Syl
If you love satire comedy, you will love SCTV with this marvelous cast including John Candy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Harold Ramis and more. This sketch comedy series rivaled "Saturday Night Live" and was just as good maybe even better. Second City in Chicago, Illinois is still a force to be reckon with today in the theater circuit. Many of Saturday Night Live famous alums and others have begun their comedic careers at Second City. This show was the late seventies and covers many of the issues and topics today. Perhaps most of today's audience's wouldn't understand unless they know the culture and history. Satire like "Taxi Driver" with Woody Allen or Gregory Peck in the Robert DeNiro roles is a classic. The "Howard and Melvins" promos include Howard Hughes, Howard Cosell and the Melvins. It's classic comedy from the late seventies.
bmoore-13
There are not a lot of things about this world I can state with full assurance, but I can say with full confidence that SCTV is, bar none, the funniest show of all time. Younger viewers--those born after, say, 1970--may have a hard time with the allusions to and parodies of pop culture circa 1980, and my guess is this would cause those viewers to meet my claim with skepticism. But think about it: every show by and large depends on its time, including SNL and Monty Python. Nevertheless, there is plenty here for anyone with half a brain and a good sense of humor to enjoy. Some of the sketches involve topical matters, but the sheer chuztpah and intelligence of them makes such topicality secondary. The acting alone is without comedic peer for a TV show in English. Over the past twenty-five years I have never been able to decide who my favorite SCTV actor is. I love the two (main) women: both Martin and O'Hara are game for anything, and they are loaded with comic nuance. But the same goes for all the rest of the cast. Sometimes I conclude that Eugene Levy edges out the others, but as soon as I say that I think of John Candy as William B. or Curly (etc.) or Rick Moranis as Jerry Todd or Skip Bitman, and I renege on my statement. But thinking about Skip leads me to think of Levy as Bobby Bitman, and the process starts all over. (And this is to say nothing of the very great, very funny work by Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty.) The movie and TV work of the cast, post-SCTV, has been merely OK overall, but don't let it deceive you: all of this great casts' best work occurred on SCTV. After the show ended, Candy fared the best, but he sadly deprived us of his great presence way too early, god rest his soul. Others have done OK in Christopher Guest films. But, again, these usually only make me yearn for SCTV. Martin Short is probably my least favorite of the regulars, yet he has his moments (Boy from Deliverance, some Ed Grimley bits, etc.). The writing, too, is consistently excellent. (All the cast wrote bits, but some more than others.) Watching the DVDs--and thank god for those!--I see that there are stretches of "padding," but even this is usually pretty funny. (Even Monty Python has some not-so-great shows.) Some of the guest bits are a little lame, and sometimes I wish they had not bothered with guests, unless they make sense to the story (Zontar was funny). Much has been made of the laugh track; I never liked it either. Still, one can punch holes in about anything, and they do not, in the end, add up to much. And this is why I can proclaim that, for me, SCTV is the very zenith of TV comedy. I urge anyone who is uninitiated to jump in with both feet. Any of the four NBC seasons would be a good starting point. (If you want a single DVD, try the Christmas show.) I hope that someone will now release the Cinemax shows.
Ian Ray Hawke (act2LA)
It's a shame so few people have seen this show, which ranks among the most brilliantly hilarious and astonishinly inventive of all television comedy series. It's important to note that the Cast List here is very misleading, noting only one character per actor. In reality, SCTV operated much like MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS, THE KIDS IN THE HALL, and Saturday NIGHT LIVE, programs which it is most definitely AT LEAST on a par with. All these versatile and talented performers played literally DOZENS of character roles -- often pulling off multiple roles WITHIN THE SAME SCENES! The writing and acting talent level on this show was of the highest caliber at all times and they did it all on one of the lowest budgets in modern TV history.
Coxer99
Off the wall comedy show that greatly surpasses Saturday Night Live a thousand times over, with a better assortment of performers, skits and writing. Stars such as John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy went on to bigger, deservedly, and better things after the success of SCTV.
