No one remembers this show, and it ran - on all places - on TVO at 6:30 PM. It was a 15 minute daily called Magee and Company and starred Michael Magee, the guy behind Fred C. Dobbs, who did a daily morning bit with Keith Rich on CKEY for several years. 

His show was wildly uneven, but when he hit the mark, it was sensational. He had a slew of characters he did, and one unforgettable day, he did a game show satire called "Reach For The Bottom," in which he played all the characters at once using the magic of TV production. I can't recall ever laughing so hard at anything. 

The host, Johnny Hee-Haw, would give the finger to the audience when he thought no one was looking, only to stiffen into a frozen-on smile whenever he discovered he was back on camera. At one point, one of the players intoned what has to be one of the greatest lines ever uttered as the show descended into chaos. "This is as stupid as Party Game!" a reference to a terrible charades game show that aired every night for years on CHCH.

I have looked forever to find this episode on the web, but it was made in the mid-to-early 70s before the VCR era and it doesn't look like anyone - including TVO - saved it. Too bad because it was one of the best, surreal and devastatingly satirical things ever done on Canadian TV. And it only ran once. 

The Priest/Minister referred to is probably a sketch from the CBC Radio Show Funny You Should Say That from the late 1960's. It was wet-your-pants funny and educational for someone who was put through Ontario High School French. The priest and other Quebecois  characters was played by Peter Cullen who moved to the U-S where he has had a pretty good career as a voice-actor.  Optimus Prime was one of his best-known characters. I hadn't thought of that show in years. Thanks.

Last edited by potentiometer (October 2, 2019 2:30 pm)

A couple of sketch comedy shows that come to mind for me would be from Global TV.  Remember Shhh It's the News?

The pilot for this show was produced in Ottawa at CJOH and was planned to be a satire of the weeks news. CTV was offered the show but apparently had no room on the schedule, other than the odd special.

The brand new Global Network was about to launch and they took on the weekly half hour show.. Shhh It's the News had it's debut in the fall of 1973 on Global and lasted for two seasons.

Performers included, Don Harron, Catherine McKinnon, Jack Duffy, Ken Shaw (yes the newscaster), Billy Van, Barbara Hamilton and Gordon Pinsent.

I remember watching the show as a teen and like most Canadian sketch comedy it certainly had it's funny moments. It at times was rather risque, which Global was sometimes in the early years. Remember the late night Canadian movies that Global ran on Saturday Night? Usually dubbed French Canadian fare with no censorship.  

Another Global offering that was quite ambitious was Everything Goes which ran from January to May 1974. This show had a lot of sketch comedy, music guests and talk. It was live, 90 minutes long, ran 5 nights per week, had a live studio audience and house band headed by Moe Koffman. Everything Goes lasted 100 espisodes.

The program was produced by Aylesworth and Peppiatt, writers included Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Ken Finkleman, Earl Pomerantz, and Don Cullen.  Hosts were Norm Crosby, Catherine McKinnon and Mike Darrow (former DJ on 1050 chum).

Guests included Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney, Grant Smith and the Power, Rich Little and Oscar Peterson. A young Martin Short also sang regularly on the show, and appeared in some of the sketches. Short has a great story about the time that Tony Bennett was on the show.

Ratings were poor up against Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin. By the spring Global was in serious financial trouble and axed the then expensive program in May 1974. But it was certainly a valiant and honest effort from the new Global Network.

 

Last edited by paterson1 (October 2, 2019 5:29 pm)

Keeping with sketch comedy, two more I can think of were both from CTV.

The Funny Farm ran in the 1974-75 season on CTV and was a poor man's version of the similar CBS show Hee Haw. The program had a Laugh In type of format with short skits, one and two line jokes and recurring themes. Country singer Blake Emmons was host and regulars included Jayne Eastwood, Monica Parker, Will Jordan and others.

David Steinberg had a weekly sketch comedy/variety program on CTV in the 1976/77 season. The show was about the behind the scenes happenings of a variety show, and a deli across the street.  The program was partially based on The Jack Benny Show.

Supporting cast included many SCTV/Second City performers including John Candy, Martin Short, Joe Flaherty, Dave Thomas and Andrea Martin. Many of the Second City cast were doing double duty since SCTV which was on Global had it's debut the same week as the Steinberg Show. In fact John Candy was also working on a third show at the same time, Coming Up Rosie for CBC.

Interesting how many of these shows were produced in the mid-70's.

 

Suggestion for the writers: Luba Goy as Shelley Alexanian.