When it comes to sketch comedy on the tube, Saturday Night Live has long hogged the limelight (Mad TV is actually edgier and funnier these days), while no one would argue the canonical importance of the Pythons (they’d dissolved before the current cast of SNL was even born). But of the three greatest sketch comedy programs ever produced for television, SCTV gets the least respect. Consider it yet another indignity of being Canadian. SCTV was more on-point as a parody of the medium itself—a rich enough vein considering the hilarious parade of game shows, talk shows, fake ads, and assorted characters making their televisual home in “Melonville.” One could certainly make the argument that John Candy, Harold Ramis, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and Rick Moranis all have had longer and more interesting careers in the movies than any Not Ready for Prime Time Player, and the Pythons haven’t had all that many hits. Take it from the Guy with the Snake on His Face—who first made his appearance in 1976—no one can beat this deal, not even Guy Caballero or his sultry concubine Edith Prickley. (Available June 8)
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