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Everybody knows Columbo's famous "Oh, wait a minute," which always happened towards the end of the episode. Night Heat had a similar line, used in almost every episode, when the lead detective introduced himself and his partner to a suspect:
"O'Brien, Mid-South. My partner Giambone. Ya got a minute?"
Note that "Mid-South" was the precinct that O'Brien and Giambone worked out of.
The thing I loved about Canadiam TV, when US show went into summer re-rus, CBC showed the top British showls, like Danger Man, Dr Finlay's Casebook, Tony Hancock, Sykes.
CBC did not carry all US shows on the same nights as the US. I think Bonanza was Fridat, so people in Detroit could see it two days earlier on Windsor TV.
Canada did not produce many drama shows, Cannonball is the only one I remember, and Friendly Giant for kids. But Don Messer's Jubilee remained the highest rated show on TV right up to about 1970.
CTV didn't even have nationwide satellite until about 1980 CTV showa had to be air expressed to CTV Newfoundland on tape. If the airport was fogged in (often, for days) they would play last week's tape again. CBC aired all shows in local time, ilke 8-pm in every time zone. But Newfoundland time was a half hour, so the promos famously said "Tuesday at 9 -- 9:30 in Newfoundland".
Everybody knows Columbo's famous "Oh, wait a minute," which always happened towards the end of the episode. Night Heat had a similar line, used in almost every episode, when the lead detective introduced himself and his partner to a suspect:
"O'Brien, Mid-South. My partner Giambone. Ya got a minute?"
Note that "Mid-South" was the precinct that O'Brien and Giambone worked out of.
Canada did not produce many drama shows, Cannonball is the only one I remember, and Friendly Giant for kids. But Don Messer's Jubilee remained the highest rated show on TV right up to about 1970.
Canadian dramas were hit-and-miss. The Whiteoaks of Jalna (a CBC miniseries) was well-received, as was Quentin Durgens, MP. But others, not so much. Any number of cop/lawyer shows, which seem to make up a lot of TV dramas, failed.
Notice the genres: cops and lawyers. If CBC and CTV could do one thing, it was to present these professions in the correct light--as they would operate in Canada. Canadian cops on TV don't enter the crime scene with guns drawn, as American cops do on TV, much less use them in an exciting exchange of gunfire. Canadian lawyers don't typically defend a Colombian drug lord one week, then an international terrorist the next. Mostly, "big" cases in Canadian TV drama courts involve one megacorp suing another.
And that's what Canadian TV dramas depicted: boring scenarios. Cops using their words, not guns; and lawyers getting pedantic, citing cases to each other in the office. Not very good TV for an audience raised on American cop action shows, and tense Perry Mason shows in the courtroom. No wonder Canadian dramas were a hard sell to other countries, never mind Canadian viewers.
What Canadian TV did very well, were kids' shows, and sports. The Friendly Giant, Chez Helene, Mr. Dressup--these were the holy trinity of kids' shows when I was growing up. Nothing offensive at all, just children's stories, learning simple French, and the power of imagination. To this day, I can say "Look up. Look waaaay up," at which point, somebody always says, "And I'll call Rusty." In other words, the reference is understood by at least half of any crowd. Over a certain age, anyway.
As for sports--well, the CBC pioneered covering hockey on TV. There were only three cameras in Maple Leaf Gardens, but they covered the action beautifully when the Leafs played home games. They managed to always have the action in the centre; even if you had no idea where the puck was, you knew roughly where it was--it was in the centre of the action. That experiment that an American network tried some years ago, to follow the puck with a coloured swoosh, was met with derision here, because we'd been taught how to watch TV hockey, by the CBC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suesbal
Columbo’s famous line was “One more thing”.
D'oh! Of course, you are right. Thanks for the correction.
But Don Messer's Jubilee remained the highest rated show on TV right up to about 1970.
I forgot, and you are quite right: Canadian music shows excelled; above and beyond anything the American networks could do.
Partly, that was due to necessity. When Canadian Content (Cancon) regulations came in, in the early 1970s, there wasn't enough Canadian TV being produced, so the networks scrambled to find it. Yes, they made up cheap game shows ("Definition," anyone, where the bonus round was played for tens of dollars, and a Brother typewriter?); but they hit upon a gold mine (Cancon-wise) with music shows. They were cheap to produce, requiring nothing more than a stage and a live audience, and often, could be produced in a real live pub, with a ready-made audience. They were all over Canadian TV back then: the Stompin' Tom Connors Show, Don Messer's Jubilee, the Pig 'n Whistle, the Rene Simard Show, the Patsy Gallant Show, the Tommy Ambrose Show, Hymn Sing, the list goes on and on. But it was Cancon, it was cheap to produce, and it fulfilled the Cancon requirements.
I quite liked the Stompin' Tom Connors Show. Not only did I like his music (and still do, though he has passed), but I liked the way he hosted: loosely. The show was set in a pub, full of people all drinking, and he'd introduce his guest of the week. Then, you'd see Tom at a table, taking a long pull on his beer, lighting a cigarette, and saying, "Okay, kid, show us what you can do," or similar. It was almost as if the show wasn't produced, as much as it was just filmed in whatever pub Connors happened to be playing in this week.
Canada also had "The Nature of Things". A 70s spinoff from the miraculous CBC Radio. Two factors --- Canada dared to put non-Caucations on the air, and Canada had David Suzuki. There was probably more talent on CBC Radio than in the entire US TV indusrty. Suzuki was in a class by himself.
Well, a bit further along we had what was arguably the first successful crime drama set in Canada starring the venerable John Vernon: Wojeck
Then there was this guy who came along through the Canadian entertainment system of the day:
Billy Van in 'Party Game' and the 'Hilarious house of Frightenstein'.
Excerpt from his Wiki page:
Billy Van wrote his autobiography "Second Banana," in 1997, which was published online on 11 August 2018. It is an entertaining, humorous and informative journey of his career. Second Banana is also an historical look at life in Toronto in the 40's and 50's and the infancy of Canadian television; a behind-the-scenes insight from a performer's perspective and reveals the often not-so-glamorous side of being an entertainer.
In December 2020, author Greg Oliver teamed with Stacey Case and Van's two daughters, Robin Edwards Mills and Tracy Van Evera, to see the publication of the biography, Who's The Man? Billy Van!
Well, a bit further along we had what was arguably the first successful crime drama set in Canada starring the venerable John Vernon: Wojeck
t.
Then Hollywood came calling for Vernon and down south he went, leading to the series being cut short.
In the US, Vernon is best known for his role as Dean Wormer in “Animal House”.
I’m still waiting for the release of “The Trouble With Tracy” box set of complete, uncut, digitally restored episodes.
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Of course, you are right. Thanks for the correction.
