CBC Television Series, 1952-1982
by Blaine Allan
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CBC Series Index
Seven
Fri 7:00-7:30 p.m., 2 Jul-27 Aug 1976
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 4/11 Oct 1953
Mon-Fri 7:01-7:30 p.m.,
Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri 7:01-7:30 p.m.,1 Oct 1962-27 Sep 1963
Because a drug manufacturer had registered the name "Tabloid,"
for the 1960 season, the CBC changed the title of its popular
interview and current events show to 70l, the time that the show
started each weekday evening. Hosts Joyce Davidson and Max
Ferguson, weatherman Percy Saltzman, and newscaster John O'Leary
all returned to the show. However, they remained only for the
first year, after which Davidson and Ferguson were replaced by
Betty-Jean Talbot and Alan Millar. In the 1962 season, the cast
changed once again, and only Saltzman remained as a regular, with
more emphasis on guests than on the continuity of hosts.
Journalist Robert Fulford, sportswriter Trent Frayne, and
historian John Saywell all made frequent appearances.
Wed 4:00-4:30 p.m., 4 Oct 1961-27 Jun 1962
Shoestring Theatre, a weekly half-hour of drama from Montreal,
began as a local, late night broadcast from CBMT, and later
expanded to the network as an afternoon show. Actor Michael Kane
took the job as drama consultant to the English section of CBC
Montreal, and was responsible for the initial season of the
series, both as adaptor and director. As the title implies the
series got along on minimal budgets. The first two seasons
concentrated on theatrical experimentation, but later the series
changed its format to include more conventional productions of
classic and modern plays. For the 196l-62 season, the
supervising producer was Ken Davey, and the individual broadcasts
were produced by Guy Beaulne, Jacques Gauthier, Roger Racine, and
Mervyn Rosenzveig. Plays included Blow The Man Down, by Gil
Braun; No Chopin On Sunday, by James Richardson; A Shake Of The
Kaleidoscope; How Beautiful With Shoes; Elegy For A Moth; Thirty
Minutes With Dorothy Parker, an adaptation by Shirley Codins;
Easy Money; Aria Da Capo, by Edna St. Vincent Millay; Peter
Symcox's adaptation of The Proposal In Literature; A Duel By
Candlelight; Mac Shoub's script, Ballad Of The Grass; Martin
Bailliett, by Martin Spoerly; Herb Hosie's The Nativity Of The
Monster Of Santa Stefano; Smile From Ambush, by Maurice Gagnon;
Cliff, by Joseph Cochran; Take Two Before Retiring, by Martin
Galloway; and A Chorus Of Echoes, by Tony Williamson.
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 17 Nov 1963
Wed 8:30-9:30 p.m., 25 Dec 1963
Sun 8:00-9:00 p.m., 22 Mar 1964
Wed 8:30-9:30 p.m., 20 May 1964
A series of four, hourlong variety shows produced over the 1963-
64 season in Toronto and Montreal, A Show From Two Cities was
also broadcast simultaneously on both English and French networks
of the CBC. The first program, Deux villes se rencontrent,
observed each of Toronto and Montreal through the eyes of
performers from the other city. Produced by Don Hudson and Roger
Fournier, it starred Shirley Harmer, Bill Cole, Lise LaSalle, and
Pierre Thriault, with music by Lucio Agostini and choreography by
Alan Lund. The show featured both classical and popular musical
selections and sketches by such performers as soprano Claire
Gagnier and tenor Richard Verreau; Monique Leyrac and Barbara
Hamilton; Doug Romaine; dancer Don Gillies; singer Rene Claude;
actor Jean Cavall; and the Gino Silvi Octet.
The second show was produced by Don Brown, Bob Jarvis, and
Jacques Blouin, and featured comics Olivier Guimond, Roger
Garceau, Jimmy Tapp, Paul Dupuis, Elaine Bdard, and Juliette
Ptrie; singers Richard Verreau, Joyce Sullivan, Monique Gaube,
and Yolande Guerarde, Jean-Pierre Ferland; as well as Paul
Kligman, Corinne Conley, Earl Cameron, Miville Couture, Steve
Douglas, Rene' Lecavalier, Henri Bergeron, and Fred Davis.
Jarvis and Fournier produced the third and fourth shows in the
series. The third featured Jacques Normand, Shirley Harmer, Jean
Christopher, Larry Mann, Paul Berval, Olivier Guimond, Deborah
Wittman, Robert Demontigny, Denis Drouin, and dancers Nina
Deschamps and Glenn Gibson, with music by Lucio Agostini, Rick
Wilkins, and Ray Smith. The fourth, on the theme of spring,
starred Elaine Bdard, Sylvia Murphy, Monique Leyrac, Wayne and
Shuster, Dominique Michel, Michel Louvin, Marilyn Rollo, Jack
Robertson, Paul Berval, Denis Drouin, Olivier Guimond, Nora
Johnstone, and Felix Fitzgerald, with music directed by Paul de
Margerie.
Writers for the series included Eloi de Grandmont, Jean Rafa,
Bernard Rothman and Gerald Tasse
Mon 8:00-9:00 p.m., 28 Sep 1964-21 Jun 1965
Mon 9:00-10:00 p.m., 13 Sep 1965-20 Jun 1966
Mon 9:00-10:00 p.m., 12 Sep 1966-19 Jun 1967
Mon 8:00-9:00 p.m., 11 Sep 1967-10 Jun 1968
Mon 8:00-9:00 p.m., 9 Sep 1968-9 Jun 1969
Show Of The Week was an umbrella title given a series of one hour
dramatic and variety broadcasts that included both Canadian and
foreign productions. In the first year, Peter Russell supervised
variety productions, while Ed Moser served as executive producer
of drama for the series. Variety productions scheduled in the
first season included an hour of country music hosted by Hank
Snow, produced by Stan Jacobson, and Scrooge, a musical based on
Dickens's A Christmas Carol, starring Cyril Ritchard and Tessie
O'Shea. They also included the annual four programs with Johnny
Wayne and Frank Shuster, as well as Wayne And Shuster Take An
Affectionate Look At..., in which the comedy team hosted
documentary tributes to famous comics, including W.C. Fields,
Jack Benny, the Marx Brothers, and Bob Hope.
Dramas included Paul Almond's production of Neighbours, by Arkady
Leokum; Jacqueline Rosenfeld's Who Needs An Enemy?, produced by
George McCowan; Paul Wayne's play, Moose Fever; Malcolm
Mamorstan's I Ran Into This Zombie; Between The Silences Of Love,
by Len Peterson, produced by George Bloomfield; a second script
by Rosenfeld, Face To Face; and Prelude, written by Phillip
Hersch and produced by Leo Orenstein.
Show Of The Week also featured four segments of Instant TV, a
variety show produced by Bavaria Atelier Gmbh in Munich.
Subsequent seasons included a range of drama and variety, with
plays by Hugh Kemp (Whatever Happened To Jeremiah Goodwin?,
l965), Phillip Hersch (Masters In Our Own House, 1965), Len
Peterson (The Desperate Search, 1966), George Robertson (A Germ
Of Doubt, 1966), and Jean Cavall (It's Murder Cherie, 1966),
under the supervision of executive producer Ronald Weyman, who
succeeded Moser. However, the program gradually stressed
variety, and included U.S. broadcasts from NBC-TV, such as Perry
Como specials (l964-66), The Danny Thomas Hour (l967-68) and the
Kraft Music Hall (l968-69). However, it also provided a slot for
domestic talent. Wayne and Shuster's yearly output of four
specials were broadcast in the Show Of The Week slot. The
original not-ready-for-prime-time-players, the cast of the CBC's
naughty late night show Nightcap, appeared on a toned-down
evening special, The Best And Worst Of Nightcap. And, in 1968 it
included a one hour special devoted Gordon Lightfoot, in a rare
television appearance. As the show stressed music and variety,
the executive producer in its latter years was a specialist,
Paddy Sampson.
Sun 5:00-5:30 p.m., 1 Nov-27 Dec 1964
Sun 5:00-5:30 p.m., 4 Apr-27 Jun 1965
A half-hour weekly profile of artists and the arts, Show On Shows
cast a wide net on culture with contributors who included Ross
McLean, Marya Mannes, Barry Callaghan, Gerald Pratley, Rita Greer
Allen, Merle Shain, Arthur Hammond, Larry Stone, and Timothy
Findley. Interviews and discussions featured writer John Updike,
poet Raymond Souster, dramaturge George Luscombe and his Toronto
Workshop Productions, television producer Paul Almond, sculptor
Sorel Etrog, writer Ralph Allen, Canadian artists Joyce Wieland
and Michael Snow, interviewed in their studios in New York, Leroi
Jones, and Marie-Claire Blais.
The series was produced by John Kennedy, and the regular
announcers were Chantal Beauregard and John O'Leary.
Tue 10:30-11:00 p.m., 28 Oct 1958-2 Jun 1959
Tue 10:00-10:30 p.m., 23 Jun-15 Sep 1959
A musical variety show, this half-hour broadcast featured Jack
Shapira and his orchestra and musical guests, including Norman
Brooks, Shirley Shaw, the Altones, Donna Andert, Lou Pollack,
Denny Vaughan, the Ad Libs, Sylvia Murphy, Georges LaFleche, and
Allan Blye.
Thu 9:30-10:00 p.m., 26 May 1977-
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 14 Sep-9 Nov 1975
Sat 10:00-11:00 p.m., 10 Apr-5 Jun 1976 (R)
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 3 Oct-21 Nov 1976
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 9 Oct-18 Dec 1977
Sun 9;00-10:00 p.m., 24 Sep-12 Nov 1978
Thu 11:45-12:45 a.m., 13 Sep-1 Nov 1979 (R)
Sidestreet succeeded The Collaborators as the CBC's main series
drama. The Collaborators had moved away from its original
premise based on the combined work of police and forensic
scientists to become a more conventional cop show. Program
developers John Saxton and Geoffrey Gilbert aimed to move
Sidestreet away from the violence of the typical police show with
protagonists who were community service officers instead of
ordinary detectives. They aimed to concentrate on issues such
as blockbusting, strikebreaking, rape, poverty, and the problems
of the elderly in the city, instead of major crimes. In the
first season, the protagonists were Inspector Alec Woodward,
played by Sean McCann, and Sergeant Johnny Dias, played by
Stephen Markle. They were replaced by the older, experienced
Nick Raitt, played by Donnelly Rhodes, and the younger Glenn
Olsen, played by Jonathan Welsh. Writers included Tony Sheer,
Grahame Woods, and Ty Haller, with David Helwig as story editor,
and the directors included Richard Gilbert, Don Haldane, Gerald
Mayer, John Wright, and Denis Hroux. The producer of the first
two programs was G. Chalmers Adams, who was followed by Brian
Walker, and the executive producers were John T. Ross and,
subsequently, Stanley Colbert.
Sun 4:00-4:25 p.m., 26 Sep 1965-2 Jan 1966
Don Carroll produced this half-hour program on hunting and
fishing with outdoors writer Tiny Bennett.
Wed 10:00-11:00 p.m., 4 Jul-
Wed 10:00-10:30 p.m., 8 Aug-19 Sep 1962
Wed 10:30-11:00 p.m., 26 Sep 1962
A summer season, magazine format program, Sightline combined
planned and rehearsed segments with live, remote coverage of
events like the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, the International
Air Show at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition, the Calgary
Stampede, or the International Square Dance Festival in Victoria.
Producers Don MacPherson and Richard Knowles and writer Norman
Klenman attempted to impose planning and pacing on actuality
reports, which typically operated on the event's schedule rather
than the broadcaster's. The regular host for the program was
Fred Davis, with occasional appearances by guest host Bruce
Marsh.
Mon/Wed/Fri 2:30-2:45 p.m., 6 Apr-29 Jun 1961
Mon/Fri 3:45-4:00 p.m., 2 Oct 1961-
Mon/Fri 4:45-5:00 p.m., 5 Jan-29 Jun 1962
Mon/Fri 4:45-5:00 p.m., 31 Dec 1962-28 Jun 1963
Attached to Junior Roundup, this quarter-hour segment presented
music, stories, poetry, and dancing for pre-school age children,
with Donna Miller and her doll friend, a monkey named Cheeky. In
her music room Donna played and sang along with records that had
to do with a particular subject, like animals or trains, or
devoted a show to a story, like Goldilocks (with Cheeky, in a
wig, as Goldilocks). In 1963, two new characters joined the
cast: Wally Martin as Mr. Starhopper, who performed dance and
mime, and a clown named Francis, another doll operated by Donna
Miller. The producer of the program was Dan McCarthy, and the
writer Joan Soloviov.
Singalong Jubilee replaced Don Messer's Jubilee for eight summer
seasons, and they were for many years the principal network shows
produced in the Atlantic region. Bill Langstroth, the producer
and director of Don Messer's show, was the co-host of Singalong
Jubilee with another veteran broadcaster and performer, Jim
Bennet. In a cluttered set with a lot of different nooks that
permitted the large cast of singers and musicians to perform
separately and as a chorus, the broadcast was an informal program
of folk, country, spiritual, and popular songs. When it joined
the winter schedule, it also moved more frequently outside the
studio for numbers filmed on location. Langstroth played a long-
necked banjo and sang with considerable gusto, while Bennet, with
a better-trained voice, specialized in ballads. Langstroth left
the show in 1970, and was replaced by singer and songwriter Tom
Kelly.
Over the show's long history, singers joined and left the Jubilee
Chorus on a year by year basis, although a number of performers
appeared frequently and over several seasons. If the show was
notable for any special contributions to Canadian popular music,
it was for introducing two Nova Scotia singers: Catherine
McKinnon and Anne Murray. McKinnon joined the show as a featured
soloist in 1962; billed as having the "voice of an angel," she
gained considerable popularity in Canada. For Anne Murray,
however, Singalong Jubilee was an early step to international
stardom in country and popular music. She appeared on the show
from 1966 to 1970, where she introduced a number of her hits,
including "Snowbird," written by Gene MacLellan, the gaunt
singer-songwriter who appeared rather ominous and dour among all
the good cheer on the show because of the eyepatch he wore over a
disfigured eye. Murray was managed by, and later married, Bill
Langstroth.
Another regular throughout the show's run was Fred McKenna, who
was sightless but an extremely talented instrumentalist and
singer, and veteran of the Don Messer show. Self-taught, he
played country and bluegrass guitar and mandolin laid across his
lap, and fiddle in an equally inverted fashion.
The opening seasons featured the Jubilee Four (Bud Kimbel, Graham
Day, Gordon McMurtry, and Lorne White) until 1963, and the
Townsmen Trio (Michael Stanbury, Scott McCulloch, and Don Burke),
who appeared until 1964. Stanbury returned to the show as a solo
the next year and stayed until 1970. In the 1964 and 1965 runs,
Burke led the Don Burke Four, which included Marilyn Davies, Kay
Porter, and Brian Ahern. Ahern, who was the musical director for
the series, produced a number of Anne Murray's records and
parlayed the experience into a career as a producer of contemporary country music. In 1966, Ken Tobias joined the
chorus, and Lorne White returned as one of the Dropouts, a vocal
group that also featured Karen Oxley and Vern Moulton. Vocalist
Patrician Ann, sister of Catherine McKinnon joined the cast in
l969, and Beverly Welles in 197l.
Producer of the series was Manny Pittson.
Sun 1:00-1:30 p.m., 17 Apr-26 Jun 1960
A half-hour musical variety show, Sit Back With Jack replaced
Stage Door and succeeded The Show That Jack Built as the regular
spot for Jack Shapira and his orchestra. The show featured
unknown performers, such as Wally Keep, a singing cab driver;
Father Clayton Barclay, a harpsichordist; the singing blacksmith
Vince Lovallo; and ventriloquist Bobby Swartz and his dummy
Elmer. As if more were necessary, the show also featured more
professional performers, including Bud and Travis, Ray Eberle,
Emmanuel Ax, and Frank D'Rone. Each program featured a Shapira
Sound Track, a film about events around Winnipeg with music
written by Frank Lewis. Subjects included shopping on a Friday
night and activity in the CPR freight yards. Shapira and Marsh
Phimister were hosts, and Frank Rosler produced the broadcast in
Winnipeg.
Wed 9:00-9:30 p.m., 13 Jul-21 Sep 1955
This half-hour public affairs show ran on every other week in the
summer of 1955. It included a program on contemporary France,
with an interview with writers Jacques Servan-Schreiber and
Raymond Aron, and a program on labour relations, which included
segments of a National Film Board production.
Sun 5:00-5:30 p.m., 3 Nov 1963-26 Apr 1964
Mon 10:00-10:30 p.m., 9 Nov 1964-26 Apr 1965
Mon 10:00-10:30 p.m., 15 Nov 1965-11 Apr 1966
Produced with the cooperation of the Canadian Association for
Adult Education, The Sixties replaced Citizens' Forum as a weekly
discussion of current issues. Occasionally the show featured a
profile of a person in the news, but generally limited itself to
a panel discussion. Frank McGee chaired the panel from 1963 to
l965. Charles Lynch, the chief of Southam News Services who had
frequently contributed commentary and interviews since the show's
inception, took over McGee's chair in the 1965-66 season.
Subjects ranged from the impact of the press on public opinion to
Canadian-oriented issues, such as Francophone-Anglophone
relations or the status of Canadian foreign aid, to international
subjects, including Czechoslovakia, life in East and West Berlin,
and French film star Jeanne Moreau.
Christina McDougall was the program organizer, and Cameron Graham
produced the half-hour show in Ottawa.
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 29 Dec 1962-19 Jan 1963
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 4 Jan-25 Jan 1964
The Fabulous World Of Skiing
Sat 1:30-2:00 p.m., 22 Nov 1969-14 Feb 1970
Instructors Ral Charette and Lucille Wheeler were the instructors
in this series of four fifteen-minute lessons on the
fundamentals of skiing, filmed at Banff. Produced by Douglas
Sinclair Film Productions, this series won the American Library
Association's award as the best educational sports film of 1960.
The commentary for the series was ready by Doug Smith.
Sinclair reincarnated the series as The Fabulous World Of Skiing,
a half-hour show that presented skiing in ten countries,
including Canada, the U.S.A., Chile, Norway, and Austria.
Narrated by Alex Trebek, its instructors were Charette, Jim
McConkey and Nancy Podorieszach.
Wed 5:00-5:30 p.m., 3 Apr-18 Sep 1974
Sat 10:00-10:30 a.m., 7 Apr-7 Jul 1979
Sat 10:00-10:30 a.m., 5 Jul-27 Dec 1980
Sat 10:00-10:30 a.m., 26 Sep 1981-27 Mar 1982
This half-hour children's show was set in the living room of a
retired sea captain, who was played by Ray Bellew. His regular
visitors included the postman; a magical friend named Vincent
Vagabond; the cook, Charlie Lee; and an old friend, Corky. The
skipper also gathered other guests, including singers, dancers,
musicians, and hobbyists. Guests ranged from a model boat
builder to a kung fu instructor to former Newfoundland Premier
Joey Smallwood. The series was produced in St. John's for its
l974 network run by Jack Kellum and later by Wayne Guzzwell.
Sun 4:30-5:00 p.m., 22 Jun-28 Sep 1958
Weatherman Bob Fortune was the narrator for this half-hour show
about the sky. The fifteen broadcasts were produced in Vancouver
by Nancy Frager, and written by don Erickson.
Small Types Club
Sun 6:30-7:00 p.m., 21 Dec 1952
This was a quiz and party program for children. It included a
game in which children asked questions of experts from different
professions, and other play activities. The host of the show was
Frank Heron, and occasionally in the 1954-55 season, Dorothy
Heron. Written by Bill Bankier, the program was produced in
Montreal by Roger Racine.
Originally scheduled in its time slot was Small Types Club, with
Byng Whitteker as compere.
Sat 1:00-2:00 p.m., 7 May-
Sat 1:00-2:00 p.m., 8 Oct-26 Nov 1966
Sat 4:00-5:00 p.m., 13 May-15 Jul 1967
Sat 1:00-2:00 p.m., 22 Jul-16 Sep 1967
CBC Sports Presents Championship Snooker was a twenty-six week
television tournament from Toronto's House of Champions. Each
week, host Bill Walker introduced two competitors who played
games edited down to one hour. George Chenier analyzed the games
in the first season and Gordon Jones in the second. The
producers were Claude Baikie (l966) and Rick Rice (l967).
Fri 9:30-10:00 a.m., 3 Nov-8 Dec 1978
This half-hour show on the rudiments of skiing was shot in
Jasper, Alberta, and was hosted by CBC sportscaster Ernie
Afaganis.
Thu 4:00-4:15 p.m., 5 Oct 1961-28 Jun 1962
So Grows The Child, a series of quarter-hour broadcasts from
Halifax, was directed at pregnant women and new mothers; and
concerned pre-natal and post-natal care and child development.
Host Libbie Christensen discussed child care with doctors from
the Nova Scotia Medical Society, and subjects included birth, the
first weeks of the baby's life, nutrition, and the work of the
Victorian Order of Nurses.
Fri 8:30-9:00 p.m., 10/17 Jun 1955
Fri 8:30-9:00 p.m., 8 Jul-23 Sep 1955
Fri 10:30-11:00 p.m., 30 Sep 1955
This half-hour program ran over the summer of 1955.
North American Soccer League
Sat 8:00-10:00 p.m., 8 May-14 Aug 1971
National Soccer League Games
Sun 1:30-3:30 p.m., 2 Jul-10 Sep 1961
Soccer Game Of The Week
World Cup Soccer
Daily 12:00 noon, 13 Jun-11 Jul 1982
The CBC broadcast soccer from Broadview Stadium on Wednesday
nights over the summers of 1953 and 1954. Later, on Tuesday
nights it broadcast kinescopes of International Soccer League and
National Soccer League games played the previous weekend.
Actually, it showed only the final forty-five minutes of play,
reserving a quarter-hour for commentary and interviews. In 1959,
sportscaster Steve Douglas did the play-by-play, with commentary
by Ed Waring. The 1959 broadcasts were produced by George
Retzlaff at Toronto's Varsity Stadium, and the 1960 and 196l
games came from Stanley Park Stadium.
John Spalding produced live broadcasts of regular season games of
the North American Soccer League in the 197l season, featuring
the new franchises, the Toronto Metros and the Montreal Olympic.
Tom McKee called the play, with commentary by writer Bob
Pennington and footballer Tony Hodge. Spalding also produced the
World Cup broadcasts, covered for the first time on CBC in 1982,
and sponsored by Labatt's. Steve Armitage and Graham Leggat
called the games, broadast from Spain.
Sat 9:00-10:00 p.m., 10 Jul-28 Aug 1954
Wed 9:00-9:30 p.m., 8 Sep 1954
In the 1953 and 1954 seasons, the CBC carried women's softball
games from Toronto's Coxwell Stadium.
Tue 10:30-11:00 p.m., 23 Oct 1973-7 May 1974
Thu 10:30-11:00 p.m., 26 Sep 1974-3 Apr 1975
Thu 11:40-12:10 A.m., 10 Apr 1974
Cameron Graham produced this half-hour interview and discussion
show in Ottawa, which assembled a panel of Parliamentary
backbenchers to talk about current issues in sessions moderated
by Patrick Watson. Generally, fairness dictated that the show
invite members from each of the major parties, although the
program occasionally opted for single interviews. In order to
sustain spontaneity, the participants were not briefed on the
subject of discussion, and the program was either broadcast live
or taped shortly before the air date.
Some Of My Best Friends Are Men
Thu 10:30-11:00 p.m., 11 Sep-13 Nov 1975
A magazine format program, produced by Margo Lane, Some Of My
Best Friends Are Men was the CBC's reflection of the Women's
Movement, and an attempt to broach feminist issues with humour.
The program aimed to be entertaining and informative, as well as
provocative. Subjects included the legalization of prostitution
and men who care for children after separation. The show's host
was television producer Maxine Samuels, and regular features
included a commentary by Florynce Kennedy and a sketch by Dave
Broadfoot, who, as the show's token male chauvinist, received a
pie in the face each week. For sexism in the news, the program
presented a "Shiny Golden Porker" award on every program.
This nostalgia series combined song, music, and archival
photographs and newsreel footage to evoke periods between the
turn of the century and 1945. Each program in the 196l series
marked out a chronological block of two or three years from the
end of World War I through the years of the Depression to the end
of World War II. The host from 196l to 1965 was Bill
Bellman. The program also featured Barney Potts, who took
Bellman's place as host and narrator for the final season. Other
featured performers included Pat Morgan, Donald Brown, Lorraine
McAllister, Roma Hearn, and vocal trio of Thora Anders, Betty
Hilker, and Pat Walker, Karl Norman, and orchestras conducted by
Lance Harrison and Harry Price. Humorist Dave Brock, who wrote
the show, also appeared. In the 1965 season, the cast featured
new performers: Dorothy Harpell, Gloria Weston, and dancers
Susan and Reid Anderson. For the final season, the cast also
included Jodi Hall, Ed Whiting, Thelma Gibson, Jon Morris, a
vocal quartet called the Accents (Lynne McNeil, Bob Hamper, Brian
Griffiths, Brian Gibson), and the Jack Card Dancers. The series
was produced by Neil Sutherland (l96l-65) and Elie Savoie (l965-
66) in Vancouver.
Fri 8:00-9:00 p.m., 4 Nov 1977
Fri 8:00-9:00 p.m., 3 Feb 1978
Sun 9:00-10:00 p.m., 2 Apr-
This series of special broadcasts offered profiles of successful
Canadians. Although it presumed that success could be measured
through personal happiness, it also gauged worth by wealth. The
first program featured Joseph-Armand Bombardier, the inventor of
the snowmobile that bears his name, painter Ken Danby, student
Charleen Kopansky of the Outward Bound school for mountain
climbers in B.C. (who presumably provided a suitable visual
metaphor for the series), and the Toronto Sun, the tabloid that
rose from the ashes of the Toronto Telegram. Subsequent programs
outlined such subjects as Tom Patterson, founder of the Stratford
Festival, singer Sylvia Tyson, and photographer Jenny Gilbertson.
The narrator of the series was Canadian-born actor Arthur Hill.
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 7 Jul-15 Sep 1962
Sun 1:00-1:15 p.m., 15 Sep-
Sun 12:30-12:45 p.m., 6 Oct-29 Dec 1963
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 4 Apr-27 Jun 1964
This fifteen minute musical variety show from Winnipeg starred
pianist/vocalist Jose Poneira, who led a combo made up of Lenny
Breau on guitar, Robert Gross on drums, and James Cordepal on
bass. Each program revolved around a single idea or musical
style, illustrated by the musical selections. Vocalist Maxine
Ware appeared every other week, and the show welcomed local guest
artists or musicians who were appearing in Winnipeg, where the
show was produced.
Tue 5:15-5:30 p.m., 1 Jul-14 Oct 1958
A fifteen minute musical series for children, The Song Shop
starred singer Thomas Kines and was produced in Ottawa. The set
was a curiosity shop cluttered with objects that inspired the
musical selections.
Mon 9:30-10:00 p.m., 12 Oct-21 Dec 1953
A fixture of CBC television's first years, Ed McCurdy starred in
this half-hour musical program, on which he and his guests sang
folk songs.
Tue 10:15-10:30 p.m., 2 Mar-18 May 1954
Evelyn Pasen was accompanied by Gordon Kushner in this fifteen-minute program of music.
See Fortunes.
Various Days and Times, 4 Aug 1976
Various Days and Times, 10/18/28 Sep 1976
When a dispute with ACTRA forced the CBC to cancel the production
of a show on Nellie McClung that it had planned, the network
found itself with three days of studio time to fill. So,
producer, writer, and host Jim McKenna had the time and a budget
of $l0,000 per show to produce this series of four, one hour
programs of contemporary music. Each show featured a different
style and a different selection of musicians, most of whom were Canadian. The
folk music show starred David Wiffen, Ellen McIlwaine, Myles and
Lenny, and Don McLean; the country show starred Carroll Baker,
with Tim Daniels, Mary Lou Del Gatto, and Prairie Oyster; a disco
production spotlighted Crack of Dawn, Sweet Blindness, Rick
Wamil, and Soul Express; and the jazz spot starred the Moe
Koffman Sextet, Aura, Peter Appleyard, and Clark Terry.
Sounds '67/'68/'69
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 22 Oct 1966-9 Sep 1967
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 16 Sep 1967-29 Sep 1968
Sat 6:30-6:45 p.m., 7 Jun-23 Aug 1969
Sat 6:15-6:30 p.m., 13 Sep-27 Sep 1969
This series of fifteen minute broadcasts originated in different
centres, from Vancouver to Winnipeg to Montreal to Halifax to St.
John's, and starred a wide selection of performers. Many were
already well known to the CBC audience, such as Marg Osburne,
Eleanor Collins, Ed Evanko, and Georges LaFleche. A 1968 series
was devoted to four shows starring Anne Murray. In general, this
was a brief Saturday evening showcase for talent in popular music.
Fri 7:30-8:00 p.m., 13 Mar-17 Jul 1953
Sat 6:30-7:00 p.m., 17 Oct-1 n 1954
Fri 6:00-6:30 p.m., 8 Jan-23 Apr 1954
Sat 6:00-6:30 p.m., 1 May-29 May 1954
Space Command replaced Tales Of Adventure with an original series
of science fiction stories for children written by Alfred Harris.
The series followed one character, Frank Anderson, through the
different divisions of the space command: the transport
division, the satellite division, the investigative division, the
exploration division, and so forth. The stories emphasized
dramatic action, but were purported to have an educational basis,
as the fiction grew from conditions that were known about outer
space and speculations about what life would be like beyond the
earth.
The series starred Bob Barclay, Aileen Taylor, James Doohan,
Andrew Anthony, Austin Willis, and Joe Austin, and was produced
by Murray Chercover.
Jean-Paul Vinay of the University of Montreal was the teacher for
this language instruction series. Vinay tried to teach in an
entertaining fashion--the CBC Times reported that "he may don a
space helmet, dress up as a baby, or clown at the grand piano to
make his pupils laugh their way to a better understanding of
French." (24-30 March 1962) In the early years of the
broadcast, he also used puppets. The other regular on the series
was a young female student, Phyllis Clapperton from 1956 to 196l,
and Rena Berzin from 1962 to 1964. The series started in 1955,
on the Montreal and Toronto stations, and expanded its coverage
as the network expanded. Producers included Larry Shapiro,
Marguerite Holloway, and Denyse Adam.
Speaking Of Pets
Sun 3:00-3:30 p.m., 19 Apr-18 Oct 1959
Audrey Laurie and Jeff Hogwood hosted this half-hour show,
produced in Montreal, on the care and training of household pets.
Sun 4:00-4:30 p.m., 5 Jan-22 Jun 1975
Tue 5:00-5:30 p.m., 1 Apr-1 Jul 1975
Sun 5:30-6:00 p.m., 18 Jan 1976
Sun 3:30-4:00 p.m., 25 Jan-11 Jul 1976
Speaking Out, a half-hour show, developed from Youth
Confrontation. Bruce Rogers moderated discussions with
adolescents and adults on current issues. Producers Rena Edgley
(l975) and Shirley Greenfield (l976) determined the subjects
through researchers' reports from different centres throughout
the country, and collected panels of a dozen teenagers or more to
tape programs in different locations, which included Edmonton,
Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, and St. John's.
Mon-Fri 11:22-11:28 p.m., 5 Jan-25 Jun 1976
The CBC replaced the capsule commentary of Viewpoint with brief
analyses and commentaries on the news by its correspondents.
Special Assignment, which originated in various CBC production
centres, was concerned with both international and national affairs. It
occupied a five minute time slot after the national news on
weekdays, and was produced by Trina McQueen.
Thu 10:00-10:30 p.m., 5 Jun-31 Jul 1958
A series of half-hour dramas from Vancouver, Spectrum appeared
during the summer of 1958. It premiered with an early story by
Paul St. Pierre, The Window Of Namko. Other plays included The
Choice, by Ernest Langford; A Small Revolution, by Paul Power;
His Place In Life, by David Gray; Oh, Dream Of Fair Islands, also
by Langford; two stories by Len Peterson, Joe Faceless and Some
Days, You Have To Hit Somebody; and Paradise Court, written by
Peter Starner. The programs were produced by Philip Keatley and
Frank Goodship.
Wed 10:00-11:00 p.m., 3 Oct 1979-27 Feb 1980
Wed 10:00-11:00 p.m., 8 Oct 1980-1 Apr 1981
Wed 9:00-10:00 p.m., 6 Jan-24 Mar 1982
The network gave the umbrella title Spectrum to a series of one
hour or ninety minute specials on the arts. The programs
included the opening Gala, with Maureen Forrester, Jean-Pierre
Rampal, and Yehudi Menuhin. The series also presented the
National Ballet's production of Mad Shadows, directed for
television by Eric Till; Rhombus Media's film production on R.
Murray Schafer's Music For Wilderness Lake; and profiles of David
Milne, Edith Piaf (Edith Piaf: Je Vous Aime, directed by Norman
Campbell), Harry and Frances Adaskin (To Play Like An Angel,
produced and directed by Nancy Ryley), A.M. Klein, Healey Willen,
Leonard Cohen (Harry Rasky's The Song Of Leonard Cohen), Louis
Quilico, Arthur Miller (again by Rasky), and George Grant (The
Owl And The Dynamo: The Vision Of George Grant, produced and
directed by Vincent Tovell).
Thu 10:30-11:00 p.m., 17 Jul-4 Sep 1975
In Spotlight, a summer series, Doug Collins interviewed a number
of prominent Canadians about current issues. Subjects included
Rene' Lvesque, on the subject of Qubec separatism; former
Auditor-General Maxwell Henderson on government spending; Ontario
M.P.P. and Zionist Philip Givens on Canadian Jewry;
conservationist Roderick Haig-Brown; and Robert Andras, the
Minister of Manpower and Immigration. The series was produced by
Mike Poole.
Sun 1:00-1:15 p.m., 5 Oct-28 Dec 1969
Norwegian-born filmmaker Henning Jacobsen hosted this fifteen
minute feature on current cinema. The thirteen week series
spotlighted a number of directors with international reputations,
such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Alain Resnais, Roman Polanski,
John Schlesinger, Mai Zetterling, and Shirley Clarke. One
program featured the films that Peter Weiss, then famous as the
writer of Marat/Sade, had made in Sweden in the 1950s, and
another concentrated on the Czech animator Jiri Trnka. Rosalind
Farber was the series coordinator, and Ron Meraska the studio
producer.
Sun 5:30-6:00 p.m., 1 Apr-22 Jul 1979
Wed 4:00-4:30 p.m., 15 Oct 1980-28 Jan 1981
Wed 4:00-4:30 p.m., 1 Apr-20 May 1981
Tue 4:00-4:30 p.m., 13 Oct-5 Jan 1981
An acclaimed half-hour documentary show for young audiences,
Spread Your Wings had an international scope. It presented
features on children from around the world and their creative
skills. Much of the series concerned young people, ages twelve
to seventeen, who were trained by adult family members to carry
on a traditional practice. Their activities ranged from crafts,
such as weaving and instrument making, to the work of a twelve
year old stuntman in Hollywood. The commentary, read by
professional actors, was prepared from the words of the subjects
themselves. The series was produced by Paul Saltzman and Deepa
Saltzman for their company, Sunrise Films, in association with
the CBC.
Thu 10:00-10:30 p.m., 16 Jan-13 Mar 1975
Fri 10:30-11:00 p.m., 18 Apr-27 Jun 1975
Thu 10:30-11:00 p.m., 11 Mar-1 Apr 1976
Tue 10:30-11:00 p.m., 22 Jun-29 Jun 1976
Sprockets was the unfortunate title for a series that provided a
television window on independent filmmaking in Canada in the mid-
l970s. It was produced by filmmaker Julius Kohanyi, and hosting
duties rotated among Frederick Manter, Michael Hirsh, Mark Stone,
Whitney Smith, and Jana Veverka. The program showcased
experimental and animated short films, but most were short dramas
or documentaries. Among the films to go on the air were At 99:
A Portrait Of Louise Tandy Murch, by Deepa Saltzman; O Canada, by
Henning Jacobsen; Dull Day Demolition, produced by Insight
Productions; The Brotherhood, by Vancouver animator Al Sens; and
The Journals Of Susanna Moodie, by Marie Waisberg.
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Sprockets
Seven From Christmas
