Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on SCTV for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and Doug is played by Dave Thomas. Although created originally as filler to both satisfy and mock network Canadian content demands, the duo became a pop culture phenomenon in both Canada and the United States. The characters became the focus of a bestselling comedy album, The Great White North, in 1981 and starred in a feature film, Strange Brew, in 1983. They were later revived for an animated series, Bob & Doug, which premiered on Global in 2009.[1]
The sketch was conceived when SCTV moved to the CBC television network. Due to the difference in the amount of time allocated for commercials, each episode to be broadcast on that network was two minutes longer than those syndicated to the United States. The CBC network heads asked the show's producers to add specifically identifiably Canadian content for those two minutes, in line with government broadcast regulations. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas thought that this was a ridiculous request, given that the show had been taped in Canada, with a mostly Canadian cast and crew, for two years.[2] The request inspired them to create a parody that would incorporate every aspect of the humorous stereotype of Canadians.[3][4]
The segments were videotaped at the end of a day's shooting, with just Thomas and Moranis and a single camera operator. The sketches were for the most part improvised on the set, after which they would select the best ones for use on the program.[5]
Moranis recalled, "We went on the stage with no preparation, and did 15 [sketches]. Two of them were lousy, in three we cracked up and fell apart... maybe six were keepers."[3] Added Dave Thomas in a 2000 interview, "Rick and I used to sit in the studio, by ourselves – almost like happy hour – drink real beers, cook back bacon, literally make hot snack food for ourselves while we improvised and just talked. It was all very low key and stupid, and we thought, 'Well, they get what they deserve. This is their Canadian content. I hope they like it.'"[6]
To their shock, the comedians found that this filler material had become the most popular part of the show. Though initially intended for Canadian TV only, some of the two-minute "Great White North" segments would find their way into U.S. versions of the 30-minute shows due to a shortage of content that week. When NBC ordered the 90-minute shows for the 1981 season, they specifically cited good affiliate feedback on the "two dumb Canadian characters" and requested that the characters be included in every program.[6]
They rode the crest of a fad, peaking in 1982–83, that produced one comedy album, The Great White North, and a movie, Strange Brew. The album released by Anthem Records in Canada and Mercury Records in the US, went platinum in sales, won a Grammy nomination and broke the Top 10 on Billboard's Top LPs and Tapes list in March, 1982. It is noted for the song "Take Off" which featured fellow Canadian Geddy Lee of the rock group Rush chorusing between the McKenzies' banter. The song was #1 for 2 weeks on the CHUM Charts, December 12 and 19, 1981.[7] On this album, they also sing their own improvised version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas", which is frequently played on the radio around the holidays in both Canada and the United States. While hugely popular in the U.S., the album was also #1 in Canada for six weeks, suggesting that Canadians appreciated the duo as an affectionate self-parody.
The Strange Brew movie was released by MGM in 1983. While receiving only minimal praise from critics, it performed fairly well at the box office — earning $8.5 million in the U.S. alone to cover its $4 million budget. After its theatrical release, Strange Brew remained a popular home-video title with a strong college cult following.
A second album, a "soundtrack" to their movie Strange Brew, was released in 1983. The album featured dialogue and music from the film, as well as new skits made specifically for the album that centred around the movie. The lead off track was appropriately entitled "This Isn't Our Second Album". The album sold poorly and was out-of-print soon after.[2][8][9]
The sketch's signature "Coo loo coo coo, coo coo coo coo" theme, according to Dave Thomas in an interview on CBC News: The Hour, is an exaggeration of the flute music used in 60-second Canadian television nature vignettes, such as Hinterland Who's Who.[10]
In 2023, Thomas and Moranis revived the characters for a Beer Canada commercial advocating for a freeze on new federal taxes on beer.[11]
The duo had a total of 41 original segments on SCTV. Presumably filmed several at a time, most "Great White North" segments featured one two-minute sketch per SCTV episode. 25 segments were aired in the third season (1980–81).
Most of Season 4, Cycle 1 (1981) was made up of "Great White North" repeat segments. The only new appearances were in episodes 4/1-2 and 4/1-9, the final episode of the cycle. The final episode included a wraparound storyline which heavily featured the characters.
Growing in popularity, the characters returned for nine new segments in the second cycle of season 4. Cycle 2 (1981–82) featured a new "Great White North" segment in each episode.
Season 4, Cycle 3 (1982) was the last season to feature the characters. The first episode's plot revolves around the growing popularity of Bob and Doug, and they are given their own variety show on SCTV, which turns into a catastrophe. The characters returned in the next episode for a new segment in their traditional studio set, but it had been cut to one minute (the episode's storyline owing the reduced air time to their disastrous variety show). The two are then featured in three more new segments, each back to two minutes long, before Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas left SCTV to film Strange Brew.
Legacy
The duo revived the act in two award-winning television commercials for Pizza Hut in 1984 and 1986 and a two-year campaign for the Molson Brewing Company in 1999 and 2000 consisting of more than a dozen television and radio commercials which aired nationally in the U.S.[12]
In 2003, the fastest computer in Canada, which is used by the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, was named after Bob and Doug. The $900,000 computer is being used to simulate supermassive black holes and collisions of galaxies. The machine, nicknamed McKenzie, has 268 gigabytes of memory and 40 terabytes of disk space, and consists of two master nodes (Bob and Doug), 256 compute nodes, and eight development nodes.[14]
A new special, Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary, aired on May 20, 2007, on CBC Television. It is a retrospective on the history of the characters and their popularity, featuring interviews with various celebrities, classic clips, and new material featuring the pair. It includes an introduction by former Canadian Prime MinisterPaul Martin and a cameo appearance by Rush lead singer Geddy Lee. On November 20, 2007, the special was released on DVD. The DVD, re-edited by Thomas himself, was twice as long as the broadcast and featured several classic McKenzie sketches from SCTV in their entirety, new footage filmed on the Great White North set and an hour's worth of bonus features. A Bob and Doug McKenzie bottle opener was included with every DVD.[16]
Animax Entertainment, whose interactive division is currently headed by Dave Thomas, began producing a new animated series for the Global Television Network based on the characters debuting on April 19, 2009, simply entitled Bob & Doug. Thomas reprised the character of Doug in the new series. Moranis chose not to voice the character of Bob. The part was instead voiced by Dave Coulier. Moranis was, however, involved in the series as an executive producer.[18] The show aired 15 episodes.
They returned to the Great White North at a charity event held in Toronto in 2017 to help raise money for patients with spinal cord injuries. Jake Thomas, son of musician Ian Thomas and Dave's nephew had been in a snowmobile accident that paralyzed him from the waist down. Raising money for the family was reason enough to convince Moranis, known for keeping a low profile, to reprise his role as Bob for the first time in 10 years. With celebrity friends such as Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara performing skits, the gig was sold out.[19] Over $325,000 was raised and will go towards the Jake Thomas's Road to Recovery GoFundMe campaign and the Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, in order to help others who have sustained spinal cord injuries.[19]
The SYFY network show "Z-Nation" Season 4, Episode 8 - 'Crisis of Faith', featured the main characters entering Canada, and running into RCMP officers, a Hockey team bearing the Canada logo and of course, zombies very reminiscent of Bob & Doug McKenzie. The cast members who confront the look-alikes used the GWN catch phrases "eh", and "hoser" among others.[20]
On March 24, 2020, a statue of Bob and Doug McKenzie was erected in Edmonton, Alberta, where the SCTV series was taped during most of the early 1980s. It depicts Bob and Doug enjoying a beer on a bench, and is near the Rogers Place arena. The statue was the result of a collaboration between local sculptor Ritchie Velthuis, the non-profit SCTV Monument Committee, and Calgary's Bronzart Casting. Actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas provided input throughout the process.[21]
In Dave Thomas's behind-the-scenes book on SCTV, he reports that he and Moranis disliked the characters because they felt the network forced the characters on them and that they, as actors, were overly identified with the dimwitted, beer-drinking duo. However, in an interview accompanying the Two-Four Anniversary premiere, Thomas credited the McKenzie Brothers as a successful comedic creation of which he was quite proud.[16]
Second City Television, commonly shortened to SCTV and later known as SCTV Network and SCTV Channel, is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984. It was created as an offshoot from Toronto's Second City troupe. It is a rare example of a Canadian show that moved successfully to American television, where it aired on NBC from 1981 to 1983.
Hinterland Who's Who is a Canadian series of 60-second public service announcements profiling Canadian animals, produced by Environment Canada Wildlife Service and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in the 1960s and 70s, and re-launched by the Canadian Wildlife Federation in the 2000s.
Frederick Allan Moranis is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, producer, songwriter and writer.
David Alan Coulier is an American actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, podcaster, and television host. He played Joey Gladstone on the ABC sitcom Full House, voiced Peter Venkman on The Real Ghostbusters, and voiced Animal and Bunsen on Muppet Babies.
David William Thomas is a Canadian actor, comedian and television writer, known for being one half of the duo Bob and Doug McKenzie with Rick Moranis. He appeared as Doug McKenzie on SCTV, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award out of two nominations, and in the film Strange Brew (1983), which he also co-directed. As a duo, they made two albums, The Great White North and Strange Brew, the former gaining them a Grammy Award nomination and a Juno Award.
Great White North may refer to:
The Great White North is a Canadian comedy album by the fictional television characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, released in 1981 by Anthem Records (ANR-1-1036) and distributed in the United States by Mercury Records (SRM-1-4034). The title is a nickname for Canada, also used as the title of a Second City Television (SCTV) sketch featuring Bob and Doug. This album's release tied in with SCTV at the height of the characters' popularity, and a still from the show is on its cover. In its sleeve is a newspaper parody called The Daily Hoser.
Strange Brew is a 1983 Canadian-American comedy film starring the popular SCTV characters Bob and Doug McKenzie, portrayed by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, who also served as co-directors. Co-stars include Max von Sydow, Paul Dooley, Lynne Griffin and Angus MacInnes.
A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main focus. They may be contrasted with "regular" characters, who typically appear in every or almost every episode of a series. Recurring characters appear less frequently than regulars, but more frequently than guest star characters, who may appear in only one, two or more episodes without being expected to return.
Hoser or hose-head is a slang term originating in Canada that is used to reference or imitate Canadians.
The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and featuring Martin Short's fictional character Ed Grimley. The show aired on NBC from September 10 to December 3, 1988 for a single season of 13 episodes. The show is the only Saturday morning animated adaptation of both an SCTV character and a Saturday Night Live character, and the first Saturday morning cartoon featuring an SCTV cast member.
Ian Campbell Thomas is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and author. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dave Thomas. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Juul Haalmeyer is a costume designer, best known for doing costume design on several iterations of SCTV. Haalmeyer also worked as a costume designer for many movies, television shows, theatre productions, concerts wardrobes for various artists and specials like Bridge to Silence, All My Sons, Long Day's Journey into Night, Noddy, the Shining Time Station Family Specials, Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales, Diamonds, Andrea Martin: Together Again, and Ghostwriter.
The Juno Awards of 1982, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 14 April 1982 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings at the Harbour Castle Hilton Convention Centre in the Grand Metropolitan Ballroom.
Steve De Jarnatt is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and short-story author.
Bob & Doug is a Canadian animated sitcom, which premiered on Global on April 19, 2009. The series is a revival of the SCTV sketch characters Bob and Doug McKenzie.
Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary is a one-hour Canadian entertainment special featuring the return of the popular SCTV characters, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Portrayed by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, the duo reunited one last time in a retrospective on the characters and their lasting impact on Canadian and American pop culture.
Strange Brew is the soundtrack album to the 1983 cult comedy film, Strange Brew. It was released in August 1983 by PolyGram and Anthem Records of Canada. . Unlike most soundtrack tie-ins, the album features continuing comedy sketches by the title duo, Bob and Doug McKenzie. Most of the album is sketches and film dialogue, while the music sampling is usually accompanied by the characters' commentary. The main title theme was performed by Thomas' brother, Ian Thomas. The album was produced by Marc Giacomelli, Rick Shurman and Ian Thomas. The album was only available for a short amount of time and currently remains out of print. This is the second and final album released by the duo.
References
↑ Von Riedemann, Dominic. "Global Television Show Reunites SCTV's Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis." Article at Suite101.com on July 17, 2008.
1 2 3 "With Beer, Back Bacon and Banter, 'SCTV's Bob & Doug Mine Comedy Gold in the 'Great White North'." Article in People magazine, February 1, 1982.
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