CBC Television Series, 1952-1982
by Blaine Allan
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CBC Series Index
TGIF
Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 5 Jan-11 May 1973
Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 5 Oct 1973-29 Mar 1974
A production of CBLT and circulated in the Ontario region, T.G.I.F. included
interviews, reports on local activities, and suggestions for the weekend in the
Toronto area. The show featured hosts for each day of the weekend, including
announcer Alex Trebek, the program's producer Agota Gabor, and cartoonist Ben
Wicks. Regulars also included Doug Lennox, Sol Littman on art, Brenna Brown on
restaurants and dining, and Harold Town on movies. The executive producer was
Dodi Robb.
Mon-Sat 7:00-7:30 p.m., 9 Mar 1953-26 Jun 1954
Mon-Fri 6:30-7:00 p.m., 6 Sep 1954-
Mon-Fri 7:00-7:30 p.m., 3 Jul 1955-31 Sep 1960
Tabloid was the eclectic half-hour of news, public affairs, and interviews
pioneered by producer Ross McLean at Toronto's CBLT. It also established the
tendency of Canadian television to draw its stars from news programming as much
as from variety or dramatic programs. The host of the show was Dick MacDougal,
a veteran radio host with a portly figure, basset hound eyes, and an affable
manner. The first live human being to appear on CBC television in Toronto, the
lean, bespectacled, and garrulous Percy Saltzman had forecast the weather on
Let's See before McLean moved him from the puppet show to Tabloid. Saltzman, a
meteorologist with the Dominion Weather Service, had started a parallel, second
career in writing and broadcasting for radio in 1948, and since developed a
healthy following among listeners and television viewers. He colourfully
described the weather patterns over the nation as he covered a large,
chalkboard map with scrawls, and invariably ended his reports by jauntily
flipping and catching his stub of chalk. Both notably relaxed and friendly
characters, MacDougal and Saltzman set a lighthearted tone for the program,
clowning with each other in a manner that many viewers found winning, though a
few complained that the hosts were too frivolous.
Early in 1953, McLean engaged Elaine Grand, a personal friend who had trained
as a fashion illustrator and had no broadcasting experience, as a freelance
interviewer for the show. She was still in her twenties when her husband died
in December of that year, and two months later McLean hired her to join
MacDougal and Saltzman as an interviewer on Tabloid full-time. In addition
Saltzman's weather reports and features with the three interviewers, the show
also included a newscast with Gil Christy (or, later, John O'Leary), sports
with Dave Price, and a newsreel. The newsreel, assembled by Gunnar Rugheimer,
drew from international news footage from such news services as United Press
and Movietone News in the U.S.A., the BBC in the U.K., and newsfilm
organizations in the Netherlands, West Germany, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland,
and Japan, as well as the Canadian armed forces.
Grand worked for Tabloid (and other CBC productions, such as the afternoon talk
show, Living) until 1956, when she left for England to work for Associated
Rediffusion. McLean conducted extensive auditions to replace Grand, who was an
appealing and intelligent television personality, and important enough to the
program to be considered irreplaceable. She was replaced in the interim by
Paisley Maxwell, and ultimately by Joyce Davidson. A mother of two by age
twenty, Davidson had worked in offices and a factory before she turned to
television and gained some success as a chef's assistant on a Hamilton cooking
show and as a model and demonstrator for commercials. On Tabloid, like Grand,
she brought an intelligence and interest to her job as an interviewer that fed
media writers looking for the typical "beauty with brains" angle.
Noncontroversial on the show, she attracted criticism for her outspoken
opinions in other public forums. In 1959, as a "Today Girl" on Dave Garroway's
NBC-TV morning news show, Today, she allowed as how, "like the average
Canadian" she was "pretty indifferent" to the upcoming visit to Canada by Queen
Elizabeth II. The indifferent, average Canadians who watched Tabloid and heard
or read reports about Davidson's gaffe responded vociferously, as did
advertisers, precipitating her release from the CBC. Although the immediate
reaction was in violent disagreement with her, over the next few days, the
calls and letters numbered in her favour, and she returned to Canadian
television. Later, her opinions ran against the grain of the Roman Catholic
Church when she stated in an interview with Pierre Berton that she thought any
woman still a virgin at age thirty was "unlucky." In the wake of the furor
surrounding this incident, she resigned from the CBC to move to the United
States and cohost, with Mike Wallace, the syndicated talk show, P.M. East-P.M.
West. Controversy still circulated around her after she left Canada, because
of her romantic involvement with television producer and talk show host David
Susskind, then separated but still not divorced from his wife, a relationship
that became all the more public in Beryl Fox's CBC documentary, The Double
Standard And The Single Woman, broadcast on Document. (She and Susskind later
married. Davidson returned to Canada to host a talk show of her own on CTV in
the 1970s.)
Tabloid, with its whimsical tone established by producer McLean and hosts
MacDougal and Saltzman, had the dubious distinction of landing in Canadian law
books and into a standard text on the press and Canadian law with one of his
jokes. One of the features of the show was mail from viewers, and in 1956 they
read a letter by a Dr. E.E. Robbins of Montreal and the critical article from
the Montreal Star he had enclosed. MacDougal then invited viewers to write the
evidently discontented Dr. Robbins to cheer him up, and viewers could copy down
the doctor's name and address as it appeared on their television screens.
MacDougal also apparently suggested that viewers in the Montreal area might
give the doctor a phone call, too. Dr. Robbins was plagued with phone calls,
hate mail, and cabs sent to his door for several days thereafter. Dr. Robbins
brought action against the CBC for "diminution of income, impairment of health
by reason of emotional disturbance, humiliation and invasion of privacy," and
the Quebec Superior Court found in favour of the plaintiff, awarding him $3,000
plus interest and costs. (See Wilfred H. Kesterton, The Law and the Press
in Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1976, pp. l47, 222-23.)
Unfortunately, Dick MacDougal died in 1958, before the case came to trial.
He was replaced by Max Ferguson, who had become a legend in 1940s and 1950s
radio as Ol' Rawhide, the crusty and iconoclastic announcer who broadcast to
the nation from Halifax and Toronto, and whose identity the CBC and Ferguson
concealed from the public for several years. Ferguson had to compete not only
with the memory of the avuncular MacDougal and with the forthright and skilful
Davidson, but also with his extremely popular and distinctive alter ego, in
comparison with whom the real Max Ferguson was a tamer and more banal
personality. It took a while before he finally settled into his own on the
show. In addition, Ross McLean left the show to start the later evening public
affairs broadcast, Close-Up; he was replaced by Ted Pope (who had been the
show's producer since 1957, when he had taken over the job from Norm Sedawie).
Tabloid was retitled when it was discovered that a drug manufacturer had
registered "Tabloid" as a trademark. The show was also given a modified format
as 70l.
Tue 5:00-5:15 p.m., 5 Jul-20 Sep 1955
Wed 4:30-4:45 p.m., 28 Sep 1955-27 Jun 1956
A fifteen minute broadcast for young viewers, Take A Look was hosted by Dick
Sutton of the Manitoba Museum and the University of Manitoba. He gave talks
about subjects of natural history, illustrated with specimens from the
museum.
See Take Thirty.
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 17 Sep 1962-25 Jun 1965
Tue 5:30-6:00 p.m., 29 Jun-14 Sep 1965 (R)
Wed 10:30-11:00 a.m., 29 Jun-14 Sep 1965 (R)
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 20 Sep 1965-
Tue/Thu 3:30-4:00 p.m., 14 Jun-8 Sep 1966 (R)
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 12 Sep 1966-
Mon 3:00-3:30 p.m., 19 Jun-8 Sep 1967 (R)
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 11 Sep 1967-14 Jun 1968
Mon-Fri 3:00-330 p.m., 18 Jun-13 Sep 1968
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 16 Sep 1968-16 Jun 1969
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 16 Jun-26 Sep 1969 (R)
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 29 Sep 1969-19 May 1970
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 19 May-25 Sep 1970 (R)
Mon/Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 28 Sep 1970-14 May 1971
Mon 10:30-11:00 p.m., 12 Jul 1970-26 Jul 1971
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 17 May-24 Sep 1971
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 27 Sep 1971-30 Jun 1972
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 3 Jul-22 Sep 1972
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 25 Sep 1972-
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 24 Sep 1973-3 May 1974
Thu 10:00-10:30 p.m., 25 Oct 1973-23 May 1974
Thu 10:00-11:00 p.m., 11 Oct 1973-4 Apr 1974
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 6 May-6 Sep 1974
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 9 Sep-7 Oct 1974
Tue-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 7 Oct 1974-
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 20 Jan 1975-
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 12 May-12 Sep 1975
Mon 10:30-11:00 p.m., 26 May-12 Sep 1975
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 15 Sep 1975-7 May 1976
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 20 Sep 1976-
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 19 Sep 1977-
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 3 Apr 1978-
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 1 May-8 Sep 1978
Mon-Fri 3:00-3:30 p.m., 11 Sep 1978-
Mon-Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 2 Apr-27 Apr 1979
Mon-Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 30 Apr-7 Sep 1979
Fri 10:00-10:30 p.m., 10 Aug-14 Sep 1979
Mon-Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 10 Sep 1979-25 Apr 1980
Tue-Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 29 Apr 1980-
Mon-Fri 2:30-3:00 p.m., 7 Jul-5 Sep 1980
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 8 Sep 1980-24 Apr 1981
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 27 Apr-9 Oct 1981 (R)
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 12 Oct 1981-14 Mar 1982
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 17 May 1982-
Mon-Fri 2:00-2:30 p.m., 30 Aug-10 Sep 1982
Mon-Fri 2:00-2:30 p.m., 13 Sep 1982-13 May 1983
A long-lived series, Take Thirty assumed the place of Open House as the
network's weekday afternoon public affairs show. It was originally designed as
a so-called women's show, and, as Maclean's reported, to "feature more
entertainment along with useful hints and chatter" (25 August 196l. In the
opening seasons, each day of the week was devoted to a different general
subject: entertainment, household advice, public affairs, men's taste, and
travel. However, the series evolved into a much more vital program of
documentaries, commentary, and other features than that early description might
have indicated. In fact, six years later, Maclean's called it
"relentlessly educational, on topics ranging from cooking through politics,
architecture, university life, and the new theology" (April 1967). As the
program developed conscience, its critics perceived that it purveyed guilt.
Again Maclean's, another six years later: "If there is a social problem
anywhere in the world, Take 30 will be there, full of concern. It's a
guilt-ridden old show which is sloppily produced and suicidally depressing..."
(January 1973). Five years later, another critic for Maclean's had not
seen any reason to change the opinion, and judged that the show "creates then
exploits guilt."
Appropriately for a show that started as a conventional women's broadcast and
evolved into a program with broader vision, Take Thirty paid attention to the
issues of the women's movement, and to the changing views of sexuality and the
family. The 1964 season, for example, featured conversations with Betty
Friedan, who the year before had published her landmark study, The Feminine
Mystique, and presented a three part series on young people and sex, called
Too Young, with sociologist Margaret Norquay, and a six part series on
contemporary family life, called Under One Roof, which was researched and
written by Norquay, June Callwood, and Rose Wilcox and produced by Denny
Spence. Dr. Mary Calderone prepared two 1966 programs titled Sexuality: Fact
And Myth, and a later series, in 1968, produced by Cynthia Scott, examined
aspects of women living alone.
The original hosts were Anna Cameron (previously of Open House) and Paul Soles.
They were co-hosts three days of the week, and worked solo one day each. As
the series matured, it moved out of the studio, where it had been essentially
confined as an interview program. In 1964, Cameron and Soles travelled to
Japan to prepare several programs on Japanese life, broadcast over the summer.
Regular contributors to the show in the first few years were Paul Fox on
current world affairs, chef Mme Jehane Benoit, journalist Charles Lynch
(l964-65), and book reviewer Adrienne Poy, who took over Cameron's job in 1965
and over the next decade became one of the network's true stars and one of its
most respected interviewers, better known by her married name, Adrienne
Clarkson.
Moses Znaimer, one of the show's young producers, hosted the show periodically
with Soles and Clarkson through the 1967-68 season, as did producer Ed Reid,
from 1970 to 1975. Other contributors during the show's middle period included
consumer reporter Ruth Fremes and business reporter Dian Cohen.
Clarkson left the show in 1975 to join the then-developing public affairs
documentary show, The Fifth Estate, and was replaced by Mary Lou Finlay (who
would join the network's flagship public affairs broadcast of the 1980s, The
Journal, as one of its first co-hosts). Hana Gartner replaced Finlay in 1977,
and Harry Brown was her co-host from 1978. Gartner honed her skills as an
interviewer on Take Thirty, and then in 1982 jumped to prime time to fill
Clarkson's place on The Fifth Estate. She was replaced on the afternoon show
by Nadine Berger. In its latter years, special contributors to Take Thirty
included Ellen Roseman on consumer affairs, Brian Costello on matters of
personal finance, and Rita Deverell, who handled the viewer access section of
the show (see Access).
A battery of producers prepared the five programs a week that the series
consumed. Among them were Leo Rampen (l962-66), Denny Spence (l962-64, 1966),
Cynthia Scott (l965), Eric Koch (l965-66), Moses Znaimer (l967-68), Manny
Pittson (l967-68), Donnalu Wigmore (l969-70), Hamish Livingston (l969-70), Ken
Johnson (l97l), Myles White (l975-76), and Bill Cobben (l976). However, after
l966, when Rampen took over program supervision, the show was under the control
of the executive producer, particularly during the Clarkson-Soles years, when
Glenn Sarty held the job. (He, like Clarkson, left to develop The Fifth
Estate, where he was the inaugural executive producer.) Gordon Stewart assumed
the executive producer's position for 1974-75, and he was followed by Ain
Soodor (l975-78), Sig Gerber (l978-8l), and William Harcourt (l98l-82).
Among the other criticisms levelled at Take Thirty was its central Canadian
perspective, relieved only during the summer months, when in addition to
repeats broadcasts from the previous season, for several years it was replaced
by Thirty From... (in which the names of a regional production centre filled
the blank). Moreover, for several seasons in the 1970s, it took a place in the
prime time schedule and, during the 1973-74 season, alternated with an hourlong
version called Take Sixty.
Sat 6:30-7:00 p.m., 19 Oct 1974-13 Sep 1975
Thu 7:30-8:00 p.m., 18 Sep 1975-15 Jan 1976
Noel Harrison had recently settled in Nova Scotia, and CBC Halifax took
advantage of his proximity star him in a musical variety show that featured
folk and country music and singer-songwriters, including Brent Titcomb, John
Allan Cameron, Dee Higgins, Fraser and DeBolt, Jack Schechtman, Tommy Makem,
Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Bob Carpenter, Colleen Peterson, Tom Gallant, Shirley
Eikhard, and Bob Bossin's and Marie-Lynn Hammond's group Stringband. The
show's musical director, and leader of the six-piece backup band, was John
Redmond, and the producers were Cy True and John E. O'Neil.
Fri 8:00-8:30 p.m., 6 Feb-26 Jun 1959
Thu 8:30-9:00 p.m., 1 Oct 1959-30 Jun 1960
Talent Caravan employed two production units, under producers Drew Crossan and
Claude Baikie, to cover the country and present young Canadian performers.
George Murray hosted the show, which originated in different locations, and
viewers voted by mail for their favourites among the six contestants in each
show in a talent competition that lasted through the television season. The
show's musical director was Ricky Hyslop, who conducted the orchestra.
Wed 9:30-10:30 p.m., 15 Nov-22 Nov 1972
These two special programs presented the winners of the 1972 CBC Radio Talent
Festival, and were produced in Edmonton.
Sat 7:30-8:00 p.m., 13 Sep-22 Nov 1952
Fri 7:30-8:00 p.m., 28 Nov 1952-24 Jul 1953
An early evening drama for young viewers, Tales Of Adventure serialized
well-known fiction in half-hour segments. The first was a six-part adaptation
by Ray Darby of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, produced by
Silvio Narizzano, and starring Colin Eaton, Ed McNamara, Warren Wilson, Earle
Grey, Eric Clavering, Murray Kash, William Holland, and Al Pearce. It was
followed by Wilkie Collins's The Moonstone, in Michael Jacot's
adaptation, produced by David Greene.
Sat 12:00-12:30 p.m., 5 Oct 1963-28 Mar 1964
Dave Ellison and Paul Sutherland produced this ingenious series of stories with
(like the 1958 series of Fables Of La Fontaine) footage of actual animals and
dubbed actors' voices to speak their dialogue. The main characters were
rodents, Roderick the Rat and Hammy the Hamster. In supporting parts were Mrs.
Duck, Mrs. Hen, Mr. Weasel, Mr. Guinea Pig, and Mr. Squirrel. The films won
Riverbank Productions a 1960 Canadian Film Award for Films for Children. The
series expanded from thirteen shows to thirty-nine, and sold internationally in
seven countries.
Tue 9:30-10:00 p.m., 13/20 Jul 1954
Fri 8:00-8:30 p.m., 13/20 Aug 1954
Wed 10:00-11:00 p.m., 24 Nov-15 Dec 1971
These four, one-hour dramas were adapted by Doris Gauntlett from the scripts
for a BBC series written by John Hopkins. The stories revolved around a middle
class family, and each segment employed the perspective of one of the four
members of the family. The first part concentrated on Terry, played by Martha
Henry. About thirty years old, she is separated from her husband and pregnant.
The second episode privileges her father, played by Budd Knapp, but ends with
the suicide of the mother, played by Norma Renault. Part three concerns Alan,
their son, played by Douglas Rain, and the reactions of the surviving members
of the family to the death. The conclusion reprises the drama of the opening
show, but from the perspective of the mother, to outline the events and
perceptions that led to her desperate end. The plays were produced by Eric
Till.
Mon 9:30-10:00 p.m., 6 Sep-20 Sep 1954
This half-hour show ran for three weeks.
Mon 11:30-12:00 p.m., 14 May 1956-20 Sep 1958
Originally a local broadcast, this late night variety show from Montreal later
expanded to wider coverage. It starred Jimmy Tapp, and he talked to visiting
show business personalities, and introduced current musical hits. Among the
features of the series were the "Name the Chimp" contest, which ran for several
weeks in the spring of 1957.
Thu/Fri 4:00-4:30 p.m., 5 Jul-28 Sep 1962
This afternoon broadcast repeated shows from The Midnight Zone, the late night
talk show with Larry Mann, produced by Dave Thomas at the O'Keefe Centre.
Sun 2:30-3:00 p.m., 9/23/30 Jan 1972
Sun 2:30-3:00 p.m., 27 Feb 1972
Sun 2:30-3:00 p.m., 5/19 Mar 1972
Sun 2:30-3:00 p.m., 7 Jan 1973
The title suggested the kinetic style this series used to document
technological advances and their effects on Canadian industry. The
documentaries were produced in Montreal by Terese Patry, who also directed,
along with Jac Segard. The musical score was composed and conducted by Andre'
Gagnon.
Sat 12:00-12:30 p.m., 13 Jun-5 Sep 1970
A summer broadcast, this half-hour instructional show on golf produced at CBC
Edmonton, with CBC sportscaster Ernie Afaganis, was shot at Jasper Park
Lodge.
Wed 10:30-11:00 p.m., 8 Jul-30 Sep 1970
Wed 2:00-2:30 p.m., 11 Aug-1 Sep 1971
After a run on the network, the drama series Shoestring Theatre (q.v.) reverted
to a local Montreal broadcast, and its name changed to Teleplay in 1967. It
had that name when selections from the series returned to the national network
as summer programming almost a decade later. The series was meant to encourage
young writers and more adventurous drama, and to use the talent in the English
language theatre community of Montreal. The series opened with a family drama
written by Dennis Donovan, Culpable Conduct, produced and directed by Jack
Nixon-Browne and starring Chuck Shamata, Sabina Maydelle, and David Guthrie.
Nixon-Browne also Laurie, a play scheduled later in the summer. The other
producers for the series were Michael Sinelnikoff, who produced George
Salverson's script, The Thing In The Cellar, and Gary Plaxton.
The series ran every other week during the summer of 1970, alternating with
shows from the Comedy Crackers series that were pre-empted during the regular
season.
Thu 9:00-10:00 p.m., 28 Oct 1976-13 Jan 1977
Thu 9:00-10:00 p.m., 10 Mar-7 Apr 1977
An anthology series of one hour dramas produced on film or videotape, Teleplay
was an attempt under the tenure of John Hirsch as head of CBC drama to
encourage new writers and to produce new, quality drama. The series opened
with If Wishes Were Horses, a racetrack story starring Gary Reineke, Jackie
Burroughs, and Hugh Webster, and produced in cooperation with the CBC by
Insight Productions (producer John Watson and writer and director Pen Densham).
The series encouraged young filmmakers with contracts to direct new scripts for
the series. Among them were David Cronenberg, who directed his own script, The
Italian Machine, about the attempts of a group of young people to acquire a
rare motorcycle, and Frank Vitale, who directed Richard Benner's script, Friday
Night Adventure, with Saul Rubinek as a young man's confrontation with his
homosexual leanings. Both programs were produced by Stephen Patrick. Vitale
also directed I've Always Been Lucky, a comedy by Michael Silvani, starring
Ardon Bess, Ian D. Clark, Diane D'Aquila, Maxine Miller, Eric House, and Gerard
Parkes, and produced by Henry Tarvainen. Tarvainen also produced his own
adaptation of the story, Herringbone, which was directed by Stephen Katz.
George Bloomfield produced Flashes, which was directed by Deborah Peaker.
Andre' Brassard, who had collaborated with playwright Michel Tremblay on stage
productions and in two films, directed Jack Humphrey's script, Travels With
Jane, which was produced by Robert Sherrin, and another Qubec filmmaker, Andre'
Thberge, directed his own story, Quicksilver.
The show also provided an outlet for both younger and older writers. Toronto
playwright George F. Walker contributed Sam, Grace, Doug, And The Dog, which
was produced by Alan Erlich and directed by Martin Lavut. Robertson Davies's
story, Overlaid, was produced by CBC drama stalwart Herb Roland and directed by
Christopher Braden.
The CBC introduced Telescope in 1963 as a program that would "examine, reflect,
and project the Canadian image," and for ten years this half-hour documentary
series covered a wide range of subjects, most of them pertaining to Canadians
in Canada and around the world. The host, Fletcher Markle, suitably
represented what the show itself generally concerned. Born in Winnipeg, after
serving with the R.C.A.F. in the Second World War, he started a successful
career as a writer, director, and producer for films and television in the
United States, most notably of the CBS series Studio One, Life With Father, and
Front Row Center. He returned to Canada to direct the internationally
successful feature, The Incredible Journey, for Walt Disney, and thereafter was
reintroduced to Canadians as the on-camera host of Telescope.
The mainstay of Telescope was the personality profile of a Canadian, whether a
national figure, international celebrity, or a notable, unknown citizen. For
example, the 1964 season opened with Allan King's two-part documentary on actor
Christopher Plummer, as he was shooting The Sound Of Music, which propelled him
to recognition among millions of moviegoers. Other subjects over Telescope's
long history included actor Bruno Gerussi, singer and songwriter Gordon
Lightfoot, opera star Maureen Forrester, musician Glenn Gould, skiier Nancy
Greene, sportsman Conn Smythe, weightlifter Douglas Hepburn, singer Tommy
Hunter, writer Arthur Hailey, and many, many more. (The show also included
profiles of non-Canadians, such as writers Lawrence Durrell and Ray Bradbury
and movie director John Huston.)
Telescope employed the talents of many Canadian filmmakers. Among the
directors who contributed most frequently, besides Markle himself, were Rene'
Bonniere, Ron Kelly, Perry Rosemond, and Colin Smith. For the 1968 season,
Smith directed a subseries of ten segments called Footnotes On The Future,
which examined aspects of modern life and projections for years to come, with
regular commentary by Piet Hein, Buckminster Fuller, John Kenneth Galbraith,
Stuart Chase, and Herman Kahn. The subjects of the programs included the city;
education, privacy, leisure, and conventionally human values in an age of
advancing technology; the different strains of thought on outer space; measures
to be taken against poverty; the question of automation; transportation of
goods and communication; artificial foods; new methods of economic exchange,
and trends toward credit and renting; and the current state and prospects for
computers.
Telescope had the honour of being the first regular colour broadcast on the CBC
when, in September 1966, it telecast a repeat of its documentary on rodeo
broncos at the Calgary Stampede, previously transmitted in black-and-white.
The executive producer of Telescope from 1963 to 1970 was Thom Benson, and the
producers were Ross McLean (l963-64), Peter Kelly (l964-66), Fletcher Markle
(l966-69). Markle had returned to the U.S., but the CBC enticed him to come
back to Toronto as the head of television drama, and revived Telescope, with
Markle himself as executive producer, Sam Levene the producer, and Ken Cavanagh
as the on-camera host.
Mon-Fri 3:30-4:00 p.m., 11 Apr-20 May 1983
Producer Athan Katsos selected thirty programs from the 1965 to 1972 seasons
for this weekday series of rebroadcasts from Telescope. The programs included
profiles of Marshall McLuhan, Gordon Lightfoot, Pere Athol Murray, Glenn Gould,
Paul Anka, and Chief Dan George, as well as programs on Alexander Graham Bell,
the founding of the R.C.M.P., and writer Lucy Maud Montgomery.
Thu 5:00-5:15 p.m., 1 Jan 1953-
On Telestory Time, a fifteen minute broadcast, Pat Patterson read a story for
children while artist George Feyer rapidly drew cartoons to illustrate the
tale.
Sun 10:00-11:00 p.m., 30 Sep 1956-7 Jul 1957
Tue 9:00-9:30 p.m., 22 Oct 1957-27 May 1958
Mon 9:30-10:00 p.m., 20 Aug-24 Sep 1962
Mon 10:30-11:00 p.m., 1 Jul 1963-
Fri 8:00-8:30 p.m., 16 Aug-6 Sep 1963
A counterpart of the Candid Eye (q.v.) and Explorations (q.v.) series, Temps
present was a production of the National Film Board's French language unit.
The series appeared on Radio-Canada and, over two summer seasons, on the
English service of CBC television. Among the films aired were The Gold
Seekers, directed by Jacques Giraldeau; Visit To A Foreign Country (a.k.a.
Quebec, U.S.A), directed by Michel Brault and Claude Jutra; September Five At
Saint-Henri, by director Hubert Aquin; Country Fairs; Strangers For The Day;
and Day After Day, directed by Clment Perron. The series was produced by
Fernand Dansereau for the NFB.
The second season included Olympic Swimmers, by director Gilles Carle; The
Little Acres, written and directed by Raymond Garceau; Arthur Lamothe's
Manouane River Lumberjacks; One Sunday In Canada, also directed by Carle;
France Revisited by Jean le Moyne; Manicouagan; Thirty Minutes, Mister Plummer,
by Anne-Claire Poirier; Vancouver Painters; The National Theatre School; and
Ballerina, directed by George Kaczender.
Wed 9:00-9:30 p.m., 22 Oct 1980-11 Feb 1981
Sun 3:30-4:00 p.m., 25 Apr-1 Aug 1982
Veteran correspondent Michael Maclear was the executive producer for this
twenty-six episode television history of the Vietnam war, from the takeover by
the French in 1945 to the fall of Saigon in 1975. (Because of scheduling
conflicts the CBC, which had licensed the series for broadcast while it was
still in production, could air only eighteen of the half-hour programs.)
Maclear was the first western journalist to be admitted into North Vietnam, and
used his contacts to obtain footage from Vietnamese film archives to be
incorporated into the series. Although the series was praised for the skill
with which it presented the sights and sound of the war, and for the sharp
writing and effectiveness of individual segments, it was also criticized for
its lack of an overall thesis or focus to structure the series.
The series was produced by Ian McLeod and written by Peter Arnett, with
commentary spoken by U.S. actor Richard Basehart. Maclear published a written
version of the history: The Ten Thousand Day War: Vietnam, 1945-l975
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 198l).
Sat 1:00-2:00 p.m., 7 Sep-28 Dec 1968
CBC sports mounted tennis tournaments that pitted six amateur players from six
different countries against each other in a round robin competition. Ronald
Corey of CBC Montreal produced the series, CBC Championship Tennis, which took
place at Le Club de tennis des employs civils in Qubec. Montreal sportscaster
Bob McDevitt called the action, with Bob Bedard of Canada's Davis Cup team to
supply commentary, and Alex Trebek as the host for the broadcasts. The
tournament matches were edited to fit into sixteen one-hour time slots for
Saturday afternoon broadcasts.
Wed 9:00-10:00 p.m., 27 Oct-22 Dec 1971
Sun/Mon 10:00-11:00 p.m., 27 Aug-11 Sep 1972 (R)
Sun/Mon 10:00-11:00 p.m., 13 Nov-23 Nov 1972 (R)
Sun 10:00-11:00 p.m., 13 Jun-29 Aug 1976
A series of eight one-hour film documentaries made under the supervision of
executive producer Cameron Graham, The Tenth Decade charted the political
decade up to the Centennial year, and the Parliamentary conflict between John
Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson as leaders of the two major parties. Graham had
previously produced individual documentaries on Diefenbaker's decline in power
(Hail And Farewell, 1967), and on the accession to power of Pierre Trudeau in
the Liberal Party and as Prime Minister (The Style Is The Man Himself, 1968).
The Tenth Decade was his first extended production of this type, it was
heralded as a major effort in the development of television as a tool for
writing Canadian political history.
Diefenbaker's and Pearson's respective regimes, and the conflicts they mounted
were the first in Canada to be played out completely in the era of television,
and Graham and director Munroe Scott had a wealth of documentary and newsfilm
and kinescopes to sift through for their material. They skilfully intercut
archival footage from both political camps and recent interviews with the two
adversaries. The style of the film itself, both the archival footage long
faded from the memories of television viewers and aspects of its reworking, led
a Maclean's reviewer to conclude, in an all too typical example of
self-contempt, that the show "... contains extraordinary revelations about what
kind of country Canada really has been--gauche, provincial, pretentious,
absurd, and incredibly colonial banana republic. ... This banality is
reflected, intentionally or unintentionally, in the style of The Tenth
Decade--the pretentious, cliched titles for each program, the Gotterdammerung
shots of Parliament Hill backed by Victory At Sea music, the camera's peculiar
fascination with a lighted portrait of Dief which reappears mysteriously like
the Ghost in Hamlet." (Maclean's [December 197l])
Nevertheless, the series offered a valuable, if loosely defined, perspective on
the period from 1957 to 1967 from the the vantage of the two protagonists. The
first segment, Prologue To Power, introduced both Diefenbaker and Pearson and
traced their backgrounds, ending with the June 1957 election that brought
Diefenbaker's Conservatives to power and ended the twenty-two years of Liberal
domination in the House of Commons. The second episode, From Victory To
Triumph, took the Tories from the narrow margin of their first minority
government to the landslide of March 1958, and outlined the Pearson's
succession to the leadership of the Liberal Party after the resignation of
Louis St. Laurent. Part three, The Power And The Glory, traced the four years
of that government and the return of the Conservatives to a minority status in
the Commons in 1962. The portentously titled fourth part, Treason And
Transition outlined the ten months of that fragile minority, marked by
Diefenbaker's anti-nuclear arms stance and the issue of the Bomarc missile,
and the 1963 election that returned the Liberals to the government and made
Pearson the Prime Minister. As the title of the fifth program suggested,
Search For A Mandate concerned the Liberals' efforts to build their political
fortunes from a minority, but the period from one election to the next in 1965,
also to a minority, were marked by budget conflicts, the war in Vietnam, and
domestic scandal. The second Liberal government, documented in part six, No
Joy In Heaven, was plagued with scandals like the Munsinger affair, and had to
try to face the growing unrest in Qubec. Celebration And Success, the title of
the seventh chapter, referred principally to the hoopla over the Centennial in
l967, and not necessarily to the deposition of John Diefenbaker as head of the
Progressive Conservative Party that same year. Finally, as described in the
last program, The End Of An Era, Pearson resigned, too, to be succeeded by
Pierre Trudeau, and a new political regime began with the 1968 defeat of the
Conservatives under Robert Stanfield and the formation of a majority Liberal
government.
Writers for The Tenth Decade included Ed Reid, Christopher Young, and Brian
Nolan, and the commentary was spoken by actor Jon Granik. The music was
composed by Larry Crosley.
The series was rerun the summer after it was first broadcast, but the series
had to be interrupted because of the federal election, in which Diefenbaker was
a candidate for his traditional Saskatchewan seat.
The research and shooting for The Tenth Decade led directly to two subsequent
series produced by Graham: One Canadian and First Person Singular, his
television biographies of Diefenbaker and Pearson, respectively.
Sat 7:00-7:30 p.m., 30 Jun-29 Sep 1956
Terry And Me were a wife-and-husband team of singer Terry Dale and announcer
Alan Millar. In this half-hour musical variety show, she sang, with musical
accompaniment from an eight piece band led by Dave Pepper, and he introduced
the numbers and performed in sketches between the musical selections. Frank
Goodship produced the series in Vancouver.
Fri 7:30-8:00 p.m., 8 Apr-22 Jul 1977
That Maritime Feelin' brought the voice of Marg Osburne back to the public
network for a series of thirteen, half-hour shows. For many years, one of the
stars of Don Messer's Jubilee, she returned in a more contemporary musical
variety show that spotlighted music and talent from the Atlantic provinces, and
which was taped in front of a studio audience. The show, produced by Jack
O'Neil, picked up from the following of his previous series, The Sunshine Hour,
and had a simple format that stressed the music and performances. The styles
of music ranged from the traditional to current pop tunes, and the singers were
backed by a band led by Paul Mason and included George Herbert on guitar, Skip
Beckwith on bass, and Tim Cahoon on drums. Guests included John Allan Cameron,
Wilf Carter, Anne Murray, Gene McLellan, Kenzie McNeil, Stompin' Tom Connors,
Stan Rogers, Patsy Gallant, Jim Bennet, Shirley Eikhard, Catherine McKinnon,
Ken Tobias, and Noel Harrison.
Sadly, Marg Osburne died on the l6th of July 1977 at the age of forty-nine,
before the series completed its run.
Thu 9:00-9:30 p.m., 17 Sep-10 Dec 1970
Theatre Canada was subtitled Canadian Short Stories, and presented sixteen
half-hour film adaptations, under the supervision of producer David Peddie and
executive producer Ronald Weyman. The series opened with Barbara Hamilton and
Jodi Farber in Morley Callaghan's story, Very Special Shoes, adapted by Gloria
Lyndon and directed by Rene Bonniere. Peter Carter adapted and directed In
Exile, which starred Chris Wiggins, from the story by David Helwig. Postcard,
from Alice Munro's story, was adapted by David Peddie and Rene Bonniere and
directed by Bonniere, with Linda Goranson in the lead role. Bonniere also
directed Anna Reiser's adaptation of In The Promised Land, by Pamela Andress,
which starred Vladimir Valenta. Bryan Barney adapted Callaghan's story,
Rigmarole, which Peter Carter directed and in which Donnelly Rhodes and Margot
Kidder starred, and James W. Nichol adapted and Al Waxman directed another
Callaghan story, Father And Son, with Len Birman and Patricia Collins. Rene
Bonniere directed another Helwig story, Something For Olivia's Scrapbook, which
playwright Carol Bolt adapted for the television production starring Tudi
Wiggins. David Brown, Tedde Moore, and Mavor Moore starred in The Mariposa
Bank Mystery, from the Stephen Leacock story. Peter Carter directed Philip
Child's World War I story, God's Sparrow. A Token Gesture was written by
playwright David French, and Some Are So Lucky, starring Jackie Burroughs and
Michael Tait, was taken from the story by Hugh Garner. Morley Callaghan
returned as the author of The Magic Hat, which starred Gordon Pinsent and
Louise Marleau. The series concluded with Richard J. Needham's story Roberta
And Her Robot, starring Anne Collings, Jack Creley, and Dinah Christie.
Tue 10:00-11:00 p.m., 22 Aug-12 Sep 1972
This series of four hour-long documentaries used footage from the National Film
Board, the Imperial War Museum, German newsreels, the French Army, and other
public and private sources to construct a history of the Canadian Army from the
l9l0s to the 1940s. The first part concerned the First World War, the second
segment the period up to the Second World War, and the third and fourth parts
World War II, concentrating first on the Sicilian and Italian campaigns and
then on the invasion of France and liberation of northwest Europe.
The hosts and narrators of the series, which originated at CBC Montreal, were
announcer Bill Hawes and producer and director Frank Williams. The film editor
was Armand Fortin.
Sun 2:00-5:00 p.m., 19 Apr-30 Aug 1981
This summer series, with the umbrella title Theme And Variations, brought
together a variety of different types of productions. For example, one program
combined Ingmar Bergman's film production of The Magic Flute with The Borodin
Trio, John Thorne's production from CBC Vancouver, on an ensemble that
specializes in modern Russian music. Another show concentrated on two Canadian
women, and included Robert Duncan's NFB documentary, Margaret Laurence: First
Lady Of Manawaka, and the CBC adaptation of her story A Bird In The House,
written by Patricia Watson and directed by Allan King, as well as a documentary
on Mary Pickford. For a program on the theme of creation, the series combined
Nancy Ryley's CBC documentary on Emily Carr and Songs Of A Sourdough, a film on
the life of Robert W. Service.
The series was coordinated by John L. Kennedy at CBC Toronto.
Mon 9:30-10;00 p.m., 8 Aug-12 Sep 1955
Sun 6:45-7:00 p.m., 18 Sep 1955
Vancouver violinist Jean de Rimanoczy traced the development of chamber music
and discussed other topics, such as the evolution of stringed and woodwind
instruments, the romantic period of music, impressionism, and the influence of
jazz on modern serious music, in this series of seven programs produced by
Daryl Duke.
Sun 5:00-5:30 p.m., 20 Jul-25 Aug 1968
Theologo '67 documented the proceedings of the theological Congress held in
Toronto in the summer of 1967. The four half-hour programs concentrated on
issues of poverty, war, and contraception; the Church in the world; Christian
unity; and conscience. The broadcasts were produced by John Ryan, and the
executive producer was Leo Rampen.
Sun 10:00-10:30 p.m., 3 May-7 Jun 1981
A Vancouver production, this series of six, half-hour programs documented the
evolution of ragtime music. Among the performers were Max Morath, Eubie Blake,
Dick Wellstood, Milton Kaye, Dick Hyman, the percussion ensemble Nexus, Ben
McPeek, the Canadian Brass, and Ian Whitcomb. Producer of the series was Neil
Sutherland.
Tue 9:30-10:00 p.m., 26 Aug 1975
Tue 9:30-10:00 p.m., 9 Sep 1975
Fri 9:30-10:00 p.m., 12 Sep 1975
Mon 8:30-9:00 p.m., 15 Sep 1975
In this series of three programs of popular music of the 1950s to the 1970s,
famous Canadians placed requests for their favourite tunes. Among the guests
were Jose Feliciano, who played and sang Gary Carter's request, "California
Dreamin'"; Susan Jacks, with her hit, "Which Way You Goin', Billy," requested
by Nancy Greene Raine; tenor Georges Coulombe, who sang "Some Enchanted
Evening," the fave rave of Betty Kennedy; Kathy McAuliffe, performing "Amazing
Grace," requested by W.O. Mitchell; and Brook Benton, singing "More," Gordie
Howe's favourite chestnut.
The host for the series was Jim McKenna, and the program was produced in
Montreal by Dale Barnes.
Tue 5:00-5:30 p.m., 2 Jul-24 Sep 1957
The director of the National Gallery in Ottawa, Alan Jarvis, discussed ideas of
visual enjoyment, and how people could learn to look anew at the patterns in
everyday things, in this series for young viewers.
Wed 9:30-10:30 p.m., 13 Nov-18 Dec 1974
Thu 8:00-9:00 p.m., 31 Jul-4 Sep 1975
A co-production of Nielsen-Ferns and Time-Life Films, in cooperation with the
CBC, this series of six one-hour documentaries was written and hosted by
Malcolm Muggeridge. In it, he examined issues of faith and the pertinence of
religion through six major figures: St. Augustine, Blaise Pascal, William
Blake, Soren Kierkegaard, Leo Tolstoy, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He examined
these men as the potential writers of a testament newer than the New Testament.
The production took Muggeridge and producers Richard Nielsen and directors Pat
Ferns (both formerly with CBC public affairs) and Jeremy Murray-Brown to sites
associated with their six subjects in Denmark, the Soviet Union, Germany, North
Africa, and France.
Produced in both English and French versions, the series earned international
sales and recognition.
See Take Thirty.
Tue/Wed/Thu 10:30-11:30 a.m., 11Jan-13 Jan 1966
Tue/Wed/Thu 10:30-11:30 a.m., 10 Jan-12 Jan 1967
CBC television, in cooperation with the Ontario Department of Agriculture and
Food, produced several series of documentaries on the current state of farming.
In 1966, the programs were Growing Feed For Livestock; Feeding Livestock; and
Managing The Livestock Barriers. The 1967 programs were Soils And Good Soil
Management; Farm Machinery And Management Today; and Family Farm Business
Arrangements. The three programs in 1968 were The Fences Are Coming Down, on
dairy farming, No Sacred Cows, on beef farming, and A Beats C, on practices in
raising swine. From Field To Feed and Money Matters, in 1969, concerned the
harvest, storage, and use of feed grain and farm money management,
respectively. The 1969 series concluded with a report on the findings of the
Ontario Farm Income Committee. The producer of the series was Rena Elmer.
Sun 10:30-11:00 p.m., 18 Jun 1978-
Sun 9:30-10:00 p.m., 16 Jul-20 Aug 1978
A summer series, This Half Hour was a Sunday evening public affairs and
interview program, by executive producer Les Nirenberg and senior producer
Larry Zolf, both known as much for their punditry as their incisiveness. The
host of the show was Hana Gartner, also a host on the afternoon show, Take
Thirty. Subjects in the series of ten programs, most of which revolved around
individuals in the news, included Bob White, the new leader of the United Auto
Workers in Canada; Manitoba Premier Sterling Lyon; writer Myrna Kostash; and
artist Harold Town. Producers for the show included Ain Soodor, Margaret
Slaght, Eva Innes, and Dolores MacFarlane.
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