Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is used widely in variety shows, comedy talk shows, and some sitcoms and children's television series. The sketches may be improvised live by the performers, developed through improvisation before public performance, or scripted and rehearsed in advance like a play. Sketch comedians routinely differentiate their work from a "skit", maintaining that a skit is a (single) dramatized joke while a sketch is a comedic exploration of a concept, character, or situation. Sketch comedy is a genre within American television that includes a multitude of schemes and identities.
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.
Martin Hayter Short is a Canadian–American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television shows. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. Short was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.
Andy Merrill is an American voice actor best known for his portrayal of the character Brak on Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show, and Cartoon Planet; as well as Oglethorpe on Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Frederick Allan Moranis is a Canadian actor, comedian, musician, producer, songwriter and writer.
Cartoon Planet is an American television programming block that originally ran from 1995 to 1998 and 2012 to 2014 on Cartoon Network. A spin-off of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the series centered on Space Ghost recruiting his imprisoned evil nemesis Zorak and his loud and dimwitted archenemy Brak to assist him in hosting a variety show.
Joseph Flaherty was an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV from 1976 to 1984, his role as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks (1999), and as the heckler in Happy Gilmore (1996).
Saturday TV Funhouse is a segment on NBC's Saturday Night Live featuring cartoons created by SNL writer Robert Smigel. 101 "TV Funhouse" segments aired on SNL between 1996 and 2008, with one further segment airing in 2011. It also spawned a short-lived spinoff series, TV Funhouse, that aired on Comedy Central.
Snooper and Blabber is one of the three segments from The Quick Draw McGraw Show. This show was produced by Hanna-Barbera between September 19, 1959 and October 20, 1961, and consists of 45 episodes.
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.
Robin Duke is a Canadian actress, comedian, and voice actress. Duke may be best known for her work on the television comedy series SCTV and, later, Saturday Night Live. She co-founded Women Fully Clothed, a sketch comedy troupe which toured Canada. She teaches writing as a faculty member at Humber College in Toronto and had a recurring role playing Wendy Kurtz in the sitcom Schitt's Creek.
Antonio Rosato was an Italian-Canadian actor and comedian, who appeared in television and films. He was best known as a cast member on both SCTV and Saturday Night Live, and for voicing Luigi in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.
Scott Joseph Shaw, often spelled Scott Shaw! and Scott Shaw? in Rick and Steve, is an American cartoonist, animator, and historian of comics. Among Shaw's comic-book work is Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, and Simpsons Comics. He was also the first artist for Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series.
Count Floyd is a fictional character featured in television and played by comic actor Joe Flaherty. He is a fictional horror host in the tradition of TV movie hosts on local television in both the United States and Canada.
Freddy Monnickendam is a businessman and executive producer of the animated television series The Smurfs (1981), Snorks (1984), and Foofur (1986).
Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and aired as part of the 1962 series The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series starring the titular anthropomorphic lion and hyena duo in a series of goofy misadventures.
Edith Prickley was a character in all six seasons of the Canadian sketch comedy series SCTV. Created and played by Andrea Martin, the character took over as the station manager for the fictional television station Second City Television, based out of a city called Melonville, and serving the "tri-city area". Her character, visibly distinct by her leopard-print clothing and hat, and rhinestone studded glasses, served the station's president and owner, Guy Caballero.
Irving Cohen was a character played by Martin Short on SCTV, and brought with him to SNL.
The tenth season of Saturday Night Live ran from October 6, 1984, to April 13, 1985, and introduced several new recurring characters and sketches.
I, Martin Short, Goes Home is a Canadian television comedy special, written by and starring comedian Martin Short, which aired on CBC Television in 2012. The title is a sequel of sorts to Short's 1989 HBO comedy special, I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood.
