He was underrated. He was great in SCTV and the movies he did. We miss you John.

Could not agree more. And Candy was the straw that stirred the drink.

Every year SNL pats itself on the back by running an anniversary special every few months.

Wasn't underrated in our house..always caught it. It was frustrating trying to get other people into it however

SCTV was the best!

It blew SNL away. Way more talent. I watched it all the time in my teens, but I appreciate it more now at 60.

Yep. There are probably a lot of people who know, "Give me a 'C', a bouncy 'C'!" and don't know where it comes from.

I found an old two volume biography of Washington that was an Irving Cohen dedication volume as some kind of gift/promotion he did.

On EBay I recently found a 78 of him doing a duet with Ben Bernie on "Nagasaki"

The man had talent. I wrote a song about it./ Irving Cohen, a talented man, who writes the music he can. It has a beat, and you can dance to it, he's clever at making lyrics. You don't get this kind of talent today. Dah dah dah,...whatever the hell else you want to put in there.

@@fjccommish 🎶

😂😂

Martin Short's character was on SNL once

I think William B. was a parody of Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's announcer

He's the Spinal Tap of talk-show hosts.

Runaway host. 💥

So funny, the crickets.

And the sound of coughing in the audience.

If Johnny Larue had been the producer, he would have been able to get it at least 13 minutes.

@@fjccommishThey could never take a meeting together so he to go elsewhere. It's too bad though because LaRue knew how to turn the screws. He would have got William B 13 minutes and a crane shot. 👍

@@user-un5iz6th1n I think LaRue could have gotten Bittman as a guest.

@@fjccommish True. Despite his fame I don't think Bittman was hard to get. But he could carry a show and he'd take the heat off William B for an hour. You might have saved the William B show if only they'd asked you- the universe is so needlessly cruel.

@@user-un5iz6th1n Don't pretend LaRue wouldn't have done the same thing as I suggested. The man was a genius. He had the chops to get it done, the pull in the biz if you will. Bittman could have carried the opening show. You put Bittman and Lola Heatherton on this show regularly, make the Shmenge Brothers the music directors, and the William B. show would still be going today.

Well said, this is a masterpiece....wish there were a couple of skits of his "show"

It is like witnessing a birth of a black hole by a star folding in on itself. This is one of the greatest bits of all comedy!!

That was Candy's staple, his go-to... That fake-sincere laugh of his... And it's the funniest one I've ever seen any human being do. Gets me every single time.

Many have tried, few have mastered

Poor Mac...66 and out...Larry Linville only made it to 60...damn M*A*S*Hame

HELLO LARRY!

One of my favorite Irving Cohen lines.

@@BigDogCountry I had crush on the 2 daughters on that show as a 10 or so year old.

Which stemmed from his own feelings of inadequacy. He got over it thankfully for him. And us.

I love how it sounds like he's crying.

Nothing casual about it my friend...

@@garylobo348 Were Martin Short and John Candy having a feud or something?

@@sckarow That or they were just playing characters on a fictional show. Definitely one of those.

Cohen was a giant of the industry. He had talent more in his little finger than William B ever had. But there's a place for a second banana...to make talented people look more talented while at the same time bringing down the talent on the stage so the average person isn't too intimidated.

@Sean Myers And that's the best you can come up with..?

My sister, who is ... was ... in TV “these days”, after reading your comment, committed suicide, yesterday. It was the final straw. It’s not your fault. She was in and out of rehab. Sad how cruel life can be. Thanks.

@@robkunkel8833 I'll say a prayer for her.

@@robkunkel8833 Not a funny joke.

@@robkunkel8833 all of us need to remember how things we do and say effects others.

The biggest of the Half Wits!

My favourite Jerry Lewis impression as well. Absolute classic, just like the show.

His Jiminy Glick shows the brilliance of his improv skills, I can never get enough 😂😂😂

William B is the anti- Jiminy Glick

Steve & Cathy M reminds me of Brandt in the big lebowski

Every single time. Yes.

And the bonus is that his anguished cries as he's walking off the stage at the end sound pretty much exactly like his forced laugh.

Even funnier when interspersed with, "Please, Mr. Caballero".

PositiveLastAction thats saying alot.

When you're a second banana, you're still a banana.

@@fjccommish True

with a Quantro and sody

Da-dada-da, da dada da

@@jasonhurd4379 ...and whatever the hell else you want to throw in there!

A hit tune!

Yes, he could make it a real challenge when he wanted to.

Yes. William B didn't leave because he was angry at being insulted, belittled. He left because he took it to heart that he's not talented, and he concluded he was bringing down the show.

Absolutely agree - one thing about William B is, although he's hopeless and a joke and totally unsuited to the career, you FEEL for him too. John Candy puts the character right between absurd and sad-sack at the same time in a way that makes you care as well as laugh. This is why I love SCTV - there was this incredible acting that went along with the LOL comedy...

@@edwardst.boniface7469 Thank you for pointing this out. I was trying to determine exactly why the SCTV crew was better than anyone else; they're not only funny, but all brilliant actors on top of it. No wonder they all work so well in the Christopher Guest films, and elsewhere.

@@mattyboyanderson ...I think this is why some of the characters from SCTV itself, and the talented characters who invented and portrayed them did so unexpectedly well like Ed Grimley who had his own animated show, and 'The Hosers' Bob & Doug McKenzie who actually had their own movie STRANGE BREW. There was always a core of humanity there to identify with and laugh with, not just at them. Yes they were caricatures, but affectionate ones. Many of the SCTV people like Rick Moranis, Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara and particularly Martin Short did well in their Hollywood careers because they had that empathy in their performances. And they really did have to earn their skills, the budgets for SCTV were tiny even by usual TV standards and they made the most of what they had from the beginning...

William B rocked them well

Python taught us and them that a bitskitsketch don't need no stinking ending...or a beginning or a middle for that trapped in a format box

matter

In my opinion "you got that right"

@@BrianSmith-ix3ns I would argue, but it would just be contradictions.

JCO2002 Spot on. SCTV > SNL always.

Not ahead of "Vikings and Beekeepers".

It's THE greatest.

@@MultiCappie Don't forget bathing.

Hilarious!!

Shut the fuck up Vick Dick

It's so so funny.

@@BrianSmith-ix3ns That's enough glue for the night. What the hell is the matter with you?

His character on Kimmie Schmidt is b-a-n-a-n-a-s-BANANAS! He never lost it. When he pulled out Jackie Rogers Jr. on What's Up with That I lost it.

you need a Paul Fistinyourface...no relation to a certain Mr. Throatwobbler-Mangrove-Luxury-Yachet

Can you imagine Jiminy Glick interviewing William B? It's too wonderful to even think about. Two hours wouldn't be enough!

@@garylobo348 That would rule!

Funnier than Chevy Chase.

He reprised the character on SNL, in the "Broadway Gumby Rose" sketch. "Det's not a Morey Amsterdam sandwich! I'll tell you what goes into a Morey Amsterdam sandwich! Give me a 'C', a bouncy, 'C'!..."

A GENIUS booked the king of songwriting!