This was made during the 1980 Screen Actors Guild strike. Robin left Hollywood and went to Toronto for a short time to hang with the SCTV crew and work in this episode.
This is from 1982-83, not 1980. Marty Short joined SCTV near the end of its run. 1980 was before SCTV was on NBC. Rick Moranis started that year. Robin Duke & Tony Rosato replaced Catherine O'Hara & John Candy. O'Hara & Candy came back in 1981.
I didn’t recognize Robin Williams at first … he was a good actor. An entirely different character. With John Candy and the others. An excellent clip! Thanks.
"The Bowery Boys in the Band..." ...with a little bit of "The Deer Hunter" thrown in for good measure. Martin Short's impersonation of Huntz Hall is as good as Robin Williams' of Leo Gorcey... ...but this "Slip Mahoney" is leading a... double life. Such satirical brilliance, and all in under 7 minutes, and featuring the gigantic talents of Robin Williams, Martin Short, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, and Eugene Levy. (RIP John Candy and Robin Williams.)
This sketch actually flashed into my mind sometime this morning. just came home from work to search for it, and lo and behold, here it is freshly posted from only 4 hours ago!! Thank you SO much for this!!!! :)
What an absolute treasure - thanks for sharing this comic tribute to The Boys In The Band! Need to find the whole episode with Robin & the SCTV geniuses.
It was Huntz himself who said Williams did the best Leo he ever saw. Obviously going in a different direction here. I met Huntz around 1988 at a baseball convention on Long Island. He came across as a pretty straitlaced guy. I'm not sure if he would appreciate the humor even though it's a tribute.
brian: The bowery is in New York. The Boys in the band was also set in New York. The Stonewall riots were also in New York, so it isn't far-fetched. San Francisco was not the only place with gay men.
It was just a joke. A bad joke but a joke nevertheless. I’ve seen several of the old Bowery Boys/Dead End Kids films over the years so I honestly did know about the real Bowery being located in New York but I just said San Francisco for the hell of it.
Sad that Williams and Candy never did a movie together, they were comedic geniuses. Absolutely no modern actor or comedian will ever be a funny or charming as these two guys
Martin Short is the only one here who does a good impersonation. And he had the hardest one to do: Huntz Hall. Robin Williams looked and sounded nothing like Leo Gorcey. The same thought occurred to me as did to another poster here, Robin is doing Popeye not Leo Gorcey.
Wow, why have I never seen this? This must have been right after the regular 30 min program and they had to go to 90 minutes, and bingo that is correct, this is 1982. Dam they put pressure on these folks doing a sketch show for that long, barely anyone watched it, crazy executives and reminds me of another little show SNL some years. Guy Cabellero would have never done that to his people, LOL
Bowery Boys movie reruns were wildly popular when I was growing up, yet they are completely forgotten today, not played anywhere I know. A shame b/c they are far funnier than the Three Stooges.
How old were John candy and robin Williams when they went to heaven when they died and how did they die and how tall were they will you answer the question I asked
As talented as Robin Williams was, he is AWFUL trying to impersonated Leo Gorcey. It's not that he didn't have the vocal range, he just doesn't seem to be trying.
It is Robin Williams playing Robin Williams being Gay with a few malapropisms, not Leo Gorcey (even with a Gay stereotype) one bit, which may have turned off people actually checking out Bowery Boys films. Likewise, Joe Flaherty playing Louie Dombrowski.- horrible portrayal Martin Short is brilliant as Huntz Hall
I remember the lineup well. This left, but that ridiculous snl remains. Haven't watched it in nearly 35 years. Political now just like all the stupid talk shows. I would rather watch this, atleast it had talent!!!!!
Ooooo KAY! First time seeing this. I guess it's funny for those that dig satire on forgotten Hollywood characters from wayback a bit on the flat side, like Pepsi without the added carbonation.
