Bizarre (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Bizarre is a weekly Canadian
sketch comedy
series, airing from 1980 to 1985. The show was hosted by John Byner
, and produced by CTV
at the CFTO
Glen-Warren Studios in suburban Toronto for first-run airing in Canada on CTV and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.
(who often came in to halt a sketch midway through), provided an early example of removing the fourth wall
. Much of the humour on the show was considered risque during the original run of the series.
The series utilized a rotating ensemble of supporting actors who backed Byner up in his sketches. Besides Einstein this group included Billy Van
, Billy Barty
, and Wayne and Shuster
alumnus Tom Harvey.
Bizarre had guest star performers during its run including Steve Allen
, Frances Bay
, a pre-Royal Canadian Air Farce
Luba Goy
, Victoria Jackson
, Murray Langston (as The Unknown Comic), Howie Mandel
, Pat Morita
, Dave Thomas
, Willie Tyler & Lester
, Marc Weiner
, Henny Youngman
and others.
(a spoof of daredevils
such as Evel Knievel
), played by Bob Einstein
, in which Super Dave would perform elaborate mock stunt
s meant to enthrall viewers; a reporter would assist in framing the sketch. Inevitably, the stunt would fail spectacularly, resulting in severe, hilarious injury to Super Dave. These sketches would usually finish with a view of the scene, in which Super Dave was buried, encased, launched etc., as appropriate for the sketch. Meanwhile, feigning agony, Super Dave would discuss sundry details - information about the next show, why the stunt failed, or what he'd do to the reporter once he recovered from his injuries.
One notable Super Dave sketch was a stunt where he attempted to avoid being harmed while standing under a pile driver
, by repeating the nonsense phrase "balloon ball". The stunt failed in typical Super Dave style, leaving him as a helmeted head atop two shoes. This particular sketch was popular enough that during the following season, Showtime ads for Bizarre featured a cartoon logo of Super Dave's helmeted head and shoes.
As usual for Bizarre, the Super Dave sketches contained coarse language, but led to a spin-off series (Super Dave
) with a more family-friendly style.
) had the nudity removed and the language bleeped by a horn-honking sound. Although the "adult" version is most closely associated with Showtime, it did go out on a few independent TV stations during the 1980s, playing as late-night fare, although the "clean" version is the one that was more commonly found in syndication. Current day Canadian broadcast content regulations, which are more lenient than those of the 1980s, might permit broadcast of the uncensored Showtime versions, but they have not been offered for broadcast syndication.
The "adult" version was also shown regionally on ITV
in the United Kingdom
, usually airing after 11 PM and with some of the more extreme language bleeped out conventionally.
Sketches containing nudity were censored for Canadian television and syndication by the inclusion of reverse angle scenes originally filmed from behind nude actors (generally women baring their breasts) or else alternate scenes that had been filmed with the models wearing a bra.
The "adult" version has not aired on television since the Showtime airings and original syndication ceased in the late 1980s. The syndicated episodes have been rebroadcast since.
In 2008 the show was sold to TV Land Canada
, a classic TV channel in Canada. TV Land Canada aired the show as a marathon on New Year's Day 2009.
and are available to buy from Canadian and US retailers. Nine individual volumes have been released as of July 2007, although Volume 7 included a mastering fault that rendered nearly half of the episodes unwatchable. VEI asked consumers to return the defective disc to the retail they purchased it from, ask for a refund, and watch for announcements for a "new" volume 7. When the boxset of volumes 1-10 was released, it contained a corrected volume 7, although a corrected volume for individual sale, as of November, 2008, has yet to be spotted. It would appear the boxset may be the only way to currently acquire a 100% working copy of volume 7, or to acquire any sort of copy of volume 10.
While the episodes appear to be uncensored regarding language and nudity, most are missing their original end credits, which included plugs for the Royal York
Hotel in Toronto
and Tilden Rent-A-Car
. The only episodes to retain their original end credits are ones where live-action sketches are still taking place while the credits roll, and even those episodes have the sponsorship plugs removed. A generic "DVD credits" roll appears on each disc to give credit to the people who worked on the show.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
series, airing from 1980 to 1985. The show was hosted by John Byner
John Byner
John Byner is an American actor, comedian, and impressionist who has had a lengthy television and movie career. His voice work includes the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark, in which the title characters are voiced by Byner's impressions of Dean Martin and Jackie Mason,...
, and produced by CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
at the CFTO
CFTO-TV
CFTO-DT, broadcast on channel 9 and cable 8, is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. Currently branded as CTV Toronto, it is the flagship station of the CTV Television Network, and was one of the charter members of the network when it was launched in 1961. It...
Glen-Warren Studios in suburban Toronto for first-run airing in Canada on CTV and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.
Synopsis
The series features slapstick sketches, monologues, TV parodies, and performances by guest stand-up comics. Byner's interactions with members of the studio audience, or with show producer Bob EinsteinBob Einstein
Stewart Robert "Bob" Einstein is an American actor and comedy writer best known for his portrayal of the fictional stuntman Super Dave Osborne.-Life and career:...
(who often came in to halt a sketch midway through), provided an early example of removing the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
. Much of the humour on the show was considered risque during the original run of the series.
The series utilized a rotating ensemble of supporting actors who backed Byner up in his sketches. Besides Einstein this group included Billy Van
Billy Van
William Allan Van Evera, , known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor and singer.-Biography:...
, Billy Barty
Billy Barty
Billy Barty was an American film actor.-Biography:Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania...
, and Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
alumnus Tom Harvey.
Bizarre had guest star performers during its run including Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
, Frances Bay
Frances Bay
Frances Bay was a U.S.-based Canadian character actress, best known for playing quirky, elderly women on film and television...
, a pre-Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
Luba Goy
Luba Goy
-Life and career:Goy was born in Haltern, Germany to Ukrainian parents and raised in Ottawa. They emigrated to Canada in 1951. She is a graduate of the Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, and later graduated from Canada's National Theatre School, before acting in theatre productions in...
, Victoria Jackson
Victoria Jackson
Victoria Jackson is an American comedian, actress, satirist and singer best known as a cast member of the NBC television sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1992....
, Murray Langston (as The Unknown Comic), Howie Mandel
Howie Mandel
Howard Michael "Howie" Mandel is a Canadian stand-up comedian, television host, and actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Before his career as a game show host, Mandel was best known for his role on...
, Pat Morita
Pat Morita
Noriyuki "Pat" Morita was an American actor of Japanese descent who was well-known for playing the roles of Matsuo "Arnold" Takahashi on Happy Days and Mr. Miyagi in the The Karate Kid movie series, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1984.-Early life:Pat...
, Dave Thomas
Dave Thomas (actor)
David "Dave" Thomas is a Canadian comedian and actor. He was born in St. Catharines, Ontario, but moved to Durham, North Carolina where his father, John E. Thomas, attended Duke University and earned a PhD in Philosophy. Thomas attended George Watts and Moorehead elementary schools...
, Willie Tyler & Lester
Willie Tyler
Willie Tyler is an American ventriloquist, comedian and actor. Most of the time, he is credited as Willie Tyler and Lester or Willie Tyler & Lester. He has appeared in many television commercials, sitcoms, and movies. He got his first big break in 1972 on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.-Personal...
, Marc Weiner
Marc Weiner
Marc Weiner is an American comedian, clown, puppeteer, and television producer. Born into the Weiner family as the middle child between his brothers Jonas and Jess, Has 3 children, Rebecca who is married to Yerucham Pliner, Max who is a successful musician and Sara who is very pretty...
, Henny Youngman
Henny Youngman
Henry "Henny" Youngman was a British-born American comedian and violinist famous for "one-liners", short, simple jokes usually delivered rapid-fire...
and others.
Super Dave Osborne
A regular feature of the show was Super Dave OsborneSuper Dave Osborne
Super Dave Osborne is a character created and played by comedian Bob Einstein. He is a naive but optimistic stuntman who is frequently injured when his stunts go wrong.-Appearance history:...
(a spoof of daredevils
Stunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...
such as Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel , born Robert Craig Knievel, was an American daredevil and entertainer. In his career he attempted over 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980, and in 1974, a failed jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket...
), played by Bob Einstein
Bob Einstein
Stewart Robert "Bob" Einstein is an American actor and comedy writer best known for his portrayal of the fictional stuntman Super Dave Osborne.-Life and career:...
, in which Super Dave would perform elaborate mock stunt
Stunt
A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat, or any act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes in TV, theatre, or cinema...
s meant to enthrall viewers; a reporter would assist in framing the sketch. Inevitably, the stunt would fail spectacularly, resulting in severe, hilarious injury to Super Dave. These sketches would usually finish with a view of the scene, in which Super Dave was buried, encased, launched etc., as appropriate for the sketch. Meanwhile, feigning agony, Super Dave would discuss sundry details - information about the next show, why the stunt failed, or what he'd do to the reporter once he recovered from his injuries.
One notable Super Dave sketch was a stunt where he attempted to avoid being harmed while standing under a pile driver
Pile driver
A pile driver is a mechanical device used to drive piles into soil to provide foundation support for buildings or other structures. The term is also used in reference to members of the construction crew that work with pile-driving rigs....
, by repeating the nonsense phrase "balloon ball". The stunt failed in typical Super Dave style, leaving him as a helmeted head atop two shoes. This particular sketch was popular enough that during the following season, Showtime ads for Bizarre featured a cartoon logo of Super Dave's helmeted head and shoes.
As usual for Bizarre, the Super Dave sketches contained coarse language, but led to a spin-off series (Super Dave
Super Dave (TV series)
Super Dave is a Canadian/American variety show starring and hosted by the fictional character Super Dave Osborne . It ran from 1987 to 1991 on Showtime in the US and the Global Television Network in Canada...
) with a more family-friendly style.
Versions
Two versions of the show were produced: episodes that aired on the Showtime cable network in the United States contained nudity and coarse language. The versions that aired on CTV (and later in syndicationTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
) had the nudity removed and the language bleeped by a horn-honking sound. Although the "adult" version is most closely associated with Showtime, it did go out on a few independent TV stations during the 1980s, playing as late-night fare, although the "clean" version is the one that was more commonly found in syndication. Current day Canadian broadcast content regulations, which are more lenient than those of the 1980s, might permit broadcast of the uncensored Showtime versions, but they have not been offered for broadcast syndication.
The "adult" version was also shown regionally on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, usually airing after 11 PM and with some of the more extreme language bleeped out conventionally.
Sketches containing nudity were censored for Canadian television and syndication by the inclusion of reverse angle scenes originally filmed from behind nude actors (generally women baring their breasts) or else alternate scenes that had been filmed with the models wearing a bra.
The "adult" version has not aired on television since the Showtime airings and original syndication ceased in the late 1980s. The syndicated episodes have been rebroadcast since.
In 2008 the show was sold to TV Land Canada
TV Land Canada
Comedy Gold is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel that focuses primarily on sitcoms from the 1970s to 1990s. It is wholly owned by Bell Media and is an offshoot of The Comedy Network.-History:...
, a classic TV channel in Canada. TV Land Canada aired the show as a marathon on New Year's Day 2009.
DVD release
DVDs of the unedited version, titled The Best of Bizarre Uncensored, were released in late 2005 from Canadian video label Visual EntertainmentVisual Entertainment
Visual Entertainment Inc. is a home video/television distribution company that is based in Toronto, Ontario Canada. It is an independent label but has managed to release quite a few well-known TV series on DVD.-Children:* The Big Adventure Series...
and are available to buy from Canadian and US retailers. Nine individual volumes have been released as of July 2007, although Volume 7 included a mastering fault that rendered nearly half of the episodes unwatchable. VEI asked consumers to return the defective disc to the retail they purchased it from, ask for a refund, and watch for announcements for a "new" volume 7. When the boxset of volumes 1-10 was released, it contained a corrected volume 7, although a corrected volume for individual sale, as of November, 2008, has yet to be spotted. It would appear the boxset may be the only way to currently acquire a 100% working copy of volume 7, or to acquire any sort of copy of volume 10.
While the episodes appear to be uncensored regarding language and nudity, most are missing their original end credits, which included plugs for the Royal York
Fairmont Royal York
The Fairmont Royal York Hotel, formerly the Royal York Hotel and still often so called, is a large and historic hotel in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at 100 Front Street West. Opened on June 11, 1929, the Royal York was designed by Ross and Macdonald and built by the Canadian Pacific Railway...
Hotel in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Tilden Rent-A-Car
National Car Rental
National Car Rental is a rental car company based in Clayton, Missouri. National was founded by 24 independent rental car agents on August 27, 1947...
. The only episodes to retain their original end credits are ones where live-action sketches are still taking place while the credits roll, and even those episodes have the sponsorship plugs removed. A generic "DVD credits" roll appears on each disc to give credit to the people who worked on the show.