SCTV Coming To DVD!

[cine]

http://www.videostoremag.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?sec_id=2&article_ID=5179

This makes me so happy, I want to cry.

[Derek237]

That's great, since The Comedy Network hasn't been showing it as often as it used to, and it's at obscure times. I hope Kids In The Hall comes next...

[cine]

Oh I'd prefer the KitH first... They were both hilarious troupes.. AND, might I add, both brought to the world by Torontonians.  8)

[Derek237]

Damn straight.  

[cine]

For those that care about the DVD release of arguably the greatest comedy troupe in history, there are reports that it will be released in April of 2004.

[cine]

GROUND-BREAKING COMEDY "SCTV" DEBUTS ON HOME VIDEO FROM SHOUT! FACTORY

SCTV NETWORK/90, VOLUME 1

5-Disc Boxed Set Includes Nine 90-Minute Episodes Featuring the Comic Genius of John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara and Dave Thomas, Plus Bonus Material including Four New Documentaries and the 1999 Aspen Comedy Arts Festival Program, In Stores June 8th


LOS ANGELES, CA - Welcome to Melonville (of the Tri-State area), home of the SCTV television network and programs such as popular game show "What's My Shoe Size?," disco dance program "Mel's Rock Pile" and Canada's intelligent talk show "Great White North." SCTV is once again "On The Air." Eighteen years after production ended on the original episodes, the two-time Emmy(r)-winner* SCTV will be available for the first time on home video, in the form of a 5-disc DVD set from Shout! Factory. Starring comedy's brightest northern lights Eugene Levy (American Wedding), Joe Flaherty (National Security), Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Catherine O'Hara (A Mighty Wind), Dave Thomas (Who's Your Daddy?) and the late John Candy (Uncle Buck), the DVD set includes the first cycle of nine, 90-minute episodes that aired on NBC, new interviews with writer Harold Ramis (Analyze That), producers, cast and crew, and more. SCTV Network/90 - Volume 1 will be available on June 8th for $89.98 (suggested retail price).

When Shout! Factory COO Bob Emmer began researching licensing for SCTV, he was surprised to learn the series had never been released on home video, in any format. "We began dealing with the vast music clearance issues and, after more than a year of hard work, we were able to obtain the necessary licenses to enable us to release the first boxed set. This collection will make even the most serious fans very happy," remarks Emmer.

SCTV Network/90 - Volume 1 contains nine, unedited 90-minute episodes including appearances by unforgettable characters Johnny LaRue, Yellowbelly, Edith Prickley, Bob and Doug McKenzie, and Lola Heatherton, and hilarious shows such as "Sid Dithers Private Eye," "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre," "Mr. Science," "High Q," "The Sammy Maudlin Show," and the Bob Hope/Woody Allen parody "Play It Again, Bob." These episodes also feature plenty of promo and commercial spoofs, and performances by musical legends Levon Helm, Dr. John and Southside Johnny. The 5-disc set contains four new documentaries: "SCTV Remembers" with original cast members Levy, Flaherty, O'Hara, Thomas and Martin, and executive producer Andrew Alexander (and co-owner of The Second City theater); "Origins of SCTV" with vintage photos and clips from Chicago's Second City Theatre; "The Craft of SCTV" with costume, hair and make-up designers; "Remembering John" with original cast, actor Martin Short, writers, and Bernard Sahlins, The Second City theater co-founder and producer 1959-1985; "SCTV Reunion" from the 1999 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival hosted by Conan O'Brien. The SCTV Network/90 - Volume 1 DVD set will be packaged with a 24-page booklet containing an introduction by Alexander, and essays and tributes by O'Brien, Ben Stiller, Fred Willard, Dan Ackroyd and Dr. John, accompanied by images of rare photographs and memorabilia.

SCTV (an acronym for Second City Television), began in 1976 as a simple show featuring comedic performers from the famed, improv-oriented Second City Theatre in Toronto. Unbelievable as it seems today, SCTV was the first television show based entirely upon the concept of satirizing the medium of television itself, which enabled the writers and performers - whose on-screen ranks included at various points Harold Ramis, Robin Duke, Tony Rosato and Martin Short - to skewer everything from feature films, promos and commercials to such familiar local television staples as late-night horror movie hosts and the backstage goings-on at the fictional SCTV station itself. Originally created for syndication, SCTV was picked up five years later by NBC and ran for two seasons of 90 minute episodes, then moved to Cinemax for a last season of 45 minute episodes. Stay tuned for additional releases of SCTV on DVD from Shout! Factory.

[MacGuffin]

[cine]

Reviews:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=10618

And an extensive review here: http://www.dvdmg.com/sctvvolume1.shtml

If you like ANY other comedy troupes like Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, Mr. Show, Upright Citizens Brigade, etc, then YOU MUST GET THIS!

[Sleuth]

Calmatian, I'll get it for my birthday

[Ravi]

I remember watching some episodes years ago late at night on NBC and not thinking it was very funny.  Is this an acquired taste?  Maybe I will like it more now.

[cine]

I remember watching some episodes years ago late at night on NBC and not thinking it was very funny.  Is this an acquired taste?  Maybe I will like it more now.

The love letter from Conan O'Brien will probably enlighten you more on their humour than I can, but I recall him once saying that SCTV was the 'least needy comedy show' that he'd ever seen. He said this because SCTV was very much its own little universe of insane characters on this "Network." If you tuned in and watched, you weren't going to get Mad TV-like sketches. Since the gimmick was that it was going to be a TV station, you could watch them doing a spoof of a soap opera, but it could last 25 minutes. This is where the 'least needy' description comes into play; the writers/performers didn't care what people thought about them and in fact, they were never aiming to please anybody. They consistently did a show that was purely their's and the result was an enormously eccentric series with hilarious characters. If you're not looking at it as a "sketch" show like Mad TV or SNL, you should love it. This is not one of those shows..

[ono]

I remember watching some episodes years ago late at night on NBC and not thinking it was very funny.  Is this an acquired taste?  Maybe I will like it more now.

Yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw them rerunning it on late night NBC instead of SNL or something.  It did seen like SNL-lite or a weak imitation.  Like Mad TV tries to be to SNL.

Where is that "love letter" Conesey wrote, though?  On the DVD?

[Ravi]

Since the gimmick was that it was going to be a TV station, you could watch them doing a spoof of a soap opera, but it could last 25 minutes. This is where the 'least needy' description comes into play; the writers/performers didn't care what people thought about them and in fact, they were never aiming to please anybody. They consistently did a show that was purely their's and the result was an enormously eccentric series with hilarious characters. If you're not looking at it as a "sketch" show like Mad TV or SNL, you should love it. This is not one of those shows..

I didn't know that was the premise of the show, so I was sort of confused by it.  I expected a more "traditional" sketch comedy while watching it.  The "for us by us" approach sounds interesting.

[cine]

It did seen like SNL-lite or a weak imitation.  Like Mad TV tries to be to SNL.

Ono, I think from reading the Live From New York book you should know that SCTV was not a week imitation of SNL. Also, it's not trying to be SNL-lite either.

Where is that "love letter" Conesey wrote, though?  On the DVD?

Yes.

[ono]

It did seen seem like SNL-lite or a weak imitation.  Like Mad TV tries to be to SNL.

Ono, I think from reading the Live From New York book you should know that SCTV was not a week imitation of SNL. Also, it's not trying to be SNL-lite either.

"Seem" would be the operative word here.  That is, that's just my impression of how it comes across.  The only thing I remembered (aside from the obvious familiar faces) were less familiar ones like Dave Thomas (who I recognized from Grace Under Fire).  I just found it odd to see him there.  Everyone starts somewhere.

I think you nailed it perfectly when you said how eccentric and uncaring it was about how its audience thought of them; an admirable but highly-flawed way of thinking for any cast to adopt.  It has, however, been way too long since I've seen any SCTV for me to comment on it any further than that.