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.

I guess I forgot to do a "Ten Years Of BobNET" article last year. Oops. Anyway, it's been eleven years (and one day) since I uploaded my first site to the Internet and... not much on it has changed since then. I got rid of the annoying music and annoying frames pretty fast, but the design of The Hoser and The New Red Green Page have hardly changed at all. I did manage to get a new layout for SCTV: On The Air! a couple of years ago, and now that I've "retired" from The Hoser I might have time to do the other pages (including my main news page)...

Dave Thomas is an actor and comedy writer famous for his roles on both television and cinema. His younger brother Ian, meanwhile, is well known for his abilities as a rock musician and songwriter. The two bring their talents together in an entertainment package appropriately titled Dave & Ian Thomas: Brothers Forever. The shows start tonight (October 12, 2007) at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre and continue across Canada for the rest of October.

More information can be had from LiveTourArtists including tour dates.

Bob and Doug briefly come out of retirement to introduce the rerun of their... uh... introductory issue of The Hoser.

Bob and Doug finally run out of ideas and announce that they've given up writing online newspapers in favour of (mini-)golfing in Florida in this month's issue of The Hoser!

Actually, I really am out of ideas, and I think this will be the last regular (monthly) issue. I'm not exactly a high school student with a lot of time on his hands like I was ten years ago when I started writing these. Besides, there's some real Bob and Doug stuff coming out recently, and I haven't given up hope on a special edition DVD of Strange Brew sometime either (not to mention the Animated Adventures). Plus this gives me a little time to actually update the site, which hasn't happened in what? Five years? I also haven't ruled out writing new issues sometime in the future when I do have new ideas...

Erik at bobanddoug.com reports that the Two-Four Anniversary Special is coming to DVD on November 20, 2007. This special edition will be twice as long as the broadcast version, and its bonus features include Bob and Doug commercials as well as seven Great White North skits from SCTV! The DVD comes with a Bob and Doug bottle opener, and selected retailers will also include 4 Bob and Doug beer coasters, too. I'm not sure at this point whether this will be available in the US, or just in Canada.

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug reach into the old mailbag for more letters, questions, and junkmail!

This month the McKenzie Brothers successfully prove to their reader (they don't have too many) that Canada is at least three days older than the United States. So go read The Hoser to find out how, eh!

As Canadians, Bob and Doug are usually stuck in the middle of the language debate over American English and British English. They finally snap, and this month in The Hoser, they rant on the petty arguments Americans and the English get in over differences between their languages!

Longtime alt.tv.sctv poster Jeff Robbins has written a history and episode guide for SCTV, oddly enough titled "Second City Television: A History and Episode Guide". From Jeff himself:

Basically this is the book I've always wanted to buy myself but which no one else was writing so I wrote it. It is a review, episode by episode, of SCTV's 135 programs with additional commentary on compliations and the DVDs. It traces the first appearances of and the evolution of the notable characters and impersonations (you know the ones). It compares the show's film and television parodies with the original films/shows being parodied. It is a more "scholarly" look at SCTV without (I hope) being dry.

The book is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com and probably elsewhere, too.

Update (June 21, 2007 @9:35pm EDT): The book is now available from Amazon.ca, too.

As seen on http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2007/16/c9519.html:

Canada's favourite hosers, Bob and Doug McKenzie are back. Bob and Doug are celebrating the two-four anniversary of their big screen debut, Strange Brew, with their favourite stubby, Red Cap Ale.

That's right, Brick Brewing Company Ltd., who has been bottling Red Cap Ale in stubby bottles for the good part of this millennium, will be including one collectible Bob and Doug stubby in each 12-pack of Red Cap beer sold this summer. But more importantly, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas appear as Bob and Doug for the first time this millennium in a video promoting the event!

Update (June 12, 2007 @4:59pm EDT): The complete press release is now available online in PDF format!

In celebration of the twenty-fourth anniversary of the release of Strange Brew, the CBC will be airing "Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary" on Sunday, May 20, 2007.

Bob & Doug McKenzie's Two-Four Anniversary is a one-hour entertainment special featuring the McKenzie brothers. A 25-year plus enduring Canadian franchise credited with defining a national identity. The loveable beer-drinking, back frying, toque-wearing original hosers trace their ascent to popularity following the release of their multiple award-winning, platinum selling album and highest grossing movie of 1983; reveal the fascinating stories of people whose lives were touched, affected or influenced by the extraordinary success of the McKenzie brothers; celebrate key milestones throughout the franchise's history and finally, reveal the men behind it all - Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.

The special will be preceeded by a showing of Strange Brew. As usual, check your listings for details, but viewers in the same timezone as me (Eastern Daylight) should be able to see the movie at 7pm and the special at 9pm!

Bob and Doug decide to celebrate Mexican culture but as usual get things completely wrong in this month's issue of The Hoser!

No, this isn't an April Fools' Day joke! DavE felt that after nearly five years of inactivity (and six years since we've written one), it was about time to write up a new Top 11 List...

Messrs. Robert and Douglas McKenzie present their intellectual discussion on various aspects of Canadian culture in the premier issue of The New Hoser.

Bob and Doug return with yet another new business venture, this time selling "used" RVs and trailers. That is, before their dad has them towed out of the driveway. All this month, in the March issue of The Hoser!

Bob and Doug share their hangover cures after recovering from month-long brain-aches after their famous New Year's Eve party in this month's issue of The Hoser, eh!

This month in The Hoser, Bob tells the miraculous story of the television rerun and its transformation from a summertime annoyance to a cheap way of watching your favourite shows without having to pay for the DVDs. Meanwhile, Doug gets stuck in a rerun of The Hoser and tries to drag his butler Robert along with him!

In order to fund their annual New Year's party, Doug gets a job at the mall as Santa, with Bob as his helper elf (whose name also happens to be Bob). Unfortunately, all the kids recognize their true identities in this month's issue of The Hoser!

This month in The Hoser, Doug goes to Club MedKenzie to escape the hassles of everyday life, but has his vacation ruined by the Club's waiter, Bob.

threerandot has updated his SCTV on DVD Campaign with a FAQ clarifing the position of the campaign dedicated to clearing the rights to the music that was cut from the SCTV DVD's which have been released by Shout! Factory.

He's also added a "Clear The Music" petition, alongside of Justin Pate's No more best of SCTV DVD sets - only complete seasons petition.

This month, the two hosers have to explain why a visit to the Beer Store led them to updating The Hoser over a week late!

As with the previous DVD releases, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide has posted his review of SCTV: Best Of The Early Years.

Like many, he's disappointed that the full seasons weren't released, and he also remarks that the shows are heavily biased towards the third season (with nothing at all from Season 1). There's also a handful of segments that have already appeared on DVD, as some material from the first three seasons was used to fill space in Seasons 4 and 5.

Bonus features include commentary on four episodes, "Looking Back with Andrea Martin", "The McKenzie Brothers: Take Off, Eh!", and "SCTV at the Firehall".

I wouldn't agree that the 15 episodes of SCTV: Best of the Early Years are really the series' peak moments, but I do think we get a lot of great material here. My complaint is that there's not enough -- I want more SCTV! Picture and audio are perfectly adequate, and we get a few decent extras as well. This is a pretty good DVD for a terrific series, so I strongly recommend Early Years.

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug come up with their greatest topic ever! Except they forgot it, so instead you get No Topic.

threerandot has revised his campaign to make sure that every episode of SCTV is released with as much intact music as possible, including a message board, a blog, and a guestbook. In his own words:

We need to let copyright holders know that allowing their music on the SCTV DVD's is positive, profitable and worthwhile. They can make an important contribution to a Canadian Comedy Legend!

And he reminds everyone to pick up a copy of The Best Of The Early Years when it's released on October 24th!

Unreported here, starting last week the CBC has been airing the three-part The Life And Times Of Second City. Last week's episode was hosted by Dave Thomas and covered the beginnings of Second City. This week's episode (airing tonight at 9pm on CBC, but as always check local listings for details and repeat showings) is hosted by former Kid In The Hall Scott Thompson, and covers SCTV itself. Next week's show will cover the post-SCTV era and Second City's effect on improvisation, and will be hosted by Joe Flaherty.

In a recent article from the Toronto Sun, Dave "Doug McKenzie" Thomas discusses the refusal of the McKenzie brothers to fade away, their "inclusion" in Brother Bear (and its direct-to-video sequel, Brother Bear 2), the upcoming CBC special, a development deal with Global TV, and a potential special edition DVD re-release of Strange Brew!

Due to poorer-than-expected sales of previous SCTV DVD releases, the first three seasons are being represented by SCTV: The Best Of The Early Years. However, the disc set will still contain full episodes, taken from Season 2 and Season 3 including Play It Again, Bob, Death Motel, and On The Waterfront Again. There's more details in the press release from TVshowsonDVD.com.

This week Disney releases their direct-to-video sequel to 2003's Brother Bear. Although this time most of the voice acting has changed, Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis return as improvised Bob and Doug clones Rutt and Tuke. This time around, though, the two moose gain female counterparts played by fellow former SCTVers Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara. A good review can be had from the-trades.com.

From the Toronto Sun: The 24th anniversary of the release of Strange Brew will be marked by a one-hour Bob and Doug McKenzie special, tentatively scheduled to air in May, 2007, on CBC.

"There will be original footage of us as the hosers," Dave "Doug McKenzie" Thomas said. "It will probably be our last time to do this, too."

When their barber retires and moves to Florida, Bob and Doug discover that he was the last barber in town. So they decide to "borrow" his equipment and open their own barbershop in the August issue of The Hoser!

Bob and Doug discover that many countries have a national holiday in July and decide to celebrate by setting off firecrackers that they obtained illegally in the July issue of The Hoser!

Undeterred from being caught making unlicensed broadcasts with their CB radio a few months ago, Bob and Doug McKenzie return to the airwaves this month on their pirate radio station in The Hoser!

TVshowsonDVD.com reports that Shout! Factory's next DVD release will be titled "SCTV - The Best of the Early Years" and will be released in time for Christmas. There's no other details at the moment, although some have speculated that due to poor sales of the previous DVD sets, this will be all that ends up on DVD from the first three seasons of SCTV. Just in case this turns out to be true, you might want to check out the SCTV on DVD Blog and the SCTV Uncut and Complete Petition.

threerandot has started a blog dedicated to securing better releases of SCTV on DVD in the future. His main issues are ensuring that no scenes are cut, and as much music is included as possible (including Stairway To Heaven, for use in The Happy Wanderers and Stairways To Heaven).

This is a result of the rumours that Seasons 1-3 will be condensed into a "best-of" release. As such, he's also started a petition to encourage Shout! Factory to release Season 3 uncut and complete. As long as it includes the Cisco Kid episode, which I've never seen...

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug find the true meaning of Victoria Day: drink lots of beer!

In the April edition of The Hoser, Bob and Doug find their true calling in life and drive around to help people with exterior decorating!

Do you have the entire "Stuffed And Mounted" collection, and still want more Red Green? Look no further: Amazon.com is listing that Season 7 of the Red Green Show will be released on DVD on May 2, 2006 as The Red Green Show - 1997 Season!

This month in The Hoser, hilarity ensues as Bob and Doug become household repair experts when they decide to fix their leaking sink, then decide that giving up beer for a month to pay for the plumber might not be such a bad idea.

The webmaster of the Harold Ramis Forever website has started a petition to return SCTV to TV Land, where it had been airing for the last year.

This is the only place SCTV can be seen on TV in the United States right now, so unless you'd rather watch Miami Vice then I urge you to sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/sctv2006/petition.html!

Bob and Doug discover their old CB radio and decide to start their own radio show in this month's issue of The Hoser!

Join Bob and Doug in this month's issue of The Hoser, as they hold a party and decide to celebrate their hundredth issue by drinking a beer for each issue they've written!

Doug is forced to drink lite beer and watch his brother eat donuts and backbacon after his doctor tells him he needs to go on a diet, in this month's issue of The Hoser!

The episode listings for the fifteenth and final season of The Red Green Show have finally been posted to redgreen.com.

Spoilers: most of the episodes deal with Harold's engagement and marriage to Bonnie. There's no description for the 300th episode, "Do As I Do", either...

Bob and Doug find a pile of old empties in their attic that the Beer Store won't accept for return, so they decide it's easiest to build their own time machine and take them back to a point where they can get the deposit back, in this month's issue of The Hoser!

Jimmy Page doesn't license the rights to Stairway To Heaven to anyone. The clip of Linsk Minyk (Rick Moranis) performing the Leutonian version was therefore left out of the DVD release, but now you can view it on the video page as a result of me pulling out an old VHS of SCTV shows. There will probably be more to come...

Yes, amazingly I've been working on BobNET for nine years now. It was October 11, 1996 when I first uploaded a site called BobNET, in primitive HTML with a marble background stolen from Windows 3.1.

Today's update includes a completely redesigned SCTV: On The Air!, with much more useful information including a FAQ, videos, and a redesigned news page. The site is now in XHTML 1.0 and CSS 2.1; this means it'll look great in all modern browsers (including Internet Explorer 6.0, most versions of Mozilla/Firefox, Opera, Konqueror, and Safari) and look terrible in Netscape 4. If you still use Netscape 4 because your office network depends on it, then I suggest you stop browsing sites about 29 year-old TV shows when you're at work before the boss catches you. And if you are the boss, I suggest you upgrade your network, you nobk!

There's more changes on the way. I'm slowly working on CSS-ifying the rest of the site (very slowly, I started this update in 2002); expect a redesign of The New Red Green Page in the near future, and improved versions of the main page and The Hoser, too. Also stay tuned early next year, for the 100th issue!

However, AirFarce@BobNET is no more. The official site at www.airfarce.com completely blows mine out of the water. There's online audio and video, a web forum, ticket information, lots of information, and of course the Chicken Cannon. So in other words I highly recommend it. I'll leave the links and sounds here for now, though.

Also note that I've changed my email address to my Gmail account. canada.com did upgrade their webmail system, but too late since I like Gmail's much better...

In the October issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug discuss their winter camping trip. Only one problem: it was warm all weekend!

This time around in The Hoser, Bob and Doug address the issue of expensive gasoline by building a laboratory and coming up with new fuel sources!

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide once again brings us the first review of an upcoming DVD release. Check out his review, which points out mostly the same things as his previous ones (plus a hint: the soundtrack is mostly mono, but when it switches to stereo it almost certainly means music was replaced).

Steve Smith (aka. Red Green) is among 82 new appointees to the Order of Canada announced by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson yesterday. Other recognizable names include Diana Krall, Catriona Le May Doan, and the late Peter Jennings. A complete list can be found from CTV.

Martin Short's clueless, overweight interviewer Jiminy Glick saw a short and limited run in theatres, but now you can see him in all his glory on October 4 when Jiminy Glick In Lalawood comes to VHS and DVD! Gold Circle Films includes more information, including theatrical trailers on their website.

On October 4, Shout! Factory brings us Christmas With SCTV, a collection of Christmas episodes from our favourite show. Details are scarce at the moment, but the MSRP is $14.95. The cover art can be seen at TVShowsOnDVD.com.

Update (August 14, 2005 @10:20pm EDT): TVShowsOnDVD.com now points out that the set will include the 1981 and 1982 Christmas Episodes, from the fourth and fifth seasons.

In yet another explosive issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug go to Taco Bell, get some Mexican beers, and decide to have a Mexican Fiesta!

In this month's issue of The Hoser, the two hosers are dressed as knights in shining armor, and as usual the reason involves beer!

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug carry a case of empties half way across the Canadian wilderness (well, not really, eh?) after they get kicked out of a provincial park!

The Canadian Television Fund (CTF) has put $99.2 million into 36 English-language productions this year, including Corner Gas, Degrassi: The Next Generation, Trailer Park Boys, and (of course) The Red Green Show. Almost $1 million of this will go towards Red's fifteenth and final season, which has been revealed to be 19 half hours long (presumably 17 regular shows and one hour-long episode). More information can be found in the CBC article and from the Canadian Television Fund.

Recess Monkey writes: "Looks like the date for volume 4 has been changed to September 13th." No reason or other information has been given yet...

SCTV alumnus Martin Short brings his celebrity-interviewing alter-ego, Jiminy Glick, to the big screen today in Jiminy Glick in Lalawood. Jiminy, created for The Martin Short Show and featured for three seasons on Primetime Glick on Comedy Central, heads for the Toronto Film Festival (which was where the movie was actually filmed) with wife Dixie (Jan Hooks) and twin sons Matthew and Modine.

As usual with recent movies starring former SCTV castmembers, there was no script and nearly all of the dialog was improvised. Several real-life stars have lent themselves (and their egos) to Jiminy's inane style of interviewing.

The movie was written by Martin Short, Paul Flaherty (Joe's brother), and Mike Short (Martin's brother, aka. Mike The Bartender). Many more details (including spoilers) can be found at The Hollywood Reporter article.

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug become "phisopholers" and discuss the concept of nothing using beer as a prop!

Bob and Doug promote good dental health (and other things) when they visit their dentist in this month's issue of The Hoser!

According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, Volume 4 of SCTV on DVD will be out on August 2 2005, at the usual $89.95 list price (which means it will probably be cheaper just about everywhere). This will be a six-disc set, so it's expected to include the 12 episodes from cycle 4 and cycle 5, comprising season 5 of SCTV.

The article also mentions that the first and second discs from Volume 1 will be available individually starting June 7 (one year less a day since the full Volume 1 release) and listed at $14.98 each for those not able to shell out more money for the full set (and for impulse shoppers).

In March's issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug "borrow" their neighbour's barbecue and show how to grill steaks while there's still snow on the ground.

According to ClassicTVHits.com, SCTV will be airing on TV Land starting Friday, March 18 from midnight until 2am. No word yet on which episodes will be shown.

Bob and Doug arrive at the beer store only to get locked out of their van in the February issue of The Hoser!

In an article in the Winnipeg Free Press way back in September, Steve Smith states that he plans to leave the Red Green Show at the end of its fifteenth season. "When I finish next season, it'll be the end of my 15th year, my 300th episode and a month later I'll turn 60," he says.

Read More...

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide, who has already reviewed the first and second sets of DVDs, has gotten his hands on the third set that will be released in March. See his review, which reflects the same sentiments of the first two releases.

Bob drives to the beer store while Doug tells stories (and bugs Bob) in the January issue of The Hoser!

tvshowsondvd.com points out that both DVDEmpire.com and DVDPlanet.com show a release date of March 1st for Volume 3 of the SCTV DVDs. There's no press release from Shout! Factory yet, but it will probably be similar to the two previous sets, with nine episodes on five discs.

Bob hosts the McKenzie's own version of Jeopardy in this month's issue of The Hoser. Will contestant Doug's winning streak continue? Find out inside...

In this month's issue of The Hoser, Doug gets even more drunk than normal and shows how to get regular beer for the lowest legal (well, technically) price!

Recess Monkey has posted a message to alt.tv.sctv with a list of changes he's noticed between the cycle 2 episodes as they originally aired, and what is on the DVDs. As with the first DVD set, almost all of the changes are related to music.

Merv Griffin's trip to the 60s had quite a bit of music removed, and so has Perry Como's Still Alive; however, it seems that a shortened version of the latter sketch intended for syndication was included instead of the original version, and may not be related to musical rights.

The second set of DVDs was reviewed a couple of weeks ago at DVD Verdict. The verdict:

Given that they've now released two volumes (to date) of SCTV AND the Freaks and Geeks set, Shout! Factory could probably whack a guy right in front of this here judge and still get off scot-free.

Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October, and that's the topic of this month's issue of The Hoser!

The Red Green Show returns on October 1, 2004 for the premier of its fourteenth season! The eighteen new episodes will include the regular characters from last season, including Rick Green as Adventurer Bill and Pat McKenna as Red's nerdy nephew Harold. Red will also introduce a new segment called Hobby Shop, where guests present their hobbies -- including ubiquitous Canadian comic Colin Mochrie as a character who makes folk art out of wieners (I hope they mean hot dogs). There will also be a new Christmas show this season. Check it out Fridays at 9pm on CBC!

Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide, who reviewed the first set of SCTV DVDs, has gotten his hands on the second set to be released next month. See his review, or read more for a summary.

Read More...

In the September issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug become chefs and give a cooking demonstration involving lots of fire and smoke!

Tickets for studio tapings for the 14th season of Red Green are going fast; every Saturday night taping is full, but there's still plenty of tickets for Wednesday tapings available! And people attending Wednesday night tapings are entered into a draw for a DeWalt power tool! See the Studio Tapings Ticket Line for more details!

Martin Short will return to the big screen at the Toronto Film Festival as the always-sweaty, always-unprepared celebrity interviewer Jiminy Glick in "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood". The film also stars Janeane Garofalo and Jan Hooks, and premiers on the final night of the Festival, September 18. Marty will also appear at the Festival's tribute to Brian Linehan, the inspiration to Brock Linehan who passed away earlier this year. More information can be found from the CBC.

Vinnie writes in an article on alt.tv.sctv that the fan gathering planned for November has been cancelled since there were too few deposits made to cover the costs of the convention. The mailing list will remain open, just in case someone else wants to plan another convention in the future.

In an interview in this month's issue of Sound And Vision Magazine titled "An Hour with SCTV's Rick Moranis" (in a web exclusive available at www.soundandvisionmag.com), Rick ends several years of silence by discussing everything from Gerry Todd ("Catherine O'Hara always gave me credit for inventing MTV"), and the McKenzie Brothers to music downloading.

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug decide to emulate their favourite hockey players by going on strike!

Dave Thomas has been keeping busy in between recording material for the second set of SCTV DVDs, trying to sell the Animated Adventures of Bob and Doug, and the DVD commentary for Brother Bear; Crystal Potter writes:

The official Intern Academy website, which offers a movie trailer, photos, cast bios, and so much more, is located at........

www.internacademymovie.com

I did get a chance to pre-screen the film, and what can I say....Dave Thomas is still, without a doubt, a comedic genius! =)

The movie will be screened in Toronto on September 1, 2004, and will be released across Canada on September 10.

Matt Kozlowski writes on alt.tv.sctv that the second set of SCTV DVDs, comprised of the tenth through 18th episodes of SCTV Network 90 (listed as Season 4, Cycle 2 in Dave Thomas's book) will be released on October 19, 2004, just in time for Christmas. The episodes that will be on the set are listed at The SCTV Guide, and extras include "Larger Than Life: The Norman Seeff Photo Sessions", "SCTV Remembers, Pt. 2", "The SCTV Writers", "The Juul Haalmeyer Dancers", "A Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery", "SCTV At The 1982 Emmy Awards", and another 24-page booklet. The set has a suggested retail price of $89.98 (the same price as the first set, even though I've never seen it sold for that, even in Canadian dollars). Details can be found at tvshowsondvd.com, which also points out that the third set of DVDs is tentatively scheduled for February, 2005.

In the July edition of The Hoser, Bob and Doug present their show from their boss's cottage, thousands of miles from civilization!

With the recent release of the first DVD set there's been a lot of talk recently on alt.tv.sctv about an unofficial fan convention in Las Vegas in the fall. Vinnie B is one of the organizers and writes:

The idea for an informal and unofficial fan convention is gaining momentum and I am helping organize the event. Right now it looks like Las Vegas will be the host city and it will happen the weekend of Nov 13th, 2004. Folks will probably roll in Friday the 12th and the fun will continue into the Sunday the 14th.

I have set up a website with some preliminary information, and an email list. Please visit the site and subscribe to the email list for more information and to get updates on the event.

http://www.geocities.com/sctvman

In order to work with our travel agent, ALL-TRAVEL in Los Angeles, to book a block of rooms we need to get a grasp of how many people will attend and to get small deposits to secure the rooms. More info on the website and email list, so please visit and check it out.

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug get a DVD player in order to watch the upcoming release of SCTV on DVD!

DVD Verdict now has a review of the Volume 1 DVD set, written by Bill Gibron. Most of his review is actually an overview of SCTV; there's little discussion of the DVD itself until about half-way down the page. Another fan of the show from its original run, he praises the acting and story (giving them full marks), and considers the show part of the "triumvirate of classic sketch comedy (SNL and Monty Python adding the other sides to the triangle of jollity)". The only real problem he has with the set is the audio quality (which was still given a 90 out of 100). And if you check the right hand side of the page, you'll notice that it ranks #35 in the top 100 movies of all time...

Shout! Factory is hereby given a special commendation by the court for pursuing and finally placing this deserving classic on DVD, where it belongs.

CBC released their fall schedule yesterday, and The Red Green Show is on the list! According to The Canadian Television Fund, Red will be back for 18 more episodes (production numbers 264-281) in his 14th season!

Matt Kozlowski has informed me that the second set of SCTV DVDs will be out in October, just in time for everyone to add it to their Christmas wish list. Justin Pate also adds (on alt.tv.sctv) that the set will consist of Season 4, Cycle 2, and that the extras are already finished.

TVshowsonDVD.com reviewer Chris Stewart has posted his review of the SCTV DVD release. The video and audio get poor reviews, but Chris notes that "you've probably never seen these materials these [sic] good." He wasn't able to review the booklet since he didn't receive a copy of it with the disc set. He mentions that the only major failing with the set is the lack of subtitles or closed captions. As for the price, he writes:

It's true, that preserving every film score or pop song used in the show does affect the price point of a set, in this case the set was never targeted at casual buyers (who can get it everyday on TV anyhow). This set is for the fans.

In the May edition of The Hoser, Doug tells the story of how Bob tried to buy beer when he was underage, and they make the mistake of talking about how they're making fake IDs on a computer.

Shout! Factory did an excellent job in securing music rights for the upcoming SCTV DVD release, but they weren't able to get everything. Six of the nine episodes have minor changes, almost all of which are removal of short pieces of music, the rest are changes in the order of sketches. The full list is available at The SCTV Guide.

The web server that has been hosting BobNET since 1996 will be taken out of service sometime in the next few weeks. Everything has been moved to my ISPs newer web server, and redirects are in place on the old one but everyone who's bookmarked anything on this site should update their bookmarks to begin with http://www.execulink.com/~bobnet/ instead of http://www.oxford.net/~bobnet/. There might be a few links here and there that will break, but I'll go through the entire site sometime soon and fix them all.

Bob and Doug get kicked out of the house (again), then their van runs out of gas, so they decide to make the great outdoors their home and native land in this month's issue of The Hoser!

Starting April 12, each of the five discs from the upcoming SCTV DVD release will be available individually from Time Life. As expected, there will be a commercial -- somehow I think it will look a lot like "Shower In A Briefcase"...

The content of each disc is the same as what you'd get in the five-disc box set, except you don't get the booklet with introductions/episode summaries/tributes. There's no word yet on what the price of each disc will be.

Update (April 15, 2004 @1:50pm EDT): The first and fourth DVDs are available now from Time Life, and when you order them you're given the option to order all five volumes for $75.00.

Many people have complained about the high price of the upcoming SCTV release. In an article on DVD Angle, Shout! Factory President Garson Foos provided the reason:

The high price is because of the very high cost of the large quantity of music. We make a very low margin on this in spite of the high price. It's either at this price, or no SCTV at all. That's why it never came out on video.

It may limit the audience, but we're all better off by us doing it this way as opposed to not at all.

Many DVD releases (even recent ones like Dawson's Creek) have replaced the music that originally aired to save costs; unfortunately, in many cases the original music was well-suited to the show, and replacing it just won't work. As an example, look at WKRP in Cincinnati, which won't be out on DVD anytime soon due to the $1 million price tag for the music rights. We're fortunate enough to have SCTV coming out in a form nearly identical to what originally aired on NBC over twenty years ago, and after being limited to the spliced-up syndication episodes for two decades I think that's reason enough to buy SCTV when it comes out on DVD...

Update (March 13, 2004 @3:33pm EST): Amazon.com has the DVD set for $67.49, a savings of almost 25%!

Update (March 30, 2004 @4:47pm EST): Deep Discount DVD has the set available for preorder for $59.84!

It's time for yet another PBS pledge drive; this year, Red will be featured in "Red Green's Hindsight Is 20-20", a special celebrating 25 years of Red Green on television. Even though The Red Green Show is "only" in its thirteenth season, Steve Smith portrayed Red Green during the 195-episode, nine-year run of Smith & Smith that began in 1978.

Check your local PBS station for air times!

In this month's issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug go ice fishing in their van, and show how to keep your beer cold in the winter (like that's hard, eh?). They also mention the upcoming SCTV DVD release, in which many episodes of Great White North will be included, along with the show where Bob and Doug meet rocker Ian Thomas.

DVD Movie Guide reviewer Colin Jacobson received an early release of the first set of SCTV DVDs. A long-time fan of the show (he got cable just to get the shows when it aired on Nickelodeon), Colin is in the demographic this release is targeted at.

He admits that it's hard for him to be objective, but he notes that the physical properties of the set are what you'd expect from a late 1970s/early 1980s TV show (a little blurry, sometimes tinny sound, but otherwise pretty good). Apparently there's no subtitles or closed captions, and the MSRP is quite high ($89.98USD), but aside from that he's quite pleased with the set: "I heartily recommend SCTV Network/90 Volume One and can.t wait to check out Volume Two (and Volume Three, and Volume Four.)." His review can be found online at http://www.dvdmg.com/sctvvolume1.shtml.

The long-awaited SCTV DVD release will be here at last on June 8, 2004! The first set of discs will consist of the first cycle of nine 90 minute episodes from Season 4, and the suggested retail price is $89.98USD.

As expected, the DVDs are being issued by Shout! Factory, and will include four new documentaries: "SCTV Remembers", "Origins of SCTV", "The Craft of SCTV", and "Remembering John". Also included is the SCTV Reunion from the 1999 Comedy Arts Festival.

More details can be found in the press release posted at tvshowsondvd.com, which ends with "Stay tuned for additional releases of SCTV on DVD from Shout! Factory."

This month in The Hoser, Doug teaches us how all the months, including the leap month of February, were named after Emperors of Rome (the same guys who invented Caesar salad).

From The SCTV Guide:

A release does indeed look to be getting closer, as details on the content are now appearing. The first set is currently rumoured to be Season 4 Cycle 1, 9 episodes on 5 discs, and is to include lots of bonus material, including a 60 minute special on the 1999 Aspen Comedy Festival reunion, along with mini features of cast and crew recollections grouped into "SCTV Remembers", "Remembering John", "Origins of SCTV", and "The Craft of SCTV".

Bob and Doug wake up after drinking way too much at a New Year's Eve party (and even more after the party) in this month's issue of The Hoser!

The upcomping DVD release of Disney's Brother Bear will include audio commentary by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. Rick and Dave will be in character as Rutt and Tuke, the thinly veiled moose versions of Bob and Doug they voiced in the movie released in November. According to amazon.com, the DVD will be released on March 30, 2004.

Recess Monkey (aka. Matt Kozlowski) wrote in alt.tv.sctv:

Amazon has added SCTV to its DVD database. Don't let the "not currently in production" language scare you. You can put in your email address to be notified when the product is available. It also helps Amazon and the studio track interest in the item.

The link is here, make sure you add your email address to both offer your support, and to find out when the DVDs will be released!

In the December issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug do the show from a shopping mall, where they realize they can do all their shopping at one store. That is, until they meet some familiar looking police officers...

From the Farce's Official Homepage, Jessica Holmes, who has guest starred on three shows already this season, has been invited to join the cast of Royal Canadian Air Farce by Roger, Don, and Luba. She's the first permanent cast member since the retirement of John Morgan two years ago. Her impressions include Michael Jackson and Paris Hilton, and will give Luba a bit of a break since she's no longer the only female cast memeber. Jessica joins the cast in time for this Friday's episode (December 5, 2003).

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug talk about boots. Not bootlegs, eh? Those guys who are selling beer and copies of movies are just pretending to be Bob and Doug to get them in trouble with the cops, eh!

Well, not really, eh? Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas provide the voices of moose brothers Rutt and Tuke in Disney's animated Brother Bear, which opened in theatres on Friday. In this interview on USATODAY.com, Rick and Dave discuss the origins of Bob and Doug and how they relate to Rutt and Tuke: "trample off, you hoofer!"

Dave also mentions the Animated Adventures of Bob and Doug McKenzie: "We are working on it right now. It will probably be released direct to video." That'd be okay with me, eh!

The thirteenth season of The Red Green Show premieres Friday, October 24, 2003 at 9:30pm on CBC. Expect Red's nerdy nephew Harold to be back this season, along with more of Winston's Sewage and Septic Sucking Services ads, and Ranger Gord's educational films. There will be 18 new episodes this season, and there's been rumours that Rick Green (aka. Bill Smith) will return for six "Adventures With Bill". See Red's webpage and the site at CBC for more details and air times.

The Royal Canadian Air Farce returns to CBC at 8pm on Friday, October 10, 2003. They follow last-season's hour-long final episode from Brandon, Manitoba with a special hour-long episode from Saint John, New Brunswick. See the Farce's What's New page and the Air Farce site at CBC for more details and air times.

The McKenzie brothers dress up for Haloween in this month's issue of The Hoser. They forget to buy candy, give beers out to trick-or-treaters, and get a visit from a couple of guys dressed up as police officers.

This month in The Hoser, Bob and Doug cause an explosion and melt their winter boots trying to start a bonfire!

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television has setup a contest called "People's Choice for Favourite Comedian" for the 2003 Gemini Awards on their website. Several cast members from The Red Green Show are in consideration for the award, including Jeff Lumby (Winston Rothschild), Patrick McKenna (Harold Green), Wayne Robson (Mike Hamar), and Steve Smith (Red Green). Go to the Academy's website to enter your vote for your Favourite Comedian for the 2003 Gemini Awards!

According to Video Store Magazine, SCTV is coming to DVD in January 2004. The first set to come out will not be the first season as expected. Instead it will be season 4, the first season at NBC (otherwise known as "SCTV Network 90"). "Those really are, I think, the best shows," said SCTV's Eugene Levy. "The show reached its creative peak in those 90-minute shows on NBC."

The problem with getting SCTV to DVD was music rights; when the shows were produced, music was used without licensing. Now apparently all the music clearance issues are settled, so it looks like most original music (and the musical guests who began appearing in the NBC episodes) will be included on this release.

Special thanks to Matt Kozlowski, who's been keeping me (and other SCTV fans) up to date on this for the past few years and will probably have more information (such as the distributor and release dates) to come soon.

In the August issue of The Hoser, Bob and Doug take a correspondence course on beermaking, and take a voluntary (beer drinking) detention when Doug spills the beans about the time they spray-painted the school.

The fastest computer in Canada has been named after Bob and Doug and is used by the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto. The $900 000 computer is being used to simulate supermassive black holes and collisions of galaxies. This article on the UofT's website has more information on the computer, but here's where Bob and Doug come in:

The machine, nicknamed McKenzie (after the McKenzie Brothers comedy sketch on SCTV), with 268 gigabytes of memory and 40 terabytes of disk space, consists of two master nodes (Bob and Doug), 256 compute nodes, and eight development nodes.

Just in time for The Red Green Show's lucky 13th season, the CBC reports that series co-creator Rick Green will be returning as Adventurer Bill for six episodes this year. Also, famous Canadians will be inducted as honourary charter members of Possum Lodge, starting with Charlie Farquharson (aka. Don Harron). See the article on CBC's website for more information on these and other changes coming this year.

This month in The Hoser, Doug discovers why their two-four is always hidden in the tool shed, and Bob explains the amazing medical properties of beer.

Jim Geiwitz of Victoria, B.C. asked me a couple of weeks ago to define the word "hoser". I've known a few possible origins of the word for years, but found that I didn't really have a good definition of it.

When I became a Canadian citizen a few years back, I was told I wouldn't be a real Canadian until I learned the meaning of the word "hoser." Everyone I asked seemed to know what it meant, but nobody could define it.

In response to Jim's question, Jack Knox of The Victoria Times Colonist held a contest to find the best definition of "hoser", and the winning entries were published just in time for Canada Day in this article. Interestingly, all of the definitions seem to fit Bob and Doug.

Read More...

In the June issue of The Hoser, Doug explains the differences between the two types of movies and why he likes one better than the other. Bob also gives away the ending to every single action movie ever made!

In February, the Canadian government announced their latest budget, which cut funding to the Canadian Televi