If I had a nickel for each time there’s been an SCTV-related documentary launched this 12 months, I’d have two nickels. This previous summer time noticed the intimate Martin Quick-focused Marty, Life Is Quick, whose profession began on the Canadian sketch present that birthed the careers of John Sweet, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, and the late Catherine O’Hara, to call a couple of. Now, with compiled footage filmed previous to among the topic’s passing (O’Hara, god, it nonetheless feels horrible to say, screw this 12 months) comes a complete doc devoted to it. Effectively-made for the individuals who by no means grew up with it and so area of interest it needed to be referred to as SCTV: The Best Present You’ve By no means Heard Of. Canadian X-ers are already placing up their maple-colored gloves and preventing us Individuals for naming it.
The Little Canadian Sketch Present That May
SCTV: The Best Present You’ve By no means Heard Of chronicles the prolonged historical past of the Canadian sketch comedy collection, Second Metropolis Tv, which aired from 1976 to 1984. For these unfamiliar, the collection satirized the encircling media of the time, with riffs on commercials, common motion pictures, style exhibits, starlets and stars, and late-night speak present hosts, and many others. All dropped at life by up-and-coming comedians who have been simply having enjoyable. The present was the launchpad for sheer generational expertise that many Gen-Z and presumably a number of late millennials are conscious of however by no means investigated the place they bought their begin. Earlier than House Alone, Schitt’s Creek, Father of the Bride, My Large Fats Greek Marriage ceremony, Honey, I Shrunk the Children, you identify it, there was SCTV! Director Jason Hehir conducts a number of talking-head interviews with among the forged, most notably a session with Quick, O’Hara, Levy, Thomas, and Martin all collectively on a sofa in July 2025, six months previous to O’Hara’s passing, watching outdated clips, BTS footage, and recollecting recollections about one another and themselves. Additionally featured are Moranis and the late Joe Flaherty, who handed in 2024, in talking-head interviews.
The doc tells the story of the present’s complete lifespan and the assorted cultures it spurred in comedy throughout its run. At first a direct competitor to SNL, then the present poached John Sweet and Dave Thomas. Then how the present ran out of funding and was saved by billionaire Dr. Charles Allard, who had them shoot in Edmonton, Canada, in a studio he owned. The wealth of characters every forged member performed, and the way Bob and Doug McKenzie turned the breakout stars, with Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas launching into superstardom and Unusual Brew, the film. Then the neglect of the present was handled, and once they bought introduced out by NBC and went from up north to NYC, altering the format from half-hour to 90, and the way hands-on the execs have been, to the purpose their intention to show it into one thing family-oriented was the straw that broke the camel’s again and everybody leaving.
As somebody who’s solely seen a handful of sketches (the Mr. Rogers vs. Julia Youngster boxing one lives rent-free in my thoughts), the doc is an enlightening and detailed deep dive into how one present — with a forged who noticed one another as household, some lifelong buddies to the very finish (RIP Catherine O’Hara) — endured so many iterations and pioneered the tradition of sketch comedy.
Tearful Reunions, Sincere Regrets, and Comedy Nerds Geeking Out
It’s positively a stroll down reminiscence lane for followers who have been there from any juncture of their lives, and exhibits the way it impressed some family names of their comedic careers. It really works successfully due to the previous forged members’ trustworthy storytelling, mature introspective reflections, and the breaking factors. It’s gut-wrenching seeing the forged mates in modern time taking a look at their youthful selves, tearing up. O’Hara even goes on to say how the present was the right comedic outlet for being in your 20s, “Since you’re cocky at that age. And at Second Metropolis, you will have a spot to specific it in a humorous manner, and also you’ve been instructed you’re humorous sufficient to be right here.” One spotlight sequence entails how youthful and reckless fame got here to the younger stars, with Moranis revealing how he and Thomas ostracized their castmates by shopping for costly autos, and regretting it immediately.
Speaking heads relay their love, with Invoice Hader and Bob Odenkirk particularly pouring their geekiness on their sleeves. There’s nothing extra chatting with Hader’s demented signifier than him laughingly recalling seeing the darkly comedic sketch “Yellowbelly” as a child—which concerned Sweet’s onscreen actor persona Johnny LaRue as a convict who shot girls and youngsters within the again, onscreen, performed for laughs—and Hader being shocked by it. He and Odenkirk, who lauds the collection as “fucking sensible,” replicate on Joe Flaherty’s upbeat speak present host character Sammy Maudlin, with Odenkirk fascinated by him when he’s on a chat present press circuit.
Mourning the Misplaced Artwork of Sketch TV
Although the collection was earlier than my time, I discovered myself getting bummed about how widespread sketch comedy tv was once, throughout various demographics. There was once a time when sketch comedy collection have been just like the Lernaean Hydra: you chop one head off, three extra spawn—some for adults, some for younger adults, many for youths—however the medium was nonetheless alive. Between I Suppose You Ought to Depart and A Black Girl Sketch Present each not being round anymore, all we’re actually left with are SNL and its UK counterpart. We simply bought Drunk Historical past revived, however as a web-based short-form collection for Comedy Central’s YouTube channel. If that doesn’t let you know sufficient how dour it’s on the market.
I get it, the framework of comedy has advanced with YouTube being so important, and principally improv with Smosh and Dropout main the pack—however man, I miss the normal alternatives for comics and comedy writers on a world foundation to train their prowess through sketch TV. All these platforms have the assets to put money into extra sketch tv, and there must be one thing of the identical ilk as SCTV or Mr. Present round. It may possibly’t all be the monolith that’s SNL.
Entertaining and quick, SCTV: The Best Present You’ve By no means Heard Of is a candy, earnest tribute to an unsung pillar of sketch TV that deserves its flowers as a lot because the celebrated forged many love immediately. Contemplating SCTV is offered to stream on Netflix proper now, the doc is an ideal complement, if not a prelude, for a whole-series binge. Heck, it genuinely motivated me to observe an episode or two following the doc. Hell, in case you received’t do it, your automated queue will.
