Word: snl
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...With SNL a breakout hit, Second City executives decided to develop a sketch-comedy series of their own, launching SCTV in 1976. In its early days, SCTV was aired only on Canadian television. The cast included standouts from the troupe's Toronto branch such as John Candy and Eugene Levy. The series introduced the stereotypical, "eh"-saying Canadian brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie, played with aplomb by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis. The McKenzie brothers hosted The Great White North, a commentary show with topics ranging from Canada's geography to tutorials on how to trick beer companies into giving...
...Lorne Michaels, along with fellow NBC employee Dick Ebersol and president of the network Herb Schlosser, launched Saturday Night Live, a genre-defining mix of music and sketch comedy whose cast was stocked with Second City alums like Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner. In large part thanks to SNL, Alexander says, "comedy became the rock 'n' roll" of the 1970s...
...likes of Aykroyd, Radner and Belushi started to appear on SNL, Second City got a reputation as a breeding ground for up-and-coming comics. Sahlins would sometimes refuse entry to poachers, including Michaels, because it distracted the actors and changed their motives for performing at Second City...
...SCTV, says Alexander, began as a defensive response to SNL, under the assumption that other networks would follow NBC's lead, launching sketch-comedy shows of their own and draining Second City's talent. But by 1983, SCTV had won two Emmy Awards for outstanding writing (1982 and 1983) and was being broadcast in the U.S. on NBC; it was canceled in 1984, after eight seasons...
...comedy's leading lights. Shelley Long and George Wendt were cast in leading roles in the legendary Cheers. Alums Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie further showcased the improv art form on the show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Amy Poehler formed the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy group, starred on SNL and got her own sitcom, Parks and Recreation. And four Second City alumni either write for or act in the multi-award-winning NBC comedy 30 Rock. These successes, as Alexander puts it, are "our legacy...