CBC Television Series, 1952-1982
by Blaine Allan
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CBC Series Index
Stage Door
Sun 1:00-1:30 p.m., 17 Jan-10 Apr 1960
A musical variety show from Winnipeg, Stage Door starred singers
Georges LaFleche and Norma Vadeboncoeur, and the quartet of
Heather Sigurdson, Evelyn Snider, Olie Alto, and Doug MacIntosh,
known as the Stage Four. Bob McMullin was the musical director,
with Lloyd Robertson the host and Neil Harris the producer.
Sat 7:00-7:30 p.m., 3 May-6 Sep 1980
Vancouver d.j. Terry David Mulligan hosted this half-hour musical
show, which spotlighted top charting recordings, as determined by
the Canadian Recording Industry Association. The program was
directed by Michael Watt and produced by Ken Gibson for Doug
Hutton Video and the CBC.
Tue 9:30-11:00 p.m., 6 Oct 1959-28 Jun 1960
Sponsored by Ford of Canada, Ford Startime was one of the CBC's
titles for its prestige, ninety minute drama and variety series,
replacing Folio. The broadcast coincided with the NBC series of
the same title, and the CBC carried a number of the U.S.
programs, which included television drama debuts by Ingrid
Bergman and Alec Guinness. The first Canadian production in the
series was, ironically, a U.S. play, Arthur Miller's The
Crucible, adapted by Mavor Moore, produced by Harvey Hart, and
starring Leslie Nielsen. Most of the dramas produced by the CBC
for the series were drawn from international sources, not
Canadian writers. They included Robert Allen's production of
Clearing In The Woods; Summertime, written by Ugo Betti and
produced by Eric Till; Henrik Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People,
adapted by Arthur Miller and produced by Mario Prizek (a second
adaptation of Ibsen, included later in the season, was Lister
Sinclair's reworking for television of Hedda Gabler); Jean
Anouilh's Point Of Departure, produced by Paul Almond; an
adaptation by Joseph Schull of Joseph Conrad's novel, The Secret
Agent, produced by Hart; Eric Till's production of The Giaconda
Smile, adapted by Rita Greer Allen from Aldous Huxley's original;
Terence Rattigan's The Browning Version, produced by Robert
Allen; Franz Kraemer's production of Tiger At The Gates, by Jean
Giraudoux; and John Bethune's adaptation of Wilde's The
Importance of Being Earnest. Norman Campbell organized the
production of Sir Arthur Sullivan's Pineapple Ball, danced by the
National Ballet, and an adaptation of James Thurber's The
Thirteen Clocks, starring Robert Goulet, Kate Reid, Eric House,
and Jack Creley. Goulet also starred, with Frances Hyland and
Mary Savidge, in Michael Dyne's A Tongue Of Silver, and Ronald
Weyman adapted and produced a television version of Dorothy L.
Sayers's The Zeal Of Thy House.
Robert Allen supervised productions at the CBC for Ford Startime.
Tue 5:00-5:30 p.m., 16 Sep-9 Dec 1975
Mon 4:00-4:30 p.m., 9 Jan-3 Apr 1978 (R)
Mon 4:30-5:00 p.m., 2 Apr-25 Jun 1979 (R)
A series of thirteen half-hour shows, The Stationary Ark was
shot at Gerald Durrell's zoo, the Jersey Wildlife Preservation
Trust. Durrell narrated the documentaries, about the zoo and
animals. The series was produced by Nielsen-Ferns, Ltd., of
Toronto, in association with the Ontario Educational
Communications Authority, and first aired virtually
simultaneously on the CBC and OECA.
Sat l0:30-ll:00 p.m. (approx.), 9 Oct 1976-l Jan 1977
The CBC's quest for a program variable enough to fill the
shifting slot between the end of Hockey Night In Canada and the
start of the national news led to Stay Tuned!, developed under
the working title, Fourth Period. Broadcast live, the program
featured a repertory-style comedy troupe, composed of Ben Gordon,
Eugene Levy, Jayne Eastwood, and Mary Ann McDonald, and guests,
such as John Kastner, the Homemade Theatre company, and Nancy
White. The series faced inauspicious beginnings when the game
ran long enough that the premiere broadcast lasted only nine and
a half minutes. The series was written by Bob Sandler and
produced and directed by Nigel Napier-Andrews.
Tue 5:00-5:15 p.m., 8 Jul-21 Sep 1958
Stevie-o was Steve Woodman, who hosted this fifteen minute
program of cartoons, puppets, and chat, produced by Larry Shapiro
in Montreal.
Fri 8:30-9:30 p.m., 8 May-14 Aug 1953
Fri 8:30-9:30 p.m., 28 May-6 Aug 1954
As summer programming, the CBC featured remote broadcasts of
stock car racing from the Canadian National Exhibition in
Toronto. Don Sims and Dave Price provided commentary and
interviews, and George Retzlaff was the producer.
Thu 9:00-9:30 p.m., 26 Sep 1974-13 Mar 1975
Stompin' Tom Connors had become a true star of Canadian country
music with his working class anthems, like "Bud the Spud" and
"Sudbury Saturday Night." An ardent nationalist, Stompin' Tom
composed songs and sang with heartfelt love about the different
regions of Canada and the people he met and who returned his
attention and affection with their own. This twenty-six week
series of half-hour shows grew out of Connors's cross-country
tour, and location sequences were intercut with studio
performances. It was produced in Edmonton by Don McRae, written
by Colin McLean, and featured, along with Stompin' Tom, Bill
Lewis and Gary Empey.
Fri 8:30-9:00 p.m., 12 Sep 1952
Fri 8:00-8:30 p.m., 19 Sep-26 Sep 1952
It may have seemed presumptuous of the CBC to put satire onto its
schedule so early in its television history, but Stopwatch And
Listen was actually an adaptation of an adventurous comedy and
variety program transmitted on the Trans-Canada radio network the
year before. Producer Ross McLean selected themes for the show,
such as "the telephone" or "the motion picture," and farmed out
the writing duties. Production staff and performers rehearsed
the programs extensively over a two week period before telecast
dates for these half-hour mock documentaries. The program
featured commentator Sam Aaron and actors Barbara Hamilton and
Alfie Scopp. Although it was critically praised (see, for
example, Allan Sangster's comments in The Canadian Forum
[September 1952], or the Globe and Mail review [l6 September
l952]), the show was pulled from the air after only six editions.
Thu 4:30-4:45 p.m., 6 Oct 1955-29 Mar 1956
A fifteen minute broadcast with Beth Gillanders, Story Book
replaced her previous television reading for children, Hidden
Pages.
Thu 4:15-4:30 p.m., 11 Jan-28 Jun 1962
In Story Seat, a fifteen minute afternoon broadcast, Lillian
Carlson and Norman Young read and acted out stories for children.
The program was produced in Vancouver by Philip Keatley.
Mon-Fri 2:00-2:30 p.m., 20 Oct 1969-22 Jul 1970
A weekday serial, Strange Paradise grew out of the popularity of
the oddball ABC daytime drama, Dark Shadows, which combined the
formats of a soap opera with the conventions of a vampire movie.
The strange paradise was the Caribbean island of Maljardin, which
belonged to millionaire Jean-Paul Desmond, played by Colin Fox.
Having lost his wife, Desmond made a deal with his 300 year old
ancestor, Jacques du Brevert des Mondes, whom Fox also portrayed,
to bring her back to life. The resuscitated Erica was played by
Tudi Wiggins. Erica's sister was Dr. Alison Carr, played by Dawn
Greenhalgh. Kurt Schiegl was Quito and Cosette Lee was Raxl, an
island priestess; both were servants in the Desmond household.
Other supporting cast members were Jon Granik as Dan Forrest,
Bruce Grey as Tim Stanton, Sylvia Feigel as Holly Marshall,
Paisley Maxwell as Elizabeth Marshall, Holly's mother, Dan
MacDonald as the Reverend Matt Dawson, Patricia Collins as Huaco,
Peg Dixon as Ada, Pat Moffat as Irene, Jack Creley as Laslo, Lucy
Warner as Emily, David Wells as Cort, and Neil Dainard as Philip.
Written by Ian Martin, the series was produced on videotape in
colour by Jerry Layton. The executive producer was Steve Krantz
for Krantz Films in association with Kaiser Broadcasting and
Metromedia. The gothic drama was shot in part in Toronto, with
Casa Loma standing in for the Desmond castle, but mostly in the
blackfly infested summer months at the Crawley Film studios
outside Ottawa. The series ran for l30 episodes over twenty-six
weeks, and was successfully sold in syndication through the
U.S.A.
Mon-Fri 2:00-2:30 p.m., 1 Apr-7 Oct 1969
Unlike the more typically modest CBC game shows, which tended to
be panel quizzes, Strategy was a glitzier, larger format game
laid out on a studio floor, with the human participants as
markers. Host Alex Trebek asked the contestants questions from
the centre of a large playing surface, which resembled a
dartboard. With each correct answer the contestants, usually
married couples, moved closer and closer to the centre of the
board. With correct answers, either one of the partners could
move to advance or to block an opponent. In addition, before the
game each team selected spots on the board to be booby-traps to
their adversaries. The game often ended when time ran out, and
the couple closest to the centre won. The prizes were major
appliances and large household items. Unlike many such game
shows in the U.S.A., there were no playoffs, and winners did not
return to defend their title; one victory was their limit.
The game was invented by Robert F. Aaron, who for five years had
worked as head of daytime programming at NBC and had worked for
the Merv Griffin organization. Other regulars on the show were
Jay Nelson, the announcer and warmup man, and Dee Miles, the
model who charted the progress of the contestants.
Sat 7:00-7:30 p.m., 28 Jul-8 Sep 1973
Stratusfaction was an eighteen piece band and vocal group from
Calgary, who formed the centrepiece of this musical variety show
produced in Winnipeg. The nine singers were Robin Pettigrew,
Jill Galt, Debbie Braithwaite, Manni Fink, Ina Murray, Murray
Cameron, Bob Brown, Gary Kines, and David Metcalfe. The
instrumentalists were Bill Sample on organ, Gordon Polichek and
Jim Kirkpatrick on guitars, drummer Don Hardy, cellist Sheila
Green, Ann Nichol on violin, George Schram on trombone, Ralph
Carter on trumpet, and Ian Sadler on clarinet and saxophone.
They had performed a cabaret act throughout western Canada since
l97l, and this series of six half-hour shows, produced by Dave
Robertson, was taped at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in June 1973.
Each of the first five shows had a special guest: Catherine
McKinnon, Ed Evanko, Dianne Hetherington, Pat Rose, and Diane
Stapley.
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 2 Apr-25 Jun 1966
Formerly host of Red River Jamboree, Stu Davis starred in this
country music series with his son, singer and guitarist Duane
Davis, and their backup band, the Pathfinders. The quarter-hour
program was produced in Edmonton.
Wed 10:00-10:30 p.m., 12 Aug-21 Oct 1959
A series of nine, half-hour plays, Studio Pacific spotlighted the
talents of British Columbia writers and performers. Among the
productions were Tidal Wave, by Thomas Gilchrist; Scots What Hae;
Douglas Forrester's comedy, Love Thy Neighbour; The Bunker, by
Herb Hosie; The Florentine Cherub, written by Audrey Piggott; Roy
Brinson's The Canary And The Pug Dog; The Treasure, by Vincent
McConnor; Anyone For Alice, by Joan Reid; and Geoffrey Spence's
The Long Drop. The programs were produced in Vancouver by Philip
Keatley, Michael Rothery, Jorn Winther, and Raymond Whitehouse,
with the series under the supervision of producer John Thorne.
Thu 7:30-8:00 p.m., 11 Sep-16 Oct 1952
For this quiz show from Montreal, viewers were invited to submit
questions, which moderator Stephen Brott would put to the panel,
Dr. D.L. Thompson, Maxwell Cohen, and Hugh MacLennan. Winners
received a prize, a work of Canadian handicrafts.
Sun 11:50-12:50 a.m., 6 Oct 1974-9 Mar 1975
Sun 11:50-12:50 a.m., 20 Apr-29 Jun 1975
Fri 1:00-2:00 p.m., 11 Oct 1974-3 Mar 1975 (R)
Mon 1:00-2:00 p.m., 6 Jan-10 Mar 1975 (R)
Mon 1:00-2:00 p.m., 28 Apr-26 May 1975 (R)
CBLT spun Such Is Life off its successful variety and features
program, All About Toronto, to sell the new show to other CBC
stations. Each show featured several musical and documentary
segments produced in Toronto. The musical director was Gene
DiNovi, who performed regularly; other musical guests included
Wally Koster and Salome Bey. Bob Binks contributed film
features, and Roger Abbott and Don Ferguson satirized the news in
the Abbott/Ferguson Report. The series was organized by Ross
McLean and produced by Bob Gibbons. The late night broadcasts
were repeated in afternoon time slots later in the week.
Fri 5:00-5:30 p.m., 5 Jun-26 Jun 1959
This series of four, half-hour programs, with Vic Waters and
Monty McFarlane on things to do during the summer holiday period,
replaced Hidden Pages. It was produced in Vancouver.
Mon 5:00-5:30 p.m., 1 Jul-26 Aug 1957
Singer Alan Mills and camping specialist Louis Thomas were the
hosts of this series of music and camping hints. The afternoon
show was directed at young viewers, and a number of children
appeared as guests each week. Mills sang campfire songs, and
Thomas demonstrated such skills as handling a canoe, fishing,
woodcarving, and how to build a fire. The show was written by
Sam Gesser and produced by Alan Brown in Montreal.
Thu 9:30-10:00 p.m., 22 Jun-29 Jun 1961
Thu 8:00-8:30 p.m., 6 Jul-14 Sep 1961
The CBC repeated a selection of dramas first seen on First Person
and The Unforeseen, and presented six new plays for the summer of
l96l. Each of the productions had an onscreen narrator, either a
character in the drama who took a couple of steps back from the
action to comment, or the author. The first two plays, At The
Railing, by Robert Presnell, Jr., and starring Robert Goulet and
Martha Buhs in David Gardner's production, and Overlaid, adapted
by Wallace Christie from Robertson Davies's stage play, and which
starred Alex McKee and Aileen Seaton, replaced the Tennessee
Ernie Ford Show. Then the series moved to an earlier time slot
to replace Live A Borrowed Life. The plays included Melwyn
Breen's production of Final At Furnell, written by Willis Hall,
and starring Barry Morse; Mavor Moore's adaptation of Wiseguy,
based on Christopher Isherwood's story, produced by Leo
Orenstein, and featuring Norman Ettlinger; Chesley And The South
Seas, produced by Leon Major, written by Joseph Schull, and
starring Mavor Moore and Larry Mann; Audrey Piggott's My Sister's
Marriage, starring John Vernon in Leo Orenstein's production; The
Man With Two Hands, which Breen produced from a script by Peter
Fleming, and starring Drew Thompson; H.G. Wells's story, The
Truth About Pyecraft, adapted by Douglas Cleverdon, produced by
Eric Till, and with a cast featuring Tony Van Bridge and Gillie
Fenwick; John Vernon, Peter Donat, and Anna Reiser in The Painted
Door; Venice Libretto, by Herb Hosie, with Mavor Moore and Helene
Winston, produced by George McCowan; Bandit, written by Alvin
Sargent, and produced by Stan Harris, with Scott Peters and Janet
Reid; Neil McCallum, Barry Morse, and Geraldine Douglas in The
Ends Of Justice; Hugh Garner's play, Some Are So Lucky, produced
by David Gardner; and Anna Reiser's adaptation of Susan Kuehn's
The Rosebush, produced by Orenstein.
Thu 9:00-9:30 p.m., 26 May-4 Aug 1977
Mary Lou Finlay and Dan Turner hosted this half-hour public
affairs program, which included both documentary features and
studio interviews. Programs generally concerned national
affairs, including such issues as censorship and the obscenity
laws, the Royal Commission report on violence in the media,
prison reform, and the fishing limit. The series also included
profiles of Quebec filmmaker Michel Brault, Toronto mayor David
Crombie, and General Jacques Dextraze, the Chief of Defence Staff
for the Canadian Armed Forces. Robert Ennis produced the series.
Sun 10:00-11:00 p.m., 29 Jun-31 Aug 1980
Sun 10:00-11:00 p.m., 14 Jun-28 Jun 1981
A series of ten, one hour concerts by symphony orchestras across
Canada, Summer Concerts in 1980 included guest performances by
Canadian and foreign stars, such as Teresa Stratas, Anna Russell,
Peter Ustinov, Stephane Grappelli and Yehudi Menuhin, Victor
Borge, and James Galway. The Calgary Philharmonic and the
Edmonton Symphony performed a joint concert in Jasper National
Park, in celebration of Alberta's seventy-fifth anniversary.
Other orchestras in the series included the Toronto Symphony and
the Winnipeg Symphony.
Only three concerts were telecast in the 198l season, one from
Montreal, with the Montreal Symphony, and two from Vancouver,
with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Sun 1:30-2:00 p.m., 14 May-24 Sep 1978
Sun 1:00-1:30 p.m., 10 May-4 Oct 1981
Country Canada (q.v.) retitled itself for summer seasons. The
executive producer of this durable farms and agriculture series
was Neil Andrews. Producers included Ray Burley, Bob Petch, Rob
Doan, Lynn Sleigh, David Tucker, and Dave Quinton. The host was
Sandy Cushon.
See Dress Rehearsal.
Thu 9:00-9:30 p.m., 12 Aug-30 Sep 1976
Each program in this series of half-hour shows featured a
performer or group, taped in concert at the CBC Summer Festival
at Camp Fortune in the Gatineau Hills, outside Ottawa.
Performers, most from the country/folk/singer-songwriter field,
included Sneezy Waters, Kevin Gillis, Ron Nigrini, Liam Clancy,
Robin Moir, Eric and Martha Nagler, and Shirley Eikhard. Paul
Gaffney produced the show for CBC Ottawa.
Mon-Fri 3:00-4:00 p.m., 30 Jun-5 Sep 1980
A replacement for The Bob McLean Show, Summer Festival travelled
to fairs and celebrations across the country, with a different
host for each region. They included Riki Turofsky in Toronto,
Marilyn MacKay in Windsor, Arvel Gray in Winnipeg, Beth
Harrington in Halifax, Amanda Hancox in Prince Edward Island, Jo
Green in Edmonton, Debra Kaye in Vancouver, and Shirley Newhook
in St. John's. In addition to events from such locations as
Klondike Days in Edmonton or the Lobster Festival in P.E.I., the
show included B.C. astrologer Geoff Gray-Cobb, with horoscope
predictions every Monday.
Sun 5:00-6:00 p.m., 7 Jul-29 Sep 1957
Sun 5:00-5:30 p.m., 13 Jul-7 Sep 1958
Sun 6:00-7:00 p.m., 1 Jul-16 Sep 1962
Summer Magazine
Mon-Fri 12:30-1:30 p.m., 12 Jul-
Mon-Fri 3:00-4:00 p.m., 30 Aug-10 Sep 1982
Summer Magazine replaced Junior Magazine for the summer of 1957.
Host John Clark introduced film features, with fewer in-studio
features than viewers might expect on the regular season show.
The series regularly presented a serial film drama, Sir Lancelot,
as well as items on travel and nature. Programs in the 1962
series had a different host each week. Each program included a
documentary and studio guests to discuss the subject of the week,
such as the railway in Canada, the R.C.M.P., prehistory in this
region of the world, the Yukon Gold Rush, and coins. Programs
were written by Ron Krantz and Dick Barrett, and produced by
Paddy Sampson and Francis Chapman.
In 1982, the CBC replaced its noon-hour talk show with another
Summer Magazine, a talk and music show produced in different
locations around the country. Hosts included Bob Chelmick in
Calgary, Brian Smyth in Ottawa, Mike Winlaw in Vancouver, Jorge
Jordan in Halifax, and Barbara McLeod in Toronto. Producers in
these respective centres were Sat Kumar, Janet Evans, Gord Gil,
Eleanor Lindo, and Nigel Napier-Andrews, with Randy Roberts and
Dave Robertson producing in Winnipeg, and Jack Budgell the
executive producer of the series.
Tue 8:00-10:00 p.m., 19 Jun-4 Sep 1973
Sun 9:00-11:00 p.m., 26 May-14 Jul 1974
Sun 9:00-11:00 p.m., 3 Aug-31 Aug 1975
In 1973 and 1974, the CBC devoted this time slot to foreign films
and films by Charlie Chaplin, but in 1975, it presented a
selection of Canadian features: The Hard Part Begins, directed
by Paul Lynch; the NFB feature, The Heatwave Lasted Four Days,
directed by Douglas Jackson; More Joy In Heaven, based on Morley
Callaghan's novel; and Claude Jutra's Mon oncle Antoine.
Fri 9:00-9:30 p.m., 29 Jun-21 Sep 1962
A half-hour musical variety show, on A Summer Night hosts Shirley
Harmer and Al Hamel presented different summertime activities.
With guest Bernie Geoffrion, for example, they looked at what
professional hockey players do in the off-season, and with Iona
Monahan, they examined summer fashion. The Billy Van Four and
singer Tommy Common were frequent guests through the season. The
musical director was Denny Vaughan, the show was written by Paul
Wayne and Rich Eustis, and produced by Bill Davis.
Mon-Fri 12:00-1:00 p.m., 30 Jun-1 Aug 1975
Mon-Fri 12:00-1:00 p.m., 5 Jul-30 Jul 1976
Mon-Fri 12:00-1:00 p.m., 4 Jul-26 Aug 1977
The CBC replaced its noon hour talk show, Luncheon Date, with this series in honour of International Women's Year. Jayne
Eastwood, Lucille Toth, Joan Sutton, Bobbi Sherron, and Merle
Shain, each hosted the show for one week. In addition, the show
invited another guest host for one show each week. Produced by
Sandra Johnson, directed by Lynn Crawley, the show also had a
predominantly female production staff.
The next year, when Summer of '76 replaced The Bob McLean Show,
Jayne Eastwood returned to alternate with Marilyn Peppiatt as the
show's host.
For Summer Of '77, the first half of the season was filled with a
Toronto-produced show hosted by Valerie Elia and Guido Basso,
with music by the Jimmy Dale Quartet, and produced by Gary
Gilfillan. In August, a Vancouver production took over.
Subtitled Fred And Friends, it was named after host Fred
Latremouille, and was produced at different locations around the
city, such as the Bayshore Inn, the Aquarium in Stanley Park, and
the Pacific National Exhibition.
Sun 9:30-10:00 p.m., 6 Jul-14 Sep 1958
A summer replacement for Showtime, this half-hour musical variety
show was produced by Stan Harris, and starred Barbara Franklin
and Allan Blye, with music by the Howard Cable Orchestra.
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 2 Jul-15 Oct 1966
A fifteen minute show, Summer Sounds '66 was produced in
different locations, and featured new talent and established
performers from the regions. The Vancouver show starred singer
Roma Hearn. Peter Thom was featured in the Montreal production.
In a show from Halifax, Bill Langstroth introduced Anne Murray,
Ken Tobias, and Edith Butler. The Mitch Parks Quintet backed
Yvette in a show from Winnipeg. In St. John's, host Harry Brown
introduced John White, Wynn Ann Wadden, and Lou Murphy. In an
Edmonton production, pianist Tommy Banks and singer Judi Singh
performed together.
See Premiere.
Thu 10:00-10:30 p.m., 5 Jun-11 Sep 1980
Naomi Loeb was the host of this series of twelve, half-hour
reports on issues of national interest. The program included
reports, discussion, and debates on such subjects as the North
American auto industry, issues of federalism and the
constitution, revisions to the Bank Act, the McDonald Royal
Commission on the activities of the R.C.M.P., the question of
Nazi war criminals living in Canada, and the saving and
rehabilitation of old buildings.
Thu 9:30-10:00 p.m., 27 Jun-26 Sep 1957
Thu 8:00-8:30 p.m., 10 Jul-23 Sep 1958
While Jackie Rae took the summer off for television appearances,
Summertime replaced his show with another half-hour of musical
variety. Summertime '57, produced by Len Casey, starred Bill
Walker, with the Jack Kane Orchestra. Summertime '58, produced
by Norm Sedawie, featured different musical groups each week,
generally pairing a Canadian band with a foreign performer,
sometimes incongruously. For example, one program featured both
the Chico Hamilton Quintet and Billy O'Connor and his
Leprechauns. Subsequent shows included appearances by Maynard
Ferguson and Trump Davidson, the Duke Ellington Quintet and Bobby
Gimby and his band, the George Shearing Sextet and singer Anne
Marie Moss, and Carmen McRae and Phil Nimmons's organization.
Sun Life Cross Country Ski School
Sat 8:30-9:00 p.m., 5 Jan-8 Mar 1980
As the title suggests, this half-hour show taught the rudiments
of cross-country skiing. It was shot in Banff National Park,
with instructors Stephan and Louise Sander of the national cross-
country ski team.
Thu 9:30-10:00 a.m., 20 Sep-27 Dec 1979
A country music show, which featured such performers as the
Family Brown, fiddler Al Cherney, and the Rhythm Pals, Sun
Parlour Country originated at CBET Windsor, and was offered to
network stations on a regional exchange.
Sun 10:00-11:00 p.m., 6 Nov 1966-16 Apr 1967
An hourlong public affairs program, Sunday was launched in the
late evening time slot after the crashlanding of This Hour Has
Seven Days. The executive producer of the new public affairs
flagship was Daryl Duke, who had previously overseen the
imaginative dramas and musical productions on Quest, then left
Canada to produced talk shows for Steve Allen and Les Crane in
the U.S. He then returned to Toronto to freelance for, among
other shows, Seven Days. All of the five on-air personalities
named to anchor Sunday in various combinations had question marks
alongside their names. Although second-stringers to Leiterman,
Watson, and LaPierre, Robert Hoyt and Larry Zolf both retained
strong associations to the Seven Days unit. Hoyt had been a
penetrating interviewer and Zolf, in addition to his interviewing
skills, possessed a strong sense of satire. Peter Reilly had
jumped from the CBC to the private network and had helped create
CTV's public affairs newsmagazine and the principal competitor to
Seven Days, W5. Only a month before he first appeared on Sunday,
he had resigned from CTV amid charges that broadcast management
interfered with news coverage. In addition to these three
journalists, the show's producers, Duke employed singer Ian Tyson
and singer and writer Leonard Cohen as part of Sunday's staff.
Although the series strove to be different from Seven Days, it
kept some of the qualities of its predecessor. Apart from the
actual personnel of Hoyt and Zolf, the show was produced in front
of a studio audience for the sake of immediacy, it had a musical
performer--Tyson instead of Dinah Christie--to break the flow of
information, and it stitched together news features, interviews,
and satirical commentary.
Yet to some extent the show suffered viewer resistance and never
really recovered from the Seven Days debacle. It never achieved
the ratings or the following that Watson and LaPierre enjoyed,
and Sunday ended after one season, to be replaced by another
attempt, The Way It Is.
Sun 2:00-5:00 p.m., 27 Jan-24 Feb 1980
Sun 2:00-4:30 p.m., 18 Jan-5 Apr 1981
Sun 2:00-5:00 p.m., 17 Jan-28 Mar 1982
Depending on sports schedules, the CBC presented productions of
operas from Canada and elsewhere on winter Sunday afternoons.
Several productions originated in the U.K. and West Germany.
Among the Canadian productions were Cendrillon, from the National
Arts Centre, and Manon, videotaped during a performance by the
Edmonton Opera Association at the Jubilee Auditorium.
Sunday At Eight/ Sunday At Nine
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 25 Jan-l0 May 1953
Sun 9:00-l0:00 p.m., l7 May-l3 Sep 1953
U.S. writer and cultural commentator Gilbert Seldes hosted this
wide-ranging series of documentaries on the arts and sciences,
produced by Franz Kraemer. The program ran on alternate weeks
with Canadian broadcasts of the U.S. prestige drama series
Goodyear Playhouse.
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 21 Sep 1969-29 Jun 1970
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 4 Oct 1970-16 Jan 1972
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 7 May 1972-18 Feb 1973
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 17 Jun-9 Sep 1973
Sunday At Nine was the umbrella title for dramatic and variety
productions from the CBC and elsewhere. Throughout the years
l969 to 1973, the time slot included The Wayne And Shuster Hour
(q.v.) and The Hart And Lorne Terrific Hour (l970-7l), with Hart
Pomerantz and Lorne Michaels, as well as the network's prestige
drama series, Corwin (l970, q.v.), Quentin Durgens, M.P. (l97l,
q.v.), and The Manipulators (l97l, q.v.). It also included such
imports from the BBC as The Six Wives Of Henry VIII and Elizabeth
R.
It was the principal slot for the CBC's own filmed dramas,
produced under the supervision of executive producer Ronald
Weyman, scheduled intermittently through the seasons and
sometimes known collectively as a series called simply Anthology.
The opening season included Fringe Benefits; Black Phoenix,
directed by Al Waxman from Martyn Burke's and John Hunter's
script; It's Only A Game; The Day They Killed The Snowman,
directed by Peter Carter; Twelve And A Half Cents, directed by
Rene Bonniere; The Mercenaries, also directed by Carter. In the
l97l-72 season, for example, the series presented Firing Squad,
an adaptation of a Colin McDougall story by Bruce Martin; When
The Bough Breaks, directed by Rene Bonniere from Nika Rylski's
script; Gold...Where You Find It, Maybe, by Leslie McFarlane,
also directed by Bonniere; The Golden Handshake, directed by
Weyman; Four Day Wonder, written by Bruce Martin, and Kalinsky's
Justice, by Grahame Woods, both directed by Bonniere; The Fur
Coat, by Bryan Barney, directed by John Trent; and Rodeo Rider
and MacLeish's Wild Horses, both written by Les Rose and Barry
Pearson, the former directed by Grahame Woods and the latter by
Ronald Weyman. Later seasons included The Discoverers, directed
by Rene Bonniere; Friends, directed by Graham Parker; The
Disposable Man, directed by Bonniere from Grahame Woods's script;
and Rap City, written by Tony Sheer and directed by Weyman.
Sun 4:00-5:00 p.m., 11 Jul-12 Sep 1971
Sun 4:00-5:00 p.m., 2 Jul-10 Sep 1972
Sun 4:00-5:00 p.m., 7 Jul-8 Sep 1974
Sun 4:00-5:00 p.m., 6 Jul-7 Sep 1975
Sun 4:00-5:00 p.m., 1 Aug-29 Aug 1976
On Sunday afternoons during the summer season, the CBC reran
current affairs documentaries from the previous season, from the
agriculture and resources and the arts and sciences departments,
and from the series Tuesday Night. The executive producer of the
series was William Harcourt.
Sun 3:00-4:00 p.m., 7 Jan-13 May 1962
A thirty-seven week series of one hour concerts and musical
performances for Sunday afternoons, this was an adventurous
production for the CBC, and employed CBC orchestras in four
cities. Twenty of the shows were scheduled for production in
Montreal, eleven in Toronto, four in Vancouver, and two in
Winnipeg. Included in the series was a selection of six Youth
Concerts, hosted by Louis Applebaum, with the CBC Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Mario Bernardi. Glenn Gould appeared in
two programs of discussion and performance, one on the music of
the U.S.S.R. and the other on Johann Sebastian Bach. The series
also featured three short operas over the season: Ralph Vaughan
Williams's Riders To The Sea, Bela Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle,
and Gustav Holst's Savitry, and a lecture and recital from
Vancouver that featured Benjamin Britten.
Sun 10:00-11:00 p.m., 24 Jul-4 Sep 1977
Over the summer, the CBC presented seven one hour programs of
light, symphonic music, produced in Edmonton, Winnipeg,
Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, and Ottawa. The programs
were simulcast on the CBC Stereo radio network.
Sun Times Vary, 9 Apr-3 Sep 1978
Sun Times Vary, 7 Jan-1 Apr 1979
CBC Sports gave this title to its Sunday afternoon coverage of a
variety of sports, including rugby, equestrian events, cycling,
swimming, and cross-country skiing.
Tue/Thu 5:00-5:30 p.m., 4 Jul-5 Sep 1967
Sunshine Canada was the title of a half-hour package of films on
Canadian subjects for young people, produced by the National Film
Board. The series was tied in to the Centennial celebrations,
and subjects included the R.C.M.P. Musical Ride, the St. Lawrence
Seaway, Montreal, and the discovery of insulin by Frederick
Banting and Charles Best.
Fri 9:00-10:00 p.m., 18 Jun-27 Aug 1976
Replacing The Tommy Hunter Show for the summer of 1976, this
series of nine musical variety shows was produced in Halifax.
The stars of the series were singers Tom Gallant, Gloria Kaye,
and Jim Bennet. The show also featured comedy by Andrea Martin,
Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty, imported from Toronto's Second
City troupe. The program had a concert format, and included
performances by such guests as David Michaels, Debbie Lori Kaye,
Mary Ann McDonald, and Marg Osburne. Paul Mason directed an
eight piece band, the head writer was Chuck Weir, the producer
and director Jack O'Neil, and the executive producer Ted Regan.
Wed/Fri 4:30-5:00 p.m., 30 Jun-17 Sep 1965
Mon-Fri 4:00-5:00 p.m., 22 Aug-2 Sep 1966
A summer school of the air, Sunshine Semester rebroadcast
programs from the previous season of Canadian School Telecasts.
The first week included two series: Cities And Their Challenge,
written by Max Braithwaite and produced by Perry Rosemond, and
Exploring With Poetry, also produced by Rosemond. The following
week the series presented three productions: a four part series
called Face Of Freedom, written by Ron Chudley and produced by
Rosemond, Canada's Natural Resources, five programs produced by
Dan McCarthy, and a single broadcast, Elizabethan Theatre,
written by Stirling Dorrance and produced by Herbert Roland.
Tue 7:30-8:00 p.m., 9 Sep 1952-31 Mar 1953
The first dramatic production on English CBC television, which
ran through the initial season, was this adaptation of Stephen
Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, broadcast on what
was also known as the Addison Spotlight Theatre. Adapted by
writers Henry Kaplan and Donald Harron, the series was produced
by Robert Allen, and starred Timothy Findlay as Peter Pupkin,
Peggi Loder as Zena Pepperleigh, Peg Dixon as Lillian Drone,
Frank Perry as Mallory Tompkins, Paul Kligman as Josh Smith,
Gerry Sarracini as the poet and Barbara Hamilton as his wife, and
Gerry Campbell as the drugstore clerk, with John Drainie as the
narrator.
Sat 12:30-1:00 p.m., 13 Jul-28 Sep 1974
Sun 10:30-11:00 a.m., 16 Mar-25 May 1975
The title of this show referred not to the physical phenomenon,
but to vacation sites. The show, which was created and written
by Frank Daley, concerned travel, and provided consumer
information for tourists as much as appealing footage from
foreign locations. However, the program did include travel
footage of such places as Trinidad and Tobago, Austria, and Ile
d'Orleans in Quebec, shot economically on Super 8. Produced in
Ottawa by Paul Gaffney, the program was hosted by Nelson Davis.
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 27 Sep 1981-4 Apr 1982
Sun 7:30-8:30 p.m., 17 Sep 1982-27 Mar 1983
The CBC gave this umbrella title to its Sunday evening variety
specials. Many of the programs over the season bore insufferable
titles that stressed the "super" in the main title. Headliners
included Wayne and Shuster (Super Comedy With Wayne And Shuster),
the (formerly the Irish) Rovers (Super Music With The Rovers:
Wasn't That A Party), British singer Roger Whittaker (Super
Concert With Roger Whittaker), and Juliette (Super Music With
Juliette And Friends). When at a loss, the CBC simply tacked the
title "Super Special" onto the existing title of the program,
some of which were imported from foreign producers.
Among the other performers to be spotlighted were Rich Little,
Anne Murray, Carroll Baker, April Wine, Rush, Doug Henning, and
Toller Cranston. In addition, this series provided the time slot
for a three part documentary on Canadian rock and pop music,
Heart Of Gold.
Wed 10:00-10:30 p.m., 5 Jul-20 Sep 1961
Drew Crossan produced this show, which pitted teams of four men
and four women against each other in different forms of games and
quizzes. Among the regulars were Elwy Yost, Corinne Conley,
Susan Fletcher, Royce Frith, and Paul Kligman.
Sun 7:30-8:30 p.m., 26 Sep 1976-
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 30 Jan-17 Jul 1977
Mon 9:00-10:00 p.m., 19 Sep 1977-22 May 1978
Mon 9:00-10:00 p.m., 18 Sep-25 Dec 1978
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 7 Jan-25 Mar 1979
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 23 Sep 1979-13 Apr 1980
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 14 Sep 1980-5 Apr 1981
The head of CBC Variety, Jack McAndrew, mounted a campaign to
produce high-quality, world class television variety programs, to
feature many of Canada's international and up-and-coming stars,
supported by well-known foreign talent. In 1976, for example,
Rene Simard starred in a special, backed by Sandy Duncan and
Diahann Carroll, and in 1980 Canadian jazz star Moe Koffman
headlined a show produced in Australia, with his guest, Irish
flutist James Galway (go figure).
The Superspecials slot was also the place for Wayne and Shuster's
regular four annual hours, as well as programs by the Irish
Rovers, figure skater Toller Cranston, classical guitarist Liona
Boyd, and ballerina Karen Kain.
Mon/Wed/Fri 10:00-10:30 a.m., 22 Mar-26 Mar 1971
Produced by Moreland-Latchford Films, this series of three, half-
hour films concerned survival techniques, such as building fires,
distress signals, artificial respiration, and trapping for food,
as well as methods of first aid.
Sun 2:00-2:30 p.m., 10 Jan-14 Feb 1971
Sun 2:00-2:30 p.m., 28 Mar-27 Jun 1971
Mon 10:00-10:30 p.m., 12 Jul-20 Sep 1971
Sun 2:00-2:30 p.m., 9 Jan-26 Mar 1972
Geneticist and professor of Zoology at the University of British
Columbia, David Suzuki became the foremost reporter on science in
Canada through this television series and his other appearances
on television and radio programs. The first series of Suzuki On
Science ran for five half-hour episodes, and subjects concerned
fertilization and genetics; immune systems and the means by which
the body protects itself against disease and injury; the brain;
synthetic methods of reproduction; and death, extinction, and
research into methods of extending life. After its pilot run on
the network, Suzuki soon continued the series, exploring
different topics in science each week, moving into prime time in
the summer season.
The series originated in Vancouver, and was produced by Keith
Christie and hosted by Bruno Cimolai.
Sat 7:30-8:00 p.m., 4 Jul-26 Sep 1959
A summer musical variety series, Swing Easy featured young
Canadian performers. It starred Ruth Walker, with the Rhythm
Pals, Bill Richards and the orchestra, and host Alan Millar.
Written by Alex Barris, the show was produced in Toronto by Bob
Jarvis and, for a few weeks, Syd Wayne.
Mon 9:30-10:30 p.m., 18 Jul-19 Sep 1960
Swing Easy basically returned the next summer as Swing Gently.
Allan Blye, Pam Hyatt, and the Billy Van Four joined Alan Millar
and Ruth Walker in the cast. Their guests included ballet stars
David Adams and Lois Smith, singer Nina Simone, dancer Joey
Hollingsworth, and regulars from the previous season, the Rhythm
Pals. After its summer run, the show was renewed for the autumn
season and retitled Fancy Free.
Wed 5:00-5:30 p.m., 3 Jul 1957-26 Mar 1958
Swing Your Partner was a half-hour square dance program for
teenagers. Stu Davis was the host of the show, which was
produced in Winnipeg.
Tue 4:00-4:30 p.m., 3 Jul-28 Sep 1962
A half-hour program of light, singalong tunes, Swingalong was
produced in Winnipeg. For the summer of 1962, the network
repeated shows that had first been broadcast locally. The series
was hosted by singer Doug Crosley, and also featured Florence
Faiers and the Swingalong Chorus.
Tue-Fri 4:30-5:00 p.m., 10 Sep 1967-
Fri 4:30-5:00 p.m., 26 Apr-7 Jun 1968
Tue 4:30-5:00 p.m., 1 Oct-24 Jun 1969
Tue 4:30-5:00 p.m., 30 Sep 1969-30 Jun 1970
Originally a ten minute segment of the afternoon show, Upside
Town, Swingaround, a general information quiz for grade seven
students from the Toronto area, expanded to a full half-hour in
spring 1968. The contest took on a national aspect, starting in
October 1968, through a telephone segment in which host Lloyd
Robertson called a student, chosen in advance, from somewhere in
Canada, who was made a member of one of the Toronto teams for
four questions. Trevor Evans took over as the moderator starting
in October 1969. The program coordinator was Doris Tennant, the
writer Ronald Krantz, and the producer Hedley Read.
Swing Ding
Wed 8:00-8:30 p.m., 30 Jun-8 Sep 1965
A half-hour musical variety show, Swing Ding originated in
Winnipeg. It was hosted by Aubrey Tadman and Len Andree, with
the Mitch Parks Orchestra and the Sam McConnell Dancers. Among
their guests were Lorraine West, Yvette, Doug Crosley, Mary
Nowell, Peggy Neville, Marilyn Boyle, and Roy Petty.
Switzer Unlimited
Mon-Fri 12:00-1:00 p.m., 2 Aug-3 Sep 1976
A summer replacement for The Bob McLean Show in August 1976,
Switzer Unlimited starred Bob Switzer and originated in
Vancouver. A number of guests appeared regularly to comment on
particular subjects or demonstrate specific skills: John
Lindenlaub on outdoor cooking, yoga expert Phyllis Coleman,
lawyer Peter Lenak, journalist Doug Collins, artist Bill
Alexander, environmentalists Barry Leach and Mike Halleran,
broadcaster Guy Bannerman, David Tarrant on botanical gardens,
Uno Langman on antiques, and graphologist Hannah Smith.
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Switzer
