Second City Television
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Second City Television
7.4

Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.

Seasons & Episodes

As the show starts, the scripts are not finished. The first on-screen appearance of Guy Caballero, in a wheelchair (which he uses for respect) with a phone. And, seemingly out of nowhere, Lola Heatherton appears, fully formed, in her first special. Additional Viewing: 70s TV series The Love Boat and The Incredible Hulk.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Sammy Maudlin, Bobby Bittman and Johnny LaRue anchor the show-length star-studded charity telethon. A great celebrity schmooze fest. The Solid Gold Telethon marks the first of three telethons SCTV would air in an attempt to get cash from viewers; it was followed by Pledge Week in Series 4, and the very final SCTV episode, Pledge Week in Series 6. The Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme duet is an almost note-for-note parody of Jackie and Roy's rendition of the tune "You Smell So Good", a jazz classic. (Thanks Charlie R)

Something of a sequel to the first episode as Ernest Kirsch, SCTV writer, goes on strike, disrupting regular programming. At SCTV News, Floyd and Earl are forced to write their own copy. Caballero (still in a wheelchair with a phone) starts a tradition of giving speeches to the camera - as the show progressed, he would become more and more verbose, but here he's brief and to the point.

Earl Camembert faces a conflict of interest as Johnny LaRue's campaign manager as SCTV News covers the municipal elections and Johnny's run for council. Additional Viewing: The 1978 TV miniseries The Bastard, starring Tom Bosley; 70s sitcom Three's Company.

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Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

The first appearance of gameshow host Alex Trebel, hosting the high school quiz show High Q. Additional Viewing: The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau, the long-running nature show from the 60s and 70s. Second City notes: Marriage Counsellor originated in the 1976 revue For a Good Time Call 363-1674, Thomas and O'Hara reprising their respective roles here.

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Features the show-length, star-studded salute to SCTV's 30th anniversary, with some great parodies of 50's television. Additional Viewing: Branded, the 1965 TV show starring Chuck Connors; and What's My Line?, the long-running 50s panel show. While Kirk Douglas made two appearances as a mystery guest on What's My Line? (in 1953 and 1960), he was never a guest panelist (his second wife, Anne Buydens, did appear as a guest panelist on a 1966 show, however). Coincidentally, Andrea Martin, like Arlene Francis, is of partial Armenian descent, while Catherine O'Hara, like Dorothy Kilgallen, is from an Irish-Catholic family. The opening sequence of What's My Shoesize? has more in common with the 1968-75 syndicated version of What's My Line? (Thanks William Brown

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Features Sid Dithers Private Eye and the superb Bad Acting In Hollywood. Additional Viewing: Bad Acting In Hollywood is a parody of That's Hollywood, a late 70s TV show hosted by Tom Bosley that looked at historic Hollywood films (mostly from 20th Century-Fox) (Thanks Jim Donato). Johnny Dark Always Rings Twice parodies 30's and 40' gangster films; start with Little Caesar from 1931. The Phil Donahue Show, which ran through the 70s and 80s, was the precursor of all modern daytime talk shows. C.P.O. Sharkey was a mid-seventies sitcom starring Don Rickles.

Additional Viewing: Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the 50s anthology series hosted by the man himself. Murder Is Bad For Your Health is (possibly) a parody of the 1948 film An Act Of Murder, starring Florence Eldridge and Fredric March (thanks Dusty Towne); Cecil and Cynthia appear again in Series 3's Gaslight.

Phil from Phil's Nails (later the Garment King) is a send-up of Phil Givner, who did similar commercials for his carpet outlet back in the 70's in Toronto. Additional Viewing: William Castle was a director of B-movie thrillers that usually featured a gimmick of some sort. His 1961 film Mr Sardonicus featured The Punishment Poll, a gimmick whereby the movie audience could vote to determine how the movie would end. The Amazing World of Kreskin, the early 70s mentalist show hosted by the Amazing Kreskin.

Features the first Tex and Edna Boil Organ Emporium commercial, while Bob Clark in the Mailbag segment is a very similar character to Bill Needle, who would take over the Mailbag in series 3. Additional Viewing: Mind Games includes a neat little parody of the 1966 film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. They parodied the film again (in a radically different way) in Fast Talking Playhouse.

Features the show-length parody of Fantasy Island, which itself incorporates a bevy of parodies of classic 40s pictures. Additional viewing: the 70s hit TV show Fantasy Island; Hope and Crosby road pictures; Casablanca; and The Wizard of Oz.

The second episode in a row to feature a show-length sketch, an episode of The Sammy Maudlin Show with Bobby Bittman promoting his remake of On the Waterfront. Maudlin music is "Soulful Strut" by Young-Holt Unlimited. Additional Viewing: On The Waterfront, the 1954 classic

SCTV Boogie, from episode 20 of the first series, has been rechristened SCTV Disco. Additional Vieweing: Lou Grant, the Mary Tyler Moore Show spinoff series starring Ed Asner; Art Linkletter's House Party, a long-running TV series during the 50s and 60s, included a segment Kids Say the Darndest Things.

Notable for the unusual Pipeline documentary and the Dr Braino Hour (featuring "Casey Jones" by Grateful Dead and "Fresh Air" by Quicksilver Messenger Service).

Features the mysteriously cut from syndication Family Crisis Game Show. Syndication Note: Family Crisis was dropped; replaced by Wara Wara Wara from 1-2 (2)

Bit of a grab bag, padded with two repeats, but I love the sleazy Raoul Wilson.

Hugh Betcha's Insights and Firing Squad, both first seen in Series 1, return; Socrates is now played by Thomas (replacing Ramis) - the numbskulls are stilled played by Levy and Candy. Second City notes: A Flaming Turkey-style ballet parody was featured in the 1975 revue Alterations While You Wait; the stage version was also introduced by Candy.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

The inaugural show introduces several major characters, including Johnny LaRue, Earl Camembert, Floyd Robertson and Moe Green. It features a somewhat tenuous wraparound concept involving LaRue - according to Dave Thomas' book, the running time for this episode ran well past 30 minutes, much of the linking material for the wraparound being cut to achieve the final running time. The show also introduces four programs that would feature frequently throughout the show's run: Sunrise Semester, a vehicle for an assortment of characters to educate viewers, would end up appearing in every series except the last; Words To Live By, the inspirational station signoff, would also appear frequently in the first three series; SCTV News; and Masterpiece Theatre, hosted by Alistair Cook.

Perini Scleroso and Gus Gustofferson's first appearance. Gus is featured in a wraparound concept dealing with the murder of puppeteer Lampeer.

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Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

A landmark show, featuring a show-length parody of the film, introduced by Moe Green on Dialing For Dollars. Additional Viewing: William Wyler's 1959 epic Ben-Hur.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

Plot of this episode is not specified yet. Please check back later for more update.

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Details Of TV
Location
Language English
Release 1976-09-21
Producer Old Firehall Productions