might recognize Joe Flaherty as the heckling fan in Happy Gilmore. Dave Thomas was the co-star of one of the weirdest and most hilarious movies ever: Strange Brew, and became an accomplished writer. Martin turned to the stage and won two Tony awards for her work on Broadway.
The rest of that List including Candy, Moranis, Levy, Ramis, and Short went on to generate probably 10 billion laughs. Probably the best known in the 80s was Martin Short. Many people thought his character Ed Grimley was a Saturday Night Live original. But Short had been portraying him on SCTV for years. The same is true for Jackie Rogers Jr. and Doug Henning.
Although it would be impossible to list everything they have accomplished, here are a few you must check out.
John Candy... well basically almost everything he ever did. But you must see Uncle Buck, Planes Trains and Automobiles and his cameo in Home Alone.
Rick Moranis: Ghostbusters (of course) and Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Eugene Levy: Schitt's Creek and the mockumentaries Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and A Mighty Wind
Martin Short: Only Murders in the Building, inner Space and Father of the Bride
As I look at this list, I can't believe they were all in the same writer's room for so many years. I bet they threw away more funny material than anyone today has even written.
Does anyone else remember this show?