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SCTV Network 90First Aired in 1981 After a successful Canadian run as Second City TV on Global and SCTV on CBC, the cast packed up and moved to America (theoretically) when NBC offered them a timeslot under the title SCTV Network 90. With them, they brought their unique, quirky characters, their personalities, and the shows they had appeared on. (Original Second City TV head writer Harold Ramis didn't join them, as his character of station manager Moe Green had been kidnapped, and only occasionally played supporting characters in skits.) Dick Blasucci had begun writing for the cast in their second series, SCTV, and joined them here, serving as a recurring straight man for the characters. Tony Rosato and Robin Duke wrote scripts at the beginning of the show as they had before, until quickly leaving to write and perform for Saturday Night Live. The appeal of SCTV Network 90, however, doesn't only come from the writing, but from the sheer wit of its legendary stars. The characters of Bob and Doug McKenzie were reluctant creations to sooth Canadian demands, which is why they were loaded with stereotypes. However, the corny accents Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas used and their moronic comments made them popular enough to bring their two-minute show, Great White North, aka Kanadian Korner, to NBC. They weren't the only siblings on the show, however. Andrea Martin played Edith Prickley, sleazy, nasal-voiced, leopard-skin-clad station manager and replacement for Moe Green, and her sister, salesperson Edna Boil, wife of Tex Boil (Dave Thomas). One of the show's first pair of recurring characters were news anchors Floyd Robertson and Earl Camembert, played by Joe Flaherty and Eugene Levy, respectively. Because Floyd had more experience, he got all the interesting, relevant stories while jealous and paranoid Earl got dull pieces of fluff. Earl had his own series, One About the Town, while Floyd hosted Monster Chiller Horror Theatre as vampiric Count Floyd. Levy also played nasal-voiced, loud-mouthed Lou Jaffe, and Flaherty also played SCTV's owner, Guy Caballero, who rode a wheelchair just for respect. The late John Candy played such memorable characters as money-sucking food-lover Johnny LaRue, who would star in, direct, or produce anything he could get cash out of. There was also the evil Dr. Tongue, who used 3-D to frighten the audience (his hunchbacked sidekick, Woody Tobias Jr, was played by Levy). Flaherty also played annoying talk show host Sammy Maudlin, whose obsessive sidekick, William B. Williams, was played by Candy. Obnoxious stand up comedian Bobby Bittman (Levy) was a frequent guest. Candy also played Gil Fisher, the fishin' musician who entertained real bands and was based on Red Fisher. There was also Andrea Martin's Pirini Scleroso (the cleaning lady from Leutonia, who served as a sort of Latka Gravas), Eugene Levy's various game show hosts, and Thomas' Lin Ye Tang. Harold Ramis called Lin "an ongoing evolution that never evolved," since every time Thomas did the character, he looked different. Catherine O'Hara played Lola Heatherton, a bad singer who'd had an affair with most of SCTV's men. There were also the dead-on, painfully accurate impressions, such as Morgan Fairchild (O'Hara), John Ritter (Thomas), Joyce Dewitt (Martin), Henry Kissinger (Levy), Gregory Peck (Flaherty), and Divine (John Candy). As it had during its Global days, SCTV Network 90 showed not only what they broadcast, but the behind-the-scenes lives of the SCTV cast; even the announcer, Harvey K-Tel (Thomas), who mostly only appeared in voice, was occasionally shown. They sometimes used reruns of old Second City TV sketches, albeit with editing and the announcer's voice dubbed by Thomas. The final piece of the cast puzzle fit midway through the 1981-82 season: Martin Short. With Short's arrival also came a new soap opera, a cheesy adaption of Heys of our Lives called The Days of the Week. After the first NBC season, Thomas, Moranis, and O'Hara left the show. Many believed, however, that Martin Short made up for all of them. With his excellent vocal talent and equally great impressions, he was an immediate hit. He could do Dustin Hoffman, Montgomery Cliff, and David Steinberg—but his characters are even more popular. Among them are Irving Cohen, a songwriter well past his prime; Jackie Rogers, Jr, homosexual night club singer; Boil Boy, Edna Boil's new husband (Tex walked out on her); and his most famous creation, pointy-haired nerd Ed Grimley. Even with Short, the show lasted only one more season on NBC. The network smothered the cancellation by saying it had offered to put SCTV Network 90 in a prime-time slot, which they did. The problem was, it would have been 7:00 Sunday evenings, the same period once owned by Disney's Wonderful World. Had SCTV Network 90 gone there, they would have had to cut back drastically on their sophisticated humor to meet the so-called "family hour" standards. Undoubtedly, the show would have been scraped off the air because it would run against 60 Minutes, which had claimed Disney in 1981. The SCTV Network 90 team refused to be shackled in this fashion. Levy, Short, Martin, and Flaherty would get one more revival, this time when Cinemax picked up what would be named SCTV Channel. If you see any mistakes on this page or if you have more infomation about this show, please submit a comment |