Rating: 
Summary: So good it's sc-aa-rr-y
Review: Just imagine the mess in Melonville when all those fancy plasma TVs come crashing down on the sidewalks. Bet that high-tech stuff blows up real good. It can only mean SCTV is back -- this time, in a hip and hilarious five-DVD time capsule from the early 1980s. The SCTV set is expensive and Shout! still is getting a handle on how to package extras, but this box is essential for anyone who howled along with the Second City gang back in the day. Viewers of a more recent vintage will find the vibe comfortable as well, partly because of the show's influence on today's TV gagsters.The DVD set's title, "SCTV Network/90: Volume 1," is a head-scratching way of saying these are the first nine shows from the Canadian import's first season on NBC. The episodes ran 90 minutes -- an eternity for the cast, which already had spent several seasons cranking out tight, insanely well-written 30-minute shows for syndication. "There's a lot of time to fill, we found out," SCTV veteran Eugene Levy says as he provides commentary on a numbing "Great White North" episode. Many of the older shows' best bits are repurposed on these DVDs, with NBC-era wraparounds. Most of the favorites are here: Dave Thomas' killer Bob Hope impersonations, Dr. Tongue's 3-D effects, "Indira," "Mel's Rock Pile," 5 Neat Guys, "The Sammy Maudlin Show" ... classics all. The DVD set seems straight out of Melonville in telling the real-life story of SCTV, with half-hour documentaries sort of stuck on each of the discs. The show's history is fairly involved, and viewers may get the feeling they missed something as cast members and producers struggle to remember it all. (A nicely put together tribute booklet helps clarify things.) Levy and Joe Flaherty provide commentary on a couple of episodes, providing the best moments in the DVD extras. Writers and craftsmen have their say, a nice touch. Star writer Harold Ramis is on hand to stroke his chin and offer the big picture.
Rating: 
Summary: ROFL
Review: SCTV Network/90 contained some of the funniest sketch comedy ever performed. I have all of the shows on betamax from their orginal airing. My Betamax player is long gone but I held on to the tapes and thought of one day trying to locate an old player to transfer them. Pieces of this series have been thrown together and rebroadcast as 30 minute reruns on Canadian cable channels but there not the same shown out of context. Some classics from network 90 include (not necessarily from season 1): "The Andy Griffith Show starring Merv Griffin" with Rick Moranis as Merv. "Ouuuu, Aunt Bee's bringing us lunch!" John Candy staring in Monster Chiller Horror Theater's presentaion of "Dr. Tounge's 3D House of Stewardesses." Don't forget to buy those 3D-Glasses from Count Floyd. "Indira" with Indira Ghandi staring as Evita (Andrian Martin). Singing "Don't cry for me Rawalpindi" "Perry Como, Still Alive!" Dave Thomas as a laid back Perry Como making a comeback with a Disco act. This was the clip shown at the Emmy Awards. The next year the real Perry got a special award. I think half the audience thought he was dead and the other half felt sorry for him. And of course Bob and Doug Mckenzie, filling the CBC's requirement for "Canadian Content." Frying back bacon and drinking Molsen. How much more Canadian can you get, you hoser!
Rating:
Summary: SCTV was gold
Review: SCTV was by far the best comedy show ever. John Candy was awesome as Orson Wells, Johnny Larue and all the Zany characters he played. The SCTV Xmas party was one of the best episodes ever. I loved Jerry Todd, Skip Bittman, Bobby's little brother....all the memories are coming back. The show was a classic. I hated those chopped up episodes they used to show...what a disgrace that was. Thank you to whoever got off their ass and finally released SCTV on DVD. djdan
Rating:
Summary: An argument for the existence of god
Review: SCTV was perhaps the smartest satire of TV ever, with incredible performances by a troupe that was better than the SNL cast in my opinion. John Candy and Martin Short were the most successful to break out after SCTV, but Joe Flaherty was perhaps the funniest and most brilliant among them. That these episodes are coming out on DVD at all is a wonderful thing and all those involved have my deepest, warmest thanks. It would be a crime if future generations missed out on this body of work. My favorite concept was the Soviet broadcast break-in (the new shoes and "mini" cam!). My favorite skit was the Jeopardy spoof ("two boys named Frank"). My favorite character was the smut salesman "with the snake on his face" (Candy). My favorite moment was LaRue wishing for his boom camera out in the cold winter night. Think of SCTV as a fusion of Monty Python's intellectual comedy with SNL's TV-centered comedy. The closest thing to it since is Kids in the Hall. Those Canadians have a knack for putting a Commonwealth spin on American material that is just priceless. Only one word suffices for this stuff -- GENIUS!
Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: The silence you hear is me smiling from ear to ear at the release of the first (hopefully not the last) SCTV dvd collection. It's time to sit back & relive all those wonderful episodes from the early 80's, from the William B. Williams show, to Monster Chiller Horror Theater. I can't remember how many times I laughed myself into hysterics watching SCTV, It is truly the greatest comedy show of all time. Can I get a crane shot please!!
Rating:
Summary: SCTV -- Proud as an Old Bat!
Review: The single greatest comedy sketch show ever produced is finally coming to DVD! Shout! Factory announced that on June 8th, 2004, SCTV will debut on DVD with 9 COMPLETE and UNEDITED 90-minute shows for a list price 0f $$. The shows are from Cycle 1 of the "SCTV 90" program that ran late Friday nights on NBC in 1982. Classic bits include (but are not limited to): Play It Again, Bob.
Fantasy Island.
Johnny LaRue's Polynesian Town.
Johnny LaRue's Street Beef.
The Emmy-winning episode with the Moral Majority runner.
The SCTV Telethon.
The Sammy Maudlin Show.
Lee A. Iacocca's Rock Concert.
Monster Chiller Horror Theater with Count Floyd.
The Five Neat Guys.
Gil Fisher, The Fishin' Musician.
Sid Dithers, Private Eye.
Indira! with Indira Ghandi and Slim Whitman. And the list could go on way past the 1000 word limit. Cycle 1 was a bit of a grab bag as the SCTV'ers used previously aired material from the syndicated half-hour SCTV shows (when are they gonna come out?) to pad out the new 90-minute format. This is not a bad thing at all. It means that several of these shows play as Best-ofs while the rest cleverly interweave old and new material. And heck, it's all at least 22 years old by now, anyway. If you care at all about great comedy, SUPPORT THIS SET! Shout! Factory's press release implied that future SCTV sets would be available eventually, but we all know that money talks and everything else walks in this world. Trust me. You will have no regrets from the moment the TVs come flying out of the hi-rises.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Saturday Night Live
Review: There were two crowds in my growing up years: The Saturday Night Live crowd and the SCTV crowd. SCTV's humor always seemed more "in the know" as you needed a background in bad movies and bad tv shows from the past (and my friends lived and thrived on obscure and bad pop culture) in order to really find SCTV hilarious. SNL was more drug addled and goofy. SCTV was far better written than SNL.
These shows are still very funny. Love it!
Rating:
Summary: Where are the original episodes?
Review: This is a great start, but if you want to make this a true collection, you need the original 30 minutes episodes that ran before NBC picked them up. This was teh time when Harold Ramis was an intergral part of the show. I remember watching these episodes when they ran against the last 30 minutes of Saturday Night Live on another network here in New York. Hopefully we'll get to see those episodes as well.
Rating:
Summary: Music costs money
Review: This is a pricey set to be sure but there is a reason for it -- the good people releasing this set had to shell out some serious dollars to get clearance to use artists' music that was "appropriated" when the shows were created. Aside from some very minor changes, these DVDs present the shows exactly as they were originally aired. Please please buy this so that the rest of the episodes get released. Best. Show. Ever.
Rating:
Summary: Focused on Some Very Funny People
Review: This is one of the funniest things I have seen in my whole life....well, maybe not my WHOLE life. But it is dern knee-slapping funny. I could sit all day and watch these...well, maybe not the whole day, but a big part of it. Unless I had something else to do...then I would sit and watch them for a while.
John Candy was the comedian that made this project click the way it did....Ahmmm...well, there was Rick Moranis as well that contributed a great deal...and can't forget Eugene Levy. I guess John Candy did some and the others did a good bit as well....
Besides the comedy, the musical acts were outstanding and memorable...there was that time that The...ahmmm...hmmmm...that one group from Canada that started with an R.....dang.....who were they????
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