SCTV Review: Death Of A Salesman (3-3) / My Factory, My Self (3-4)

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

“Death Of A Salesman” (season 3, episode 3, originally aired October 3, 1980)

WORDS TO LIVE BY: RABBI YITZHIK KARLOV

  • Rabbi Karlov (Rick Moranis) demonstrates retorts to verbal antisemitism with the help of Angus Crock (Dave Thomas).

  • The debut of two new characters that primarily appear in this season only (Crock does make one final appearance at the end of the second NBC cycle). Karlov’s responses to the weak taunts Crock feeds him are quite funny, especially as he laughs as if they’re the most clever thing in the world.

  • Some running jokes make their first appearance here: the name of Karlov’s temple (this week, it’s “Temple B’Nai Hill”) and the gag of Karlov’s payot being attached to his glasses.

****

PROMO: ELVIS ‘N COSTELLO

  • Elvis Presley (Joe Flaherty) and Lou Costello (Tony Rosato) team up for a music and comedy show.

  • The impressions (particularly Rosato as Costello) are the main reason this works as well as it does.

  • First appearance of the show’s standard lower-third promo graphic this season.

*** 1/2

TEASER: SCTV NEWS

  • A bomb at an embassy and the Melonville Transit Commission’s 2nd annual bus races, tonight at 6.

KANADIAN KORNER (#3)

  • Bob (Rick Moranis) cooks back bacon while Doug (Dave Thomas) uses it to discuss “the French problem”.

  • This has a particularly loose feel to it, beginning with Doug taking over the introduction because Bob is still chugging a beer when the camera turns on. The whole “French problem” angle is pretty funny; that seems like something Dave Thomas just added on the fly, as later on Bob admonishes Doug that he should make sure he knows what he’s doing before he goes on the air.

  • Very funny ending crawl this week, with the Government no longer subsidizing the show and McKenzies having gotten agents due to the success of a National Film Board special.

*** 1/2

MELBA’S DISCO JEANS

  • Melba The Disco Queen (Andrea Martin) has jeans that will do the dancing for you.

  • A much better use of the character than last season’s SCTV Disco, taking better advantage of Martin’s physical comedy abilities (her involuntary dancing is hilarious). Rosato gets a good bit as well.

*** 1/2

SCTV NEWS

  • Togo applies to come to America. Earl Camembert’s (Eugene Levy) film about the 2nd annual Melonville Bus Races doesn’t come up.

  • One of Eugene Levy’s best non-verbal performances, with Earl’s slow burning discomfort as it dawns on him that the film isn’t running until Floyd (Joe Flaherty) finally loses his patience.

****

CRAZY CRAFTS

  • Molly Earl (Robin Duke) shows off some of the crafts she’s made from household items.

  • The first appearance of Duke’s main character on the show; this starts a little slow but gets funnier, particularly when she says that guests will have to suffer because they can’t find the toilet paper under the crochet doll.

  • Looks like Molly’s preferred brand of gin is Tanqueray.

*** 1/2

MESSAGE FROM GUY: LIVE THEATRE

  • Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty) deals with the plant in the office and introduces SCTV’s “highly unique and unusual” new experiment in live theatre.

  • Our introduction to (the voice of) Guy Caballero’s son Ricky (Rick Moranis), who adopts a fake gruff Caballero voice for introducing his dad.

  • Nice callback to last week’s message with Guy deciding to do something about the plant.

***

SCTV LIVE THEATRE: DEATH OF A SALESMAN

  • SCTV’s live production of Death Of A Salesman features Ricardo Montalban (Eugene Levy), Margaret Hamilton (Andrea Martin), George Carlin (Rick Moranis), DeForest Kelley (Dave Thomas) and John Belushi (Tony Rosato).

  • Solid sketch, with each of the actors in the production tending to play their supposed characters as their other roles, sometimes even blending different projects together. Thomas’s DeForest Kelley is particularly funny here.

  • Tony Rosato’s John Belushi is quite good; Rosato’s SNL work tended to be reminiscent of a low-key version of Belushi.

  • End music: “The Blues Keep Falling” by James Cotton

**** 1/2

Final thoughts: A good show. Robin Duke and Tony Rosato both start to establish themselves at this point, while Eugene Levy has a particularly strong week with his work in SCTV News and Death Of A Salesman.

MVP:

  • Eugene Levy

Rhodes version differences:

  • Removed: Kanadian Korner 3

Allarcom version differences (show #53C):

  • Removed: Elvis ‘n Costello (moved to 3-5/55C), Crazy Crafts (moved to 3-2/52C)

  • Added: The Young and The Wrestling (from 3-4)

Blair version differences (show #93A):

  • Removed: Kanadian Korner 3

  • Edited: Death Of A Salesman (ending)

  • Added: new promo for Tracking The Unknown (Robert Corness v/o)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.

“My Factory, My Self” (season 3, episode 4, originally aired Oct. 10, 1980)

PROMO: THE YOUNG AND THE WRESTLING

  • Snapper (Rick Moranis) has a message for Jill’s (Andrea Martin) boyfriend in SCTV’s new no-holds-barred adult soap opera.

  • A silly pun executed well in this quick hitter.

***

MONEY TALKS WITH BRIAN JOHNS

  • Brian Johns (Eugene Levy) interviews Efron Corporation chairman William E. Douglas (Rick Moranis) at his Bel Air estate.

  • The first appearance of Eugene Levy’s awkward financial show host character, more interested in finding out how much money his guests have than any deeper insight into the market. Levy’s body language goes a long way in selling the character.

  • I also enjoy how they’re barely passing off the central Alberta landscape as California.

  • Music: “Money” by The Flying Lizards.

****

KANADIAN KORNER (#4)

  • Doug (Dave Thomas) gets the camera to zoom in on him. Bob’s (Rick Moranis) cheesed about kids in schools using calculators because they had to use their fingers and toes when growing up.

  • The first use of Doug’s “coo-roo-coo-coo-coo” theme song.

  • A pretty solid installment that wasn’t included in any of the syndication packages. Bob accidentally using the show’s old name seems to be a genuine mistake on Moranis’ part, judging by his and Thomas’ laughter afterward.

  • This week’s crawl is a transcript of the McKenzies’ call to the William Morris Agency.

*** 1/2

PROMO: MAKE ME BARF

  • Contestants try to avoid vomiting in SCTV’s new game show.

  • Lowbrow as hell, but it worked.

  • This is the second time in three episodes where Robin Duke had to play nauseous.

***

DIALING FOR DOLLARS: PART I

  • Walter Cronkite (Dave Thomas) explains why he left CBS News to host Dialing For Dollars on SCTV, and calls Senator Edward Kennedy (voice of Joe Flaherty).

  • Great idea having Cronkite deliberately leaving his high profile gig so he could replace Moe Green on SCTV’s low-budget graveyard shift show. Cronkite is no less underhanded than the weaselly Green, though, welcoming Ted Kennedy’s offer to pay him money so he would stop bothering him.

****

MY FACTORY, MY SELF: PART I

  • Dolly (Andrea Martin) deals with a lecherous boss (Tony Rosato), an unfaithful husband (Joe Flaherty), and an embittered veteran (Dave Thomas) at her volunteer work.

  • A multi-layered parody of Norma Rae, An Unmarried Woman, Coming Home, Kramer vs. Kramer, and The China Syndrome, and a sign that the show is continuing to build on the more complex writing of the previous season. Martin does a fantastic job carrying the sketch with a mixture of over-the-top earnest acting and physical comedy (running with her bust sticking out, the wheelchair sequence with Thomas).

  • It looks like those are real pictures from Andrea Martin’s youth in the opening title sequence. As well, the name Lucy Poupougian (the person who conceived, wrote, produced and directed the movie) would be used again this season as the name of the actress playing Cynthia in Gaslight.

  • Tony Rosato is great as the one-dimensional sexist boss; the southern accent and unibrow are nice touches. Joe Flaherty is even better as Michael, the crybaby husband who immediately bursts into tears when he tells her he’s leaving.

  • Sounds like Dave Thomas is also the voice of Laurence Olivier on the TV.

**** 1/2

DIALING FOR DOLLARS: PART II

  • Walter Cronkite (Dave Thomas) makes another call and takes umbrage at the language of a particularly hostile viewer (voice of Rick Moranis).

  • Another funny interlude, ending with Cronkite cursing out the viewer (bleeped of course) after being called a clown.

****

MY FACTORY, MY SELF: PART II

  • Michael (Joe Flaherty) tries to get Billy (Graham Stinson) to eat his dinner. Dolly (Andrea Martin) and her mother (Robin Duke) rally the workers to their cause when a nuclear explosion occurs.

  • Another hilarious scene with Flaherty blubbering when his son takes out the container of ice cream (“OK, I’ll put it back. Just stop crying, you wimp!” “I can’t help it, I’m vulnerable!”). Robin Duke also gets a very funny part as Hard-of-Hearing Harriet, while Rosato’s mutated Mr. Adamitis continues to be a pig up until the moment he dies.

  • The ice cream is Lucerne brand, a regional dairy company in Western Canada.

  • Solid ending, particularly Moranis’s facial expression.

**** 1/2

DIALING FOR DOLLARS: PART III

  • Walter Cronkite (Dave Thomas) does the “Is Jose there?” prank, but it soon backfires.

  • A bit of a denouement following the movie, though I do like that at this point Cronkite is more interested in making prank calls to viewers instead of giving away the prize.

  • Tony Rosato plays both Jose and his roommate.

  • Music: “Drugs” by Talking Heads

*** 1/2

Final thoughts: Another very good episode; most of it is dominated by the Dialing For Dollars and My Factory, My Self sketches, but the first Money Talks also makes a strong impression.

MVP:

  • Andrea Martin

Rhodes version differences:

  • Removed: Kanadian Korner 4

Allarcom version differences (show #54C):

  • Removed: The Young and The Wrestling (moved to 3-3/53C), Kanadian Korner 4

  • Added: K-Tel’s Fast-Talking Playhouse (from 3-2)

Blair version differences (show #29A):

  • Removed: Kanadian Korner 4

  • Added: new promo for The Sammy Maudlin Show: Bittman Brothers (Robert Corness v/o)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.