''The Vacant Lot'' is a short-lived sketch comedy show starring the comedy group of the same name, which CBC Television ran for only six episodes starting in December 1993. ''The Vacant Lot'' was originally extended for another 13 episodes, which were scripted but never filmed when new president of the CBC

Perrin Beatty Henry Perrin Beatty (born June 1, 1950) is a Canadian corporate executive and former politician, who served as a Progressive Conservative of the House of Commons from 1972 to 1993, and as a cabinet minister from 1979 to 1980 and again from 1984 ...

wanted to phase out of edgy comedy programs in favor of lighter fare such as ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics w ...

''. The show was primarily directed by

Rob Quartly Robert "Rob" Quartly is a Canadian music video, television and commercial director. During the 1980s, Quartly produced numerous Juno Award-winning music videos for artists, including Corey Hart, Gowan, Platinum Blonde and Rush. As both a di ...

and executive producers were

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

, Pam Thomas and Jim Biederman, all of whom were producers of CBC's ''

The Kids in the Hall The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy troupe formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Bruce McCulloch, Kevin McDonald, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1989 to 1995, on CBC, ...

'' (in which the members appeared on as extras from time to time). Unlike ''The Kids in the Hall'', ''The Vacant Lot'' consists of filmed sketches that were screened to a studio audience. The show would also have a musical piece each episode and did not have recurring characters. CBC sold the show to

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

, which did not air the episodes until July 1994. ''The Vacant Lot'' was shown as a

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

marathon on that network. Nick McKinney, a member of ''The Vacant Lot'', is the brother of ''

'' member and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' veteran

Mark McKinney Mark Douglas Brown McKinney (born June 26, 1959) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known as a member of the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall, which includes starring in the 1989 to 1995 TV series ''The Kids in the Hall'' and 1 ...

. The show's other cast members were Rob Gfroerer, Vito Viscomi, and Paul Greenberg, where they originally started as a trio until they met McKinney at a party. ''The Vacant Lot'' opening theme music was "

Pretty Vacant "Pretty Vacant" is a song by the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols. It was released on 2 July 1977 as the band's third single and was later featured on their only album, ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols'', released during t ...

" by

The Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Episode list

References

External links

* CBC Television original programming 1990s Canadian sketch comedy television series 1993 Canadian television series debuts 1993 Canadian television series endings {{Canada-comedy-tv-prog-stub