Guy Caballero is a fictional character on the television series SCTV

Second City Television

Second City Television is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.- Premise :...

played by Joe Flaherty

Joe Flaherty

Joe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...

. President and owner of the fictional SCTV network, Caballero usually appeared on the series to introduce various network programs, although he also occasionally got wrapped up in behind-the-scenes storylines.

Character

Cheap, dishonest, gruff, and prone to making meandering patriotic speeches for no good reason, Caballero liked to affectionately describe his employees as "the SCTV family," although he routinely treated them with disdain. His most notable quirk, however, was his use of a wheelchair despite not needing one; he believed that the wheelchair helped earn people's 'respect'. Though his personal past was left deliberately shady, it was mentioned several times that he was an illegal alien (from South America) who had managed to buy his way in to the United States "When he showed up in Panama with suitcases full of Nazi gold." Caballero has a huge mansion named "Casa del Forgeo" that he paid for by forging checks, but he is too cheap to pay for a phone inside the house -- instead, he had his mansion built near a payphone.

It is revealed in one Cinemax

Cinemax

Cinemax, sometimes abbreviated as simply "Max", is a collection of premium television networks that broadcasts primarily feature films, along with softcore erotica, original action series, documentaries and special behind-the-scenes features. Cinemax is operated by Home Box Office, Inc., a...

 episode of the show that Guy's idea of a fun weekend is hanging out in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven

7-Eleven

7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...

 and daring teenagers to buy him beer. Guy's wife, Googie, was infrequently mentioned and never seen. He also had two sons (Ricky and Sonny, played by Rick Moranis

Rick Moranis

Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...

 and Eugene Levy

Eugene Levy

Eugene Levy, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, television director, producer, musician, and writer. He is known for his work in Canadian television series, American movies, and television movies. He is the only actor to have appeared in all eight of the American Pie films, as Noah Levenstein...

 and a daughter (Connie, played by Andrea Martin

Andrea Martin

Andrea Louise Martin is an American and Canadian actress and comedienne. She has appeared in films such as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, on stage in productions such as My Favorite Year, Fiddler on the Roof and Candide, and in the television series, SCTV.-Personal life:Martin, the oldest of three...

).

Guy Caballero was originally a character heard only over the phone in two first-season SCTV episodes aired in 1977. (Both times, he called Moe Green while on the air to complain about Moe's show "Dialing For Dollars".) The character made his first physical appearance in the SCTV second season opener, aired in September, 1978, and was thereafter a fixture of the show, appearing regularly from that point on.

It is rumored that Flaherty based the mannerisms and appearance of the character on Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier

Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...

's portrayal of Loren Hardman in the movie The Betsy

The Betsy

The Betsy is a 1978 film made by the Harold Robbins International Company and released by Allied Artists. It was directed by Daniel Petrie and produced by Robert R. Weston and Emanuel L. Wolf with Jack Grossberg as associate producer. The screenplay was by William Bast and Walter Bernstein, adapted...

, released earlier in 1978. Adapted from the Harold Robbins

Harold Robbins

Harold Robbins was one of the best-selling American authors of all time. During his career, he wrote over 25 best-sellers, selling over 750 million copies in 32 languages....

 book of the same name, the movie portrays Loren Hardman as the gruff business patriarch of an automobile empire. Like Caballero, Hardman wears a white suit and white panama hat, and rides in a wheelchair even though he can walk.

Don Caballero

Don Caballero

Don Caballero are an American rock group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The group took their name from the character Guy Caballero, portrayed by Joe Flaherty, on the sketch comedy show Second City Television...

's debut album, For Respect

For Respect

For Respect is the debut album by Don Caballero, a Pittsburgh-based math rock band. For Respect was released on Touch and Go Records in 1993....

, pays tribute to Guy Caballero and SCTV throughout the album.

Notable SCTV Storylines

• Caballero and actor DeForest Kelley
  DeForest Kelley
  Jackson DeForest Kelley was an American actor known for his iconic roles in Westerns and as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy of the USS Enterprise in the television and film series Star Trek.-Early life:...
  
   (the latter played by Dave Thomas) team up to prevent aliens from taking over the network and the world.

• Caballero develops a long-running feud with star Johnny LaRue, as a result of LaRue's TV movie Polynesiantown running significantly over budget. Caballero forces LaRue to take the demeaning job of hosting the cheap show "Street Beef."

• Caballero is briefly fired by the network's board of directors, after involving Fred Willard
  Fred Willard
  Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
  
   (playing himself) in a scam that involves pocketing money meant for the station.

• Caballero develops a feud with the presidents of ABC, CBS, and NBC, resulting in a gangland-style war which parodies The Godfather
  The Godfather
  The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...
  
  .

• In the episode of SCTV that parodies the disaster film "The Towering Inferno", Caballero brushes off concerns about his supposed invalid status by standing up and announcing, "I have strong legs!" He then proceeds to trip and fall down the stairwell of the burning building (the camera occasionally cutting away to show his progress until he finally reaches the ground floor).