After all these years, I still miss John Candy.

When satire becomes so refined it's indistinguishable from reality. This is amazing! Genius!

As a roadie for the 85' tour, I have to say these two were both Zappa level musical geniuses. We'll never see another like them.

One of the greatest Lutonian, brother, polka/comedy duo's of all time. Certainly top 5!

"So we said 'Why do we need an agent to lose our money for us, we can lose it ourselves?'" I'M DYING. PERFECT.

this was wonderfully gentle, loving, sentimental, PATIENT comedy. SCTV was great and so underrated

They opened for Foghat for years. Very underated band. Their version of the Pusher, by Steppenwolf was so passionate I started taking drugs after seeing them.

Grew up in Western Pa.; live near Cleveland. This is dead-on.

The Shmenge brothers were big influences as a young Polka head and shaped my life as a musician. It started a under ground scene of hardcore/thrash polka that led to the Pierogi polka of the late 90's. Bands like Babushka in chains, Cabbage., Astropolk, B.O.R.S.H and Nirvana. ,

Florence Jucker, the violinist in the Happy Wanderers band, passed away July 24 this past summer. She was an extremely talented performer, playing violin since she was 6 years old. She could play anything on that fiddle/violin and did. Performing with her younger sister Andrea, as the Hansen Sisters in the 1950's with notables as Guy Lombardo, George Burns, and at Expo 67. They did TV shows such as the Tommy Hunter show, and performed for the Canadian Armed Forces. After her sister left for the USA with her husband, Florence convinced her daughter Deb to play with her as the Hansen Singing Strings. That's Deb playing the acoustic guitar in the band here as well.

I'm seeing all kinds of SCTV on KZfaq that I somehow managed to miss in the 80s. It was always more consistently funny than SNL

This is still a favorite of my family. We can’t listen to anyone else sing “On the Road Again” and “Touch Me” without thinking of the great Linsk Minyk (Rick Moranis).

The Lemon twins! All three of them! Scandalous! Brilliantly done. Mary Margaret O’Hara is so underrated. In reality, such a beautiful voice. Her solo work is legendary. This “documentary” is right up there with Spinal Tap and Mighty Wind. I did not know it existed but it was such a great find. John Candy died so young, and I could only dream of what we missed out on with such a great comedian-a true genius.

Eugene Levi and John Candy. Playing the parents in the beginning had me on the floor

I seen the Shmenge Brothers when I was just a boy back in the 1970's. They comed to my hometown Smoglasviniabrad to preform at the Cow Castration Festival. They were such a hit. My mama and my papa arranged to have me and my Bar Miftza guest to go to the concert. It was the thrill of my entire life. I have all their records and which I play all the time. So much so good.

Eugene Levy & John Candy make those characters so believable & lovable. Nice job, fellas!

The effort that went into this short is just absolutely insane. All the period correct costumes and wardrobe, EVEN the Photographic types and technics. Someone was a total perfectionist who put this together. It is really quite unbelievable. Look at the costumes and eyeglasses (all correct) and the high contrast black and white photographs made at 14:56. This is really more like a movie, than something you'd expect on a skit show.

Pound for pound, the members of SCTV blew SNL's cast off the friggin map. Shame on me. This is the first time I've watched this. I laughed my ass off. John Candy aka Johnny La Rue was a gem. The comedy world took a hard hit when he passed away. And Eugene Levy aka Bobby Bitman, God bless him as well as Candy.

You can take any 20 minute portion from this, either in the beginning , middle, end, wherever and it's more entertaining, humorous, and much better written then 90% of what is considered comedy nowadays

I missed all these Canadian shows growing up in America....never realized how many of our top-notch comedians came from this show! These two, Martin Short, CatherineO Hara, Fred Willard, Harold Ramos, etc.... they were so talented.....RIP dear John! Love the huge fire raging out of control in the background too.....with the fire department coming to put it out! Supremely funny!

John Candy moonwalking to a polka version of "Beat It"...I've seen it all, I can die now...🤣😂

This was simply brilliant. The period pieces, costumes, the production value, it seems like a real documentary. Rick Moranis is a comic genius.

While many say The Beatles were the greatest band of all time, I think it was The Shmenges. Their "Composite Sole" album was a musical breakthrough. With such hits as "Drive My Ox Cart Polka," "Lutonian Wood Polka," "No? Then Where, Man? Polka," Mitchell Polka" "I'm :Looking Through Your Sox Drawer Polka" and "Run for Your Borscht Polka," it changed music forever. And they are still the only band ever to sell out the Schaumberg Ice Arena in Bismark, ND three nights in a row.

I miss the Schmemge Brothers.

I was in high school in the 1970s when SCTV was on TV. I still get a good chuckle watching SCTV 40 years later. Thanks for the memories.

I'm going to tell my wife that I found a very interesting documentary about a famous polka band and watch this with her and see how long it takes her to punch me hah

You just have to love a good tuba solo.... LOL

It's like a kinder, gentler Borat. 🤣

God bless you for uploading this. I’m crying with laughter. This is so wholesome.

I saw them at a polka festival in Toledo, Ohio. They were fabulous. I think their eleven encores were the greatest spectacle I've ever witnessed. They reach deep into our hearts every time they take the stage. Best live performance I've ever seen!!

Talk about a production! The cameos, the set-up, the sets - outstanding!

Ladies and gentlemen this applies to anything that the SCTV people produced :How often in our lifetimes do we get to see geniuses at work how lucky we are!

Gippy Glynski is the Geddy Lee of the tuba!

Cabbage Rolls and Coffee!!!

Occasionally, I sing "Cabbage Rolls and Coffee" to myself, and I realize the influence the Shmenge Brothers have had on my life.

Rick Moranis was fantastic!

Candy & Levy: Talent Personified

I loved SCTV they came up with some funny characters

7:48 Yosh:"It was almost a moving experience". Genius writing

John Candy with 4 inch wide chops is what I needed today

Dave Thomas' narration is awesome!

That Tuba Solo should be given space in the Polka Hall of Fame!!!

Best tuba solo of all the Shmenge Brothers and Linsk Minyk shows I've been to!

I might just have to make a t-shirt that says "Cabbage rolls and coffee... mmmm mmm good!"

One of the Lemon Twins is Mary Margaret O'Hara, Catherine's sister, and has the most ethereal voice. Check her 1988 album Miss America and also the amazingly haunting version of Dark, Dear Heart that she sang at John Candy's funeral.

It was a special thing they had going there with SCTV. What a talented bunch. I always looked forward to the Schmenges skits. Not only were Candy and Levy hilarious but I actually enjoyed the Polka music.

I remember at one of their concerts, they brought out a Tshirt cannon. They had no tshirts and since Leutonia didn't have their own 'national food', the Schmenges just shot pierogi into the audience. What a hoot that was. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. 😭

This is absolutely brilliant! The story quality, production, music are all theatrical level imho and this was made for a skit tv show. The ladies performance at 36:34 is mesmerizing!!!! Wow! This was a nostalgia trip down memory lane for me. SCTV was filmed at ITV studios for a period in Edmonton where I live. I grew up with SCTV and had it filmed in my backyard. It has been incredibly special to me. John Candy felt like a friend to me, and I miss him dearly. Thank you so much for sharing this piece of history and art.

30:28 One of the greatest tuba solos of all time.

John Candy would be so proud that people remember him today as Yash Shmenge. Google Strikes Spares Shmenges

I was a young fan in 1984. After the Jordan, Ontario show I was invited backstage by one of the violin players. It was one of the most depraved yet liberating experiences of my young life. To this day I can’t see a cabbage roll without intense feelings.

Literally eating cabbage rolls and coffee right now. Ah, good times.

I thought this had disappeared from the face of the earth! Classic

The TUBA solo brought tears to my eyes.....

"The military needed jars". lol!

That looked like a real concert with the Happy Wanderers, i would pay to see them☺ Rick Moranis terrific as the singer too. Those SCTV guys put it all on the line, the greatest.

Canadian comedy is very subtle but often flamboyant and over the top... similar to British

Shh.... Don't tell anybody but I have an original copy of the Shmenge's Lost Basement Tapes 1967-1969. These are golden. Alternate versions of some of their greatest polkas, with rare audio of them arguing over who can boil the best cabbage. This is what Shmenge aficionados around the world are drooling for. Long live the Shmenge brothers.

Ahahaha! Just way, way too much, on so many levels! Always loved SCTV and its derivatives. Such talented folks, light years ahead of SNL.

Their version of In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida absolutely shreds! They taught the number to Iron Butterfly, and the rest, as they say, is history!

I thought Val Babbyit was being interviewed in the upper floors of an office building, until I saw various legs walking by the window. It’s little details like this that makes this movie so enjoyable to me.

Back to the Road Again. Rick Moranis you are great. And of course John and Eugene were perfection.

I have never seen this before. I've been a fan of SCTV for a long time, never saw this before. Loved these characters of Eugene Levy and John Candy. Thank you for sharing this, it made me laugh ,appreciated.

As a kid, I lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about 100 miles north of Green Bay Wisconsin. Every Sunday morning in the late 60's and early 70's there was a TV show called The Alvin Styczynski Polka Party (or something like that). Me and my sister would crack-up laughing watching that show. It made Hee Haw look like Evening at Pops with Arthur Fiedler. The Shmenge Brothers were a great parody of Alvin Styczynski and similar shows all over the Midwest. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nNV0is103cC8c2Q.html

I remember the Summer of Love, 1969, at Youngstown State Community College. All the greats were there, Perry Como, Lawrence Welk, Tony Bennett and of course the Smenges. I thought no one could top Lawrence Welk, that is, until the Smenges tood stage late at night, 10:00, as half the crowd nodded off by that time. Stan laid on his back going crazy on the accordion and Yosh spinning in circles while blowing his clarinet. The crowd went crazy. 1500 people must have showed up. Food and drinks were incredible, pastries, 5 kinds of cabbage rolls, tea, coffee and prune juice. I took my ticket stub, framed it and hung it above the mantle. What a show.

Thanks for posting this. I remember the characters from SCTV, but had never seen this hour special before. Too good!

From the little bit of Leutonian in us all, thank you Stan and Yosh!

Saw them open for Spinal Tap,they were the life of the after-party. Yosh and Stan brought the cabbage rolls and coffee.

I remember watching this in the 80s. I rented the video tape, or maybe I recorded it off of HBO or something… But i thought it was hilarious… it still holds up.

As a young musician in the early eighties, I was in a band called - The Last Band On Earth. Whimsically, we would have 'Shmenge Nights', every now and again, a special Shmenge rehearsal night apart from our binder of original LBOE tunes. Before long, it was every other rehearsal night that we became Shmenges (we each had a special Shmenge hat, and everything), and before we knew it, - that's right - we had become a Scmenge cover band! I don't mind telling you, it took over our lives. Dr. Dave, 'The Love Shmenge', is still, to this day, in therapy, as he struggles to re-discover his own true identity. Even myself, 'Riff-Shmenge', struggle some days to let the past go. Sure, I'm still proud to put on the Shmenge hat on occasion, but, at least, the sparkly Shmenge lederhosen will remain in the attic! Sometimes, it haunts my dreams, but, it will, by God, remain in the attic! For now. DR. Dave's Shmenge regalia sadly remains, for now and forever, safely out of his reach. The ear wants what the ear wants - and this pair of ears still wants some Shmenge. And, occasionally, the soft caress of the Shmenge hat. They may have played their last Polka, but their music will never die.

I’m 65 years old. SCTV 👍🏻

Rick moranis was really great too here

Just brilliant. What a cast and premise.

This was one of my late father's favorite comedy specials. I couldn't find it anywhere. Thanks for posting it. (great quality, too!)

The picnic catching fire caught be off guard- I fell off the chair laughing.

Comedy genius! Have watched it a few times and I keeping finding something new happening in the background of this video. So many things I missed the first and second time watching it. Amazing stuff here. RIP Mr. Candy.

Incredibly well done! Makes me want cabbage rolls and coffee!

Still love it after all these years.

Gippy's tuba solo was off the charts!

That was great, really funny! Thanks for posting this.

This is a work of art.

It made a lot of sense to occasionally hear Fred Armisen citing SCTV as a huge influence on Portlandia. This was probably the only other comedy show as concerned with creating a realistic world for the comedy to take place in as the comedy itself. Verisimilitude indeed.

TV was real back then with laughs and all. I'm miss SCTV.

The tuba solo is just an incredibly rich bit in this classic. I needed this…thank you.

So refreshingly unique and creatively funny.....love it!

When they were doing the radio interview, I realized that John Candy sounded like Mr. Tudball with Tim Conway

Visited family in Windsor so I got introduced to great shows. Luckily I lived in Detroit are n had channel 9. That was the cbc.

The tuba solo killed me 😂😂😂

I remember renting this film on VHS a long time ago.

How have I not only never seen this, but had no idea it existed?

The Lemon Twins! There are three of them LOL

This is awesome. Thank you for posting

The shave and a haircut endings the tuba solo where they walk of stage...these guys did their musical homework, which is great! It makes it that much better

So I said, "Marty. Will you ever make something as good as The Last Polka?" He just grinned and shook my hand, "no, " was all he said

Amazing!! I’m just in awe and so proud of each one of them.

I have never seen the sideburn-mustache collaboration thing before

priceless....thank you.....

Anyone remember The Polka Parade TV show? KTLA in L.A. broadcast it for decades, starting in '55. I was a kid & I don't remember watching much, but on occasion. KTLA, Channel 5, also produced a number of other local shows such as Pro Wrestling from the Olympic Auditorium, a roller derby show & The Spade Cooley Show. They also showed thousands of classic movies. And don't get me started on the children's shows. Lots of good memories.

On my gosh, I had this VHS forever. Somebody took it. So thanks for posting.

I love this. Thank you