We all know Jimmy Kimmel stands up for the First Amendment. Now there is also joy in Mellonville for he has done what not even Martin Scorsese could do — complete a documentary about SCTV.
Kimmel is the executive producer of SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of. The 90-minute documentary premieres Friday, October 30 on Netflix.
I’ve had the good fortune to attend tapings of Jimmy Kimmel Live and to get to know this fearless firebrand of late night a little over the years.
A true SCTV fan, the Brooklyn native came to Toronto in 2018 and moderated a panel featuring the original cast – including, at the time, Catherine O’Hara and Joe Flaherty – for what was to be a documentary directed by Martin Scorsese.
Well, Scorsese kept making other movies but no SCTV doc. Not even Guy Cabalero or Edith Prickley could make him do it.
Kimmel called up Netflix, which is now running the late ‘70s, early ‘80s series, and took on the project. He even apologises to all of Canada for the title, because he knows that every last hoser here has absolutely heard of it. Plenty of Americans know it by heart as well; Look for Tom Hanks, Bill Hader, Conan O’Brien, Bob Odenkirk and others naming their favourite sketches.
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“I wanted the people who saw every episode 11 times and Tom Hanks is maybe at the top of that list,” says Kimmel. “Tom Hanks has an encyclopedic knowledge of SCTV.”
As for the title of the documentary, Kimmel apologizes to all of Canada because he knows that every last hoser here has heard of television’s best sketch show of all time. Please give a warm, Sammy Maudlin welcome to the FCC’s favourite funnyman, Jimmy Kimmel.
To listen to this episode, please click on the white arrow in the blue dot above. To watch a video version of the full episode now on YouTube, please click on this link.
