This is definitely news to me, but I'm sure many of the die-hard fans of SCTV have known about this for a while now.

From www.tvshowsondvd.com
New Information About the Upcoming Release
8/09/2003

Video Business Magazine has a new article entitled "SCTV Is Finally Coming to DVD. Well, we kind of already knew that, but still there is a LOT of new information in that article (all items are quoted from the article; please click the link above to read the complete text):

"in production for a January release"
Music clearance was a big delay: Eugene Levy says that "Every tune that we used over eight years had to be re-tossed a lot of money just for clearance, to re-license these things"
The DVD release will not be a "complete first-season" package, Levy said. "SCTV" began as a series of half-hour shows but eventually moved to a 90-minute format when the program began airing on NBC. The DVD collection starts with those 90-minute shows...Levy said the decision was made to start the DVD collection with the 90-minute shows because it's always smart to "start with your strongest stuff."
DVD producers are in the process of putting together bonus content for the "SCTV" set, and Levy is ready to play a part in the extras. "They're doing that stuff now and finding whatever footage that they can muster, off-camera stuff or anything else," he said. "There will be commentary. They're trying to organize that."

Wow, all this sounds terrific! This should be a great set, especially with participation of original cast such as Eugene Levy. We look forward to getting all the details when the official announcement comes through.



I am sooooo excited. I really miss SCTV and it will be great to watch it again. I'm especially excited to see that they will be starting with the 90-minute episodes. YIPPIE!!!

i dont necessarily agree that the newer 90min shows were the best.... i prefered the wackier earliest episodes - thats when they were completely mental :D


still..... YAAAYYY

me too as much as i love snl. i do think sctv was in some ways better

WOOT! I love SCTV. This is great news and i agree the earlier episodes are the best. It's on all the time on the Canadian Comedy Network.

Anybody have a release date?

Originally posted by Crapple
Anybody have a release date?

I haven't heard anything about an exact date yet. So far the time frame is April. It was orignally set to be released sometime this month but then it got pushed back to April. Once I get more official news from either www.tvshowsondvd.com or the SCTV newsgroup I'll be sure to post it :)

An official release date has FINALLY been announced, but it won't be in April. The first SCTV DVD will be released on June 8th! Here's the link to the article at www.tvshowsondvd.com

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=1101

Awesome! Thanks for the info!

The credits they chose for each cast member were interesting. They picked "A Mighty Wind" for O'Hara but "American Wedding" for Levy. Hmmm...

And no mention of Rick Moranis, even though he was in that Cycle.

Originally posted by Crapple
And no mention of Rick Moranis, even though he was in that Cycle.

I know. I thought that was pretty weird that they didn't mention Rick also.

The only thing that bothers me about the release is that it says the set will cost $89.99. That's pretty steep for a 5-disc set and will only contain 9 episodes. There must be a butt load of extras, lol. Oh well, I'm buying it regardless :)

Originally posted by ClassicTV4Ever
I know. I thought that was pretty weird that they didn't mention Rick also.

Especially since he's one of the best things about that season! The show really started to shine when he came into the fold, IMHO.

The only thing that bothers me about the release is that it says the set will cost $89.99. That's pretty steep for a 5-disc set and will only contain 9 episodes. There must be a butt load of extras, lol. Oh well, I'm buying it regardless :)

I noticed that, too. But consider that they will be the full, unadulterated 90 minute versions, which haven't been aired in decades. 90 minutes is about the length of your average feature film. So you're getting nine episodes (or nine feature films) for $90. That's about $10 a piece and seems reasonable to me.

Then again, I thought my "Black Adder" DVD set was a bit overpriced. I think I paid $100 for five discs. I believe it has 25 half hour episodes.

One thing's for sure: it is going to be pretty expensive if you want to own the entire SCTV collection. I don't have my SCTV book in front of me at the moment, but I seem to remember there are over 100 episodes total.

Your best bet would be Best Buy or Amazon, I think.

Originally posted by Crapple
I noticed that, too. But consider that they will be the full, unadulterated 90 minute versions, which haven't been aired in decades. 90 minutes is about the length of your average feature film. So you're getting nine episodes (or nine feature films) for $90. That's about $10 a piece and seems reasonable to me.

Then again, I thought my "Black Adder" DVD set was a bit overpriced. I think I paid $100 for five discs. I believe it has 25 half hour episodes.

One thing's for sure: it is going to be pretty expensive if you want to own the entire SCTV collection. I don't have my SCTV book in front of me at the moment, but I seem to remember there are over 100 episodes total.

Your best bet would be Best Buy or Amazon, I think. [/B]

Very true. I thought of that soon after I made that post, lol. But like I said, I'm buying it regardless of how much it costs. I wanna see SCTV again uncut and unedited with all the original credits and bumpers and such in tact :)

Originally posted by ClassicTV4Ever
Very true. I thought of that soon after I made that post, lol. But like I said, I'm buying it regardless of how much it costs. I wanna see SCTV again uncut and unedited with all the original credits and bumpers and such in tact :)

Me as well. I have never seen the unedited episodes before. I guess I can start replacing my 17 VHS tapes...

Okay, I just checked my Thomas book. There are 135 episodes total.

And I can't believe I didn't think of this before...only seasons 4 and 5 had 90 minute episodes. The first three were 30 minutes and season 6 (Cinemax) had 45 minute episodes.

Let me break this down:

Season 1
30 minute program
26 episodes

Season 2
30 minute program
26 episodes

Season 3
30 minute program
26 episodes

Season 4
90 minute program
Cycle I - 9 episodes (the first DVD set we'll be getting)
Cycle II - 9 episodes
Cycle III - 9 episodes

Season 5
90 minute program
Cycle IV - 6 episodes
Cycle V - 6 episodes

Season 6 (Cinemax)
45 minute program
18 episodes

Each of the first three seasons could easily fit on a couple of discs and be sold as an entire season. Most DVD sets of TV show seasons that are sold now have around 26 episodes.

Then I presume each cycle of season 4 will have its own box (as the forthcoming set will have).

Season 5 could probably be thrown together in one box, since there are only 12 episodes total, but we'll see. They may break it into cycles, akin to season 4.

And I assume the Cinemax season will also be sold as one box.

So that's potentially eight DVD sets...maybe nine. Not as bad as I thought. But we'll have to wait and see how much they're going to charge. :rolleyes:

As a veteran of watching SCTV since its very first season, I would like to go on record as saying that the 90 minute episodes were truly the cream of the crop. The half hour ones don't even hold a candle to the NBC ones.

This will be an excellent release. I've been waiting for the uncut shows to surface again ever since it was cancelled. Those syndicated half hour edited versions that have been runnning at variuos times on Comedy Central and NBC never were able to capture the humor and beauty of the original 90 minute episodes.

Also, I would rather see this era of SCTV than any era of SNL.
SCTV was flat out CLASSIC TV.

:rock:

Which one o' younz is Pauline Kael?

Originally posted by GAnderson
As a veteran of watching SCTV since its very first season, I would like to go on record as saying that the 90 minute episodes were truly the cream of the crop. The half hour ones don't even hold a candle to the NBC ones.

The early SCTV stuff is much more SNL-ish in nature. It definitely has its moments, but the comedy was much more immediate and in your face than later seasons. The later, more conceptual stuff is a lot more innovative and interesting.

Also, I would rather see this era of SCTV than any era of SNL.
SCTV was flat out CLASSIC TV.


Amen!

"Guy Caballero" (who is supposedly none other than Joe Flaherty himself), posted a message at alt.tv.sctv.

Subject: You'd think I would pick up the damn phone and call Andrew

Alexander, but I still haven't gotten around to getting the latest
info on the DVD's yet. But, from what I understand, Time/Life will
start selling them (Individually, I think) in APRIL, then they'll be
released as box sets in JUNE. I was worried that we wouldn't have
enough behind-the-scenes stuff, but it looks as though they're
amassing tons o' material for that.
By the way, it was Dick Beddoes I was doing on a few of the SCTV
sketches. Never saw anything quite like him on U.S. t.v.
Joe F.

**************************************
So if this is true, it sure would be nice to know that we can get the DVD's for cheaper. The only thing is that I'll probably want to just buy all of them from TimeLife at once so either way I might end up spending $90 anyway, lol.

Originally posted by ClassicTV4Ever
"Guy Caballero" (who is supposedly none other than Joe Flaherty himself), posted a message at alt.tv.sctv.

Subject: You'd think I would pick up the damn phone and call Andrew Alexander, but I still haven't gotten around to getting the latest info on the DVD's yet. But, from what I understand, Time/Life will start selling them (Individually, I think) in APRIL, then they'll be released as box sets in JUNE.


I'm confused. What does he mean by "individually"? Surely they're not going to sell each episode individually. Will each cycle of the later seasons be sold individually, then grouped into season box sets later? I guess I can see that happening.

From what I've seen, it looks like the first release will be Season 4, Cycle 1. $90 for that Cycle seems somewhat justified, as I pointed out in an earlier post. So I don't think we'll be "getting them cheaper."

Holy cow. I just took a look at the episode list for the upcoming DVD set. I have a lot of the sketches on tape, and they're great, but there are many classic ones here that I don't have but have always wanted, like "Melvin & Howards," "Fantasy Island" and the second "Gerry Todd Show." Let me tell you, this is going to be one fantastic DVD release. It's no wonder they wanted to start with these episodes.

If you'd like to see the episode list for Season 4, Cycle 1, go here:

http://sctvguide.ca/episodes/sctv_s41.htm

Originally posted by Crapple
Holy cow. I just took a look at the episode list for the upcoming DVD set. I have a lot of the sketches on tape, and they're great, but there are many classic ones here that I don't have but have always wanted, like "Melvin & Howards," "Fantasy Island" and the second "Gerry Todd Show." Let me tell you, this is going to be one fantastic DVD release. It's no wonder they wanted to start with these episodes.

If you'd like to see the episode list for Season 4, Cycle 1, go here:

http://sctvguide.ca/episodes/sctv_s41.htm

I've been over that list dozens and dozens of times already :D The more I see it, the more excited I get.

hmm..I don't know if i should wait and buy the box set in June or just buy them individually in April, which would be cheaper. I don't think i can wait until June! gaaah!

Originally posted by britt britt
hmm..I don't know if i should wait and buy the box set in June or just buy them individually in April, which would be cheaper. I don't think i can wait until June! gaaah!

Neither can I. I don't know what to do. The thing about buying them through TimeLife is that I'll wanna buy them all at once, so they'll probably cost just as much as I were to buy the boxset when it comes out. ::sigh:: Oh the dilema....

Originally posted by ClassicTV4Ever
Neither can I. I don't know what to do. The thing about buying them through TimeLife is that I'll wanna buy them all at once, so they'll probably cost just as much as I were to buy the boxset when it comes out. ::sigh:: Oh the dilema....

Guys, I'm confused. What do we mean by "individually"?

Is each episode in Season 4, Cycle I going to be sold individually in April, with a box set of the entire Season 4 coming in June?

Originally posted by Crapple
Guys, I'm confused. What do we mean by "individually"?

Is each episode in Season 4, Cycle I going to be sold individually in April, with a box set of the entire Season 4 coming in June?

Yes, it sounds like TimeLife is releasing individual DVD's (probably each disc will contain one or two episodes), but then the episodes will be released in stores in June as a boxset.

Personally, I think I'll wait for the season box sets. I also think it's likely that the boxes will have supplemental material that won't appear on the individual discs.

Originally posted by Crapple
Personally, I think I'll wait for the season box sets. I also think it's likely that the boxes will have supplemental material that won't appear on the individual discs.

yeah, your probably right. I think I'll wait for the box set also.