Rating: 
Summary: you'll love it
Review:
If you're expecting SNL type laughs...you'll be dissapointed, SCTV was more subtle and less predictable...hilarious but in a different way. I love this box set (the commentary is great as is the reunion hosted by Conan) but the price is a little steep for one season...should be about $20 bucks cheaper
Rating: 
Summary: Bliss for comedy fans but still funny for the casual viewer
Review: "SCTV Network" has now been released on DVD to largely rapturous reviews. Granted, many of these positive marks are coming from people who remember the show fondly from when it originally aired (or, at least, found it from long-ago repeats). However, you will note on this site that there are a few average folk who were not disciples of the program previously who slam it as being totally unfunny. If you've never seen "SCTV" before, will you find it funny? Honestly, I think the answer is "yes," but don't get too built up over it after reading rave after rave from fans (you're courting disappointment for anything with that mindset). The only things that really may subtract from your enjoyment are the sometimes-irritating canned laughter (which is totally unnecessary but there nonetheless), the fact that the show looks quite tatty compared to other shows with bigger budgets, and the fact that, because some of the bits have been pirated so shamelessly for many years (for instance, "Saturday Night Live's" Celebrity Jeopardy sketches with Will Ferrell as an exasperated Alex Trebek is pretty a much an out-and-out rip off of SCTV's "High Q" scene with Eugene Levy as an exasperated Trebek), bits may seem far less original than when they first aired. Otherwise, this is Class-A sketch comedy with one of the most astonishing casts ever assembled. Not a weak link in the bunch (unlike your average "SNL" cast where there's often one or two folk in the lineup where you say to yourself "What the Hell is that person doing on TV?"). Dave Thomas ("Grace Under Fire"), Rick Moranis ("Flintstones"), Joe Flaherty ("Freaks & Geeks"), Catherine O'Hara ("Best In Show"), Andrea Martin ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding"), Eugene Levy ("American Pie"), and, of course, the late, great John Candy ("Planes, Trains, & Automobiles") all shine here when they were real young and no one knew who the heck they were. If you are a comedy fanatic who never got a chance to see this classic show, run don't walk to get this set. If you're just a casual viewer looking for laughs, you will most definitely find many here as long you can get by the show's cheap look.
Rating:
Summary: Watching SCTV dvd is painful...
Review: ...truly, I in pain from watching this. Sick-makingly funny. I'd never watch this SCTV dvd with a date as I turn into a mass of un-macho giggles with every viewing. Take my word, this is a date breaker.
Rating:
Summary: The Holy Grail!
Review: All I can say is that the release of the 90 minute SCTV episodes is like finding the Holy Grail. These shows, dating back to 1980 or so, were contemporaries of the earliest Saturday Night Live shows and, to many of us, totally *blew away* SNL, even with its now-legendary early cast members. Amazing considering the total shoe-string budget on which these were done.For those of you who don't know, the cast included Joe "Veddy Scary" Flaherty (Count Floyd, Guy Caballero), Eugene "As A Comedian, in All Seriousness" Levy (Bobby Bittman, Mel Slurrup, Woody Tobias Jr., Yosh Schmenge), Martin "I Must Say" Short (Jerry Lewis, Ed Grimley), Catherine "Tip Toenail" O'Hara (Lola Heatherton, Brooke Shields), Andrea "Momma's Got it Now" Martin (Edith Prickley, Ms. Falbo, Indira Ghandi, Mojo), Dave "Hoser" Thomas (Bob Hope, Doug McKenzie), Rick "Vuhdeo" Moranis (Gerry Todd, Woody Allen, Bob McKenzie) and of course John "They Laughed at Me in Budapest!" Candy (Dr. Tongue, William B. Williams, Johnny Pavarotti, Stan Schmenge). How's that for an embarassment of riches? Oh yeah, and occasionally you'd have lightweights like Harold "Crazylegs" Ramis drop in. This is one of the few shows that I cannot even think about without smiling, or even outright laughing. I certainly hope the DVD gives these programs the treatment they deserve -- including plenty of extras and commentary (maybe even interactive scripts?? Pwwweeeez?). This material is certainly worthy of major tender loving care.
Rating:
Summary: THERE IS A GOD!
Review: FINALLY this is getting released on DVD!! There's just no comparison - SCTV was THE best sketch comedy show ever aired on television, cable included. Every cast member went on to major productions & became heavy hitters in the comedy field. And to the reviewer above - Harold Ramis a LIGHTWEIGHT? Ever hear of "Stripes" and "Ghostbusters"? Here's why this took so long to get to DVD - notice it's not NBC Entertainment releasing it, but that company formed by several smart Rhino Video executives, Shout. Seems NBC threw up it's hands in surrender trying to secure all the music & ancillary rights for a DVD release, so they sold their rights to Shout, said "Good Luck Suckers" and thought they made a great business move! Little did they know Shout has made a conscious effort to chase down all these shows with hard-to-secure rights, knowing there's a huge pre-set market for selling them. Good for them! I'm buying this baby right now!! SCTV IS ON THE AIR!
Rating:
Summary: Classic, eh?
Review: First a couple of gripes. Damn, this set is expensive! I take it that what drove the price up, as well as held up the release of these shows for so long, was getting the rights from the various musical acts featured on the 90 minute show. The majority of these groups are not exactly household names these days, and while their performances and interactions are decent enough, do not constitute the highlights of SCTV comic genius. Anyway, the price is prohibitive enough that none of the local video marts is carrying the set.
Notwithstanding, the comedy is sublime. It reaches that rare stratosphere where the routines seem to have been created to fulfill the adventurous nature of the performers, with little concern for tailoring it to a mass audience. Kovacs, Python, early Letterman maybe, but only Firesign shared SCTV's ability to take an underlying concept and grow it in a way to allow the comedy to get wilder and more intimate simultaneously.
Members of this troup moved on to various levels of scattered success. It's good to see Catherine and Gene prospering in Chris Guest's ensemble pieces. (I used to feel sorry for Eugene Levy, and now he seems to be the second lead in just about every comedy movie being made these days.) But nothing they or anybody else has come up with lately surpasses those great years in Edmonton.
Rating:
Summary: Before They Were Stars!
Review: For any of those reviewers who have said this box set is expensive (I paid $63), you may be right. However, it is only expensive if you didn't love SCTV. I have only watched the first DVD at this point, but the quality of the audio and video is excellent. It was worth the wait. So many memories come flooding back as I watch these episodes. Another note about the price. This set gives you nine, 90 minutes episodes. A 90 minute movie DVD would cost you at least $15. For this box set, that's only $7 an episode! Plus there are extras. Another point about SCTV. Every sketch shows the real, future talent of the young cast involved in this show. Now, I'm sure people might say Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin are not major movie stars, but they did make it to the big screen. What can you say about a very young John Candy? He is just hilarious. On disc one, he plays an adult-age, Beaver Cleaver in a 25 year anniversary show for Leave It To Beaver and gives Eddie Haskel what he's had coming to him for along time! Catherine O'Hara and Eugene Levy have made huge box office movies. At the bare minimum, they have starred in all of the recent Christopher Guest mockumentaries (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, & A Mighty Wind). All of which I heartily recommend. Joe Flaherty (aka Guy Caballero), is one of the best straight men on this show. Don't miss his great impersonation of Bing Crosby while Rick Moranis impersonates Woody Allen. This is one great collection of talented actors. This DVD could have easily been named, "Before they Were Stars"! For anyone who has memories of this wonderful TV show, buy this box set. You won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, . . . SCTV is Back on the Air
Review: For those of us who saw the magic back in the early 80s, the days of looking at endless VCR tapes from "back in the day" are over as the NBC broadcast of SCTV episodes have been encapsulated for us to enjoy once again. Needless to say, if you weren't there, you probably won't get it. But for those of us who were, some, like me, would have paid 10 times the amount paid to see SCTV again. SCTV, and the cast which comprised it, is brilliant comedy. Like Monty Python, it is a thinking man's (or woman's) comedy. You may be fooled by the slapstick and the bad impersonation, but underneath is sophisticated and intelligently funny. The characters are unique, and the punch lines still parroted today by purists. The Christmas Special and the CCCP1 parody will forever be memorialized as some of the best comedy I ever saw. I promise. Thank you Dave Thomas, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O'Hara, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis and Eugene Levy for remembering my teenage years so fondly.
Rating:
Summary: Long Over Due
Review: For what it's worth, to me the funniest long sketches that appeared on SCTV were: The Melonville Elections (Martin Short's campaign running for School Board is one of the funniest things I have ever seen on TV) "I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right And No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't" If these ever came out on DVD I would buy several copies.
Rating:
Summary: Hey... something got edited from the broadcast original!
Review: I got hooked on SCTV back in 1981; however, I was sad to see "Midnight Special" cancelled in the late Friday timeslot.
I began watching when, channel surfing, I came across the Merv Griffin/Liberace skit with Lou Ferrigno, which is in this volume.
HOWEVER
I distinctly recall in a 1981 broadcast that at one point Merv and Liberace were oooh-ing and aaaah-ing over Ferrigno's biceps or pecs, and an angry Ferrigno said, "Hey, You guys sound like a couple of..." interrupted by Merv: "We'll be right back!"
I cracked up and was immediately hooked.
But this isn't in the DVD! So... what happened? Did the producers fear a Merv Griffin lawsuit or something?
Wes Clark
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