I'm Watchin' Canadian Television - A Show Case of Canadian Television

Growing up in Canada was a unique experience. As a kid I can remember being bombarded with US programmes like Friends, Saved By the Bell, and anything from Disney and shows from Britain like Noddy, Thomas the Tank Engine, Are You Being Served?, Yes, Minister, and Keeping Up Appearances. While these classic programs will continue to have a place in my heart, there is something to be said for the wonderful programming from Canada. Today, I want to talk about the variety of Canadian shows that have graced Canadian TV.

The Friendly Giant (1958-1985)

Look up. Look wa----ay up! For 30 years, Canadian children were welcome into the castle of the Friendly Giant on CBC. It was the show that started the weekday block of children's programming later known as CBCKids. Each episode opened with the draw bridge of the castle opening and the Friendly Giant (played by Robert Homme) placing little model chairs for his guests. “One little chair for one of you, and a bigger chair for two more to curl up in, and for someone who likes to rock, a rocking chair in the middle.” The Giant would then be greeted by Rusty the Rooster and Jerome the Giraffe (puppeteer by Rod Coneybeare). The three would talk for a little bit before the Giant would tell a story. The episode would end with the Friendly Giant playing on his recorder and puting the model chairs while saying goodbye. “It's late. This little chair will be waiting for one of you, and a rocking chair for another who likes to rock, and a big armchair for two more to curl up in when you come again to our castle. I'll close the big front doors and pull up the drawbridge after you're gone. Goodbye. Goodbye.” 

 

The Littlest Hobo (1963-1985)

 Canada's answer to Lassie, The Littlest Hobo followed the adventures of a stray German Shepherd as it travels from town to town befriending and helping people, often played by well known actors in a guest appearance. These guests included John Ireland, Abe Vigoda, Vic Morrow, and Leslie Nielsen; even a young Mike Myers made an appearance in one of his first acting roles! All the dogs featured in both the original 1963-1965 and revived 1979-1985 run were trained by Charles (Chuck) P. Eisenmann who became famous for his unique training regime for his dogs, who were credited under the moniker “London”.

Misterogers (1963-1966)

 Before I start talking about Mr. Dressup, I have to talk about Mr. Rogers- uh, I mean Misterogers. When Fred Rogers (yes, that Fred Rogers) began what would begin what would become his 40 plus year career in children's programming, he moved to Toronto, Ontario, in 1961 to produce Misterogers, a early version of what would become Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood. It had a very similar set up to Mr. Rogers' Neighbourhood; there was a trolley that would take viewers to the Neighbourhood of Make Believe where viewers would be met by characters like X the Owl, King Friday XIII, and Daniel Tiger, while Rogers would sing songs and send off with Tomorrow, a song that appeared in the earlier seasons of Mr. Rogers Neighbourhood before eventually being replaced by It's such a Good Feeling in 1972. Interesting enough, the first episodes of Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood featured the recorded segments of the Neighbourhood of Make-Believe from the CBC's Misterogers!

Mr. Dressup (1967-1996)

 When Fred Rogers arrived to Canada, he brought with him, Ernie Coombes, a friend and colleague who had worked with Rogers on NBC's The Children's Corner as an assistant puppeteer. Coombes remained in Canada after Rogers returned to the United States and began to appear on the CBC children's show Butternut Square as the character he would become most famous for, Mr. Dressup. When Butternut Square was cancelled in 1964 Coombes and Daniel McCarthy (producer of Butternut Square) developed Mr. Dressup as a replacement.

Mr. Dressup featured Mr. Dressup with his puppet friends Casey and Finnegan (puppeteered by Judith Lawrence) making drawings, making crafts, or telling a story before putting on costumes from the Tickle Trunk, a red trunk with flowers painted on it that would provide any costume needed the the episode. Later in the series, new characters were introduced after Judith Lawrence retired. While Casy and Finnegan were said to have gone off to Kindergarten, Mr. Dressup was visited by Chester the Crow (Karen Valleau), Truffles (Nina Keogh), Granny (Jani Lauzon), Annie (Ruth Danziger), Alex (Jim Parker), and Lorenzo the Raccoon (Bob Dermer).

Royal Canadian Air Farce (1970-Present)

 There are two important factors in any proper functioning society: (1) leaders must be elected by the public and (2) be held in continual contempt by the public. Founded in 1970 in Montreal, Quebec, by John Morgan, Martin Bronstein, Patrick Conlon, Gay Claitman, and Roger Abbott, the group began under the name The Jest Society, a play on then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's goal of making Canada a “Just Society”. By the time the troupe made their first appearance on CBC Radio, several changes had been made. First, the line up at the time had changed, while Morgan, Abbott, and Bronstien remained, Claitman and Conlon were replaced with Don Ferguson, Luba Goy, and Dave Broadfoot.

 While Royal Canadian Air Farce found success on radio, it also made appearances on television throughout the 1980s before eventually receiving its own TV series on the CBC. Over the course Air Farce's time on radio and tv in the 1980s, the show went though further changes when Bronstein left the series in 1974 to return to journalism and Broadfoot retired in 1989 but continued to make guest appearances until his death in 2016. While the show no longer appears regularly on TV, Royal Canadian Air Farce continues yearly on the CBC for New Years. The current troup line up includes Don Ferguson, Luba Goy, Jessica Holmes, Creig Lauzon, Darryl Hinds, Aisha Alfa, Emma Hunter, Isabel Kanaan, Chris Wilson, and Lisa Gilroy

The Polka Dot Door (1971-1993)

 An adaption by TVO of the BBC children's show Play School, The Polka Dot Door was geared to educate and foster creativity with the television audience. Two hosts would explore a different motif for each day. Some of the activities on each included the stuffed toys Humpy (a modified version of the BBC stuffed toy in Play School), Dumpty, Bear, Marigold. What made the show unique from its British counterpart was Polkaroo, a polka-dotted kangaroo who would appear played by the male host and perform activities with the female host.

SCTV (1976-1984)

 The show that launched the careers of Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Joe Flarity, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, and the late John Candy. Each episode viewers watched the antics of a low budget TV station in the fictional town of Melonville. What made the show so memorable was the different characters like Johnny Larue, Guy Caballero, Ed Grimley, Edith Prickley, and Dave and Doug Mackenzie. While the original run ended in 1984, show has continued to be an institution, so much so that Martin Scorsese is directing a retrospective for Netflix.

Degrassi Franchise (1979-Present)

 Degrassi is more than a show, it's a Canadian institution! In almost 40 years of it being on TV, there have been 5 individual series with a total 621 episodes! Telling the story of the lives of teens living in the Riverside District of Toronto (the show's name coming from De Grassi Street in the district), the series began as four short after-school specials on CBC titled The Kids of Degrassi Street many of the actors of these specials went on to appear in the Degrassi Junior High in 1987 and Degrassi High in 1989. In 2001 the franchise received a revival by Stephen Stohn with Degrassi: The Next Generation, airing on CTV, Family, MuchMusic and MTV. This series has been considered to be the most successful series with its own cult following by teens and adults alike as the show dealt with topics like suicide, censorship, self-harm, rape, drinking, and more. Currently the newest incarnation produced by Netflix and Epitome, titled Degrassi: Next Class, continues where Next Generation left off with new and familiar faces walking De Grassi Street and facing the challenges life will throw their way.

The Kids in the Hall (1988-1995)

 An off the wall programme from the CBC and produced by SNL creator Lorne Micheals, Kids in the Hall was a sketch comedy show staring Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McMulloch, Mark McKinney and Scott Thompson. Each episode featured wacky characters like the Chicken Lady, Buddy Cole, and the Scissor Sisters.  While the initial series ended in 1995, the troupe never really broke up, producing a film called Brain Candy in 1996 and an eight part miniseries titled Death Comes to Town in 2010.

Anne of Green Gables (1985)

 Based on the famous novel by L. M. Montgomery, this two-part series followed the life of a orange-haired orphan Anne (played by Megan Follows) with an explosive imagination as she comes to the quite town of Avonlea, Prince Edward Island, to live with the elderly siblings Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert (played by Richard Farnsworth and Colleen Dewhurst respectively), who were expecting a boy from the orphange. Through the highs and lows of living in the small island town, including infamously breaking a slate over Gilbert Blythe's (Jonathan Crombie) head, Anne quickly proves her worth for Matthew and Marilla at Green Gables Farm. The success of the miniseries spurned two sequels, Anne of Avonlea (based on the novel of the same name), Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story and Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning; the latter two being original stories with no connection to the novels by Montgomery. 

Road to Avonlea (1990-1996)

 After the success of Anne of Green Gables, the CBC produced a companion series titled Road to Avonlea, a show loosely based on a number of books by L. Montgomery, namely The Story Girl, The Golden Road – which featured characters Sarah Stanley, Felicity, Felix, and Cecily – and especially The Chronicles of Avonlea and Futher Chronicles of Avonlea. The series told the story of Sarah Stanley (Sarah Polley), who sent to Avonlea by her father to live with her two aunts, Hetty and Olivia King (played by Jackie Burroughs and Mag Ruffman respectively). Characters from the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea reprised their roles for the series, namely Marilla Cuthbert (Colleen Dewhurst), Rachel Lynde (Patricia Hamilton), Davy Keith (Kyle Labine), and Dora Keith (Ashley Muscroft and Lindsay Murrell).

The Red Green Show (1991-2006)

 A parody of home improvment and outdoors shows, The Red Green Show was a strange beast as it crossed sketch comedy with elements of sitcoms. Staring Steve Smith as the titled Red Green and Patrick McKenna as his bumbling nerdy nephew Harold, television audiences would learn each week of the antics of the members of Possum Lodge Red Green teach unique projects in “Handyman Corner” (usually involving the handyman secret weapon: Duct tape!). The series also included other segments like “Adventure with Bill”, featuring different slapstick sketches with Red Green and Bill (Rick Green). The series also included characters like Dalton Humphrey (Bob Bainborough) of Humphry's Everything Store, career criminal Mike Hamar (Wayne Robson), entrepreneur of sewage sucking Winston Rothschild III (Jeff Lumby), tall tale teller and ferryman Hap Shaughnessy (Gordon Pinsent), eccentric forest ranger Ranger Gord (Peter Keleghan), and the deafened explosives expert Edgar K. B. Monstrose (Graham Greene). The success of the programme led to a movie titled Duct Tape Forever.

Theodore Tugboat (1993-2001)

 Theodore is a tug boat. He has black haul, a yellow body and a tall funnel... wait... doesn't this sound like Thomas and Friends? Well, it should, surprisingly this show did have several producers from the British series including Robert Cardona, producer of Thomas and Friends and Tugs. Each episode of Theodore Tugboat opened with Denny Doherty of The Mamas & the Papas fame as the Harbourmaster, who would set the theme of each episode before narrating that episode. Characters that lived in the great Great Big Harbour (based off of Halifax) include Theodore, Hank, George, Emily, Forduck, and the Fat Controller-esc Dispatcher.

Redwall (1999-2002)

 Based on the Redwall novels by Brian Jacques, this Canadian produced (see the connection?) series told the story of the mice of Redwall Abby as they defend their home from Cluny the Scourge and his Rat Army. The series mainly follows Matthias, a young mouse who dreams of becoming a heroic warrior like the abby's founder Martin. Mathias set out on a quest to find the lost sward of Martin the Warrior and save Redwall Abby from the clutches of Clunny. The success of the series spurned two more seasons, the second following the events of the novel Mattimeo and the third based from the prequel novel Martin the Warrior.

Corner Gas (2004-2009)

 Created and starting comedian Brent Butt, Corner Gas tells the antics of the people of Dog River, Saskatchewan. Plots often show cased the interactions between Brent LeRoy (Brent Butt) his business neighbour Lacey Burrows (Gabriell Miller) with the residents of Dog River, whether it be Bent snarky employee Wanda (Nancy Robinson), his curmudgeon father Oscar, his loving but no nonsense mother Emma (Janet Wright) or the local police officers – and entire plice force – Karen and Davis (Tara Spencer and Lorne Cardinal respectively). The series had a successful run with six seasons and a movie. Over the course of the series' run, numerous Canadian guest stars have appeared including Kevin McDonald, Mike Wilmont, Colin Mochrie, Ben Mulroney, and then-prime minister Stephen Harper.

Murdoch Mysteries (2008-Present)

 Inspired from the novels by Maureen Jennings, Murdoch Mysteries follows the escapades of Roman Catholic detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) – I only mention it as it does serve as a plot device throughout the series in Protestant Toronto – as he uses unconventional methods to solve cases in turn of the century Toronto. Set in Post-Confederation Canada (particularly the late 1890s), the series touches upon events in Canadian history like the Boar War and introduces well known people from the people from the period like Nikola Tesla, Jack London, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Henry Ford, a young and just as brash Sir Winston Churchill, and then-Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier. The show originally started on Citytv but now continues on the CBC.

Kim's Convenience (2016-Present)

 Based on the Toronto Theature Critics award winning play of the same name by Ins Choi, Kim's Convenience tells the story of the Kims, a Korean family who run a convenience store in Toronto's Moss Park neighbourhood. The series focuses on the relationship between the Janet (Andrea Bang), Appa (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), Umma (Jean Yoon), and their estranged son Jung (Simu Liu) as they show the highs and lows of family and life in Toronto.