Book excerpt: This work offers a complete episode guide and comprehensive history of Second City Television. The influential Canadian sketch comedy series created dozens of memorable characters (i.e. station president Guy Caballero and showbiz mogul Johnny LaRue) and featured well-known performers such as John Candy, Catherine O'Hara, and Martin Short, at the height of their comedic careers. Presenting a thorough summary and review for each of SCTV's 135 episodes, the author traces the initial appearance and evolution of some of comedy's best known television characters and sketches. Two appendices provide guides to the program's compilation shows and recently released boxed sets on DVD.