Coming Thursdays at 9: SCTV Reviews

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I plan on getting back to the classic SNL reviews eventually, but in the interest of having new content on the blog, as well as to keep myself from getting into SNL overload, I’ve decided that starting next week, I will post weekly reviews of SCTV episodes beginning with the very first show.

I actually started watching SCTV a few months before I started watching SNL regularly; I remember seeing it listed as one of the best comedy series of all time, but I didn’t really know too much about it, just that reruns would play late at night on MTN. Eventually, I started taping the shows (my first episode was a syndicated version of the one with Canadian Gaffes and Practical Amusements), though by the time the show disappeared from reruns for a few years I had nowhere close to a complete collection. I still saw a decent cross-section of the show, though, including one episode that still had the original late 70s opening title sequence and bumpers (I wish I still had that tape).

I ended up getting most of my collection when The Comedy Network began running the show in March 1999. They didn’t run the episodes in order, and a few of the shows were re-edited to eliminate expensive music cues, but through these reruns, I was able to see most of the Canadian syndication package. The available episode guides in Dave Thomas’s book and online only listed the full length NBC and Cinemax rundowns, but thanks to a Comedy Network staffer providing show numbers, I was able to figure out which shows I had and needed, and also helped piece together a guide to the half-hour edits.

I will be reviewing two shows per post for the half-hour shows (seasons 1 through 3); the 90-minute shows (which are some ways off) will only be one show per post. Unfortunately, I don’t have the original Global or CBC edits of the shows (bar what has been released on DVD in the Early Years box set), but the Canadian syndication versions are more-or-less identical to the Global airings (except for opening titles and bumpers), and only have minor differences from the CBC broadcasts. There are a handful of sketches that don’t appear in the package, though: neither Alpro Dog Food and Family Crisis are in my copies, and were likely removed due to content involving domestic violence. When possible, I will also have notes about differences between the multiple edits of the shows.

As well, there are a handful of sketches that only appeared in the original American syndication package from 1977. My understanding is that when the producers made the American syndication deal with Rhodes Productions, the second set of 13 shows (where George Bloomfield took over as director from Milad Bessada) was produced with the understanding that the American shows needed to be about a minute shorter, but the Bessada shows needed to be re-compiled to match the run-times, sometimes moving sketches to different episodes and sometimes incorporating shorter Bloomfield sketches. I don’t know when the US-only sketches were produced, but none of them were included in the later syndication packages.

I have sketch listings for the original US versions, but if anyone can provide me copies of pre-1984 airings with the original opening credits sequences and bumpers, it would be appreciated. As well, I'm looking for copies of the following sketches

  • Alpro Dog Food (S01E08)

  • Family Crisis (S02E22)

  • Message from Guy (S03E26)

Stay tuned to this blog for the reviews, which will go live every Thursday night at 9 PM (Atlantic Time).

The original “test patten” logo used for the show during season 1