Customer Reviews

SCTV, Volume 2 (5 Disc Set)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"SCTV Cycle 2" features some of the most inspired episodes in the SCTV canon. As much as you'll hear the actors and writers complain about how hard it was to fill out the 90-minute format, the work here shows how rewarding and timeless and flat-out hilarious those long-form shows could be.

When a mammoth Soviet satellite infringes on the tiny SCTV orbiter (complete with hot dog rotisserie), the network is taken over by CCCP1, or "3CP1 on your dial, Russian Television." The Russian TV parodies that follow are savagely funny. Watch especially for "What Fits into Russia," "Hey, Giorgi," and Russia's favorite game show "Uposcrabblenyk."

Self-absorbed host of the ironically titled "You!" show, Libby Wolfson makes her stage debut in ... deep breath ... "I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right And No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't."

The classic Godfather parody show is here, with Guy Caballero as the Don. How many bullets can that guy take anyway? And never tell anyone outside the family that your favorite sport is soccer.

And who can forget the invasion of Zontar, the Thing from Venus?

There's great glopping heaps of funniness to be had here, as well as in every SCTV release. Thanks again to Shout! Factory for doing the hard work that makes these releases possible.

This set features some great moments from SCTV history. Of the shows presented here, I am particularly fond of "Zontar," "CCCP 1," and "The Godfather." Catherine O'Hara and Andrea Martin steal the show, with any appearance by Perini Scleroso, Mrs. Falbo, or Edith Prickley being comedy gold. "The Great White North" and Guy Caballero's rants are particularly entertaining here as are Count Floyd and Dr. Tongue (especially in "Dr. Tongue's Evil House of Pancakes.") As brilliant as I think Eugene Levy is, I still don't enjoy the Sammy Maudlin bits, which are formulaic and un-funny compared to the rest of the show.

Although some of the humor is a bit dated now (as many there are numerous references to then-current events that younger viewers may not grasp), this is still a wonderful and very funny set of DVDs, which I recommend.

This boxed set of SCTV episodes is an absolute classic and a must-buy for everybody.

Seeing Eugene Levy's "Perry Como: Still Alive" promo is worth the price of the set alone. I thought it was hysterical when I saw it originally in the 1980s, and it still makes me laugh today.

There's also the brilliant switch on "The Jazz Singer" in which soul/jazz singer Al Jarreau wants to be a Jewish cantor instead of an R&B star, much to the distress of his father, played by Eugene Levy's hysterical short Jewish character, Sid Dithers, who sports cornrows for the duration of the sketch.

Then there's Catherine O'Hara's Lola Heatherton interviewing Andrea Martin's Mother Theresa. If Ms. O'Hara's constantly calling Mother Theresa "Mommy" doesn't make you laugh, then Ms. O'Hara's singing Steve Miller's song "The Joker" to her will.

I have to mention another sketch that's on these disks. It's a promo for a 1970s-like action TV show entitled "Fish Police" that's so dumb and silly, it's unforgettable. The ironic thing about the sketch is that 11 years later, there was actually an animated series entitled "Fish Police"--and it too was dumb and silly.

Okay, the holidays are here and you've decided to spend a few extra dollars on an SCTV box set as a present for that special someone - but which one should you buy? Maybe I can help you decide.
When SCTV moved into an expanded timeslot in 1981, the first batch of episodes featured a great deal of older material from the late seventies, such as their full-length "Fantasy Island" parody. Although some of these earlier sketches had dated badly, it was simply the most effective way of introducing the cast of characters to the new viewers who hadn't seen the syndicated episodes.
The second cycle of episodes had a higher amount of newly-written material, although the quality of the shows became less consistent from week to week as the writers struggled to meet the demand for fresh new comedy. There was also the challenge of having to write sketches for guest musicians who just couldn't act. The show desperately needed a new energetic, creative writer-performer; unfortunately, Martin Short would not arrive until the start of the third series.
It should be pointed out that each sketch on the second box set is indexed for easy access. This is not the case with the first box set, which can lead to some frustrating moments as you impatiently scan through five identical-looking discs trying to find your favorite moments. You can look for clues by checking the episode summaries in the accompanying booklet, but it's no substitute for index stops. In addition, disc 5 from the first set suffers from audio dropouts.
Both box sets are excellent overall with a high percentage of laugh-out loud moments (Sammy Maudlin's ill-timed coughing fit during his rendition of "Here Comes Santa Claus" is a riot), but I'm recommending the second one slightly over the first - not just for the technical reasons listed above, but also for the bonus commentary tracks from Catherine O'Hara and Andrea Martin, which are gossipy and hilarious. Fans of Martin Short are advised to hold out for Volume 3.

SCTV Volume 2 offers some of the very best sketches from one of TV's funniest shows.

I'm not an expert on SCTV. I don't quite understand the show's on-again off-again history. All I know is that I started watching it as a kid on NBC and got hooked. For the last 15 years I've tried to record the show as much as possible but sadly the opportunities have been few. I only could get the 30 minute trimmed down versions on late night NBC.

Now, the dvd sets offer the original and complete (except for some music) NBC shows. Watching both Volumes 1 & 2, I've already seen hours of additional material that was not included in the 30 minute shows.

Volume 2 also includes my favorite episode, "CCCP 1" which provides a hilarious scenario of the Soviets pirating SCTV's signal and supplying it's own special programming, such as "Tibor's Tractor" (a Soviet version of "Mr. Ed"), "Today is Moscow" (a Soviet style coffee talk show), and a public service announcement deriding Uzbeks ("they are the weak link in the great chain of socialism").

Other great sketches in Volume 2 include: "The Godfather" spoof with SCTV President Guy Caballero declaring network war on the heads of the 4 networks; Bobby Bittman and his brother Skip on the Sammy Maudlin Show; the Plasmatics on the "Fishin' Musician"; the Plastics on "Midnight Video Special" and the SCTV staff Christmas party featuring many of SCTV's best characters such as Gerry Todd, the Boils, Johnny La Rue, and Mayor Tommy Shanks. The X-Mas show also includes the deeply disturbing "Dusty Towne's Sexy Holiday Special."

If you are even a casual fan of SCTV, I highly recommend SCTV Volume 2.

Dave Thomas as Red Rooster. I can't tell you what it will mean to me to see that again. "...good for shootin' squirrels and Rooskies!"

The original SCTV 90 minute broadcasts are responsible for shaping my sense of humor and thank God because it could have been a great many other, less-intelligent things! I remember sneaking out of bed and down to the unused TV room to watch the shows. Hopefully, these other skits will make it too...

** Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Cecil, do you think I'm pretty with my eyes bulging out like this?")

** Pippi Longsocks ("Yes Father, I tossed her out the window onto the wood pile.")

** Doorway to Hell, with Mr. Wilcox and the Dummy with "powerful wooden hands"

** Walter Cronkite vs. David Brinkley

** Count Floyd's Monster Chiller Horror Theatre (specifically the "Bloodsucking Monkeys from West Mifflin, PA.")

** Lust for Paint ("your paintings could hang in the Louvre-vr-vr-vr-vr-vr!!!")

** Pre-Teen World with Rough Trade ("Do you know Art Garfunkle?")

** Farm Film Report where they blow up Brooke Shields (the song "Young Turks" sung by Catherine O'Hara made me wet my pants...I swear!)

** Midnight Express Special

** New York Rhapsody with violinist Eugene Fodor

Keep them coming. I will purchase them ALL! That's a promise.

Having just received my copy of season 4 the previous month, and this set today, I immediately set out to write this review. I speak as a hardcore fan but also as a severe critic of comedy when I say that this is as close to perfection as comedy has ever got.

The skits are nothing if not genius pulled out of thin air--"The Godfather" (also starring John Marley who reprises his roll as 'Woltz' [albeit re-named]}, "Money Talks", "The Fishin' Musician w/ The Plasmatics", "The Christmas Show", "3D House Of Beef".... this is really the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps the most brilliant of the wraparounds is here in the second NBC set--"The Russian Show"--an amazingly tight parody of low-rent Soviet production values on what's already a cheap network (dig the new 'Soviet Minicam').

The extras aren't bad; 'SCTV Remembers' with Joe and Eugene includes portions of a sketch from the earlier Canadian shows with Harold Ramis ("Madame Blitzman"), but is mostly a bit of fluff.

The commentary done by Andrea and Catherine on the "Christmas Show" is a lot of fun--note to Shout (or whoever will be taking care of the remaining seasons); more of these talented ladies, please.

SNL, Fawlty Towers, or SCTV; whatever your personal preference, this is a must-own set. Make your own Christmas a hell of a lot brighter and chuck this in your shopping cart.

That amazing cast that we saw in Cycle 1 are all back, but now the writing staff has their act together as a unit and the show is cranking out good, solid, structured satire to go with the wonderful impressions and the ever-present surrealism. These were the most even, most laugh-packed shows and also the most incredible ones, pound for pound.

When this hits a peak, the highest points are unlike anyone else's comedy, and really incredible - Floyd the Barber asking Godfather Cabellero for a favor, Bill Needle trashing Libby Wolfson's play on-air, the Russian television parodies ... the level of imagination is so high. It's a peak in modern comedy, for sure. The show was always great in places, but at this point it was at its greatest and most consistently funny.

Well you've seen all the other reviews, here's my take. The material is awesome! The commentary with Martin and O'Hare is ridiculous, they were clearly drunk and often incoherent not relating to the show as it was playing, very annoying even though I still love to watch them so much. The commentary with Thomas and the writers was awesome, they discussed the actual episode and it was great. Great season, if you can afford the price get it!

Once again I enjoyed the whimsy, the silliness, Eugene Levy's and Andrea Martin's strong characters, John Candy's incredible metamorphoses, Catherine O'Hara's dead pan goofiness. It is, I think, fresher and funnier than SNL has been for years.

I am still waiting for two episodes to be released:

One in which John Candy portrays Divine as the guest star in the Mellonville summer theater's production of Peter Pan. I still wonder how he did it.

The other is the classic parody of "The Towering Inferno", the Charlton Heston disaster film in which a lot of very important rich people are trapped in posh restaurant atop a burning office tower in San Francisco. They are there to attend the grand opening of the building, designed by architect Heston, who runs around with with blueprints trying to find an escape route. In the SCTV version, a fire breaks out in the cocktail lounge atop the new SCTV mile-high television antennae, filled with the elite of Mellonville, which is already swaying quite a bit in the wind when the fire breaks out. When the little Mellonville fire truck arrives down below, the fire chief (John Candy) stands scratching his head as dummies start plopping around him. Plop. "Ooooh! Plop. "Oooooh!" It is of course a send-up of the phony Hollywood film and phony emotion.