--- description: Breaking news and analysis from time.com. Politics, world news, photos, video, tech reviews, health, science, and entertainment news. title: Second City Television image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47cedc136adb8d5f/69869f363bc999b1001a4e14/t100_tv_sctv1.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 12, 2014 # _Second City Television_ by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Everett Like _SNL_, _SCTV_ had a history of launching comedy’s Next Big Things (John Candy, Rick Moranis, Martin Short)—but without the bothersome distraction of being a massive hit. Originating in Canada, the sketch show had a certain modesty that fit the stereotype of the self-effacing Canadian; even its most popular creation, Bob & Doug McKenzie’s “Great White North,” was a good-natured parody of government-mandated, low-budget “Canadian culture” programs. It was wry where _SNL_ was brash and meta where _SNL_ was direct (each show took place in the context of a fictional low-budget TV network). That’s not to say _SCTV_ was dull and cerebral—what with the Shmenge Brothers and the blowing things up “real good”—but _SCTV_ dared to be little, and was bigger for it. [Get This TV Series](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001S6AQE/?tag=timecom-20 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103761/second-city-television/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103761/second-city-television/"},"headline":"Second City Television","datePublished":"2014-08-12T15:13:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:01:42.244Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103761/second-city-television/","keywords":["Comedy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47cedc136adb8d5f/69869f363bc999b1001a4e14/t100_tv_sctv1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt47cedc136adb8d5f/69869f363bc999b1001a4e14/t100_tv_sctv1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103761/second-city-television/","name":"Second City Television"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Second City Television","description":"Like SNL, SCTV had a history of launching comedy's Next Big Things but without the bothersome distraction of being a massive hit.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/R4XHTVVL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-09-05T13:55:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/R4XHTVVL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103761/second-city-television/","duration":"PT31S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/all-time-100-tv-shows/3103761/second-city-television/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```