*THROWS TV OUT THE WINDOW* Favo(u)rite SCTV cast member

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwiqdN3b9L4

you know in most contexts a little martin short goes a long way but his martin scorsese's jerry lewis on the champs-elysees was all-time

he only went a long way... in everything he did after SCTV.

This is hard, because I could vote for several of them. But Martin Short really is one of my most favorite people in the world.

“AREN’T YOU ON TELEVISION?” THE voice is coming loudly from across the room. We are in a club: a reggae band is playing, ice cubes are clinking, and a man is screaming at Catherine O’Hara. “You’re on television! You’re…no..you’re..” The voice is getting closer. Catherine smiles: “Yes. I am.” “You’re…Catherine O’Hara!” The man draws within six inches of Catherine’s face. “You were on SCTV,” he says. “Why did you leave that show? Is your career over now?”

Catherine mumbles something about being happy and new projects and no, her career isn’t over, she’s on to other things, but the guy is persistent. “You have nice teeth,” he shouts as Catherine moves toward the bar.

“That happens a fair amount in Toronto,” says Catherine, draining a gin and tonic. She seems content, at ease. Catherine has a bit of a reputation as a party girl (Andrea Martin: “Catherine would kill to party every night”). But tonight her mood is subdued rather than swinging. “The truth about Catherine,” says Joe Flaherty, another SCTV costar, “is that she’s like a lot of Irish Catholic girls – a non swinger. She lives a dissipated lifestyle without being dissipated.”

http://sissydude.com/2012/03/04/catherine-ohara-needs-a-rest-rolling-stone-issue-494-september-15th-1983/

My single favourite character by far was Count Floyd (I think I've posted about a dozen Count Floyd YouTubes here the past couple of years). There's just about nothing that makes me happier than that moment every show where you feel him losing all control, and he starts scowling at the stagehands off-camera and stammering incoherently, but then he suddenly lets loose with a howl and all is right again. If you ever get a chance to see Joe Flaherty interviewed, he seems like the nicest guy in the world.

As I mentioned on another thread, I interviewed Candy once and got my picture taken with him; at the record store I used to work it, Andrea Martin came in one day looking for an aerobics tape. Always had a big crush on Catherine O'Hara. I'm not really answering the question...the core cast was so good, I don't think I have a favourite. Martin Short's a bit hard to take out of character--he can be more show-bizzy than what he used to parody so well--but he might be the most purely talented. Or not; all nine were great, even Harold Ramis for the brief time he was there. (His panicky movie-time host was like a blueprint for Count Floyd.)

I got to meet Dave once, he signed my copy of Strange Brew. He was very nice but seemed kinda grouchy, like in his natural state of being, lol

Canadians of a certain age will his remember his brother Ian, who had some hits in the mid-'70s (including this imitation of America imitating Neil Young):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRvY-I9pNpI

I think he guested on the show once or twice.

I love the parentheses in the thread title!

The first thing that came to mind when Palin gave her convention speech in 2008: Edith Prickley.

I went to a Bob & Doug in-store autograph appearance at Sam Goody's in NYC in 1982 right after the album was released. When I went up to the table I think Dave called me "a real hoser"

take off!

Wasn't all the available SCTV material on streaming Netflix last year? I thought it was, but there's nothing there now.

a Bob & Doug in-store autograph appearance at Sam Goody's in NYC in 1982

I remember that happening, but couldn't go bcz I had tix for James Earl Jones in Othello.

Was he playing Iago or Desdemona?

Had to vote for Rick Moranis. Bob & Doug were two of my favorite characters and his one-off's were just so surreal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDojwQ8cJC4

I gotta get the rest of the DVD sets while they're still in print.

this is kind of undoable, sctv is basically in my dna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QWKw9zIyOw&feature=related

"as a comic, in all seriousness..."

What a cheat--no Peking outtakes.

Some of the Thomas stuff got weirdly unfunny during the end of their run in an SNL bully boy way - Bill Needle suddenly being a successful womanizer might be the nadir - and occasionally Andrea Martin gets a little broad for me. But I could easily vote for any of the others. Going with Eugene.

"as a comic, in all seriousness..."

Howard Stern can be such a Bobby Bittman at times I'm pissed so few people know the reference

how arrrrrre ya

the comparison occurred to me around the time stern was on letterman telling him how Leno had no loyalty, no character

lol

can't be anyone but John Candy ... but still, had a harder time choosing him over Joe Flaherty (for Count Floyd alone), Eugene Levy and Martin Short than i thought i would.

Libby Wolfson: You are... so beautiful... to me.

"San Francisky? So how did you came, did you drove or did you flew?"

martin short's greatest moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njiUFtrFky8

"San Francisky? So how did you came, did you drove or did you flew?"

― buzza, Sunday, March 25, 2012 5:41 PM (43 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

re the queen haters: as great as Martin Short was, John Candy nearly upstaged him by doing, uh, nothing.

why wd SCTV be popular here? don't you have to be old enough to remember David Brinkley?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mN7NxDpm7Y&feature=share

The inspiration for "Mel's Rock Pile" (an original clip from the late '70s, incorporated into a version of the show that aired 20 years later):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aH_nrUWecQ

i understand that most of the SCTV cast/crewmembers had real-life inspirations. Count Floyd, eg, was based on some Pittburgh TV host with a similar schtick.

i for one, have always been curious if there was a real-life inspiration for Harry the Guy w/ the Snake on His Face:

http://www.polarblairsden.com/actorsjohncandy18.JPG

I always wondered what Americans made of the episode (when they were on NBC) that was an extended parody of CBC, our national network. They had the Goin' Down the Road remake, the Hinterland Who's Who spots (a real one below), etc. Don't know about Harry the Snake Guy, but Floyd Robertson (Count Floyd) was based on Lloyd Robertson, a longtime CTV anchor--just the name, really, it wasn't an imitation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-aoWSpFor0

Morbz helping prove that Moranis is the right vote here.

Maybe I'm just easily amused, but I thought that episode was hilarious without being at all familiar with the source material. Same with the David Brinkley bit.

maybe I just soaked up enough canadian culture from watching Owl TV

I used to think Martin Short's "Brock Linehan" character was a big freak until I saw a clip of the real-life Brian Linehan. Hardly a parody at all.

a lot of stuff i loved as a good involved references way over my head, when you're 6 and you see a jimmy durante impression in looney tunes you don't think 'who does that refer to,' you think it's hilarious!

although the ensemble are great, this is one of main reasons i voted for John Candy -- and it's still comprehensible (thanks to Borat et al):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btnIRlBidQc

OTOH, Dave Thomas deserves a vote just for this one (late 1970s/early 1980s Al Pacino fans oughta love it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrQHNyXJIHo&feature=related

I think it adds something to SCTV when you're familiar with some of the more arcane references (I always tell my students that they're missing at least a quarter of the jokes on The Simpsons), but the people are so good, it's not crucial. I think Tex and Edna Boyle were based on real TV spots Dave Thomas had seen somewhere; I've never seen them and find the bit great anyway.

Proof in point, I just looked up the origin of "Pow Wow The Indian Boy"

in the Peter Pan spoof they did w/ Candy as Divine, Short is playing standup fixture David Steinberg as Captain Hook. The in-jokes there are 1) Steinberg was directing SCTV at that point, and 2) Short nonsensically calls someone "John," bcz Steinberg was one of the few regular Tonight Show guests who would call Johnny Carson "John."

Brock Linahan is my favorite Martin Short character

"I think you're a little confused Brock..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62erUbihKRU

voting John Candy

always remembered the Moranis-Mel Torme bit, again scarcely an exagg of late Torme.

God, this show came at such a critical time for me, since Nick at Nite starting airing 30-min edits in '88/'89 along with golden age SNL. I was 12 at the time and this seriously burnt deep ruts into the freshly forming neural pathways of my comedy nerdling mind.

I'm trying to decide whos the equivalent of Phil Hartman on the show, the castmember so well-rounded he could kill and get absorbed into any sketch or character, even if he wasn't the star of the show.

I'm narrowing it down to Candy, Moranis, or Flaherty.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4BCMJiQ8gU

count floyd and ingmar bergman ... scary!

I think I'm going to give my vote to Andrea Martin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR4Kk5RT_Kg

excellent choice, vegemite!

Marcie Odette, ex Solid Gold Dancer is my favorite. The routine on Dusty Towne's Christmas Special is still one of my favorite things EVER

"And you know I used to work with her mother at Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liOtOSR_Pp0

geez these are pretty much my 9 fav people ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS5rAXkcwOQ

this skit scared the shit outta me when i first saw it as a little kid, mainly b/c i also hate beets.

really needed to see this on Oscar night

http://www.video.simplystreepmedia.com/view/702/catherine-ohara-impersonates-meryl-streep-on-sctv-1981/

Whoever it is, I hope there's a tirteen-tirteen tie at the top.

I'm enjoying this thread, but I still won't vote.

baby

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DyFisvHV7Y

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Surprised Andrea Martin finished ahead of Catherine O'Hara, and myself, I'd move Levy up. Smart vote distribution, though. As many of us pointed out, so difficult.

poor Dave Thomas ;_;

everyone got votes tho, so that's kind of a nice thing.

Every one of these SCTV clips posted to advocate for one of the cast members reminded me of the brilliance of another one. So I think we call this a tie.

Ryan Seacrest is an SCTV sketch character come to life. like a cross between Dick Clark, Merv Griffin and Johnny LaRue

It's time for Christmas In Leutonia! Who's got the egg?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqvFYXybtgA

and let's have a big shout out to Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liOtOSR_Pp0

I love that John Candy didn't even know what Divine's voice sounded like, but just took an educated guess from pics of him.

really? wow. that's fantastic

not christmas but open 24 hours a day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8NQZGXEcm0

where's LaRue's Christmas crane?

I can't find it on youtube!

found!

not youtube but awesome nonetheless. thanks for reminding me, Morbs :)

http://www.johncandy.com/VideoDetail.aspx?VideoID=42&VideoSection=16

goddammit

it cuts off before Santa! wtf is the point of that. stupid

welp

Dave Thomas makes for a devilish Liberace.

http://youtu.be/MZk4BUzf26U

RIP Harold Ramis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYCbF0Fat-c

thanks for posting that Morbs

comedy hardman stuff, he wd've liked it

definitely!

from Dave Thomas' post-SCTV CBS series (which ran 5 episodes, perhaps bcz this material is both arcane and brilliant)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pb6iI1r8zw

"have some muesli"

Somebody just mistakenly rang my doorbell looking for somebody named Joe Flaherty. I missed my chance to pretend to be Count Floyd and say "so scary!"

loool

So I can no longer feeling too silly to finally admit that I frequently play a game with my dog where I lean my face into hers, swaying back and forth while humming Dr. Tongue's 3D "doo-doot" music while she tries to bite my nose?