‘Radio Kandy’ Sweet on the ‘SCTV’ Theme

“SCTV,” the too-short series of comedy nuggets that went into rerun heaven more than five years ago, will have something of a radio reincarnation beginning Sunday with the advent of “Radio Kandy.”

“I don’t think it will be a carbon copy of ‘SCTV,’ ” comedy film star, Second City TV alumnus and “Radio Kandy” founder John Candy said this week. “Legally, I couldn’t do that. But the whole cast (of ‘SCTV’) will probably be through here from time to time.”

To begin with, one of the regular characters in Candy’s two-hour rock and comedy program (airing locally from 8 to 10 a.m. over KNX-FM (93.1)) will be SCTV Network President Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty).

“Yeah, Guy is with us. He owns ‘Radio Kandy’ just like he owned ‘SCTV,’ ” said Candy. “Of course, we don’t know how long he’ll last. I mean, the Count (another Flaherty character who used to host a chintzy horror-film show) might come in and take over at any time. You just can’t tell.”

Flaherty also will portray a used car salesman, Joe Hanky, on the program. Hanky, a sponsor of Radio Kandy, gets to deliver sports scores (“Boston, 6; Tustin, 41; Green Bay, 112”) and traffic reports (“There’s a lot of traffic on the 702”).

Another regular “Radio Kandy” feature will be “Tiffany’s Teen Talk,” with advice on adolescent social problems delivered to callers by teen idol Tiffany (played by Second City comedienne Valerie Bromfield):

“Hi. This is ‘Teen Talk.’ Are you ugly? I don’t want to talk to you if you’re ugly.”

Candy’s real-life sponsors include Purina Puppy Chow, Maybelline and Snickers, he said. The program, distributed over the Transtar Satellite Network, will be heard on more than 225 stations in addition to KNX-FM. Candy said he has contracted for a weekly run of at least 18 months, despite his other film and television commitments.

Candy, who is currently shooting “Uncle Buck” on location in Chicago, has had a prolific film career since the disbanding of “SCTV,” with a string of hits (“Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Stripes”) and misses (“Spaceballs,” “Armed and Dangerous”).

Despite his movie success, he said, “radio has always intrigued me. I love the medium and, since I can’t play an instrument, I can at least play records.”

This isn’t his first foray into radio.

“Two years ago I did ‘That Radio Show’ for about 100 stations in Canada,” he said. “They were 90-minute shows that ran weekly through the summer--kind of an oldies rock-and-roll and comedy show.”

After having that taste of being a deejay, Candy decided last summer to sign on for a U.S. stint.

As for music, “Radio Kandy” will have a kind of mongrel Top 40 countdown format, according to Candy.

“We’re trying to find a format suitable for Top 10 stuff with maybe a little ‘70s music,” he said. “We probably won’t go back too much farther than that.”

Guests Candy says he has scheduled for the inaugural show include voice-over artist June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Squirrel, and James Doohan, who portrayed the original Scotty on “Star Trek.”

“We’re getting a lot of good voice people who’ll be coming on in the next few weeks,” he said. Though Ed (Martin Short) Grimley, the MacKenzie brothers (Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis) and Edith (Andrea Martin) Prickly have not yet scheduled dates to visit “Radio Kandy,” Candy guarantees that the Smenga Brothers polka band will be on the air soon.

“We thought about going with that format actually--all-polka radio,” he said.

In the meantime, Candy’s cast promises to deliver informative interviews with such luminaries as Slim Whitman; Whitman’s mustache barber, Phil, and Bobbi Ronnette, one of the back-up singers in the ‘60s girl group the Ronnettes. There will also be reports on recent Elvis sightings and U.S.-Soviet cultural exchanges, including a Soviet Top 40 countdown.

“As the Smenga brothers say, ‘It’s-a gonna be-a fun, ya, sure,’ ” said Candy.