There is a non-zero probability that you, Dear Reader, can't remember a time before the Iron Curtain fell. If so, your ability to appreciate this episode of SCTV is grievously diminished, as it is easily one of their finest.
The "Perry Como Live" sketch would be worth the price of admission by itself, as Perry Como's "relaxed" performing style is taken to a hilarious extreme. But then they catapult themselves to sheer brilliance.
SCTV begins a live broadcast of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," starring lounge comedian Bobby Bittman (Eugene Levy) in the title role. He immediately begins (badly) ad-libbing gags, when the video signal starts to fall apart. A Russian satellite has started jamming SCTV's signal and replaced it with broadcasts from Russia's CCCP-1 ("three-CP-one"), and two Russian hosts greet their new American audience. Thus begins one of the great television parodies of all time.
"Today is Moscow," is in the style of a morning show, but is cut short when the Soviet "mini-cam" burns out. "Uposcrabblenyk," introduces us to Russia's favorite TV game show; and a host is brimming with sardonic amusement at Russia's enormous geographic area in, "What Fits Into Russia?" A public service announcement warns us against associating with Uzbeks; and we get a teaser for, "Tibor's Tractor," where collective farmer Tibor discovers his tractor hosts the reincarnated spirit of Nikita Krushchev.
In this post-Soviet era, some of the jokes may seem confusing, since the anti-communist cultural background narrative has largely been lost since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Even so, it remains one of SCTV's most incisive and hilarious episodes, and is an absolute must-see.
The "Perry Como Live" sketch would be worth the price of admission by itself, as Perry Como's "relaxed" performing style is taken to a hilarious extreme. But then they catapult themselves to sheer brilliance.
SCTV begins a live broadcast of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," starring lounge comedian Bobby Bittman (Eugene Levy) in the title role. He immediately begins (badly) ad-libbing gags, when the video signal starts to fall apart. A Russian satellite has started jamming SCTV's signal and replaced it with broadcasts from Russia's CCCP-1 ("three-CP-one"), and two Russian hosts greet their new American audience. Thus begins one of the great television parodies of all time.
"Today is Moscow," is in the style of a morning show, but is cut short when the Soviet "mini-cam" burns out. "Uposcrabblenyk," introduces us to Russia's favorite TV game show; and a host is brimming with sardonic amusement at Russia's enormous geographic area in, "What Fits Into Russia?" A public service announcement warns us against associating with Uzbeks; and we get a teaser for, "Tibor's Tractor," where collective farmer Tibor discovers his tractor hosts the reincarnated spirit of Nikita Krushchev.
In this post-Soviet era, some of the jokes may seem confusing, since the anti-communist cultural background narrative has largely been lost since the fall of the Iron Curtain. Even so, it remains one of SCTV's most incisive and hilarious episodes, and is an absolute must-see.
