Animation World Network announces that The Animated Adventures Of Bob And Doug McKenzie will finally make it to television in January 2009 on Global TV. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas will act as executive producers, with the 12-writer writing team led by Dave.

The half-hour episodes will take place in the fictitious town of Maple Lake, and otherwise follows the promo last seen in 2002 as part of the Strange Brew DVD release. The show will be produced entirely in Canada -- including the animation, which will be provided by Animax Interactive, of which Dave is a founder. Animax will also hold the non-Canadian rights to the show (no American distributor has been found... yet).

Roger Abbott and Don Ferguson announced that they have decided to pull the plug on the long-running CBC TV show. The two founded the troupe along with current performer Luba Goy as well as frequent guest Dave Broadfoot and the late John Morgan in 1973. After years on radio and a brief stint on TV in the early 1980s, the show has aired on CBC since 1993. "It's just time," said Ferguson. "We've done pretty much everything we wanted to do. The ratings are still good. I want to be in charge of my own exit."

The show will end with its traditional New Year's Eve special on December 31, 2008 (16 years to the day of the episode that ushered in their current television run) after a half-season of nine episodes. More information can be found on AirFarce.com.

SCTV alumnus Eugene Levy has received the Governor General's Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. The award will be presented on May 2 by Governor General Michaelle Jean -- just three days before Levy is scheduled to appear on Toronto's Second City stage as part of an SCTV reunion. He is one of six lifetime achievement receipients; others include rocker Michel Pagliaro.

Attention residents of Melonville and the Tri-City Area: SCTV Is On The Stage! Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short and Dave Thomas are performing together for the first time since the early 1980s at Toronto's Second City stage on May 5, 2008. The performance will feature the famous characters of SCTV, performed by the comedy icons that made them famous. Joining the show is special guest Colin Mochrie (himself an alumnus of the Second City) and Women Fully Clothed, featuring Kathryn Greenwood, Robin Duke, Debra McGrath, Jayne Eastwood and Teresa Pavlinek (most of whom were also Second City castmembers and at least two of which appeared on SCTV itself). SCTV castmembers Harold Ramis and Rick Moranis have other engagements that night, but knowing the significance of the event both are trying to attend.

Dress Circle tickets are $500.00 and include a private cocktail reception with the cast, while show-only seats are $250.00. All proceeds from the event benefit the Alumni Fund, which raises funds to help veteran artistic and support personnel from SCTV and The Second City that are facing health or financial hardship. Visit The Second City's website to purchase tickets or for more information.

Update (March 17, 2008 @12:11am EDT): As of March 17, tickets are sold out.

Update (April 15, 2008 @9:16am EDT): A second date has been added on May 6 after the quick sell-out of the first show.

"The Red Green Show: 1999 Season" (aka. Season 9) comes out officially on DVD tomorrow, February 26, 2008. This season included Harold's move to the Big City (due to Pat McKenna's other job as Marty on Traders) and Red's attempts to bring the Lodge to Harold. Among the usual Canadian actors who appear on the show (aside from the native guy from Dances With Wolves, or that dude who was in Away From Her, or the one who played Lloyd Braun in Seinfeld -- no, not Matt McCoy, the first guy who played him) is Gavin Crawford as Dale the gas station attendant. Extras include... uh... not much, actually. There's character biographies and production notes from Steve Smith, and that's about it. It can be obtained from Red's Store, Amazon.com (.ca), and just about anywhere else DVDs are sold...

Be wary of Internet sites claiming to sell the complete series on DVD: these aren't officially sanctioned and I've heard a few reports of the sellers gladly accepting payment then disappearing. If they exist at all then they're probably from off-air dubs or taken from fan-created copies that circulate on the Internet (these are intended to be free, and out of respect for the show's creators the three seasons that have been issued officially are taken out of circulation).

The Toronto Star is reporting that Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary will be out on DVD on November 20! This documentary was shown on CBC in Canada way back in May, but the DVD includes over twice as much material, including classic Great White North segments from SCTV and is narrated by former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin ("He's a really funny guy. If he'd been that funny when he was prime minister, then he still would be.").

In the article, Dave Thomas also mentions the Bob & Doug cartoon that has been in the works since at least 2002: "We're also doing a Bob & Doug cartoon series. Animax is doing it and Global is going to run with it." It's good to see that this might finally appear...

We're probably not going to do anything in live-action again... I mean, no one our age should ever have to see themselves in HD.