St. Paul, Minnesota, has statues of Lucy throughout the town to celebrate the fact that it’s the home of Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts. In the downtown of its twin city, Minneapolis, you’ll find a statue of Mary Tyler Moore to honour Mary Richards, the Minneapolitan character she portrayed.
In Toronto’s Kensington Market, you can sit next to a statue of actor Al Waxman, CBC’s famous King of Kensington. And, more recently, Rouleau, Sask., has left “Dog River” on a grain elevator to let visitors know they are entering the mythical town where Corner Gas was filmed.
Small towns do it. Big cities do it. But, in Edmonton, we don’t mark our pop culture.
If you are an Oilers legend, you get roads named after you. But, why don’t we celebrate SCTV? The characters remain pop-culture icons 30 years later. Though it was filmed here, the only relics you’ll find are at the Global Television studios on Allard Way, where the halls have framed pictures of the SCTV cast in action and some old props.
We are Melonville, but you wouldn’t know that walking through the city. So, we’d like to change that.
Do you think that there should be an SCTV monument, street name or something else to commemorate Edmonton’s unique place in pop culture history? How about a prominently placed sign welcoming people to Melonville? A bronzed Bob and Doug, sitting on a park bench in Churchill Square? A simple plaque? Or maybe a ceremony, festival or annual party?
