One of the greatest TV shows of all time (never mind it's Canadian) is finally available for streaming from Prime. Likely due to the publicity of Catherine O'hara's passing. These companies are always quick off the line to make a buck at someone else's expense.
But no matter. At least now you can see the show in its entirety.
This show demonstrated that you don't have to have a huge budget to be great. Just the writing and acting skills (with emphasis on the former).
There were 6 seasons produced, and up until now, the only ones available in decent quality were from the later NBC series (on DVD) and a few, select episodes from the early run in Canada (again, on DVD). All episodes were (maybe still are) available on Youtube, but they were dubbed from poorly recorded and degraded VHS tapes.
One of my favorite skits from the show was a parody of teen music/dance shows like Shindig and Top of the Pops, called Mel's Rockpile (with Eugene Levy as Mel). One particular episode featured a 'live' performance by a group called the Queen Haters, singing I Hate the Bloody Queen. Here are the lyrics to this punk send-off.
You haven't lived until you've seen John Candy 'playing' drums in this particular performance.
Not sure I'm familiar with it but will check it out. When I saw SCTV I automatically thought of the South Carolina PBS station cause they call it SCTV!
It was a Canadian-based show about a fictional TV station, SCTV. It starred Toronto-based Second City alumni's such as the aforementioned Catherine O'Hara, and John Candy, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, Harold Ramis and later, Martin Short.
There would be sketches of the various low budget shows the TV station would air (somewhat ironic, as the SCTV show itself was very low budget - although that made it all even funnier).
I highly recommend it. IMO, it's much better than other, similar, sketch series, as there was an overriding theme to all the insanity.
It even works with audio only, as some of the early from-VHS tapes episodes on Youtube were almost unwatchable.
Evidently not available streaming on Prime or anywhere else in the US. The only option is what they got on YouTube. I see some dvd sets on eBay but don't see them for sale in any format anywhere else. Maybe since it's just now showing up in Canada it will show up on Prime here too in the future, but not yet, I tried SCTV and Second City Television with no results.
Was this before they went to SNL?
Yeah, they had just left Second City Toronto and Chicago for Harold Ramis.
I didn't check out the availability in the U.S. Guess it is only Canada.
The DVD sets are (mostly) for the NBC series. These episodes had some new material, but also reruns of old sketches. You can get a DVD set consisting of selected early shows, and that's the one to try for if you can find it (SCTV - The Early Years).
Otherwise, I guess you're stuck with the Youtube episodes. Even with the bad quality, they're worth watching.
Unfortunately, SCTV is only available in Canada, as previously suggested.
"Currently, there are no announced plans to bring the complete SCTV series to Prime Video or any other streaming service in the United States.
As of March 2026, the situation for U.S. viewers is as follows:
Geographic Restriction: The recent streaming deal between The Second City and Amazon is exclusive to Prime Video Canada.
Licensing Challenges: The series has historically been difficult to license for streaming, particularly in the U.S., due to the extensive use of popular music from the 70s and 80s that was never officially cleared for digital distribution.
Current U.S. Options:
The series is not currently available on-demand on any U.S. streaming platform.
Some clips and sketches remain available on the official SCTV YouTube channel.
Physical DVD collections are an alternative, though many are out of print or incomplete.
Regarding the long-awaited Martin Scorsese-directed SCTV reunion special, the project remains delayed or shelved as of early 2026, with no confirmed release date for U.S. audiences"