Clash of the Canadian Comedy DUO-BOB & DOUG MACKENZIE vs. TERRANCE & PHILLIP+The origins of the GREAT WHITE NORTH skits, the lasting appeal of the MACKENZIE BROTHERS outside of CANADA, and my opinion on why the CRTC takes things way too far

HAPPY CANADA DAY my fellow readers.

In celebration of my Country's 159th birthday, Let's do a CANADIAN style post regarding DUOS from the Great White North.

First is the MACKENZIE BROTHERS, a duo first introduced to the masses back in the early 80s.

These are characters portrayed by DAVE THOMAS and RICK MORANIS wearing WINTER GEAR, drinking beer, and commenting on the state of things regarding CANADIAN LIFE in the 1980s.

All while ending each of their sentences with "EH" and often at times calling each other HOSERS or KNOBS.

(For the record, I never use those stereotypical verbal terms... Ever.)

They're regarded as mainstays of this Canadian Comedy tv series called SCTV, or SECOND CITY TV if you want to be more specific. 

And then there's TERRANCE AND PHILLIP.

These BEADY EYED, FLAPPY HEADED Comedy Duo is a favorite of the four boys from SOUTH PARK, COLORADO, mostly for the fart jokes and their potty mouths.

The 1999 film BIGGER, LONGER, & UNCUT largely focuses on the DUO and the influence generating controversy amongst the parents of the quiet little Mountain Town of SOUTH PARK.

Ok... Some might interpret this post as mocking my COUNTRY....

 I'm not. Really. I'm being honest.

But what the Mackenzie Brothers and Terrance and Phillip represent is the mocking of the infamous CRTC's demands for CANADIAN CONTENT in Broadcasting! Even if it's against the wishes of Creators both in Television & the Web.

Seriously, this is all true story stuff.

Let's step back in time to 1980 shall we.

When SCTV was being brought to other stations across the COUNTRY and beyond, it was seen as an attempt to break away from being HYPER-LOCAL to the people in TORONTO.

But then things hit a snag once the show was brought over to EDMONTON, ALBERTA.

The executives at CBC EDMONTON

wanted more representation of their home country but to combat how the episodes were shown down in the UNITED STATES, an additional 2 minutes was mandated to include more IDENTIFIABLE CANADIAN CONTENT in order to comply with these strict GOVERMENT BROADCAST REGULATIONS.

Or as fellow Canadian Blogger DAVID GERMAIN of his own blog insinuates:

The EDMONTON EXECUTIVES said to the face of to the SCTV production crew: 

"YOUR SHOW IS NOT CANADIAN ENOUGH!"

RICK MORANIS & DAVE THOMAS did not appreciate that VAGUE DEMAND by CBC EDMONTON.

"We're already using CANADIAN ACTORS, WRITERS, PRODUCERS, FACILITIES."

Said MORANIS & THOMAS.

And it's true.... sort of.

While the Cast is indeed CANADIAN, there were actually were three AMERICAN ACTORS who were part of the SCTV Cast.

Those were JOE FLAHERTY,

ANDREA MARTIN

and HAROLD RAMIS

So the cast wasn't exclusively CANADIAN but SCTV was indeed filmed entirely in TORONTO, ONTARIO.

Anyway. Back to the EDMONTON's demands circa 1980:

"What more do you want from us? Do you want use to sit in front of a giant map of CANADA drinking beer and wearing toques?"

MORANIS again questioned.

Well..... This was an unintended ELEVATOR PITCH....

for what would become the GREAT WHITE NORTH skits on SCTV.

Basically amounting to what I mentioned in the beginning paragraphs.

Here's an example of their skits:

To the shock of MORANIS & THOMAS, 

GREAT WHITE NORTH, which was nothing but 2 minute filler Mocking MORANIS and THOMAS' own culture, wound up being the most popular segments on SCTV.

It got to the point that some of these 2 minute filler segments found it's way into AMERICAN TV.

Example was when NBC

ordered a 90-minutes worth of segments for the 1981 season because the CANADIAN DUO provided good affiliate feedback and requested that the characters be included in every program.

Despite how beloved the DUO as well as the Segment have become for viewers, both in CANADA and USA,

I've read the SCTV production staff HATED the 2-minute segments and the characters because it was GRADE-A executive meddling from the stubborn meddlers of the province of ALBERTA.

Sure, both the EXECUTIVES and CANADIAN & AMERICAN VIEWERS got what they wanted... but think about how the SCTV crew felt.

RICK MORANIS was actually more critical of the skits due to what he perceives as pandering to the network and the executives as well as enforcing the stereotype of a Drunk Canadian which was something he doesn't want to be remembered for.

His cohort DAVE THOMAS on the other hand was actually PROUD of the skits.

In my mind, I prefer the original interpretation of the DUO which is to mock the CRTC's demands on CANADIAN CONTENT.

DOUBLY SO since back in 2023, PARLIAMENT under former PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU approved the INFAMOUS BILL C-11 which would rewrite the Streaming Algorithm to allow for more CANADIANS to catalog content from within the COUNTRY......

And I'm reading that under the premiership of current PM MARK CARNEY, that hefty fines would be placed to networks who don't provide more CANADIAN CONTENT.....

or is it to fund more CANADIAN CONTENT? 

I'm a little lost.

Sorry for going off tangent like that but I'm a huge RICK MORANIS fan and I do feel for him in the midst of the executive demand drama back in 1980.

He had every mind to mock the CRTC's demands, the CRTC got their two minutes of CANADIAN CONTENT just like they wanted, and international audiences loved the skits, 

And MORANIS got greater fame as DARK HELMET in SPACEBALLS

And yes, I plan to watch THE NEW ONE when it arrives in theaters in SPRING 2027.

As for TERRANCE AND PHILLIP, 

They're sole purpose from a production Stand-Point is to mock the OUTRAGE CULTURE of the late 90s.....

In particular, Parents reacting negatively to children trying to watch Adult Programming

Kyle's Mom SHEILA has been crusading against 

TERRANCE & PHILLIP since the 1997 episode DEATH.

I've looked and while I think TREY PARKER & MATT STONE were inspired by SCTV's GREAT WHITE NORTH skits, 

The reality is that TERRANCE AND PHILLIP were meant to satirize MORAL GUARDIANS and their outrage on what is adult or not.

So the duo might have been inspired by when a certain preacher in MISSISSIPPI watched an episode of MIGHTY MOUSE: THE NEW ADVENTURES and misinterpreted a scene of MIGHTY smelling a flower too hard and he ended up snorting it.

Though I looked and the the episode DEATH is actually inspired by a 1994 incident involving BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD & fire.

At a time when BEAVIS' pyromania took things too far

and MTV was forced to clean their act.

So any similarities to TERRANCE & PHILLIP and BOB AND DOUG are virtually nil.

Anyhow, HAPPY CANADA DAY 2026 to you all.

After today, 

my regularly scheduled blogposts will resume....

Starting with this special surprise that's scheduled tomorrow: