SCTV vs SNL
Wanda Sherratt
how badly SNL has dated, even the episodes made in its heyday, with
Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, etc. I think maybe it was the
intense topicality of SNL, and especially its concentration on current
political events, that make it often unwatchable today. Can anyone
today watch the impersonations of President Ford or Jimmy Carter and
find them even remotely funny?
I'm so glad SCTV never went down that road. Very, very little of it was
based on current events, and as a result it's almost as fresh today as
when it was first made. I could probably list on one hand the political
personalities SCTV made fun of:
John Candy as Tip O'Neill
Martin Short as Pierre Trudeau
A little film clip of Ronald Reagan used at the People's Global Golden
Choice awards
Dave Thomas as Gov. Jerry Brown as "The Invisible Man"
That last one is very funny, but I feel I must be missing part of the
joke. WHY would Jerry Brown be playing a role in a Coppola movie?
Anyway, it seems to me that even when SCTV made fun of political
figures, they managed to draw them into the little world of Melonville,
rather than just pontificate on their actions in the "real" world; it
made even real people seem part of this fictional landscape.
Does anyone remember any other real-life politicians who were featured
on SCTV?
Wanda
Treeclimbr
>Every now and then I see an old SNL episode, and I'm always struck by
>how badly SNL has dated, even the episodes made in its heyday, with
>Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, etc. I think maybe it was the
>intense topicality of SNL, and especially its concentration on current
>political events, that make it often unwatchable today. Can anyone
>today watch the impersonations of President Ford or Jimmy Carter and
>find them even remotely funny?
>
>I'm so glad SCTV never went down that road. Very, very little of it was
>based on current events, and as a result it's almost as fresh today as
>when it was first made. I could probably list on one hand the political
>personalities SCTV made fun of:
>
>John Candy as Tip O'Neill
You mean, Tip Toe Nail?
>Martin Short as Pierre Trudeau
>A little film clip of Ronald Reagan used at the People's Global Golden
>Choice awards
>Dave Thomas as Gov. Jerry Brown as "The Invisible Man"
>
>That last one is very funny, but I feel I must be missing part of the
>joke. WHY would Jerry Brown be playing a role in a Coppola movie?
Well, there really doesn't have to be such reasons on SCTV...at least that's
my reaction.
>Anyway, it seems to me that even when SCTV made fun of political
>figures, they managed to draw them into the little world of Melonville,
>rather than just pontificate on their actions in the "real" world; it
>made even real people seem part of this fictional landscape.
>
>Does anyone remember any other real-life politicians who were featured
>on SCTV?
I know they did a lot with Hitler. I don't remember them doing many others,
which is probably wise. Politicians are a little bit outside the TV bubble in
some
ways.
___________________
Robert Pearson
Creative Virtue: http://www.eskimo.com/~telical/
ParaMind Brainstorming Software http://www.paramind.net/
R.S. Pearson Music Page http://users.50megs.com/rspearson/
William Denton
: Every now and then I see an old SNL episode, and I'm always struck by
: how badly SNL has dated, even the episodes made in its heyday, with
: Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, etc.
They seem very dated now, I agree. I think SCTV's satire on SNL and
"Fridays," "Thursday Night Live" (#54) was brilliantly savage and shows
all the faults those shows had. SCTV, on the other hand, is usually only
dated by the clothes and musical guests.
: That last one is very funny, but I feel I must be missing part of the
: joke. WHY would Jerry Brown be playing a role in a Coppola movie?
I don't know, but it sure is funny. Short's Trudeau was a good
impression, and Trudeau was everywhere back then (and dating all sorts of
women) so it makes sense he was on, clubbing with Prickley. "I can't eat
... I can't sleep ..." "You can't dance!"
: Does anyone remember any other real-life politicians who were featured
: on SCTV?
Catherine O'Hara did Margaret Thatcher on the news, when she was on with
Tip O'Neill. There's Andrea Martin's Indira Ghandi, too.
Bill
--
--
William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
Wanda Sherratt
remembered two other ones that overlapped at one point: Joe Flaherty as
Richard Nixon, and Eugene Levy's Henry Kissinger (he was not exactly a
politician, but a political character). Amazing how Flaherty could play
Nixon, when he doesn't really even look like him, but he got the voice
and the gestures down nicely, especially those darting looks from side
to side. And Kissinger was a good example of an impression that took a
real person and somehow turned him into a denizen of Melonville. I loved
the trashy gossip show which showed Kissinger on a drunken rampage
through a neighbourhood restaurant. Didn't they quote Carol Burnett
saying, "Kissinger was drunker than I've ever seen him before, and I've
seen him drive limos through a carwash, backwards." Great line. This
is the sort of thing Dave Thomas wrote about in his book, and that he
did to a great extent with his Walter Cronkite character - giving these
impersonations a life of their own, quite separate from the "real" life
personality.
Wanda
Markshark989
>From: Wanda Sherratt
>There's Andrea Martin's Indira Ghandi, too.
>>
>> Bill
On the subject of topical humor, there is another way the SCTV shows have
dated...the Indira Ghandi skit is a really good example. It is a line for line,
scene for scene, shot for shot, parody of the TV commercials for the musical
"Evita," which was running at that time. "Genfem" is likewise with the Brenda
Vaccaro tampon commercial from 1981. John McEnroe's tantrums on the tennis
court, then he meets up with Robert Young, who was a pitchman foir Sanka coffee
in 1981, etc. Even though they weren't politically topical, they were a heck of
a lot funnier if you knew the original source material.
Markshark989
>That last one is very funny, but I feel I must be missing part of the
>: joke. WHY would Jerry Brown be playing a role in a Coppola movie?
>
I don't remember the skit in question, but I do remember Dave Thomas as Jerry
Brown on the "Fourth Degree" talk show with Joe Flaherty. It was just a short,
silly skit, but just thinking about it has me in stitches. "Are you going to be
running for president?" "Now, I've said that right now, our priority should
be..." "are ya or aren't ya!!! Are ya or aren't ya!!!" He slaps him across the
face repeatedly. "Are ya or aren't ya!!!" It's one of my favorite skits.
Markshark989
>From: Wanda Sherratt
>Every now and then I see an old SNL episode, and I'm always struck by
>how badly SNL has dated, even the episodes made in its heyday, with
>Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, etc. I think maybe it was the
>intense topicality of SNL, and especially its concentration on current
>political events, that make it often unwatchable today. Can anyone
>today watch the impersonations of President Ford or Jimmy Carter and
>find them even remotely funny?
>
I can...but I saw all these shows when they originally aired live. Saturday
Night Live followed by Second City TV (followed by the Hudson Brothers in
"Bonkers," definitely a "guilty pleasure") was a Saturday night ritual for me,
so when I see these skits I can generally place them in the context of the
time. I can understand how someone seeing these shows for the first time now
would not find them amusing, however.
Wanda Sherratt
> Brown on the "Fourth Degree" talk show with Joe Flaherty. It was just a short,
> silly skit, but just thinking about it has me in stitches. "Are you going to be
> running for president?" "Now, I've said that right now, our priority should
> be..." "are ya or aren't ya!!! Are ya or aren't ya!!!" He slaps him across the
> face repeatedly. "Are ya or aren't ya!!!" It's one of my favorite skits.
Now, that's one I've never seen. The "Invisible Man" was a promo for a
movie with Jerry Brown, Linda Ronstadt (Robin Duke) and another
character I don't remember, played by Joe Flaherty. Jerry Brown comes
in and as he's playing pranks on the other two, his invisibility starts
to fade, so they can see him as he lights a cigar, makes a bottle float
in mid-air, etc. The best part is when he laughs at their confusion,
and says "If you could see me right now, you'd know that - my pants are
down!" whereupon he drops his trousers and starts doing a little "Twist"
dance. Obviously the "special effects" for this movie are pretty
low-budget.
Wanda
quincyw...@my-deja.com
during Nixon's first term and Secretary of State during the second and
negotiated the so-called withdrawal from Vietnam (as George Carlin put
it, "We're leaving through Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. It's the scenic
route."), as well as being a sought-after party animal and publicity
hound.
In article <3A17C7C1...@mediaone.net>,
> > Catherine O'Hara did Margaret Thatcher on the news, when she was on
with
> > Tip O'Neill. There's Andrea Martin's Indira Ghandi, too.
> >
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Wanda Sherratt
that he was more of a "politico" - I tend to think of a politician as
someone who stands for office and gets elected. Kissinger seemed more
like a super-civil servant, a bit like Sir Humphrey in "Yes Minister",
though without the permanent status.
Wanda
> > > Catherine O'Hara did Margaret Thatcher on the news, when she was on
> with
> > > Tip O'Neill. There's Andrea Martin's Indira Ghandi, too.
> > >
>
JHedegor
The jokes about Jerry Brown and Francis Ford Coppola are in reference to
Brown--then governor of California--and his 1980 campaign for President.
Coppola directed a lavish promotional film for his friend. The campaign was
unsuccessful, though, and the huge amount of money spent on it made Brown and
Coppola fodder for comedians everywhere. Thus, in 1981 it would have seemed
logical for Coppola to direct Governor Brown's acting debut.
>> I don't remember the skit in question, but I do remember Dave Thomas as
>Jerry
>> Brown on the "Fourth Degree" talk show with Joe Flaherty. It was just a
>short,
>> silly skit, but just thinking about it has me in stitches. "Are you going
>to be
>> running for president?" "Now, I've said that right now, our priority should
>> be..." "are ya or aren't ya!!! Are ya or aren't ya!!!" He slaps him across
>the
>> face repeatedly. "Are ya or aren't ya!!!" It's one of my favorite skits.
Actually, Chuck Clark (Flaherty) grilled Governor Brown twice--first on "Fourth
Degree," then later on "Flashing Eyes," in which Chuck chewed out guests whom
he could tell were lying by watching their eyes.
>Now, that's one I've never seen. The "Invisible Man" was a promo for a
>movie with Jerry Brown, Linda Ronstadt (Robin Duke) and another
>character I don't remember, played by Joe Flaherty.
In "The Invisible Man" Flaherty played Jerry's father, Edmond Brown, who, like
his son, had been governor of California. Brown (like Bush and Gore) came from
a powerful political family.
>Jerry Brown comes
>in and as he's playing pranks on the other two, his invisibility starts
>to fade, so they can see him as he lights a cigar, makes a bottle float
>in mid-air, etc. The best part is when he laughs at their confusion,
>and says "If you could see me right now, you'd know that - my pants are
>down!" whereupon he drops his trousers and starts doing a little "Twist"
>dance. Obviously the "special effects" for this movie are pretty
>low-budget.
Very funny--especially when he panics at the realization that he is visible
after all.
John
benrand
Or the movie Cruising?
It goes both ways. SCTV was a bit deeper than SNL, but I remember the Jimmy
Carter skit with Three Mile Island and how Jimmy Carter proposed he was a
nuclear engineer...but he was a President so he wasn't a very good one and
suggested he go in and fix the problem...resulting in him being mutated and
transformed into a 100 foot giant.
That was a brilliant skit.
SNL is SO SO SO bad now...it's the worst I have ever seen it. And I watched
the Anthony Michael Hall years. At least the music was better then too.
--
Time is the wisest of all counselors.
-Plutarch
Wanda Sherratt <sher...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:3A173019...@mediaone.net...
Wanda Sherratt
culture, is not as likely to get outdated as making fun of politics.
Culture has a better chance of lasting and being remembered, whereas
politics is here today, gone tomorrow. The Hope and Crosby movies were
decades in the past when SCTV parodied them, but it was still funny.
Everyone knows who Lucy was, and Jackie Gleason and Frank Sinatra, even
if we're too young to have seen them when they were current. Carl Sagan
has maybe become a little obscure, but I think people still would know
who he was.
Anyway, it's my point that although SCTV was not at the time designed
with a view to the future - I think it was meant to be a funny,
contemporary show, just like SNL, in fact it *still* is funny, 25 years
later, while SNL is not, to anything like the same extent. I attribute
this to SCTV's use of popular culture as a basis for their humour,
rather than SNL's use of current political affairs.
Wanda
James Allen Gray
become parody of itself.
Since the demise of SCTV, that is exactly what has happened. So, like
early SNL's, much of SCTV can be perceived as dated, because the cultural
phenomena it parodied has changed so much since then.
However, like SNL, SCTV broke new ground in TV sketch comedy, but a lot of
what made SCTV so hilarious back then has today become so commonplace
rendering much of SCTV dated.
Much of what we see on TV today owes itself either directly or indirectly
to SCTV.
WWF (The Young and the Wrestling)
Tabloid TV (National Midnite Star)
are two examples of this.
JG
Ed Mundt
Howards ( along with Howard Hughes, Curly Howard and Howard Cossel)"
Wanda Sherratt
benrand
That's fallen out of favor big time.
--
Time is the wisest of all counselors.
-Plutarch
Wanda Sherratt <sher...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:3A199836...@mediaone.net...
Wanda Sherratt
of SNL (Was it "Thursday Night"?) - depicting people coming to the group
brainstorming meetings completely stoned, and the jokes that only sound
funny to people who are high. As George Carlin said, "Brutal, man." I
also liked the ENDLESS cast list at the beginning of the show, of people
you've never heard of.
Wanda
J & S Hobeck
There are also a lot of jabs that Canadians who watched CBC in the 70's can
laugh at even today. For instance they used to have these short 20 second
clips that were put on by the Ministry of Wildlife (or something similar).
They would show a brief clip on the beaver or snow owl or something and then
tell you where to write to get more information. I remember seeing a
paradoy of this done with John Candy narrating. My memory might be sketchy
but I believe they also did a movie where these two East Coast Canadians
decide to come to Toronto looking for "Doctorin and Lawyerin jobs". On the
way they run over a beaver at the side of the road that is being filmed by a
CBC camera crew for one of these shorts. When they run over the beaver the
crew drops their cameras and the producer runs out on the road and tries to
give the beaver CPR. Another is the skit on "Canadian Gaffes and Practical
Jokes" which pokes fun at the dry stuffy personalities that appeared on the
CBC in the early 60's.
James Allen Gray <yaa...@idirect.com> wrote in message
news:3A19A38D...@idirect.com...
Trudi Marrapodi
<hob...@home.com> wrote:
> There are also a lot of jabs that Canadians who watched CBC in the 70's can
> laugh at even today. For instance they used to have these short 20 second
> clips that were put on by the Ministry of Wildlife (or something similar).
> They would show a brief clip on the beaver or snow owl or something and then
> tell you where to write to get more information. I remember seeing a
> paradoy of this done with John Candy narrating. My memory might be sketchy
> but I believe they also did a movie where these two East Coast Canadians
> decide to come to Toronto looking for "Doctorin and Lawyerin jobs".
Both these sketches were on the "janitors' strike" episode in which SCTV
replaced its broadcasting with CBC programming.
> On the
> way they run over a beaver at the side of the road that is being filmed by a
> CBC camera crew for one of these shorts. When they run over the beaver the
> crew drops their cameras and the producer runs out on the road and tries to
> give the beaver CPR.
It's a woodchuck...but yes, that scene never fails to leave me collapsed!
> Another is the skit on "Canadian Gaffes and Practical
> Jokes" which pokes fun at the dry stuffy personalities that appeared on the
> CBC in the early 60's.
Whenever I see that one I am reminded of how stuffy the CBC used to be
even in the '70s when I could sometimes pick it up from across Lake Erie
during sunspot season. It had such a dry, British feel to it, compared to
American TV--something it doesn't have anymore, at least not to that
degree.
--
Trudi
Just Another Ventilator of Ice Skating Around the World
"I don't see myself as Ricky Martin." --Brian Orser
"Life is too damned short for me to read the dubious opinions of idiots" --Peg Lewis
To mail me, replace the double vowel at the end of the name with the correct single letter. Sorry to make it so hard, but I'm being spammed to death lately and I'm sick of it.
George Hiebert
J & S Hobeck <hob...@home.com> wrote in message
news:eE9T5.19269$kd.38...@news3.rdc1.on.home.com...
Another is the skit on "Canadian Gaffes and Practical
> Jokes" which pokes fun at the dry stuffy personalities that appeared on
the
> CBC in the early 60's.
IIRC it was called Canadian Gaffes and Practical Amusements.
George Hiebert
Trudi Marrapodi <tru...@clarityconnect.com> wrote in message
news:trudee-2311...@pg081.clarityconnect.com...
> Whenever I see that one I am reminded of how stuffy the CBC used to be
> even in the '70s when I could sometimes pick it up from across Lake Erie
> during sunspot season. It had such a dry, British feel to it, compared to
> American TV--something it doesn't have anymore, at least not to that
> degree.
Growing up in the days when you only got 3 channels and one was the CBC, I
fondly remember those "dry" type shows they offered. It made those SCTV bits
all the funnier. I always wondered if the American audience got the joke.
Apparently some did.
JPlottner
to be a Clown and I am sure it was Richard Nixon. I always thought I just had
to have that skit as it was so funny.
Treeclimbr
practical nature!
Trudi Marrapodi
<ge...@direct.ca> wrote:
Oh, definitely. I mean, here you are watching American TV with its brassy
promos and station IDs, and then you tune in the CBC and hear this dry,
clipped, dignified voice saying quietly "This is the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation" to the tune of a wind quintet. It was like the difference
between ABC and PBS!
James Allen Gray
of season 5. It was a 6th season sketch.
Headline Challenge is the sketch that appears in the CBC episode with host
Dougall Currie. It was a parody of the long running series "Front Page
Challenge" which ran on CBC for years. One of their mystery guests was
Morley Markle, a "popular Canadian actor".
There are so many subtle Canadian references in SCTV that would be totally
lost on most Americans. There are also a lot of great Buffalo references,
as Buffalo TV stations were Torontonians' window to America. Buffalo news
items always included a few fires in Tonawanda or Cheektowaga and were
always a source of humour for most Torontonians.
Earl Camembert and Floyd Robertson are based on long-time Canadian
newscasters Earl Cameron and Lloyd Robertson, the latter of which still
anchors the news on the CTV network in Canada. However, Earl Camembert's
character seems to be based more on WKBW-TV's Irv Weinstein, a Buffalo News
anchor with an over dramatic style.
In an early newscast, Earl talks about a herd of caribou heading down the
401. Of course, Highway 401 is the major highway in southern Ontario.
In an early newscast, Earl talks about an incident happening on West Seneca
Blvd, a major street in Buffalo.
An old sketch called "Taps Friendly Markets" lampoons two old Buffalo
commercials for small grocery chains, Tops markets and Super Duper, the
latter of which featuring a pitch woman named Joanie who delivered her
pitch in a very flat midwestern/western NY accent. "Not 99 cents, not 89
cents, but just 69 cents this week at Super Duper". "Taps" is the way
people from that area pronounced "Tops". That flat accent is still a
source of humour for us Canadians.
Phil of "Phil's Nails" is based on Phil Givener, who ran low budget ads for
his Toronto carpet warehouse and spoke with his hands a lot.
Crazy Hi's is based on the old Crazy Joe's drapery warehouse ads in
Toronto. Crazy Hi's address was on Landsdown, just east of Pape. The joke
here is that Lansdowne and Pape are two North south streets running
parallel on either side of downtown Toronto. The two streets obviously
don't intersect at all.
SCTV Boogie, which later became Mel's Rock Pile, was based on a low budget
TV show called Boogie, which ran on CITY TV, an independent station in
Toronto.
The commercial for Cornabix with Guy LaFleur and Darryl Sittler is still
hilarious. At one point in the commercial John Candy as Darryl Sittler
exclaims, "one language, one song, God Save the (bleep) Queen!" God save
the Queen was indeed our national anthem before "OH Canada" was adopted.
In some parts of Canada, God Save the Queen is still played along with Oh
Canada in public schools.
Another interesting part of this commercial is when Sittler asks Lafleur if
he'd like some Pepsi Cola with his cornabix. What's funny about this is
that back in the early part of this century when Pepsi was first trying to
compete with Coke for its share in the marketplace, Pepsi found its biggest
north American market in Quebec. This led to the derogatory term "Pepsis"
which some people used to describe French Canadians from Quebec. This is
why Sittler and LaFleur get into a brawl at the end of the commercial.
Joel Cairo
As an American that was lucky enough to be watching the show from the
beginning (but who has always lived on the left coast), I appreciate
the explanations... it's always nice to find yet another level of humor
in the multi-layered eye-candy of SCTV!!!
-Joel Cairo
BTW - with regard to the "SCTV vs. SNL" thread... I wasn't aware there
was anything to debate about the topic... even at the time the "classic"
SNLs were running (1975-1980), the writers of **that** show freely
acknowledged that SCTV was much funnier than their show.
I seem to recall that there was a cover article in the SOHO NEWS
somewhere in that time period with several quotes from SNL writers on
that subject.
James Allen Gray wrote:
>
<an excellent explanation of several inside gags snipped>
Trudi Marrapodi
> Canadian Gaffes and Practical Amusements does not come from the CBC episode
> of season 5. It was a 6th season sketch.
Yeah, that I do remember. Was that the Cinemax season? But of course, it
was based on those "Headline Challenge" characters.
> Headline Challenge is the sketch that appears in the CBC episode with host
> Dougall Currie. It was a parody of the long running series "Front Page
> Challenge" which ran on CBC for years. One of their mystery guests was
> Morley Markle, a "popular Canadian actor".
"You say you're a *popular* Canadian actor? I'm afraid I'll have to pass,
I have no idea." ;-)
> There are so many subtle Canadian references in SCTV that would be totally
> lost on most Americans.
I found it was a lot easier to get jokes on SCTV having watched a bit of
Canadian TV.
> There are also a lot of great Buffalo references,
> as Buffalo TV stations were Torontonians' window to America. Buffalo news
> items always included a few fires in Tonawanda or Cheektowaga and were
> always a source of humour for most Torontonians.
I remember that as a running joke of Torontonians, that Cheektowaga was
the home of fires on the Channel 2 News.
> Earl Camembert and Floyd Robertson are based on long-time Canadian
> newscasters Earl Cameron and Lloyd Robertson, the latter of which still
> anchors the news on the CTV network in Canada. However, Earl Camembert's
> character seems to be based more on WKBW-TV's Irv Weinstein, a Buffalo News
> anchor with an over dramatic style.
Really? I haven't seen too much Buffalo TV.
> In an early newscast, Earl talks about a herd of caribou heading down the
> 401. Of course, Highway 401 is the major highway in southern Ontario.
This reminds me of an interesting point. I have an otherwise excellent
book on editing published by a Washington Post editor, titled "Lapsing
Into a Comma." He gives English usage advice and says, "Know how I can
tell when a TV show was written by Californians? The characters say things
like 'on the 95' instead of 'on Highway 95' or 'on I-95.' Only
Californians do that." I thought "He's obviously never met any Canadians.
It's always 'the 401,' 'the 400,' 'the 403,' 'the QE'..."
> In an early newscast, Earl talks about an incident happening on West Seneca
> Blvd, a major street in Buffalo.
>
> An old sketch called "Taps Friendly Markets" lampoons two old Buffalo
> commercials for small grocery chains, Tops markets and Super Duper, the
> latter of which featuring a pitch woman named Joanie who delivered her
> pitch in a very flat midwestern/western NY accent. "Not 99 cents, not 89
> cents, but just 69 cents this week at Super Duper". "Taps" is the way
> people from that area pronounced "Tops".
I don't know if I saw that one. Anyway, that would definitely make me
laugh, after all the years I spent in Rochester with Tops and Wegmans.
> That flat accent is still a
> source of humour for us Canadians.
Just as the Canadian accents are for Americans. :-)
> Phil of "Phil's Nails" is based on Phil Givener, who ran low budget ads for
> his Toronto carpet warehouse and spoke with his hands a lot.
But everyone can relate to that, as just about every local market has
merchants who make bad TV ads.
> Crazy Hi's is based on the old Crazy Joe's drapery warehouse ads in
> Toronto. Crazy Hi's address was on Landsdown, just east of Pape. The joke
> here is that Lansdowne and Pape are two North south streets running
> parallel on either side of downtown Toronto. The two streets obviously
> don't intersect at all.
I always thought of Lansdowne and Pape as being such classic Toronto
street names. Never paid attention to whether they intersected!
> SCTV Boogie, which later became Mel's Rock Pile, was based on a low budget
> TV show called Boogie, which ran on CITY TV, an independent station in
> Toronto.
Again, this is one everyone can relate to, as most local TV markets had
cheesy dance shows at one time or another, especially during the disco
era.
> The commercial for Cornabix with Guy LaFleur and Darryl Sittler is still
> hilarious. At one point in the commercial John Candy as Darryl Sittler
> exclaims, "one language, one song, God Save the (bleep) Queen!" God save
> the Queen was indeed our national anthem before "OH Canada" was adopted.
> In some parts of Canada, God Save the Queen is still played along with Oh
> Canada in public schools.
Yeah, and I don't think you used to be able to find Weetabix in the
States, either, although you can now. I still think of Weetabix as one of
those British cereals you find more easily in Canada.
> Another interesting part of this commercial is when Sittler asks Lafleur if
> he'd like some Pepsi Cola with his cornabix. What's funny about this is
> that back in the early part of this century when Pepsi was first trying to
> compete with Coke for its share in the marketplace, Pepsi found its biggest
> north American market in Quebec. This led to the derogatory term "Pepsis"
> which some people used to describe French Canadians from Quebec. This is
> why Sittler and LaFleur get into a brawl at the end of the commercial.
Now there's an "I did not know that!" :-) Thanks for the tidbit. I'd never
heard of this one. (I also can't help but wonder what it was that made the
French Canadians prefer Pepsi.)
Jim Bennie
tru...@clarityconnect.com (Trudi Marrapodi) wrote:
> > SCTV Boogie, which later became Mel's Rock Pile, was based on a low budget
> > TV show called Boogie, which ran on CITY TV, an independent station in
> > Toronto.
> Again, this is one everyone can relate to, as most local TV markets had
> cheesy dance shows at one time or another, especially during the disco
> era.
I wonder if any American markets had polka shows like the one on CHCH
Hamilton that was the obvious base for the Schmenges.
There were far more Canadian references on the early shows. The
change from season to season was quite noticeable if you watched the
show from the first time it came out.
> "I don't see myself as Ricky Martin." --Brian Orser
Yeah. One of them is out.
Jim
Wanda Sherratt
> I wonder if any American markets had polka shows like the one on CHCH
> Hamilton that was the obvious base for the Schmenges.
>
> There were far more Canadian references on the early shows. The
> change from season to season was quite noticeable if you watched the
> show from the first time it came out.
>
I remember seeing polka dance shows like that when I was a kid growing
up in Edmonton. Did Dave Thomas in his book mention where they got all
the old people who appeared on the set for that show? It was great
watching them all jump up to dance whenever the music started, and then
sitting down again about 10 seconds later when it ended. It must have
been a riot for them - I just imagined the SCTV producers went to a
local old folks' home and sent out a request for anyone who wanted to
appear on a TV show - "must be able to polka" - and were probably
swamped with volunteers! It was really swell - those old people had a
lot of bounce and enthusiasm.
Wanda
Jim Bennie
wrote:
> I remember seeing polka dance shows like that when I was a kid growing
> up in Edmonton.
It might have been the same one, Wanda. It was probably part of a
programme exchange as the one from CHCH Hamilton ran on CHEK-TV in
Victoria. It may still do (I don't own a TV now).
Jim
James Allen Gray
growing up. Polka Varieties was one of them. I believe it was hosted by
Polka king Frankie Yankovic. Walter Ostanek (another Polka biggie who
hails from Canada) hosted his own show as well for many years. John's
character Yosh Shmenge looks a lot like Ostanek.
Another interesting note about the Shmenges is that the musicians in their
band were an actual polka band from southern Ontario.
JG
Wanda Sherratt wrote:
> >
> > I wonder if any American markets had polka shows like the one on CHCH
> > Hamilton that was the obvious base for the Schmenges.
> >
> > There were far more Canadian references on the early shows. The
> > change from season to season was quite noticeable if you watched the
> > show from the first time it came out.
> >
> > Jim
>
> I remember seeing polka dance shows like that when I was a kid growing
Trudi Marrapodi
> There were at least three different Polka shows that I remember while
> growing up. Polka Varieties was one of them. I believe it was hosted by
> Polka king Frankie Yankovic.
Yes, on Channel 5 in Cleveland. I remember it well from many a boring
Sunday afternoon! That was one of the reasons I could always relate to the
Schmenges. Like Canada, we had our ethnic polka enclave in large numbers.
The first thing I thought when Weird Al Yankovic came along wielding his
accordion is that he must be related to Frankie (but I guess he's not,
athough he obviously shares the ethnicity).
> Walter Ostanek (another Polka biggie who
> hails from Canada) hosted his own show as well for many years. John's
> character Yosh Shmenge looks a lot like Ostanek.
>
> Another interesting note about the Shmenges is that the musicians in their
> band were an actual polka band from southern Ontario.
They must have had fun playing polka versions of some of those songs.
Trudi Marrapodi
> In <3A2100EB...@mediaone.net>, Wanda Sherratt <sher...@mediaone.net>
> wrote:
> > I remember seeing polka dance shows like that when I was a kid growing
> > up in Edmonton.
>
> It might have been the same one, Wanda. It was probably part of a
> programme exchange as the one from CHCH Hamilton ran on CHEK-TV in
> Victoria. It may still do (I don't own a TV now).
>
> Jim
I remember seeing commercials for that one during "sunspot season" in Ohio!
Trudi Marrapodi
[snip]
> > "I don't see myself as Ricky Martin." --Brian Orser
>
> Yeah. One of them is out.
>
> Jim
LOL! So true...Also, Brian has talent...but then that goes without saying...
Treeclimbr
I saw you posted in the newsgroup and was wondering if you want to do a trade.
I have SCTV
as well as a ten volume set of Chaplin films, studio
produced, not a copy.
regards,
Robert Pearson
Treeclimbr
The newsgroup reader is always default
for that when I want to e-mail it to a newsgroup poster.
Peter Eric Bruner
Just right click on the message you wish to dissapear and then click
"Cancel Message". Simple, or maybe you knew that already, Oh well!
Pete in Calgary
=========================================================================
Ou Yang
the Red Fischer show on CHCH. They would go out fishin.... and talk about
fish. Gil Fischer (aka John Candy) would go out fishin and talk about ROCK n
ROLL. Incidentally, I loved SCTV so much and was so good in the corners,
that my hockey coach use to call me Fishin Magician when I was a kid.
Then there was Dadny Dick Bedows with the hat who appeared on the CBC spoof
as a commentator for Curling Night in Canada. Dick was a sportscaster on
CHCH.
Omer
James Allen Gray <yaa...@idirect.com> wrote in message
news:3A21BB40...@idirect.com...
James Allen Gray
doubt that it was produced by CHCH though. I think it was an American
syndicated series that CHCH just happened to pick up. No musicians were ever
featured on it.
An interesting part of the Fishin' Musician legacy is that Tom Waits created a
fishing show . Unfortunately I've never seen it.
To clarify the other reference you brought up. The sketch was actually called
"Monday Night Curling". The commentator was Dick Bedloe who was based on
long-time Canadian sports commentator Dick Beddoes, a colourful character who
existed well before Don Cherry.
George Hiebert
James Allen Gray <yaa...@idirect.com> wrote in message
> Yes, the Fishin' Musician was indeed inspired by the old Red Fisher show.
> doubt that it was produced by CHCH though. I think it was an American
> syndicated series that CHCH just happened to pick up. No musicians were
ever
> featured on it.
I'm quite sure Red Fisher was a Canadian production, sure seemed like one.
We used to get it on CTV over here.
cav
"James Allen Gray" <yaa...@idirect.com> wrote:
> An interesting part of the Fishin' Musician legacy is that Tom Waits
created a
> fishing show . Unfortunately I've never seen it.
Actually it was John Lurie who created the show and he had Tom Waits as a
guest. I think it was a PBS thing. Anway, you can get the tapes at
Amazon. I think the series is titled "Fishing with John". I believe he and
Tom go shark fishing and get philosophical.
-Cav