SCTV - Vol. 1 (DVD, 2004, 5-Disc Set)

It is stated in the liner notes of the DVD itself. "On Saturday Nights after work at 1:00 a.m. we'd all watch the shows. We agreed that they were funnier than us". That was from Dan Akroyd.
One of the special features is the cast's recollection of the beginings of Second City Comedy moving to television. It is extremely informative and humorous.
It's so sad that the incredible comic genius that was John Candy had to pass as early as he did. In the special features of Volume 1, the cast does a 30 minute reflection on him. For those of us that loved the humor of John, there could not be a finer rememberance.
That's in no way to down play Harold Ramis, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and later on Martin Short. They were, and still are incredible talents. (I wish I could meet them all) Being able to go back and watch them whenever I want on DVD is my comic dream come true.
Now I've never been to Chicago and the furthest into Canada as I've ever gone has been Niagra Falls but I must say (Ed Grimley) that this is the true Modern Day Vaudevillian's hand-book... on DVD. The roots of Second City Comedy far outweigh the talent shown in the series, but out of all of the choices that there were for this cast, I believe that no finer decisions could have been made.
The talent that these comic artists had at such a young age would be considered almost intellectual and un-heard of by today's standards. (Monty Python and maybe The Kid's In The Hall)
I remember back in the day, (like most) we didn't have cable yet and most local channels would sign off the air late at night. I stumbled across SCTV in 1978 at the age of 11 by accident. Needless to say, I'm warped the way I am today thanks to SCTV... just kidding... kind of. I didn't understand a great deal of it at first but the skits, lines and images stuck with me. The older I got, the more I began understanding the humor.
In high school my Political Science teacher would watch that show and throughout the week, I was the only student in his class that he could reflect on the humor with. I was almost a nerd... ok I was. OK... I still am!!!
When I was 19 I went into radio on the air doing overnights (in Arkansas God help me) at a lame FM rock & roll station. I went by the name of Gerry Todd. Yes ladies and gentlemen I would even wish everyone "A good good morning to you".
I will always honor SCTV. From Guy Cabellero's programming talent, to the ear shattering / song-stylings of Miss Lola Heatherton. From the side splitting humor of Bobby Bittman to the English skills of Fureeny Sklurosa. From the international communication lessons of Robert and Douglas McKenzie to the technical wizardry with 3-D special effects of Dr. Tongue, any person that was born before 1975 will just love this entire collection. Not just Volume 1 but all of them.
This may have sounded like memories more than a review but that's just what SCTV is for me. If you love true comedy, this is a collection for you.

The producers issued this 5-disc set 1st, although it was SCTV's 4th on the air. This is NBC's 1st yr of its hour & a half shows that went into production.

This is sketch comedy at its finest. While there are of course hits and misses, depending on differences in sense of humour, Second City here had more hits than misses for sure. They easily rivaled SNLive during their day.

This series is creative and endearing. While some political satire and cultural innuendo's are understandably dated, there is still much here to laugh at. SCTV is a celebration of Canadian culture, revealing our ability to laugh at ourselves so why not laugh along, even if it's at our expense!

Be aware that there is not only side-splitting tom-foolery here, but also some racial profiling that some might find a bit offensive. But alas, no one is beyond the scope of such comical targeting.

Great White North is periodically interspersed throughout, just as I remember it. This impromptu on Canadiana is a marvelous thing to witness.

High Q is the epitome of game-show spoofery and now SNL has beaten this genre to death with its repetitious attempts to copy.

Leave it to Beaver is probably the best spoof that SCTV has ever done. Every character impersonation is nailed here. They even turn the popular family show into a 50's who-dunnit?

There are, of course, periodic spoofing of then-common advertisements. The mocking of K-Tel and Ronco info-mercials is sweet revenge indeed.

There are a couple of: Mel's Rock Piles and Monster Chiller Horror Theatres (starring stewardesses in 3-D). There is also a: Celebrity Farm Report, Mrs. Falbo's Tiny Town, Fantasy Island, Sammy Maudlin, and some newscasts. Human targets for mockery include Quincy and Merv Griffin. Best special guests include The Tubes and Ian Thomas.

Of course there are also some misses, including the HBO reunion hosted by Conan with its bad sound. And, Flaherty's commentary sadly reveals how often alcohol was the true inspiration for much of SCTV's ingenious wit. Oh, and there's no Martin Short to be found.

Each show has at least 2 episodes that are funny and as many as 12. These dvd's make me want to: disco, buy an organ, slap my knee, blow up a celebrity, fry back bacon, and buy a Cordoba!

I look back at the comedy that SCTV produced and realize that they were the best of the best, the TOP GUN of comedy. Free from the compitition and politics of an SNL environment, the weekly offering was always brilliant. I bought this and have watched all five DVD's 3-4 times so far. The names alone: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas....Etc.
If you are a fan of sketch comedy, a fan of comedy itself, these DVD's are a must for your collection.
Buy it, just buy it. You will not regret it.

Finally, one of the funniest shows that ever grced TV is available on DVD. SCTV launched the careers of so may comedy masters, and they all worked together so well. When you watch the early Saturday Night shows, a lot of the sketches are not that funny now. However, SCTV is timeless and still as funny today as when these episodes firt aired. If your a fan, you have to pick this up. If you are new to SCTV and are interested in where John Candy or Martin Short started out, you'll laugh !!!!!!!!!

This set has all of my favourite short pieces from the legendary SCTV series such as Street Beef and Tang's Doorway to Hell. The shows in this set are from the early days of the series so you don't get some of the more extended jokes such as the one where the station signal was highjacked by the Russians or where Zontar, the Thing from Venus took over.
In checking to see what was on the discs on-line I discovered that a lot of the material from the original 3 years of the show were never aired after it was packaged for NBC! For example, apparently there are more episodes of Tang's Doorway to Hell than the one on this set. These don't seem to be on any of the DVD sets but I hope that they get released at some point: can't get enough SCTV!!