Remember This?: Sifl N Olly

People are always lamenting that MTV doesn't show actual music videos anymore, although no one seems to remember that when they were showing music videos all the time for every "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that came along there were 45,000 "I'll Do Anything For Love"s. But there was another thing that MTV used to do that it doesn't do very much of anymore (Human Giant excluded), which is try new things with their original programming. That's how we got the first season of the Real World, Liquid Television, The State, Aeon Flux, and my favorite, Sifl N Olly. (It also meant Squirt TV, but let's not dwell too long on He Who Must Not Be Named.) I don't know what it was about two sock puppets making jokes about rollerskating and lasers, but I recorded every episode onto ancient tablets called VHS tapes, and moved those tapes with me for years before finally throwing them away. Here's a clip for their Guns n' Roses tribute, "Fake Blood":

Hmmm. I'm not sure that withstood the test of time as well as I probably thought it would back when I was drinking 40s in my sophomore year dorm room, when googly eyes on a ratty sock seemed like the kind of timeless genius they would teach Freshman Seminars about. But I will still look back fondly on that show for its lo-fi creativity, gentle humor, and for the line "I'm rounding up all the hobos, and I'm taking them all to JAIL."

Posted by Gabe at 4:00 PM in Nostalgia
Tags: Liam Lynch | Matt Crocco | Sifl N Olly

7 Comments

Sifl N Olly is one of those shows that begs for a DVD release (as was TV Funhouse), even if it led to the uninteresting Liam Lynch album. Plus, I think you're going to have to explain your problem w/ Squirt TV (just for clarity's sake).

Posted by: Chadams at 07/10/08 4:22 PM | Reply
Score = 1

Agreed. Sifl and Olly was one of the best things MTV aired. Through the test of time, some of the sketches get a little slow, but generally I think it's still good. I was in middle school and saw it sober every night and loved it. Chester is the best.

Posted by: adrienne at 07/10/08 4:28 PM | Reply
Score = 1

"for every "Smells Like Teen Spirit" that came along there were 45,000 "I'll Do Anything For Love"s."

So you mean for every terrible video there was a fucking awesome video that made me cry, right?

Posted by: Erin at 07/10/08 5:28 PM | Reply
Score = 1

SIFL and OL-LEY, SIFL and OLEY show. Rock.

Posted by: nikijoya at 07/10/08 6:44 PM | Reply
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ROCK!

Posted by: mmmikey at 07/10/08 8:33 PM | Reply
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yeah. and oh, god, 'the panda song'

Posted by: athieno at 07/12/08 3:03 AM | Reply
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Best evar. I think my best friend at the time and i didn't even speak in original thought, just sifl and olly quotes.

Posted by: hillary_b at 07/13/08 11:46 AM | Reply
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