SCTV Review: Ben-Hur (1-13) / The Hefty Neil Story (1-14)

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RATINGS SYSTEM:
***** - Classic
**** - Great
*** - Good/Average
** - Meh
* - Awful

“Ben-Hur” (season 1, episode 13, aired May 19, 1977)

MOE GREEN INTRO

  • Moe Green (Harold Ramis) looks for words that describe Ben-Hur and announces that tonight’s presentation will not feature commercials that detract from the inspirational tone of the movie.

  • Pretty much just a set-up/time-filler for tonight’s epic sketch, but this has some good moments, including Moe’s increasingly long list of words to describe the movie (including a dig at the station’s technical limitations: “Sterephonic sound? Well, you won’t hear it in stereo”) and the plugs for Pit Stop Deodorant (“If Ben-Hur were alive today, I think he’d use it too.”)

  • There are several short outros following the individual parts of Ben-Hur; I’ve decided not to review them (aside from the final “Dialing For Dollars” segment), but they are included in the summary of this episode.

*** 1/2

BEN-HUR: PART I

  • Mazola (Harold Ramis) arrives with the governor and challenges Judah Ben-Hur (John Candy) to a rock-throwing contest that ends in tragedy.

  • The start of the sketch proper begins with Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas playing the guards more like a comedy duo a la Abbott & Costello, and has some funny moments in itself (Levy stealing Thomas’s pie, Thomas’s impression of fanfare and timpani), but as soon as Candy starts speaking in his Curly Howard impression, this really takes off.

  • I love how Ramis starts to break character when Candy starts to bark at him.

  • I’ve also found the scene with Judah and Mazola splitting hairs over the architecture when they’re about to throw their rocks an underrated part of the sketch.

  • “Seize them!” “I sees them, they’re right over there!” Dave Thomas mentions that exchange as well as Candy’s Curly Howard as the turning point that helped turn what could have been an embarrassment into a classic.

**** 1/2

MOE GREEN OUTRO

  • “Oh boy was that ever moving. We’ll be back with more of Ben-Hur after these messages”

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BEN-HUR: PART I CONTINUED

  • The Lord (Sheldon Patinkin) gives the now-enslaved Judah a martini in the desert. Aboard the warship, Judah chats with a volunteer slave (Eugene Levy) and saves the admiral’s life in battle against the Macedonian fleet.

  • This tops the first part for two reasons: the appearance of writer/producer Sheldon Patinkin (from the waist down and wearing very loud pants) as the Lord (I love the cut to the pan of The Creation of Adam as martini shaker sounds are heard), and the absolute cheapness of the “battle scene” with the toy boats on fire.

  • There are other funny moments throughout this: Levy’s “slave” character just being a volunteer, the different speeds of rowing (“waterskiing speed” is one faster than “attack speed”, the men singing the theme to Gilligan’s Island when the centurion demands a battle song, and Dave Thomas struggling with the narration at the end as it suddenly becomes Latin.

*****

INTERMISSION

  • Moe lauds Charlton Heston’s acting.

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BILL AND MIKE DOLLS

  • The ladies love Bill, but he prefers to unwind at the disco in the company of his “roommate” Mike.

  • Somewhat funny, though I found the bit about the accessories including high heels and gowns and “leathers and whips not included” a little cheap.

  • I love that the other dolls at the disco are action figures, including Captain Kirk.

  • This is the first commercial parody for a product of “Amco, the toy people” on the show.

***

PROMO: MASQUERADE FUNERAL

  • Celebrity guests try to guess the identity of the masked corpse in the coffin

  • Kay Serra (making her last appearance here), Bobby Bittman and Lorna Minelli make their first appearances since episode 4 in a funny promo for a ridiculously tasteless game show.

****

BEN-HUR: PART II

  • Gluteus (Dave Thomas) and Maximus (Eugene Levy) prepare to bet on the chariot race; despite Mazola’s weapons, Judah is the victor.

  • Pretty much the scene that epitomizes the whole parody of the movie, with Ramis and Candy standing in stationary chariots in front of chromakeyed footage of what looks more like rural Ontario than an arena, and Ramis using a whip, a club and a blow gun on Candy before falling out of his chariot as he brandishes his sword. Levy and Thomas’s scene at the beginning is also quite funny.

*****

TOP SECRET

  • Prevent embarassing problems with the nebulous feminine hygiene product.

  • A simple but funny piece with a lot of amusing specific details.

  • This feels like a cousin to SNL’s “The Pink Box” commercial parody that aired the following October, both making fun of the vagueness of feminine hygiene product advertising.

*** 1/2

TOBACCO PASTE

  • The edible spread is the bold new way to enjoy tobacco without taking a puff.

  • Not bad; it suffers from comparatively being the least memorable piece in this episode, but I liked the bit at the end (Thomas “Yeah, nobody tells me what to do.” Martin: “‘Cept me” Thomas: “Yeah. *whimpers*”).

***

BEN-HUR: PART II CONTINUED

  • The fatally injured Mazola concedes defeat and admits to Judah that his mother and sister are still alive.

  • More silliness from the various depressing place names (I also liked Flaherty’s “No, no, no! There’s construction going on there!”) and a little bit of Three Stooges-esque slapstick.

****

MOE GREEN OUTRO

  • Moe is overcome with emotion over Stephen Boyd’s moving death scene.

BEN-HUR: CONCLUSION

  • In the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Judah finds his mother (Catherine O’Hara) and sister (Andrea Martin) are leopards. The Lord heals them all, and Judah’s descendants are traced to Davy Crockett.

  • SCTV offers fur from Crockett’s hat as an inspirational gift.

  • Solid way to end tonight’s epic sketch, with the ridiculousness of O’Hara and Martin in cheap leopard costumes, the return of Sheldon Patinkin’s martini shaker and loud pants, and the left-field Davy Crockett ending.

  • Music licensing issues involving “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” affected this sketch in later reruns and the DVD release of NBC Cycle 2 (which included this sketch as part of “SCTV Classics”): the last scene with the “The Beginning” over Crockett’s hat and the vial offer were removed from the 1999 WIC version aired on Comedy Network and Later, while the DVD redubs generic music and a new voiceover by Robert Corness.

*****

DIALING FOR DOLLARS

  • At 4 am, Moe makes some calls and reaches a man (Dave Thomas) irritated by the late call, Pope Paul (Joe Flaherty) and an insomniac (Eugene Levy).

  • Dialing For Dollars returns, and manages to avoid being a repeat of the first sketch by making the jackpot ridiculously small ($22-24) and doing something different than just having Moe try to avoid giving away the money. The different calls are all pretty funny, including then-current Pope Paul guessing the night’s movie was The Doberman Gang, and Levy’s turn as the very talkative winner, who Moe convinces to give up his prize (and then some) in order to stay on the line a little longer.

  • The “Beef and Booze” restaurant is mentioned, but in this episode it’s located in Downeyville (a real community now a part of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario).

  • The WIC version ends a little earlier than the original Global broadcast, cutting out Moe’s “If you have enough possessions I could talk to you for a whole week, Mr. Spielberg” and the music cue ending after the screen fades to black. I’m guessing this cut was also present in the 1984 Allarcom Canadian syndication package.

****

Final thoughts: A classic episode and a major turning point in the series; what could have been a disaster thanks to a blown budget ended up helping the cast lean further into the writing and performances, and opened up possibilities for the show going forward. The best part is of course the Ben-Hur parody itself, but the “filler” is also very good.

MVP:

  • John Candy

Rhodes version differences:

  • Unsure of edits, possible that some Moe Green intro/outros were cut or that scenes in the Ben-Hur sequences were edited.

Blair version differences:

  • Removed: Bill and Mike Dolls (moved to 1-16)

  • Edited: Dialing for Dollars: Moe Green calls Paul Pope and Clyde Spielberg, Insomniac.

1999 WIC version differences:

  • Edited: Ben Hur: Conclusion (Davy Crockett Hat Fur cut)

  • Added: Bill Needle #8 (from show 3-18)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.

“The Hefty Neil Story” (season 1, episode 14, aired Sept. 19, 1977)

PROMO: THOSE FUNNY GUYS

  • SCTV’s found the formula for comedy with their new sitcom.

  • An effective spoof of archetypal sitcom stock characters, with the five men in the cast matched perfectly to each of the “guys”.

*** 1/2

OPENING

  • The opening titles are revised starting with this episode, with some new footage added, the theme song changed to Spike Jones’ arrangement of “Dance of The Hours”. Dave Thomas’s narration no longer begins with the “Don’t touch that dial…and stop touching yourself”.

  • The American versions of the first thirteen episodes use this revised opening.

SCTV SPORTS CENTRAL: PART I

  • Keith Hampshire (Dave Thomas) and Phyllis Gumbel (Catherine O’Hara) preview tonight’s heavy championship fight between Gregario Lopez and Hefty Neil; Keith recalls the 1935 fight between Billy “Dieselhead” Collins and Norman Rockwell.

  • Not bad for another set-up/wraparound element similar to Moe Green’s hosting Ben-Hur in the previous episode. The whole “painters as failed boxers” thing made me laugh, but O’Hara’s bored reactions to Thomas’s story were my favorite parts.

*** 1/2

THE HEFTY NEIL STORY: PART I

  • Hefty (John Candy) trains for the heavyweight championship and accepts Rocky Balboa’s (Joe Flaherty) offer to be his manager.

  • It has its moments (the raw egg scene with Hefty breaking a whole dozen eggs - plus one half-shell - into his glass a la Rocky only to pour them all into a frying pan), and good performances from all (Andrea Martin steals the sketch as Adrian), but it’s played a little too straight.

  • For some reason, the first part is titled just Hefty, but the second part is The Hefty Neil Story - Part II.

***

INTERMISSION

  • Keith says the film will continue right after these messages.



PROMO: SCTV NEWS

  • Earl Camembert (Eugene Levy) previous salacious items as tonight’s top stories until Floyd Robertson (Joe Flaherty) corrects him.

  • A good reintroduction to Earl and Floyd, and the first piece with the characters that isn’t an actual newscast. Levy’s nonverbal reactions when Earl gets dressed down are usually hilarious in themselves, and this is no exception (watch him fidget when Floyd calls him out).

****

PSA: SHOPLIFTING

  • Grocery store employees interrogate a shopper (Catherine O’Hara) they catch pocketing a can of tuna.

  • This has always been one of my favorites, and everyone gets something interesting to do, but Joe Flaherty’s grunting, demented assistant character has to be my favorite (“SOFT!”) I also like the ending with Thomas’s announcer character getting strangled after telling the audience “Don’t take something unless you’re sure to get away with it.”

*****

50 PSALMS

  • J-Mar’s new record album collects 50 psalms read by 50 different celebrities.

  • Funny concept, if a little simple. The best parts are Thomas’s rapid-fire narration, Flaherty’s impressions, particularly the debut of his Kirk Douglas (“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall…not…WANNNNT!”), and the ridiculousness of Margaret Hamilton (O’Hara) reciting “The Lord is my light” in character as the Wicked Witch of the West (“Whom shall I fear? *cackles*”)

  • The picture of Peter O’Toole has a very noticeable crease in it.

*** 1/2

THE HEFTY NEIL STORY: PART II

  • Hefty trains for the big fight with Rocky; Adrian (Andrea Martin) drops by to offer encouragement.

  • A slight bit more interesting than the first part. There’s some nice location footage of late-70s Toronto directed by Robert Brooks (can anyone identify where these scenes were shot) and a funny parody of the iconic “slab of beef” scene. Once again, Andrea Martin has the funniest line (“I’m beautiful and articulate all of a sudden”) but Candy’s actually pretty effective with the drama of the scene.

***

SCTV SPORTS CENTRAL: PART II

  • Keith and Phyllis are excited for tonight’s fight.

  • Just a short outro piece, but it does have a great joke with Keith casually revealing he borrowed a lot of money from the bank to bet on Hefty (great reaction from O’Hara, BTW).

*** 1/2

PROMO: EMERGENCY ORDERLY/COURT CLERK

  • Action-packed drama about the unglamorous roles in hospitals and the courtroom.

  • A nice little parallel piece to the promo in the first episode, with some details that push this above a great concept. I love the very lowbrow but perfectly executed scene where Catherine O’Hara’s old lady character conspiratorially tells orderly Skip (Eugene Levy) that she “messed the bed”, and he shoves her off to removed her soiled sheets, as well as Harold Ramis’s stilted, smug delivery as the clerk (“It’s my jaaaaahb!”)

****

SCTV SPORTS CENTRAL: PART III

  • Keith and Phyllis throw to Lou Jaffe (Eugene Levy) at ringside. The big fight ends almost instantly as Lopez knocks out Hefty with one punch, and Keith, Phyllis and Lou struggle to fill airtime.

  • Despite the obvious joke of having Hefty fall down almost instantly, this is a satisfying ending to tonight’s main storyline, thanks to Keith and Phyllis literally caught off-guard by the fight’s brevity and their futile attempts at trying to pad time (at one point resorting to playing the fight footage in backwards slow-motion).

    Todd Jeffrey Ellis and Michael Farrel are credited as guest performers, though I’m not sure exactly which roles they played (I assume one of them is Lopez); Ellis is also credited with special props design.

  • Some changes to the credits for the new production cycle:

    • George Bloomfield is now the show’s director; Milad Bessad remains with the show as supervising producer.

    • Brian Doyle-Murray joins the writing staff; oddly, Andrea Martin is no longer credited as a writer.

    • Jack E. Rhodes is now listed as an executive producer for The Second City; Rhodes Productions now also gets an end-of-show bumper.

    • The copyright date is now in Roman numerals instead of Arabic ones.

  • Another example of the syndication copyright bumper obscuring a visual joke: in the original version, Phyllis shoves Keith’s chair away as he goes on about fights in the 1890s.

****

Final thoughts: Unlike the Ben-Hur episode, the extended Rocky parody is actually the weakest part of tonight’s show; it’s not bad, but pretty much everything surrounding it is funnier (particularly the commercials, but also the Sports Central wraparound segments). However, The Hefty Neil Story is a good example of what new series director George Bloomfield would add to the show’s production values over the next two seasons.

MVP:

  • John Candy

Rhodes version differences:

  • Removed: 50 Psalms (moved to 1-7)

Blair version differences:

  • Removed: Promo: SCTV News (moved to 2-4)

  • Edited: SCTV Sports Central: Part III (with new Corness v/o)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.