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SCTV
Some channel has been showing the syndicated, mashed-up SCTV compilations again. They seem to be mixtures of stuff from the early, ragged 30-minute episodes in which Harold Ramis hogged the camera and the more polished 90-minute episodes, and the material is pretty uneven; my theory is that the sketches in them were chosen more for the absence of music rights issues than for quality. Though the half-hour syndicated shows have their moments, if they were your only exposure to the show you might come away unimpressed (and I've heard that some people have).
Fortunately the first season of NBC 90-minute shows is out on DVD now, after a heroic effort at securing nearly all of the music rights. Sam just got the box set and we watched the first episode (which was actually also mostly a compilation, but they'd chosen their best stuff from the 30-minute seasons and added wrap-around material; the very early "English for Beginners" sketch that introduced Perini Scleroso was re-shot).
This is the SCTV I remember. So funny your head will explode, sometimes for reasons that are impossible to articulate. And you can fast-forward past the awkwardly integrated musical guests if you want.
The very first episode has "Play It Again, Bob," in which Rick Moranis's Woody Allen impression meets Dave Thomas's spookily perfect Bob Hope impression (and Joe Flaherty as a spectral Bing Crosby). I didn't know at the time that Woody Allen actually did acknowledge that his comic persona in his early films largely built on Bob Hope's.
Fortunately the first season of NBC 90-minute shows is out on DVD now, after a heroic effort at securing nearly all of the music rights. Sam just got the box set and we watched the first episode (which was actually also mostly a compilation, but they'd chosen their best stuff from the 30-minute seasons and added wrap-around material; the very early "English for Beginners" sketch that introduced Perini Scleroso was re-shot).
This is the SCTV I remember. So funny your head will explode, sometimes for reasons that are impossible to articulate. And you can fast-forward past the awkwardly integrated musical guests if you want.
The very first episode has "Play It Again, Bob," in which Rick Moranis's Woody Allen impression meets Dave Thomas's spookily perfect Bob Hope impression (and Joe Flaherty as a spectral Bing Crosby). I didn't know at the time that Woody Allen actually did acknowledge that his comic persona in his early films largely built on Bob Hope's.