TT 384: The Sammy Maudlin Show

RIP Joe Flaherty

Joe Flaherty obit by Amanda Holpuch.

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My favorite skit is “Bob Hope in China,” an 1980 installment of the recurring bit “The Sammy Maudlin Show” on SCTV.

B-list comedian Bobby Bittman tries to tell jokes on the B-list talk show hosted by Sammy Maudlin…but Bittman is interrupted by an unexpected drop-in from superstar Bob Hope, who proceeds to almost gracefully walk all over Bittman and Maudlin: “I thought this show had been cancelled!”

Joe Flaherty as Sammy Maudlin

Eugene Levy as Bobby Bittman

Dave Thomas as Bob Hope

The SCTV Network 90 DVD box was released in 2004, and soon I was watching “Bob Hope in China” almost daily, seeking to absorb further and further nuance from the superb line readings delivered by every member of the cast.

The skit is quite expansive, clocking in at eleven and a half minutes. It begins in the middle of things (delayed because of a football game), has a long central section away from the studio (a play within a play with delightful Rick Moranis), and ends with an almost painfully pure expression of false self as Bittman/Levy is unhappily forced to laugh at himself yet again.

Maudlin/Flaherty establishes the metatextual and satirical tone early on:

“Ladies and gentlemen — ah — I want to introduce my next guest: believe me he’s back from a smash engagement at the Flamingo Club up in Hamilton, Canada: he’s one of the funniest guys I know, and I want you to give a big, warm welcome to funnyman Bobby Bittman!”

All the performances are wonderful; Joe Flaherty’s knee-slapping is a genre unto its own. However, the crown must go to Dave Thomas as Bob Hope.

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At times SCTV is very nearly the thing it satirizes. It can be hard for an unsophisticated viewer to tell the difference between reality and comedy.

True story: I saw “Bob Hope in China” when it was originally broadcast (or shortly thereafter; in 1980 I would have been seven). I did not understand that the skit was satire, for I thought that Bob Hope was really interrupting a talk show. My dazed alcoholic father, sitting a few feet away from me with a beer in his hand, also failed to command the full context. We both quietly watched this (obviously not very good) television segment with uncomprehending frowns on our faces.