Friday A/V Club: Rock 'n' Roll Commie Werewolves

The '50s as filtered through SCTV

This 1982 SCTV sketch mashes up a monster movie with the Red Scare and a bunch of '50s moral panics, from the rising tide of juvenile delinquency to the alleged evils of rock 'n' roll. The story also incorporates a musical number by former Rockpile guitarist Dave Edmunds, and it's interrupted midway through so a tattoo-faced John Candy can advertise a sex shop. Oh, and Eugene Levy is basically playing Lenin. In short, it just might be the best 15 minutes of '80s television ever aired:

(For past editions of the Friday A/V Club, go here.)

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

I don't think a vampire bite turns you into a werewolf. But listening to early 80's rock definitely makes you a commie.

[WTF]

OT: Fresh Ebola fears after a passenger flying from to Nigeria to JFK dies in his seat after vomiting profusely.

[Almanian!]

Is it da debil ebola....or one too many $5 cocktails?

[WTF]

Well, after a cursory examination the CDC sais not ebola, so I'm sure everything is fine because they would never make a mistake.

[Almanian!]

whew!

[John]

But banning travel would just make it worse!!

Has the entire country become retarded?

[WTF]

Yes, banning travel from those countries would make it spread worse. Somehow. Probably because racism.

[John]

Meanwhile South Africa and Zambia have closed their borders and as of yet do not have any cases.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap.....sings-luck

It is a good thing we live in an efficient first world country and not some superstitious backward place like Zambia.

Before this I thought people inside the beltway were primitives. Now I realize that is an insult to primitives. The Indian tribes in the Amazon who have never seen a white man would know enough not to let the sick person in the village.

[Timon 19]

A South African official admitted they did it just for show.

[John]

It seems to have been an effective show.

[Timon 19]

I thought we didn't make "Tiger-Repelling Rock" arguments here because they're silly.

[John]

Just because some correlation arguments are silly doesn't mean all are. Just because correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation doesn't mean it can't mean causation.

While it is ridiculous to think a rock will repel a tiger, thinking that preventing sick people from coming into your country will keep the people who live there from getting sick is hardly ridiculous and has a long history of working.

[Timon 19]

The South African official said there was no clinical justification for doing it.

Besides, Nigeria's success in containing things had very little to do with sealing their borders (which is impossible) and not a hell of a lot to do with banning air travel (because they didn't appreciably do so).

Given Nigeria's status as one of, if not THE major travel hub of most of Africa (other than South Africa) and its proximity to the affected countries, it has many thousands more transits of people from "the bad places" than the US ever will.

They've had 20 cases and are only a few days away from meeting a 42-day clearance period.

Leaving aside the impracticality of banning travel from a region with almost no direct links to the US, you have the prospect of incentivizing deception and lying and of sending travelers underground and thus less trackable.

[John]

Leaving aside the impracticality of banning travel from a region with almost no direct links to the US, you have the prospect of incentivizing deception and lying and of sending travelers underground and thus less trackable.

That is nonsense. The lack of direct links is what makes a ban possible. It would be impossible to ban travel from Canada. Liberia? Very easy since there are no direct links.

And the deception argument is even more ridiculous. If someone is willing to lie to come here under a ban, how would not having the ban make them coming any less likely? Moreover, you can tell if they are from or have been to the area by LOOKING AT THEIR PASSPORT. There is no lying around that. You are just repeating stupid talking points without thinking.

[Invisible Finger]

The country became retarded after it elected its 3rd retarded president in 2008.

[Almanian!]

I so miss SCTV. Posted some excerpts for some of my younger colleagues who weren't hip to "this is where Bob and Doug originated".

For as much as TV sucked in the 70's and 80's, and how much LESS choice there was, I still managed to get to watch AMA Pro motorcycle racing in the days of Gene Romero, King Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Bubba Shobert et al, "SCTV", every Monty Python show ever (PBS doesn't TOTALLY suck)....oh, and the original "Ascent of Man", which was AWESOME.

"Would you like some more....PANCAKES??!!!"

[John]

PBS used to kick ass. It once had Monty Python, Dr. Who, Cosmos, Free to Choose and NOVA and Nature that didn't make every episode somehow concern the terror of global warming.

[Robert]

That is where Bob & Doug originated, but the interesting thing is how most of the original SCTV characters had originated off-screen.

[antisocial-ist]

Rock n roll commie werewolves huh? Well 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpYBT0XyvA

[Almanian!]

Apparently, if you like your Mourning Lynx, you can keep your Mourning Lynx. Happy Friday!

[WTF]

"Sad kitty!"
-Cartman

[Almanian!]

"BAD kitteh! That is MY pot pie!!!"
/Cartman

[Alan Vanneman]

Please track down the SCTV bit featuring Bob Hope on the Sammy Maudlin show, with behind the scenes clips from his trip to China. Also good: the triple-barrelled parody of the Hope-Crosby Road movies, Casablanca, and Fantasy Island.

[Roger the Shrubber]

Danny Thomas lounge singer 'Star Wars, nothing but Star Wars...'

'Blowed up real good'

[Jesse Walker]

Danny Thomas lounge singer 'Star Wars, nothing but Star Wars...'

Are you sure that one wasn't Bill Murray on SNL?

[Almanian!]

"Star Wars" WAS Bill Murray on SNL. You are correct, sir.

[Almanian!]

Again - where the MOTHER fuck IS everyone? Oh well - me and WTF and Fist and anti will just have the hookers and blow to ourselves. Fuck the rest of you asshole who have "work" or something.... #priorities

[gaijin]

THis clip requires an attention span of more than 60 seconds...thus, of interest to a rapidly decreasing number of people. A shame.

[Robert]

Att'n of more than 60 sec., but also the ability to pause & rewind, because each 60 sec. has more than 60 sec. of gags in it.

[SIV]

Rockpile? How 'bout Porky's Revenge Soundtrack Producer Dave Edmunds.

[Mongo]

The John Candy sex shop spot was effin' hilarious.