Bizarre Sketch Comedy: Canada's Uncensored Legacy

It's April 2nd. Welcome in. This is Canada News Today, where local news meets AI. I'm

Corey with the story. Back in the 1980s, Canada dropped a wild sketch comedy show called Bazaar

on CTV from 1980 to 1986. ABC passed on the pilot after airing it in 1979, so the censored

version hit Canadian TV while the full uncut episodes ran on US. Cable Network Showtime.

Hosted by comedian John Biner and cooked up by Bob Einstein and Alan Blyh,

who both came from the Smothers Brothers comedy hour, it pushed boundaries, hard. The show thrived

on blue humor and total fourth wall breaks, with Biner chatting straight to the live audience

and Einstein suiting up to crash-boring. Sketches. It felt ahead of its time, making even modern

late-night troops look tame. Early spots went to future big names, like a Young Mike Myers playing

Biner's nephew Timmy in one episode, plus Howie Mandel, Red Fox, Dave Thomas, and Lou

Bagoy, who popped up seven times. Those gigs helped launch careers in a RAW, no holds barred vibe.

Einstein's real breakout was there too, helmet on as the accident-prone Daredevil Super

Dave Osborne, hyped by sportscaster Mike Walden's over the top. Intro's blending hype and fake

worry. That character spread it into its own family-friendly series running five seasons from 1987.

You can still hunt down classic clips online these days, proving bizarre, dirty roots keep growing

strong in comedy history.