SCTV, Volume 1 - Network 90 (5 Disc Set)

SCTV, Volume 1 - Network 90 (5 Disc Set)
by Jim Drake (II), John Bell (XI)

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DVD Cover Information

• When SCTV, the little fictional local television station first broadcast its small-town programming via big-time NBC in 1981, it immediately captured the devotion of comedy fans across North America. Although SCTV had been broadcast in Canada and had been in syndication for three years as a half-hour show, the NBC 90-minute broadcasts are considered by many as the best. Featuring John Candy,

Movie Reviews of SCTV, Volume 1 - Network 90 (5 Disc Set)

Movie Review: Makes me miss John Candy more...
Summary: 5 Stars

I have to be fair, although I rate this set 5 stars, this is more my rating than an objective one, as I am middle-aged and I would get more of the dated references/premises than probably someone half my age would (i.e.: celebrities spoofed includes Slim Whitman, Joyce DeWitt, Brenda Vaccaro, games shows spoofed includes "What's My Line?", "The GE College Bowl", etc.), but as Conan O'Brien in the 1999 reunion pointed out, the overall concept is the star and is the main reason to watch, which is a typical day in the life of a small-town/"anywhere" television station (it could be Canada or the US, although most of the cast was Canadian and the series was made in Canada) barely able to stay solvent with it's own low-budget programming and it's "celebrities" (under-paid, over-ego'd "big fish in a small pond", like Guy Caballero and Sammy Maudlin and the rest of his Melonville "Rat Pack").

Bottom line: even though there were the catch-phrases, they were the pepper in the big comedy soup of SCTV, you watch for the characterizations and the big picture--every episode started with some sort of crisis to the SCTV station and how it affected the station throughout it's broadcasting day--whereas SNL was and is always for the hit-and-run skit and the quick laugh as well as the belief of comfort in the familiar.

The skits that stand out for me are: "Pledge Week" and "Bouncin' Back with Lola Heatherton" (both more wrap-around devices rather than skits), "Monster Chiller Horror Theater" (one with what Count Floyd thinks is a "werewolf" movie and the other a "3-D classic": "Dr. Tongue's House of Stewardesses"), "The Pope Who Would Be King", "Mel's Rockpile" (two of these, one with Roy Orbison and the other with "Richard Harris"), and "The Great White North" (at least 5 of these skits, there is one that turns into a wrap-around);

The skits I missed I hope are on future releases (and not on the earlier seasons that were not in the 90 minute format): Orson Wells and Merv Griffin vs. HAL9000, "Buggery on the High Seas", "A Friendly Reminder from the Church of Satan", "Bob and Doug McKenzie's topic: Star Wars" (I might not be too clear on these titles, they're from my own recollections, but fans will know what I'm referring to, I'm sure) and a sci-fi version of "Route 66" with John Candy in a role eerily prescient of "Spaceballs";

Other: I thought the overall audio and video quality was excellent for a late-'70's/early '80's TV show--the only audio problem I noticed was a few seconds of drop-out in the first five minutes of disc 5--the shows as previously mentioned by another reviewer are only a little over an hour long and there is a 20-30 minute supplement on each disc, in my opinion the 1st disc general rememberances being the best and the "Making of" (or "Art of") being the worst--I was disappointed with the reunion as was not that funny and the video quality was awful for a HBO special (also no one obviously asked either castmembers Robin Duke or Tony Rosato to attend although Martin Short was there, Rick Moranis was "sick" and John Candy was not even mentioned by ANYONE!)--and the enclosed booklet is garishly-colored and designed, making it hard to read as well as being sparse for info and tributes, the Dan Ackroyd one being surprisingly indifferent;

For a North American show that was the answering attack to the opening salvo of Monty Python in the revolutionary comedy wars, this is a wonderful and pivotal moment in late-20th century entertainment history that deserves to be documented and remembered, no matter how high the cost--I highly recommend it for any student of comedy and even moreso for those of us still young enough to remember how great and subversive 70's and early '80's television actually was contrary to the opinions of the culturally predjudiced and ill-informed.

Summary of SCTV, Volume 1 - Network 90 (5 Disc Set)

And that's just on disc 1! SCTV could parody Leave It to Beaver and Fantasy Island with the best of them, but anticipating the future Ben Stiller Show, its genius lay in its show business savvy to subvert television and movie convention. When Levy's comedian Bobby Bittman arrives on a talk show, he brings "bloopers" from his congressional testimony. And you don't need to have seen The Oscar to appreciate The Nobel, but it certainly helps. The price is steep, but don't be a hoser. This is the comedy release of the year. And it blows up real good. --Donald Liebenson