I left a lucrative job as a copywriter at McCann Erickson Advertising to join the cast of Toronto’s Second City stage show where I performed for two years. This led to television roles: a guest star onThe King of Kensington – a sitcom starring Al Waxman and Fiona Reed that aired on the CBC. The other was a CBC pilot for a series entitled Rimshots. I co-starred in that with Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin, and Saul Rubinek. And finally, I was cast as a recurring regular on CTV’s The David Steinberg Show in 1975.

During this time, I continued performing on stage at the Second City, six nights a week, two shows on Fridays and Saturdays.

In 1976, realizing Lorne Michaels had pirated their stage casts for SNL, the owners of Second City – Bernie Sahlins and Andrew Alexander – felt that they needed to start their own sketch comedy TV show before Lorne stole any more cast members from the Second City. This is where the SCTV television comedy was born. That show launched my career as it also did for fellow SCTV cast members Eugene Levy, John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin, Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis, Martin Short and Rick Moranis. SCTV went on for five seasons, winning several Emmy Awards along the way. I wrote a book entitled “SCTV: Behind the Scenes”, documenting the birth and evolution of the show. It’s out of print now but you can still find copies for sale on Amazon.