SCTV's early opening-credit sequence set the tone for the show. As the announcer declared, "SCTV now begins its programming day," a number of television sets were thrown out of an apartment building's windows, smashing on the pavement below. Using impersonations of well-known celebrities and ongoing original characters, SCTV presented a parody of every aspect of television, including programs, advertising, news, and network executives. In effect, SCTV was a cross between a spoof of television and a loose satirical soap opera about the running of the fictional Mel­onville television station. The station's personnel included the owner, Guy Caballero (Flaherty); the station manager; and Moe Green (Ramis), to be replaced by Edith Prickley (Martin), whose sister, Edna Boil (also Martin), advertised her Organ Emporium with husband, Tex (Thomas), in a send-up of cheap late­ night commercials. Other recurring figures were the bon vivant and itinerant host, Johnny LaRue (Candy), and the endearingly inept Ed Grimley (Short). Over the years, the SCTV programming lineup included the local news, read by Floyd Robertson (Flaherty) and Earl Camembert (Eugene Levy); "Sunrise Semester"; "Fishin' Musician"; and "The Sammy Maudlin Show," hosted by Maudlin (Flaherty) and his sidekick, Wil­liam B. (Candy), with regular guest appearances from Bobby Bittman (Levy) and Lola Heatherton (O'Hara). Other spoofs included Yosh and Stan Shmenge's polka show (Levy and Candy); Count Floyd's "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre," whose host was played by the news anchor Floyd Robertson (Flaherty); the ersatz children's show "Captain Combat" (Thomas); "Fann Film Report" (Flaherty and Candy); and the improvised editorials of Bob and Doug Mackenzie's "Great White North" (Moranis and Thomas).

     SCTV's trademark was the use of complex interte tual references to produce original hybrid comic sketches. A parody of Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 film The Godfather became the story of the Mafia-like operations of television networks. "Play It Again, Bob" took Woody Allen's Play It Again, Sam (1972) and paired Woody Allen (Moranis) with Bob Hope (Thomas). Brooke Shields (O'Hara) and Dustin Hoffman (Martin) were guests on the "Fann Film Report," where they "blew up real good." In the station owner's attempt to capture a youth audience, the Melonville station tried to mimic Saturday Night Live, with guest host Earl Camembert, a ridiculously overenthusiastic studio audience, and setups based around humorless references to drug use. SCTV's continual use of mise en abyme devices produced an intricate, layered text in addition to a knowing fan culture. Further, this program, with its markedly satirical view of television and North American culture in general, was an important contribution to the notion that Canadian humor is ironic and self-deprecatory.

     The show's history began in 1976, when Andrew Alexander, Len Stuart, and Bernie Sahlins produced the first half-hour episodes, called Second City 1Y, for Global Television Network in Toronto, where it ran for two seasons. Filmways Productions acquired the syndication rights for the U.S. market in 1977. A deal was struck in 1979 with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Allarcom Ltd in which the show would move to Edmonton, Alberta, for broadcast on the national CBC network. In 1981, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) bought the program, shifted it to a 90-minute format, and moved the show back to Toronto. At NBC, SCTV became part of the "late-night comedy wars" between the renamed SCTV Network 90 on Fridays from 12:30 A.M. to 2:00 A.M., the American Broadcasting Company's (ABC's) Fridays on the same night from 12:30 A.M. to  I :30 A.M., and NBC's Saturday Night Live. When NBC did not renew SCTV Network 90 in I 983, Cinemax took it over. Over the years, SCTV produced 72 half-hour shows, 42 90-minute shows. and 18 45-minute shows as well as numerous spin-offs and specials. With 13 Emmy nominations, SCTV won two for best writing. The show has since been reedited and repackaged into a half-hour "best of' format for syndication. It is now a mainstay on comedy cable channels and a regular choice for late-night network programming.