C'est une beauté de chemin à faire, hein?

February 8, 2008 10:17 AM

So, good day, and welcome to the Bob and Doug McKenzie FPP. How's it goin' eh? Like, I've got some back bacon fryin' up on the Coleman, a dozen donuts, a two-four, and our topic today is stuff on the internet relating to these two Canadian hoseheads. So, like, sit back, put a toque on, grab a beer, and enjoy!

The internet is like having a VCR that plays anything you want! Here, for example, are a whole cooler full of ice cold McKenzie Brothers "Great White North" skits from the SCTV days, back where it all started, eh. Their topics include:
- New Boots
- Beer Nog
- Using Calculators in School
- How to roll your own while wearing ski mitts
- Microwave Ovens
- Short Cuts
- Flats
- Separatism: the problem of the French from the point of view of back bacon and beer
- The Great White North
- Space Shuttle Arm, and Snow Routes

OK, beauty, eh? Next, we have the Album part of the FPP. Here are the hit videos, made by me. (They were not, eh? Take Off!) And (zoom in on me), psst, here's the real beauty part of the FPP, eh? Don't tell anyone, but some hoser left copies of the whole Great White North album lying around for you to download, along with the time they hosted a radio show. (Downloading is like, taking a dump, but, like, in reverse, eh?) And this guy has more stuff than you can shake a hockey stick at, eh? (OK, zoom out now.) So, like, you can make their theme song your ring-tone. You'll also find in there the soundtrack to their feature film... Strange Brew!

Like, I didn't realize this, because I failed my grade 6, that Strange Brew is like, a rip-off of Hamlet. It even has a movie-within-a-movie. OK! Also, the movie has a really good villain. Here's the trailer.

The youtubes I found of the movie were all messed up, and made Bob's voice sound like it was coming from Doug or vice versa (the other way around, eh?), so just, like, skip those. And the tapes this guy left lying around don't fit into my internet VCR. You can try'em, maybe they'll work for you.

Here are the brothers reviewing their movie on Sneak Previews -- that was on Public TV in the lower half of North America. (It had the Ernie and Bert guys before they were famous. Geez, what Americans find educational, eh?)

So when Bob and Doug got to be, like, stars and real famous and everything, they even got a piece on the CBC news! Here's a feature of them, and two hosers that look like them, and it also shows the "International Hoser Day Parade," which may or may not really have happened. (The internet, like, brings things to you, but it also takes them away, eh?)

So, what are Bob and Doug doing today? One cartoon says they've been reincarnated as moose. This cartoon (from 10:50 to the end) says they're garbagemen, but it also points to their secret identity as corporate spokesmodels! And some guy who looks like their dad is talking about them.

But really, we all know in our hearts, they're still sitting around, hanging out with buddies, and drinking stubbies.

So, like, that's the end of the FPP, so, good day, eh?

posted by not_on_display (65 comments total)

That's way too many links.

Given that, I love "Take Off".
posted by smackfu at 10:19 AM on February 8, 2008

You sir, are a genius.
posted by fungible at 10:22 AM on February 8, 2008

I always thought the Bob and Doug bits ran too long. Like this post. An epic effort on behalf of characters known for not making any effort at anything. Oooh... post-modern irony!
posted by wendell at 10:24 AM on February 8, 2008

No mention of the fact that they got their star because they need to fill 60 seconds on Canada that got commercials in the US. Cancon forever!
posted by GuyZero at 10:31 AM on February 8, 2008

Takeoff you haters, er, I mean hosers.
posted by photoslob at 10:37 AM on February 8, 2008

I always thought the Bob and Doug bits ran too long.

I always thought they ran exactly as long as the Canadian-content laws required them to.

But I am not a B&D expert. I could ask a colleague who *is* a B&D expert, to the point of having an original Strange Brew movie poster.

I wasn't gonna get a donut and a double-double from Timmy's on my way home, but now I toooootally am. With my toque on.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 10:45 AM on February 8, 2008

Cancon was included, second link after the jump, and mentioned in two of the interviews, eh?

I'm, like, glad, I didn't post modern ironing. My mom does all that stuff for me.
posted by not_on_display at 10:51 AM on February 8, 2008

Rick Moranis is so, so delicious eh?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:52 AM on February 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Whoa, not_on_display, like, beauty post but quit bein' such a keener eh?
posted by Turtles all the way down at 10:55 AM on February 8, 2008

This is the greatest post since, like, anything. You are forever thanked. Let me buy you a beer.

Just let me see if I can fit this baby mouse in this bottle here, and...
posted by koeselitz at 10:58 AM on February 8, 2008

/applauds.

Now THAT is the way do a youtube-and-assorted media post. Damn, totally genius.
posted by mwhybark at 10:59 AM on February 8, 2008

Great post, not_on_display , I'd kiss you if I didn't have puke on my breath.
posted by buggzzee23 at 11:00 AM on February 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

Whenever anyone talks about a solution to a problem that's WAYYYYYYY too painful to justify, I think about the bit involving their friend's mom keeping his toes warm in her mouth to stave off frostbite. No way, eh! I'd tell him sorry, I'll take you down to the salvation army for some crutches tomorrow...
posted by phearlez at 11:00 AM on February 8, 2008

Damndest thing is, earlier today I was thinking "Y'know what movie I haven't seen in a long time? Strange Brew. I ought to rent that and make my wife watch it again."

It's one of those movies that's so dumb it's good. Kinda like "They Live".
posted by caution live frogs at 11:01 AM on February 8, 2008

sweet. I totally dug the separatism bit, I finally understand.
posted by dr. moot at 11:02 AM on February 8, 2008

The stubbies link reminded me of a time in the late 1980s when Labatt's was phasing out the stubby bottles in favor of the long necks, and some enterprising company in the Detroit area bought up a Windsor warehouse full of the stuff, slapped their own label on it (but let it be known in the local press that it was discontinued Labatt's) and sold it for like $4 a case. Mmmm, I had lots of inexpensive Labatt's goodness that summer.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:04 AM on February 8, 2008

Known more formally as 'Ernie's Toes' on the Great White North Album link up above, by the way....
posted by phearlez at 11:04 AM on February 8, 2008

I heard once that there was a point in Australian history where news presenters stopped using fake English accents and started sounding like real Australians. This, as it was reported, triggered a new, or renewed, pride in the country.

I don't know if that's true, but I do know that the first time I saw Bob and Doug in front of the map of the Great White North, I was dumbstruck. It was the first time I had heard anyone on TV talk like the real guys I went to school with. We didn't use the word "hoser," but it was the perfect encapsulation of people you saw every day but until then had never seen recognized. And it definitely triggered a new kind of pride in our Canadian identity; to this day I still proudly call myself a hoser.

I'm still a bit mystified as to the source of their appeal in the lower section of North America, though, because most people there have never ever met or heard a real Canadian, as evidenced by the fact that they still seem to think we say "oot" and "aboot." No No No! It's the difference between the ou sound in "pout' and "vowel." Now smarten up all you hosers down in Lesser Canada, okay?
posted by Turtles all the way down at 11:05 AM on February 8, 2008

Great record. Their rendition of Twelve Days of Christmas still makes me laugh. "Good day! And welcome to day twelve."
posted by ZachsMind at 11:07 AM on February 8, 2008

Take off, ya hoser!
posted by Mental Wimp at 11:08 AM on February 8, 2008

I'm still a bit mystified as to the source of their appeal in the lower section of North America

I think it came around the time of SCTV's rising popularity, when people began escaping from the horrors that encapsulated bad seasons of SNL. Prior to cable being widely available, SCTV was shown locally on PBS where I grew up. It was typically aired late night on a Sunday night, and you felt like you had to sneak around to watch it, Sunday being a school night and all.

Incidentally, when MTV began airing episodes of The Young Ones a few years later, they aired them on Sunday nights as well. I think all of these shows were simply gateway drugs to a long term Simpsons addiction.

No No No! It's the difference between the ou sound in "pout' and "vowel."

Some of us know the difference, as we grew up in the vicinity of northern Minnesota and Wisconsin (aka "Canada Light").
posted by thanotopsis at 11:17 AM on February 8, 2008

COO LOO COO COO COO LOO COO COO
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:22 AM on February 8, 2008

I've worked with hosers, I've known hosers, and you sirs, are no hosers.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:35 AM on February 8, 2008

I was always bummed that the Animax Bob & Doug cartoon (featured on the Strange Brew DVD) never got past the pilot stage. I would have watched that one for sure, eh.

My buddy & I can *still* perform the entire "Great White North" album, given enough beers. Ah, the virtues of growing up in a small town with nothing to do - for starters, you can drive around aimlessly often enough to memorize entire comedy albums.
posted by Banky_Edwards at 11:35 AM on February 8, 2008

...my true love gave to me: beer....in a tree.
posted by ericbop at 11:51 AM on February 8, 2008

So which one is supposed to be Terence and which one is Philip?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:00 PM on February 8, 2008

No No No! It's the difference between the ou sound in "pout' and "vowel."

Not to nit-pick, but they are the same sound. It's closer to "oat" than "oot". Sorey, eh.
Gotta go, somebody horked my beer.
posted by Listener_T at 12:07 PM on February 8, 2008

Umm, one mistake. Up here, we spell 'doughnut' properly, eh?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:07 PM on February 8, 2008

^I go by the Tim Horton's spelling.

Speaking of Canadians, I find the Trailer Park Boys [previously and previously] almost as fun, as a grown-up.
posted by not_on_display at 12:29 PM on February 8, 2008

... eight comic books, seven packs of smokes, six packs of Tuborg, five golden toques! Four pounds of back bacon, three french toasts, two turtlenecks... and a beer in a tree!

Next year, get me a chainsaw.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 12:29 PM on February 8, 2008

I'm still a bit mystified as to the source of their appeal in the lower section of North America, though, because most people there have never ever met or heard a real Canadian, as evidenced by the fact that they still seem to think we say "oot" and "aboot."

The audience of the Beverly Hillbillies was far broader than the number of people who'd actually met someone from Appalachia. And I still meet people who think it's representative.

Also, that kind of Canadian accent is hilarious. I wish more people talked like that.
posted by Tehanu at 12:39 PM on February 8, 2008

Not to nit-pick, but they are the same sound. It's closer to "oat" than "oot". Sorey, eh.

Sorry yourself, Listener_T, but "oat" it ain't. I think the problem is that to many Americans "vowel" and "pout" may sound similar, whereas in Canada they're pronounced very differently: a long round sound and a short one, respectively. But how do I communicate this in terms that would be meaningful to you and your delightfully insular brethren?

In any case, if you're suggesting that we pronounce "boat" and "about" similarly....well, you should just take off, hosehead, fer friggin out loud.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 12:45 PM on February 8, 2008

I've got it! The contestant bowed before the bout. No? Still no difference?

I kind of get the "boat" thing: that's a word whose vowel sound you could never stretch out. But that's not the sound.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 12:50 PM on February 8, 2008

Yes, The World Famous. This is true.
posted by Turtles all the way down at 1:02 PM on February 8, 2008

You say hoser, I say Hoosier.
posted by not_on_display at 1:56 PM on February 8, 2008

What I was saying is that the sound that many take to be the signature dipthong of the "Canadian Accent" (the one in about) is "closer to 'oat'" than to "oot".Not exactly, but in the neighborhood.
The World Famous is correct in what s/he says. In your examples you used two words that in Standard Mid-Atlantic speech have the same vowel sound.
No offense meant. I have an enduring and abiding affection for our Neighbors to the North. I have long been a fan of SCTV, Robertson Davies, DeGrassi, and Moxy Fruvous among others. Some of my best friends are Canadian. (heh heh)....I'll take off now.
posted by Listener_T at 2:04 PM on February 8, 2008

Prior to cable being widely available, SCTV was shown locally on PBS where I grew up. It was typically aired late night on a Sunday night, and you felt like you had to sneak around to watch it, Sunday being a school night and all.

Incidentally, when MTV began airing episodes of The Young Ones a few years later, they aired them on Sunday nights as well.

It's true! it's true! I remember being SO EXCITED that my parents would let me stay up to watch The Young Ones on Sunday nights, and whenever the heck SCTV was aired, too...

Then again, we only got cable so my dad could have MTV.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 2:24 PM on February 8, 2008

Talk about a time capsule.
of Scarberia and the 70's. ouch. Such a rock and roll town. fek.
but a hella' dip into nostalgia there n–o–d.
[next you'll be reminiscing about the Gasworks./]

Agreed, Trailer Park Boys, is much much funnier and off the hook.
What of that episode with the nicked vodka, which they then poured cases into a kiddie wading pool to hide the evidence, until a fight ensued and Randy fell into it...Busted./

Love that intro tune too. Now that's nostalgic, somehow.
posted by alicesshoe at 5:09 PM on February 8, 2008

hello,
Trailer Park Boys.
[showed fine in preview, or so I thought]
posted by alicesshoe at 5:15 PM on February 8, 2008

It's missing one bit of ephemera that my former boss has been searching for for many years: a long lost television spot the duo taped for the radio station I work for. (The very station that's thanked in the liner notes of the Great White North album).

Other than that, fantastic post!
posted by evilcolonel at 5:17 PM on February 8, 2008

Need your fix for a couple of hosers doing stupid things? Then step right up and check out Canada's latest TV export Kenny vs Spenny; and don't forget to check out their competitions. Enjoy, eh?
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 5:49 PM on February 8, 2008

Every episode of TPB is full of fear and idiocy and cheeseburgergutbustin' laughs. I cannot watch the episodes on the showcase website, but I've seen them all, because I just had to. It's also very touching and human in contrast to its lunacy.

Cory and Trevor always reminded me of Bob and Doug, in a way.
posted by not_on_display at 5:51 PM on February 8, 2008

Whereas Kenny Vs Spenny reminds me of two roommates that I had long, long ago, thank god for the passage of time. I didn't know they were Canadian. They're so... well spoken!

This FPP reminds me to get my son a passport so we can take a trip to Montreal this summer. A passport for Canada -- WTF, eh!?
posted by not_on_display at 5:56 PM on February 8, 2008

What, no love for Corner Gas?

Oh yeah, eh, I already got my toque on but you can feel free to grab me another beer, ya hoser.
posted by arto at 6:10 PM on February 8, 2008

No No No! It's the difference between the ou sound in "pout' and "vowel."

And because I knew you were talking about Canadian, and I'm from New England, I was already reading "poutine" before I figured out what you were talking about.

Somewhere, I have that album on vinyl. Thanks for the post not_on_display.
posted by jessamyn at 6:56 PM on February 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

coo-coo coo-coo coo-coo-coo!
posted by jonmc at 7:29 PM on February 8, 2008

As a coda, those of you who may be hoser-inclined could do worse than to check out the uber-Canadian FUBAR. Bob and Doug are Canadian-cute; this is mainline hoser heroin.

/Turn down the suck!
posted by Turtles all the way down at 7:59 PM on February 8, 2008

Pure Pwnage seems to capture the zeitgeist too..
posted by Chuckles at 9:47 PM on February 8, 2008

Is there something wrong with the "rip off of hamlet" link? I mean, I know that it is, but I wanted to check and make sure that Bob & Doug where really Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, and that link didn't help me at all..
posted by Chuckles at 9:59 PM on February 8, 2008

Canadian raising is what that "about" sound is called by linguists, and it's definitely not "aboot".

In my experience as a Canadian, most Ontarians and Maritime Canadians pronounce it something like "abayoht" — say the "bayoht" part really quickly as if it were one syllable (a diphthong really). It's a much longer diphthong than most Americans, but it's very similar to how it's pronounced in parts of Scotland and Northern England.

In the Western prairie provinces, to my ear, the pronunciation is really closer to "aboat".

Native-born west coast Canadians (i.e. Vancouver, Victoria) don't show much of it at all, and neither do anglophone Quebeckers.

Wow. That was far too serious a comment for this thread. But there you go, eh?
posted by attaboy at 3:43 AM on February 9, 2008

attaboy! attaboy. "Canadian raising", eh? Neat!
posted by Turtles all the way down at 4:06 AM on February 9, 2008

Need your fix for a couple of hosers doing stupid things? Then step right up and check out Canada's latest TV export Kenny vs Spenny; and don't forget to check out their competitions. Enjoy, eh?

The first couple seasons were good, and you hardly noticed whether and to what degree things were scripted. It was really hilarious, and not at all mean-spirited. The most recent stuff, though, since the South Park guys got involved, is just blackhearted unpleasantness, unfunny and obviously totally scripted. I don't like it one bit.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:36 AM on February 9, 2008

Somewhere, I have that album on vinyl

I do, too, Jessamyn! I used to love it... Seriously, I need to find a record player, I've got all kinds of weird stuff on vinyl I haven't listened to in years.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 8:05 AM on February 9, 2008

Sweetie Darling, that's Next Christmas, get me a chainsaw.

That line was a family favorite.
posted by stevil at 8:40 AM on February 9, 2008

I went on a Boy Scout canoe trip with a guy who, inspired by Bob and Doug McKenzie, spent the whole trip talking about his tuque.
posted by jayder at 10:17 AM on February 9, 2008

^Chuckles and anyone else:
The "rip off of hamlet" link, as it should look. Don't know how that got borked!
posted by not_on_display at 11:00 AM on February 9, 2008

I love it when the spoil sports start coming out of the woodwork to tell everyone that Kenny vs. Spenny is scripted.

I feel so privileged to be in the company of such intelligent and perceptive people... That's why people feel obliged to point out it the "fiction" of it all, right?
posted by Old Man Wilson at 11:09 AM on February 9, 2008

^Old Man Wilson - With due respect to the sanctity of your lawn, the American version (the only season I saw, on Comedy Central) kinda sucked; it seemed obvious to me that it was somewhat scripted.

Maybe the .ca version was much more subtle, but that didn't make it across the border. KvS was a chore to sit through; I didn't care about either of them and there was no hook to either of their characters to make me want to like or hate them enough to watch.

By then, it wasn't about whether it was scripted or not; it was a matter of characters with no likability whining and vid-blogging about doing things that Jackass covered with glee. (Like my two old roommates, without the grossout factor, except the one time one of them milked himself.)
posted by not_on_display at 12:14 PM on February 9, 2008

I like semi-colons; I like semi-colons; I like semi-colons except when they are red.
posted by not_on_display at 12:15 PM on February 9, 2008

not_on_display: Fair enough. I found them both quite unlikeable when I first watched, so I can totally identify with that. It's an worthwhile criticism, I think, especially in the episodes that aired on CC. Even stavros' observation that the show has gotten meaner I can agree with--I still watch and laugh, but I understand that the show isn't for everyone (except for the farting episode, which is. [Yes, I am a very mature individual])

Writing off the show because everything is "obviously" scripted, however, doesn't add anything to the discussion, is all. Criticize it because it's gross, because Kenny is a terrible ham or because Spenny overdoes it with his whining. If you say you don't like it because it's "fake," it just sounds like you're trying to sound more smarter than everyone in the room.
posted by Old Man Wilson at 12:34 PM on February 9, 2008

I feel so privileged to be in the company of such intelligent and perceptive people... That's why people feel obliged to point out it the "fiction" of it all, right?

Make a token effort not to be a complete fucking asshole, OK? Even a moderately charitable reading of what I said would lead one to the conclusion that I really liked the first couple of seasons, and I have no idea, as I said, whether or to what extent the show has been scripted since the outset.

But I think the most recent season was really bad, even though I did like the farting episode too, because I'm infantile that way. Nowhere did I say I had 'written off the show because everything is 'obviously' scripted'. Nowhere did I even say I had written off the show. I just don't like it very much any more, for the reasons I mentioned.

So I'll thank you not to put words into my mouth. I may not be the smartest person in the room, but based on the evidence you've shown of your reading comprehension, I'm going to have to assume I'm smarter than you.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:18 AM on February 10, 2008

In the context of stavros' comment I thought it clear his complaint was not if or if not it was scripted, but the fact that it was -obviously- scripted.
posted by phearlez at 11:46 AM on February 10, 2008

Wait, eh? I'm, like, confused...

Is this thread scripted?

(Aww, take off, you hoser.)
posted by not_on_display at 12:42 PM on February 10, 2008

Great post! I live in one of the towns where Strange Brew was filmed. It is our claim to fame.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 5:57 PM on February 11, 2008

Cory and Trevor always reminded me of Bob and Doug, in a way.

It's weird how that never occurred to me till just now.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:52 AM on March 3, 2008