5 memorable musical performances from SCTV's golden age

The death of actor and comedian Joe Flaherty has brought back a flood of memories, especially from Second City Television (SCTV), the Canadian sketch comedy show that ran between 1976 and 1984.

Flaherty was a mainstay of the series, alongside comedy legends Harold Ramis, Andrea Martin, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.

SCTV often included musical guests — both real and fictional — who not only performed but also participated in the various shows within the show.

Below, some of our favourite musical moments from SCTV's iconic run.

5 Neat Guys: the nerdiest men you've ever seen

On the surface, 5 Neat Guys is a straightforward greatest hits commercial for a singing group made up of the nerdiest men you've ever seen. But the reason it's endured as one of SCTV's most popular recurring sketches is in the nuances, from its zany song titles ("Who Made the Egg Salad Sandwiches?" and "Put a Little Extra Relish on My Hot Dog") to the character traits each of its five members brings to their performance. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Eugene Levy, who noted that he wrote a lot of the musical sketches on the show, pointed out his favourite detail: "[Joe Flaherty's] character, the guy who played N, is a bit of an alcoholic and every time you see him performing, he's just slightly drunk, which made me laugh."

Levon Helm and the Cate Brothers avoid Earl Camembert

One of Levy's frequent SCTV characters was Earl Camembert, an anchorman who eventually hosted the show-within-a-show One on the Town (which came with a perfectly branded van). In 1981, Earl almost interviewed Levon Helm, just five years after the Band performed its farewell concert The Last Waltz. Helm performed two songs on SCTV that episode — "Sweet Peach Georgia Wine" and "Summertime Blues" — with the Cate Brothers, whom he'd been performing with frequently at the time. Levy spends his entire time outside the backstage door to the venue, trying to interview Helm — and eventually making up his own dialogue with the musician, who never makes time for the interview.

Catherine O'Hara as over-the-top diva Lola Heatherton

Lola Heatherton was one of Catherine O'Hara's recurring characters throughout several seasons of SCTV. Inspired by the variety show singers of the '70s and '80s, Lola was often decked out in ornate, glittery getups, with a wig that ranged from a bouffant to a pixie but always in a shockingly white blond, quipping about her showbiz woes and stints at rehab. "I was called Lola Heatherton because I had seen Lola Falana, the singer who used to be on The Tonight Show and Merv Griffin. I stole the stupid lip-quivering thing from her, and the kitten-with-a-whip thing from Joey Heatherton," O'Hara shared in a 2019 interview with the New Yorker. "I didn't have many recurring characters, but I think I probably did Lola more than any others. Really, I'm still doing it on Schitt's Creek, as Moira."

In a skit from a 1982 Christmas episode, O'Hara did a new take on the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future called "Lola's Love Spirit." She's joined by the Juul Haalmeyer dancers (a group led by the show's actual costume designer), as she travels to the '60s, back to present day, then to an undetermined time in the future, singing in the musical stylings of each decade. In a 1984 episode, Lola appeared again, this time singing an over-the-top rendition of James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's World," complete with lip quivering, personalized lyrics, and screeching — putting her own spin on soul music. 

Roy Orbison makes Mel faint

Levy was as quirky as ever while in character as the oddball Mel from SCTV's musical sketch program Mel's Rock Pile. In this 1981 episode, Mel can't contain his excitement about Roy Orbison being the musical guest. He becomes shaky, awestruck and faints beside the singer. As Orbison begins to play his hit "Pretty Woman," the camera cuts to Mel, passed out on the ground, being dragged off the set. At the end of the performance, a visibly frazzled Mel is back on his feet and he apologizes for fainting, causing the audience to erupt in laughter. After the skit wraps up, Orbison states that Mel is "in no condition to close the show," and performs "Working for the Man." 

Natalie Cole sings 'Nothin' but a Fool'

The Sammy Maudlin Show was a recurring SCTV segment starring Flaherty as the titular, powder blue tuxedoed host with John Candy as his Ed McMahon-style sidekick, William B. Williams. They'd welcome guests for interviews that were nothing more than effusive, cringey, mutual-admiration exchanges. In Season 4, Episode 3, Natalie Cole joined the show for a performance of "Nothin' but a Fool," from her 1981 soul album, Happy Love, which Sammy Maudlin introduces at 5:56 in the video, above. What follows her performance defies description, but includes a Julia Child parody by Candy and an appearance by Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy from Star Trek (played by Dave Thomas), who leads the resistance against an alien overlord, Zontar, who puts Cole and the others into a trance.