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.
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.
