Goodbye, Joe

Lookout Joe, you're comin' home.

Old times were good times,

Old times were good times.

'Lookout Joe' - Neil Young

Strange having Neil's lyrics in my head as I think about my own feelings about the passing of Joe Flaherty. I was, once again, surfing pages on my phone after a long day of teaching and discovered that another icon from my youth was gone. I also wondered if this might have been a joke. April first had just passed, and I was ready for anything. But seriously, this? The death of one of my most beloved figures from my childhood? The loss of a man who was a keystone in one of the greatest comedy programs ever broadcast?

Sadly, yes.

This is going to be a very difficult article for me to complete, not just because of how I feel about his death, but also because I am not even that sure anyone really cares that much about the man and his career. I spoke to my mother on the phone just after learning the news, and she was aware of my love for his work. 'Such a sad loss for you,' she said. Yeah, it was... But for who else?

I soon learned that there were plenty of colleagues who wanted to share their own feelings about his career, including the people from near own generation: Dave Thomas, Martin Short, Dan Ackroyd, Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, Micheal McKean, and so forth were all online discussing their love for the man. I had a bit of a doubt that he would be lauded and praised so deeply, but the pleasure in seeing all of these recollections of his career made me smile, as did one other thing...

SCTV!

There were lots of mention of Freaks and Geeks and Happy Gilmore and his role as the noisemaker on the golf course whenever Adam Sandler's semi-pro attempted to make a shot. Okay...I liked the film. I thought that it was great to see Sandler and Bob Barker beating the excrement out of each other. And Flaherty was funny. But there was nothing in that film that could compare with seeing the same man portray Count Floyd/Floyd Robertson, a newsanchor and horror movie host with the worst vampire costume ever (a white turtleneck and drawn-on widow's peak? really?), but possessing a great howl. Or how about Don Cabellero, a character who was the imagined president of the imaginary SCTV network who only used a wheelchair for sympathy...and tax reasons (even as a child, I thought that this was hilarious). I would run home from school as a kid to see reruns of the show and marvel at how the most simple sketches were making me laugh more than anything I could see on Saturday Night Live - a true nightmare in the early 80s - or the regular sitcom feed my family and friends loved. SCTV was a comedy kingdom that I wanted to bow down to and remember as an example of what comedy could be.

And is that enough of a reason for me to be mourning his loss?

Almost...

I also met the man.

I was a very uncool student surrounded by very cool friends who told me to keep it cool when I saw Mr. Flaherty a few tables over on his own eating his dinner. Not a chance. I went over, introduced myself, and wondered how I did not lose my mind while talking to him. He was a total gentleman, and I was able to return to my now red-faced friends with this rather brilliant and sarcastic autograph.

So, of course I got new friends, kept the autograph, and went back to finding clips and videos online of this man's work. And if you have any doubts as to his talent, please look at this parody of The Godfather. It is, without question, the greatest film parody I have ever seen or will see.

I thank you, Joe.

Old times really were good times.

*

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