Rick Moranis is the only cast member not to have been a member of The Second City comedy troupe. Moranis was recommended by Dave Thomas.
The McKenzie Brothers sketches were originally created and included in the show as a protest against "Canadian content" governmental regulations that required a certain amount of Canadian "cultural" subjects to be included in the show. Thus the network insisted that the show adhere to the rules, which Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis considered ridiculous considering most of the cast and crew were Canadian themselves, and the McKenzie Brothers resulted. Never meant to be anything more than satire and strictly filler material, the routine became one of the most popular of the series and, ironically, was one of the most popular known Canadian acts of the period, both domestically and internationally.
Canadian rock band RUSH shows clips of Count Floyd during their concerts
While Joe Flaherty's "SCTV News" co-anchor character, Floyd Robertson, was named after Canadian news anchor Lloyd Robertson, as "Monster Chiller Horror Theatre" host 'Count Floyd' he was modeled after longtime Pittsburgh, PA horror movie show host Bill Cardille.
While Eugene Levy's "SCTV News" co-anchor character, Earl Camembert, was named after Earl Cameron, his persona was modeled after Buffalo, NY TV news anchorman Irv Weinstein.