Product Description

SCTV Volume 2 picks up where the first volume left off, presenting nine more 90-minute shows from SCTV’s memorable fourth season. Originally broadcast on NBC in 1981 and 1982, this set contains several of the episodes widely considered to be SCTV’s best. Eugene Levy in "The Jazz Singer" or John Candy as the village idiot in the Russian TV show "Hey Giorgy!" are just two examples of the level of excellence the series achieved throughout this season. "CCCP 1," "The Godfather," "Zontar" and "Teacher’s Pet" are some of the inspired wraparounds for these memorable shows.

Commentaries, interviews, hidden treasure and other special features round out another stellar collection of programming from Guy Caballero’s experiment in television. SCTV is on the air...and you will be on the floor.

And loaded with over 90 minutes of special features including new & unreleased material:
*Larger Than Life: The Norman Seeff Photo Sessions
*SCTV Remembers, Pt. 2
*The SCTV Writers
*The Juul Haalmeyer Dancers
*Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery
*SCTV At The 1982 Emmy® Awards

THIS 5-DISC BOX SET INCLUDES:
*Nine 90-minute episodes from the NBC seasons with the comedic talent of Eugene Levy (New York Minute, American Pie, A Mighty Wind, Best In Show), Catherine O’ Hara (A Mighty Wind, Best In Show), Joe Flaherty (National Security), Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and Dave Thomas (Who’s Your Daddy? ), Rick Moranis (Honey, I Shrunk The Kids) and the late John Candy.

*A photo-packed 24-page booklet with an essay by Pulitzer-Price winning television critic Howard Rosenberg.

*Deluxe DVDigistak style package with graphics behind the clear trays in a sturdy slip-case.

*Performances by musical stars Al Jarreau, The Plasmatics, Natalie Cole, The Boomtown Rats, The Plastics and Talking Heads.

*Commentaries by Dave Thomas, Dick Blasucci, writer John McAndrew, Andrea Martin and Catherine O’Hara.

*This set now fully indexed and episodes detailed in booklet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11722 in DVD
• Brand: Uni
• Released on: 2004-10-19
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 678 minutes

Amazon.com
For those who never missed a Friday, and especially for those who only know SCTV by reputation, these nine episodes, presented chronologically on this five disc-set, are as great as we remember, and perhaps even better than you've heard. With the first nine episodes of SCTV's expanded Network 90 incarnation under their belt (available, naturally, on volume 1), the peerless ensemble (John Candy, Joe Flahrety, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara, and Dave Thomas) really found its voice (or voices), and the show relied less on the so-called "golden classics" from the show's early days to boldly subvert sketch-comedy convention with brilliantly conceived and performed wraparounds that link the sketches. Looming large in SCTV legend are the program-length Godfather parody, in which Don Caballero launches an all-out network war; the devastatingly funny, "I'm Taking My Own Head, Screwing It On Right, and No Guy's Gonna Tell Me That It Ain't," arguably one of Martin and O'Hara's finest hours, and the sci-fi spoof "Zontar," in which glowing cabbages take control of the network.

Other moments for the pantheon: Meryl Streep blowing up real good on the "Farm Film Report"; Bob and Doug McKenzie demonstrating how to stuff a mouse inside a beer bottle; the cross-parody "Benny Hill Street Blues," and the late Wendy O Williams and the Plasmatics really cutting it up (with a chainsaw!) on Gil Fisher's "The Fishin' Musician. Some of the more topical bits are understandably dated, and that canned laughter reeks of network Zontars imposing their will, but this second, equally indispensable volume rescues SCTV from mere cult object of obsession. Original cast member Harold Ramis is right: In Thomas's encyclopedic history, SCTV: Behind the Scenes, Ramis observes, "Everyone just got better and better. You would notice, if you had the time to sit and watch all the shows, the progression in excellence." --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Makes me wanna stand up and ... stretch!
"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.

It Doesn't Get Much Better
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.

Lust For Paint
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.