CCCP1

Russian Television (as imagined by SCTV)
00:09 Today Is Moscow
02:53 Uposcrabblenyk
04:53 What Fits Into Russia
07:06 Mother Russia Cares PSA
07:38 Hey Giorgy!
09:27 Strelnokoff Vodka
10:44 Tibor's Tractor

[@frankkolton1780]

I knew right away (as I'm sure most of you knew too), that Anna Petrovich's answer of "prelypeskovyachnopaproveftov" was an abbreviation and wouldn't be accepted. I was glad comrade Kametsky won and that Anna Petrovich was disqualified, she most likely is a Chekist. I used to love Uposcrabblenyk, it's dirty shame that we can't get CCCP1 on TV anymore in the Mellonville area

[@NevadaBoss]

The timeless brilliance and originality of SCTV puts SNL to shame...truly awesome how totally original they were sketch after sketch..40yrs later, and STILL the high water mark in TV sketch comedy. #LaRue4Ever

[@deschover1]

And so much of that brilliance came about because they had next to no budget, they were forced by their circumstances to get extremely creative and rely on conceptual ideas, crazy characters and great dialogue as the basis for the show, glossing over the fact that they couldn't afford extravagant sets, props or SFX. In my opinion, the lack of money helped to create a more memorable show.

[@acmelka]

I fell asleep the night this episode originally aired. My brother sister n mom watched it w/o waking me and kept laughing about it for a week... 40 years later here i am.

[@blueabattoir]

Comrade, so glad you arrived.

[@misternewoutlook5437]

"Fool! Love you can get anywhere... but does she have a backhoe?"

[@seatspud]

One can see "What Fits Into Russia" in a different context today.

[@inconnu4961]

Upon first meeting Canadians, they were immensely proud to tell me, over & over, what a large country Canada is. It certainly is a source of GREAT pride for some Canadians!

[@bufnyfan1]

Hey Giorgy (07:38) was a spoof of a Canadian situation comedy called "King of Kensington" from the 70s The opening sequence from that show featured the star of the show Al Waxman walking through the Kensington market area of downtown Toronto greeting everyone/solving problems etc. Interestingly several SCTV stars (Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas) made cameos on that show

[@jamesewanchook2276]

yeah I remember the intro of that attempted Canadian sitcom ... only problem was KOK wasn't very funny and got waxed..man!

[@YahWay.]

Remember the horror as a child when the king's wife left him to study at SFU in Vancouver. Freaking hippie

[@billthecat129]

I thought that too...thanks!

[@YahWay.]

Thank you for putting all of these in one place, I've always wanted the backstory on why they did this

[@bobwoods1302]

I grew up on this and it's still brilliant today.

[@georgeb8893]

8:00 Uzbeks have drunk my battery fluid!

[@Bob_Zombie]

I remember that joke to this day. Damned Uzbeks!

[@CanuckFluter]

"I hope the shame is not too much to bare"

[@rewindcat7927]

Tibor’s tractor 😂

[@irenemax8692]

New Soviet minicam hahaha And Valery’s high heel Potemkins!

[@frankkolton1780]

They are almost as large and heavily constructed as the battleship. They are proudly built by superior, socialist workers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics comrade Irina.

[@elisloew3884]

LOL... ready to go over the fence.... to play the game........ I never laughed so hard... thanks for the post....

[@CanuckFluter]

I still think Giorgy is based on king of kensington

[@deschover1]

That was my exact thought upon first seeing it so many decades ago, that Giorgy was a send up of the King of Kensington opening credits, with Candy doing a great Al Waxman impersonation, happily waving to everyone he sees.

[@Team_schoenhardt]

I love the littel throw away lines, like "show today is crowded..."

[@meheuck]

It took me until adulthood to realize that the theme music to "Today is Moscow" is modeled on "Curried Soul" which was the theme music to the CBC program "AS IT HAPPENS."

[@johnbatinovic6593]

It sounded like 60's retro Quebec band Les Alexandrins. "Je me Souviens", or "Les Copain".

[@johnstewartrichards5922]

But who wrote the Concentration Music?!

[@inconnu4961]

@@johnstewartrichards5922 I believe that was Shostakovich's mother who wrote that classic piece!

[@chrisjohnston4445]

"I hope the shame is not too much to bear."

[@klondikebelridge1996]

Capitalist convicts and Kangaroos 😝. That's Australia alright

[@NormAppleton]

Uzbeks, don't give them money or matches

[@josephguyton1940]

New Russian mini-cam. lulz.

[@dashx1103]

"Hey Giorgy!" actually looks better than 99% of what airs on American network television these days.

[@NormAppleton]

I would love to have the ghost of Khrushchev giving me advice

[@davegreenlaw5654]

I believe the vodka ad (9:26) is based on old Canadian beer ads - specifically for the Canadian brand Labatt's 50 - from the late 70's. Something about it is tickling the back of my childhood memories brain.

[@brendencarlson9558]

No, it’s a Miller Beer ad. Here’s the melody: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4SopGWoiseko9k

[@deschover1]

Brenden, thanks for adding that link -- much like Dave, I too had been racking my brain, trying to remember the old commercial jingle that they used as the template for the Strelnokoff bit. I remember hearing the old Miller ads, the melody had stuck in my head but the lyrics wouldn't come to mind, so it was a case of "I know it, but I have no idea what it is".

[@brendencarlson9558]

@@deschover1 No problem. The Miller ad is burned in my head from being a little kid and hearing it. I remember watching baseball with my dad and that commercial coming on. A few years later when I was in my teens and I saw the CCCP1 lampoon on SCTV it immediately came to mind. One of those things that has served me so well in life…lol…

[@frankkolton1780]

Not a Labatt's commercial. As someone else stated, it was a Miller Beer Commercial jingle, it ran from 1971 to 1982, it was written by Bill Backer of the McCann - Erickson ad agency, he also wrote the famous I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing Coca Cola jingle. The Miller Time lyrics that were set to music - "If you've got the time, We've Got The Beer. Miller Beer. Miller Tastes too good to hurry through. But when it's time to relax, Miller stands clear. Beer after beer. If you've got the time (you got the time), We've got the Beer. Miller Beer."

[@komarovosevastopol]

Points to Kazakhstan and calls Ukraine

[@inconnu4961]

Canada is ALSO a supremely large country that most countries could fit within its borders. Ask any Canadian! They would be thrilled to regale you (and anyone who would listen) about Canada's vastness!

[@jackpontiac52]

A Canadian TV show !

[@m2miley]

You have to wonder where in Canada(Toronto?) they filmed some of these exteriors, because they look relatively accurate.

[@deschover1]

Production on SCTV was done in Edmonton from about mid-1980 to January 1982 before moving back to Toronto. This episode was from '81, so all that authentic, bleak Russian atmosphere is actually authentic, bleak Edmonton.

[@floydfinder]

The domed church is St Josaphat's on 97 Street

[@thehappycappy120]

@@deschover1 Toronto still calling for army to remove snow Lmao

[@inconnu4961]

@@dansprague2 We wouldnt call it a 'plague'! More like a 'fringe benefit'!

[@jamesewanchook2276]

I gotta say these old Sctv takes on USSR give me chills. The cold war is well remembered. As Bobby Bitman might have quipped: Give Ukes' all the materiel they need to decisively finish the Kremlins's 300 year old genocide. Slava Ukraine! 🇨🇦🇺🇦

[@WackyWadslow]

Unbrainwash yourself.

[@billthecat129]

May i please have concentration music please...i remember this from 45 years ago

[@beefydiefries]

5:25 uncles looking at u in the shower

[@MultiPetercool]

Uzbeks! Feh!😂

[@kademcarthur5362]

I actually thought the Uzbeks sketch was a parody of gangsta rap at first with the joke being that Uzbeks were to the USSR as African-Americans were to the US (sorry if that came across as unintentionally racist).

[@haljalykakik2384]

This sketch was made a good 10 years before gangsta rap existed. Back then, the guys in NWA were still playing electro and wearing Michael Jackson clothes and sporting Jheri curls.

[@kevincaldwell4707]

Now this would work on tv today with Russia being the way they are.

[@cabbagerollsandcoffee]

Now comrades, you can get your CCCp1 t-shirt here www.ebay.ca/itm/332693044682

[@UshankaShow]

I'm not a big fan of the USSR but this sketch was horrible. Like, very bad. Obviously, they never bothered to watch a single episode of a Soviet-era TIME news program that was broadcast on EVERY TV channel at 21:00.

[@frankkolton1780]

You clearly don't understand the concept of "satire". You must be very short, it went right over your head, comrade. Maybe you're just mad because you still have a pair of Potemkins in your closet.

[@frankgarrett9500]

This is what I imagine what television would be like if Bernie Sanders is elected president

[@Neville60001]

If you really believe that (and I dislike Sanders, because he isn't what he says) then you're a big fucking idiot.

[@jackpontiac52]

NYET, Comrade !

[@natureandphysics403]

Never, TV's gonna be great, folks, I make TV great, great TV.

[@klondikebelridge1996]

Our camera technology would be like this under Bernie's socialist command economy.

[@inconnu4961]

@@Neville60001 I spotted the kooky Leftist Hillary Clinton supporter!