Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Last Polka with the Schmenge Brothers

In 1985, just as "Second City Television" aka "Second City Network 90" was fading away -- two former castmembers decided to make an hour-long mockumentary based on a popular sketch.  The Schmenge (or Shmenge) Brothers were seemingly innocent, polka-performing Lutonian boys played by John Candy and Eugene Levy.  They not only appeared on SCTV a lot, but in other arenas (such as "Late Night with David Letterman," or their swan song, on Comic Relief '86).  I'm not sure if this aired on HBO originally, or on Showtime (home of the final season of SCTV), but I believe it was the former; by this point, Levy and Candy had left the show.
They did invite back a number of their friends and former co-stars, including Rick Moranis, Catherine and Maureen O'Hara, Robin Duke and Dave Thomas (who narrates).  This has a low-key, "Spinal Tap"-ish vibe to it, and is quite good (naturally, given the talent involved).  My favorite moment is The Doors' "Touch Me" (no joke... and no spoilers!).  Sadly, this has never been reissued on DVD, and the tape has been out of print for years (the value of the tape seems to fluctuate wildly, too).  This was nominated for a 1985 CableACE Award, but lost to The Joe Piscopo Special.  (Also nominated were a Gallagher special, and "Father Guido Sarducci Goes to College").  It may have received other Ace nominations but, sadly, there's no online record I can find of the winners and losers; the awards were given out from 1978-97, an era before lots of online archiving was happening.  I can't find the broadcast, either, which is ironic since it was usually simulcast on several cable channels until the last few years, when it aired on TBS or... Lifetime?!


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