0:00

And hello there Peter Mansbridge here you are just

0:02

moments away from the latest episode of the bridge

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It's Thursday your turn and this

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week your favorite

0:10

past or present Canadian

0:12

television show Plus

0:15

the random renter he takes

0:17

aim at the carbon tax

0:19

and it's a different take Than

0:21

you might think That's

0:23

coming right up And

0:38

Hello there Peter Mansbridge in Toronto

0:40

today and I

0:42

gotta tell you you you never cease to

0:44

amaze me You

0:47

are listeners to the bridge ever

0:50

since the beginning of the year when we kind

0:53

of turned the focus on Thursdays from

0:56

the sort of what are you thinking to Posing

0:59

a question The

1:02

answers have been coming in You

1:06

know In in quite

1:08

the number every week no matter

1:11

what the topic is it's

1:13

been so good that We

1:16

started posting some of your answers

1:19

again of a The conclusion

1:21

of your answers on my website

1:23

at the peter mansbridge.com and

1:26

we're also going to We're

1:29

also going to offer them up at least

1:31

some of them. Anyway On my

1:33

weekly newsletter now. I don't know whether you

1:35

subscribe to the buzz But

1:38

if you don't you might want to try it there's

1:40

no charge You

1:42

subscribe through national news watch

1:45

calm All you

1:47

have to do is give your email nothing else

1:51

and You'll get the weekly

1:53

newsletter comes out at 7 a.m. Saturday

1:56

mornings and it's kind of a take

2:00

on the news through some of the Some

2:04

of the the items

2:07

that I've witnessed in different periodicals

2:10

around the world And

2:13

I'm sort of the the news behind the news is

2:15

the what I like to say it is So

2:18

it gives you half a dozen or so

2:20

articles that you can read on the weekend

2:22

and it's a nice Saturday morning starter to

2:24

a weekend just to give you a

2:26

little background to some of the stories that That

2:29

are out there And

2:32

a few of my personal thoughts on different things So

2:35

that's there, but we're going to add starting this

2:37

week. We're going to add Some

2:41

of the conclusions drawn from these

2:44

Thursday programs in Terms

2:47

of your suggestions like last week we

2:50

had a great time I think which

2:52

was your favorite Canadian vacation spot outside

2:55

of your own province and We

2:57

got a wonderful list. So

2:59

we're going to put that list in

3:02

the buzz in the weekly newsletter

3:04

this week and I'm

3:07

sure this one your

3:09

favorite Canadian television program

3:11

could be present could be passed and

3:13

most of them are passed Favorites

3:19

So they're gonna I'm gonna add that To

3:24

the buzz each week If

3:27

you can't wait for the buzz on the list the

3:29

Peter Mansbridge comm is my website and

3:32

you can find it there Alright,

3:35

let's get let's get started with this

3:37

week. Once again,

3:39

the topic is fairly fairly straightforward

3:42

fairly simple And

3:45

there's so many responses we

3:48

had an overwhelming number of responses

3:52

You know a lot of people

3:54

clearly have some great memories about

3:56

watching Canadian television Now

3:59

to get the most out of your letters, we've

4:02

had to be pretty, what

4:05

do we say, pretty brutal in the

4:09

way we've edited them. Even

4:12

though many shows had multiple mentions,

4:15

and they did, in almost every case

4:17

we've chosen just one letter to read

4:20

about any one show. The

4:23

exceptions came because some of your

4:25

letters are just too good not

4:27

to share. Now,

4:31

when we finish this, and we're not going to

4:33

finish it this week, there are just too many

4:35

entries. This is going

4:37

to stretch into next week as well,

4:39

into next Thursday's program. But

4:44

at the end of it all, we'll give you a little scorecard

4:46

about how many shows were named and

4:48

which were the most popular. That

4:51

comes at the

4:53

end. But let's get

4:55

started with week one of this

4:59

process. And

5:03

our first letter comes from John

5:05

Baker in Eagle Bay, British Columbia.

5:09

Man, some of the places I've been in BC,

5:11

and you see those eagles swooping. Out

5:14

at Sonora, on the west

5:16

coast, on the Sunshine Coast. Watching

5:19

the eagles. Amazing. Anyway, Eagle Bay, BC,

5:21

is a couple of hours north of

5:23

Kelowna. And

5:25

John Baker writes, my choice would

5:27

be DaVinci's Inquest. It

5:30

was a CBC Vancouver production at the turn

5:32

of the century. It captured

5:34

the political and crime situation of

5:36

that period, almost mimicking

5:38

real life at the time. Marjorie

5:43

Danton in London, Ontario. For

5:47

me, the program that stands out most is

5:49

Schitt's Creek. The

5:51

Canadian actors, Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy

5:53

and Dan Levy, led a very

5:55

talented cast. The character

5:58

of David Rose was portrayed as pansexual

6:00

and in a positive way. The

6:03

show was really funny and

6:05

very thoughtful. Sandy

6:11

Esposito in Aurora, Ontario. The one

6:13

program that I enjoyed as a

6:15

teenager was Front Page Challenge with

6:18

panelists Betty Kennedy, Alan Fotheringham, Gordon

6:20

Sinclair, and Pierre Burton, along with

6:22

Fred Davis as the host. It

6:26

would be interesting to watch the panelists try

6:28

to guess the story. It was a good

6:30

mix of facts and entertainment. A

6:34

couple of editors notes here. In

6:38

fact, Sinclair and Fotheringham were not on

6:41

at the same time. Fotheringham took

6:43

Sinclair's spot when Sinclair died in 1984. Over

6:45

the years, the regular panelists

6:50

were Pierre Burton, Gordon Sinclair,

6:52

Toby Robbins, Betty

6:55

Kennedy, Alan Fotheringham,

6:57

and Jack Webster. There

7:00

were guest panelists every once in a while. Even

7:05

I was a guest panelist. I

7:07

was on Front Page Challenge a couple of times. I

7:11

was so nervous sitting there with

7:13

the biggies. Pierre Burton and

7:15

Betty Kennedy, for

7:17

sure. Amadeus

7:21

Narbut in Toronto. A Canadian

7:23

TV show I think about

7:25

often is Survivor Man

7:28

with Les Stroud. He

7:30

spent days at a time surviving in

7:32

harsh wilderness locations around the world, with

7:35

little to no food, water, or equipment,

7:38

and always entirely alone. It's

7:41

educational, beautiful, and exciting. Les

7:44

did all the cinematography himself. It's

7:47

a real treat to watch with

7:49

plenty of varied Canadian wilderness on

7:52

the screen. Dean

7:55

Mercer in Vancouver. loving

8:01

to rub it in as the occasional

8:03

West Coast. Listener does.

8:06

Says, you know, we're now filled

8:08

with cherry and plum blossoms here on the West

8:11

Coast. Thank you for that.

8:14

Teen's favorite program, The Beach

8:16

Glimmers. I

8:18

think I was six or so. I

8:20

grew up in Toronto when Joe Cote,

8:22

the CBC Radio morning man, would say

8:24

there was a backup on the Don

8:26

Valley Parkway. That seemed pretty exotic. The

8:29

West Coast was to me and my brother

8:31

more like Tim Buck too. I've

8:34

lived in Vancouver now for nearly 40 years

8:37

and I did live in Gibsons for a time.

8:40

I never disliked Toronto but I

8:42

think The Beach Glimmers made me

8:45

feel like there was a place

8:47

of magical beauty here in Canada.

8:49

Paul Kowatch in Comox Valley

8:51

on Vancouver Island. On

8:54

April 16th, 1973, we

8:57

immigrated to Canada from the UK.

8:59

The next night on television, I

9:01

watched the Habs play the Flyers

9:04

in the semi-finals of the Stanley Cup on

9:06

hockey night in Canada. I

9:08

was used to football and rugby. I'd

9:11

not seen hockey or anything like that before.

9:13

The sight of Guy Le Fleur skating from

9:15

behind his net, long hair

9:18

flowing and scoring. Ken

9:20

Dryden leaning with his chin on his goalie stick

9:22

when the play was at the other end. Plus

9:25

the fights, we had nothing like that back

9:27

home. I was mesmerized

9:29

and an instant Canadians fan. When

9:32

I asked my uncle if Toronto had a

9:34

hockey team, my aunt started laughing. A

9:37

few years later, I understood

9:39

why. Oh gosh,

9:43

my introduction to Canada was complete.

9:48

Debbie Fletcher Queen. Without

9:52

a doubt, it is the friendly giant that

9:54

I vote for. Born

9:56

in Toronto in 1964, it was one of the only shows we

10:00

could get on TV, at least in the household

10:02

I grew up in anyway. It

10:05

was all about feeling secure in and

10:07

around the fireplace. I

10:09

so wanted to be the one who curled up

10:11

in the rocking chair. At

10:15

the friendly giant, started Bob Homme, who

10:18

couldn't do personal appearances because the kids

10:21

would see he wasn't a giant. You

10:24

know, I first started doing the National in the early

10:27

1980s. We shared a studio in the old

10:29

building on Jarvis Street in Toronto with

10:32

the friendly giant. Friendly did his show

10:34

in the morning, we did our show at night, and

10:37

I'd be sitting there. There

10:39

were times I was sitting there reading the news,

10:41

looking into the camera, dealing

10:44

with the weighty issues of the day, and behind

10:47

the camera they were hanging on the wall, Rusty

10:50

and Jerome. It's

10:52

a funny feeling. John

10:55

Suferly and in

10:58

Meaford, Ontario, that's up there west

11:01

of Collingwood on the south

11:04

shore of Georgian Bay. For

11:07

John, it's SCTV, this groundbreaking

11:09

comedy variety show with its

11:11

star-studded cast with both a

11:14

Canadian cultural touchstone and preeminent

11:17

incubator and exporter of

11:19

comedic genius to our neighbors

11:21

to the south. Well,

11:24

as we sadly learned this week, one

11:27

of the big stars from that program,

11:29

Joe Flaherty, died on Monday, the

11:31

age of 82. Catherine

11:35

Byrd in Nanaimo, BC. Your

11:38

question took me back to long

11:40

ago as a child, spending boring

11:42

weekends in cheap motels around southern

11:44

Ontario. I think our widowed

11:46

dad was trying to give us many vacations, but

11:49

we never knew. There were always bunny

11:51

ears on the small black and white TV.

11:54

We learned to care about the littlest hobo

11:56

and his adventures. He always seemed to be

11:59

on during school. strange hours and days. Other

12:02

memories of Hobo are tinged with sadness.

12:04

We would oh so quietly watch

12:06

our TV on Sundays at home while my

12:09

parents were sleeping off the night before. The

12:12

sixties were a strange time for children

12:14

too. I still have

12:16

affection for all the littlest Hobos. We

12:23

should also give a quick shout out to

12:25

Travis Moore in Ottawa who also nominated the

12:27

littlest Hobo by sending the lyrics from the

12:29

theme song. But

12:32

I'm not going to sing them. I

12:35

will spare you that. Jamie

12:37

Rothenberger in Calgary, Alberta writes this,

12:41

My favourite Canadian TV program is

12:43

Kevin Sullivan's production of Anne of

12:45

Green Gables starring Megan Follows. My

12:48

grandmother had a deluxe VHS set that I

12:50

watched so many times as a little girl

12:52

that I wore out the first tape. To

12:55

this day I can recite the lines and

12:57

can't wait to introduce the show to my

12:59

children. The beautiful

13:01

scenery of PEI, excellent acting

13:04

and strength, wit and charm

13:06

as a strong female lead

13:08

make this adaption or adaptation

13:11

great. A favourite

13:13

line is, Tomorrow is always fresh with

13:15

no mistakes in it. While

13:18

living in Guelph I visited some of

13:20

the film locations in Southwestern Ontario. The

13:23

Westfield Heritage Village is home to

13:25

the famous train station where Anne

13:27

first meets Matthew. I

13:29

chatted with the station master who informed me

13:32

that he rarely sees Anne's fans

13:34

these days. But with

13:36

an efficiency born of much practice he

13:38

handed me a replica carpet bag and

13:40

snapped a photo of me waiting eagerly

13:42

on the bench. Just like

13:44

Anne did all those years ago. It's

13:47

a memory and photo I will always

13:49

cherish. Doug

13:52

Brown in Stony Creek Ontario. The

13:55

Red Green Show was a half hour sitcom

13:57

that first aired in 1996. and

14:00

ran for 15 seasons. It

14:03

was low-budget, filmed in and around

14:06

Hamilton, Ontario, starring Steve

14:08

Smith as Red Green and Patrick McKenna

14:10

as Harold, but had

14:12

many other talented cast members

14:14

for various episodes including Gordon

14:17

Pinsent, Ian Thomas, Paul

14:19

Gross, and Dave Thomas. The

14:22

show consisted of many hilarious skits,

14:25

centered on Red Green, the leader of

14:27

Possum Lodge in the fictional town of

14:29

Possum Lake, instructing his nerdy

14:32

nephew Harold on the fine

14:34

art of being a handyman. A

14:36

couple of his favorite sayings included, ''Anything

14:39

is possible if you use enough duct

14:41

tape.'' And his famous,

14:43

''If the women don't find you handsome, they

14:45

should at least find you handy.'' At

14:48

the end of each episode, classic

14:50

Canadian television. Tony

14:54

McKinnon in Hamilton, Ontario. The most

14:57

impactful show for me was Front

14:59

Page Challenge. I recall watching

15:01

it weekly with my dad. You

15:03

might recall how the identity of the guest would

15:05

first be revealed to the audience, but

15:07

kept secret from the panelists. My

15:10

dad always loved a good quiz, so he would

15:12

join the panelists in covering his ears and eyes

15:14

at the start, while the rest of us learned

15:17

who the mystery guest was. Then

15:19

dad would proceed to try to his guesses

15:21

alongside the panelists. It was good fun. I

15:24

might credit this show with helping cultivate

15:27

for me an interest in current events

15:29

that has remained strong since my

15:32

youth. Aaron

15:36

Soltis in Sudbury. The

15:41

Adventures in Rainbow Country was shot in the late

15:43

1960s and early 1970s near Birch Island, Whitefish

15:48

Falls and Willisville. It

15:51

starred Lois Maxwell, who portrayed Miss Moneypenny

15:53

from the James Bond films. The

15:56

show followed a widow raising her two children

15:58

who kept getting into trouble. in the area.

16:01

Since I still spend most of my

16:03

summers in that area, I

16:05

get reminded of that show every

16:09

year. Anastasia

16:12

Lewis, she lives in

16:14

Shinal, Manitoba. That's

16:17

in Western Manitoba, but she's writing this actually

16:19

from Winnipeg, she says. In

16:22

my early 20s, I followed my now

16:24

husband out to Manitoba from Niagara. What

16:27

a different experience. I saw my

16:29

first, very first

16:31

one horse town and learned

16:33

what square tire syndrome was.

16:36

And if you don't know what that means, it's tires

16:39

get so cold when the cars parked that

16:41

they freeze flat on one edge and stay

16:43

that way for at least a few revolutions.

16:47

I also found Corner Gas,

16:49

a hilarious, on point, extremely

16:51

well-written show depicting small

16:53

town life in Saskatchewan that helped

16:56

me settle into my new prairie

16:58

life. Nicole

17:01

McCakern in Stitsville, that's just outside

17:03

Ottawa. I

17:06

would like to mention Toula Monde Parle.

17:09

This is a talk show that

17:11

has been on Radio Canada Sunday

17:13

evenings. It recently celebrated 20

17:15

years on air. Guille

17:18

La Pache is the host of

17:20

the show and welcomes personalities from

17:22

all walks of life, politicians, journalists,

17:25

writers, singers, sports personalities, etc. I

17:28

could share that Chantelle Ebert has taken part

17:30

in the show the most, a record 18

17:32

times if I

17:34

remember correctly. Chantelle

17:37

loves her experiences on that program. She

17:39

often talks to us about them. Stephen

17:44

Abba in Toronto. I

17:46

nominate Mr. Dress Up. I

17:49

did not see much of this show as I

17:51

was at work when my children watched, but when

17:54

remembering the show recently with my daughter, now in

17:56

her mid 40s, she wrote, I remember

17:59

when I was a kid. with fondness, always waving

18:01

to Mr. Dressup's house as we

18:04

drove by. Ernie Coombs lived nearby,

18:06

and he was like a favorite uncle who lived in the

18:09

TV. The sweetest man

18:11

on television who never patronized any

18:13

viewers and who created a safe,

18:15

happy, enriching, delightful space for

18:17

us all. Years later, on

18:20

June 1, 2001, our

18:22

beloved Ernie Coombs received an honorary

18:24

degree and gave the keynote address

18:26

at my university, Trent. In

18:29

his convocation speech, he voiced these words

18:31

of advice, keep an open

18:33

mind with an open heart. Don't

18:35

take life too seriously. It

18:38

doesn't last forever, you know. And

18:40

may I remind you, for the last

18:42

time, keep your crayon sharp, your sticky

18:45

tape untangled, and always put the

18:47

top back on your markers.

18:53

Cindy Bond in Burlington, Ontario.

18:55

The show that I think had the best influence on

18:58

me, and I wish I was still on, was

19:00

The New Music. It

19:03

was a music magazine show with Jeanie Becker

19:05

and J.D. Roberts. It

19:08

was a show that highlighted Canadian

19:10

bands with interviews and international bands

19:12

visiting Canada that week. It

19:15

gave me a look at music that

19:17

was drowned out by American music, and

19:19

gave me so much pride in our

19:21

influence in this industry. Jeanie

19:25

and J.D. were great. Still are. Frida

19:30

Jesse in Morenville, Alberta. That's just north

19:32

of Edmonton. One

19:34

of my favorite shows in the 60s was

19:36

The Forest Rangers. I especially

19:39

liked Indian Joe. These

19:41

were much simpler times, and it didn't take

19:43

much to get our imagination going. We

19:46

easily saw ourselves as junior forests

19:48

strangers because we were outside a

19:51

lot. Indian

19:56

Joe Rivers, or Indian Joe Two

19:58

Rivers, actually, was played by my Michael

20:00

Zenon, who was not

20:02

indigenous. He was born in Ukraine. Like

20:05

Freda says, simpler times. Gordon

20:08

Pinson played RCMP Sergeant

20:10

Scott. A

20:15

couple more before we take our first break.

20:18

Keith Smith in Stony Plain, Alberta. That's

20:20

just west of Edmonton. My

20:22

favorite Canadian TV show was the Royal

20:25

Canadian Air Force. People

20:27

satire at its best and no politician

20:29

was immune. We could sure use

20:31

a show like that today. I

20:34

imagine Luba Goy doing Daniel Smith,

20:36

Don Ferguson as Pierre Poliev, and

20:39

Roger Abbott as Justin Trudeau. The

20:42

Chicken Cannon, Mike from Canmore,

20:44

and Preston Manning from the

20:46

Rufuam party. Those

20:49

were classics. They

20:51

were. That's another show that I was a

20:54

guest on occasionally. The Royal Canadian Air

20:56

Force. We've got

20:58

22 minutes now, of course. Heather

21:03

Gignac from Fort Erie, Ontario, just

21:06

south of Niagara Falls. Being

21:10

so close to Buffalo, New York, we

21:13

watched only US television since we didn't

21:16

get an antenna signal for any

21:19

Canadian stations, nor did my town have cable

21:21

until the mid to late 80s. My

21:25

family moved in the early 80s and suddenly we

21:27

had the world of Canadian television in our living

21:29

room when we got cable. By

21:32

far my favorite show, and arguably

21:35

most influential show, is

21:38

the Degrassi franchise. It

21:40

was the same age as the Degrassi Junior

21:42

High kids. I was. Their

21:45

lives reflected a lot of the trials my

21:47

friends and I were going through. Sheila

21:53

Gervais in Ottawa. When

21:56

I heard the question on my walk today, passing

21:58

walkers likely thought I was nuts. I

22:00

blurted out, Say, Elin! It

22:03

first aired in 1959, so

22:06

the show is one of my earliest, most

22:08

enduring and fondest memories. I

22:11

especially loved the Anglo-Maoist Susie

22:14

in her conversations with the

22:16

bilingual Louise, who I thought

22:18

was the most beautiful woman in the world. Elin

22:21

herself was warm, kind, and motherly.

22:24

The 15-minute daily show was aired

22:26

by the CBC to expose Canadians,

22:28

primarily children, to the

22:30

French language, and I credited for helping me have a

22:33

working knowledge of French as

22:35

I entered the workforce some 20 years

22:37

later. Harold

22:40

Gold in Calgary. This

22:43

one Canadian show, the

22:45

one Canadian show I remember best and love

22:48

the most, was the Wayne

22:50

& Schuster comedy specials that aired weekly

22:53

and monthly. Who could ever

22:55

forget the classic Julius Caesar

22:57

skit, entitled, Rinse the Blood

22:59

Off My Toga, with John

23:02

Wayne playing the detective Flavius

23:04

Maximus, Private Roman Eye? Julie,

23:08

don't go! I told him,

23:10

Julie, don't go! They

23:14

were such a great comedy team that they appeared

23:16

on the Ed Sullivan show a record 58 times.

23:21

Frank Schuster's daughter, by the way, Rosie, wrote

23:23

for a time for Saturday Night Live. She

23:27

was also married for a time to

23:29

Lorne Michaels, the Canadian who created and

23:31

still produces Saturday Night

23:33

Live. Well,

23:36

on that note, let's take our quick

23:39

break. We're going to watch more letters, and

23:42

I said we've got so many we're going to take

23:44

them into next week as well. But

23:47

still to come also, the random rancher. He's

23:49

got a rant you won't forget very soon. But

23:56

let's take that quick break now. We'll be right back

23:58

after this. And

24:09

welcome back. You're listening to The Bridge

24:11

right here on Sirius

24:14

XM channel 167. Canada Talks

24:16

are on your favourite podcast platform. This

24:18

is the Thursday edition. It's your turn.

24:22

And this week's Your Turn

24:24

question was named the one

24:26

Canadian television show past

24:28

or present. That's had

24:30

a real impact on you and my gosh we're

24:32

getting a lot of memories here today. So let's

24:36

keep it going with Patrick Ross

24:39

in Stratford, Prince Edward Island. You

24:43

know I think, could

24:45

be wrong here and I'm sure if I am you'll

24:47

tell me, I

24:49

think this is the only other Stratford in Canada

24:51

other than the one I live in in South

24:53

Russell, Canada.

24:56

There are apparently 27 Stratford's around

24:58

the world in six different countries.

25:04

So Patrick writes, growing up in Prince Edward Island

25:07

we didn't have the internet to explore the world

25:09

like we do today. The

25:11

Beach Combers was the show that taught me what

25:13

part of my country looked like. I

25:15

was in awe of the massive logs, the miles

25:18

of waterways and of course the scenery. I

25:21

never travelled outside of the Maritimes as a

25:23

child and the Beach Combers gave me a

25:25

feeling of wonder and dreams. It gave me

25:27

the desire to explore my country. In

25:30

2009 I finally had

25:33

the opportunity to visit

25:35

Vancouver, Vancouver Island and

25:37

Whistler. It did not

25:40

disappoint. Still want to watch the Beach

25:42

Combers? A lot of you talked about it.

25:44

I think you can find some old

25:47

episodes on CBC Gem. memories

26:00

is that of two little girls, my

26:02

sister and I fancied up in our

26:04

best dresses and beyond excited. It

26:07

was our one and only TV appearances, guests

26:09

on the Canadian version of Romper Room. The

26:12

90-minute drive from our rural home to

26:14

Calgary seemed to take an eternity. At

26:17

the recording studio for Channel 2, we met

26:19

a few other children and our host, Miss

26:21

Anne, who we thought was

26:24

the most elegant and sophisticated person we had

26:26

ever met. She

26:28

finished the program by gazing through the

26:30

magic mirror and reciting the little verse

26:32

the children knew so well. The

26:34

memory still makes me smile 60 years

26:37

later. So

26:41

we did a little digging here. The verse for

26:44

the magic mirror was, Romper,

26:46

Bomper, Stomper, Boo. They

26:48

tell, tell me, tell me, tell

26:51

me, do. Magic mirror,

26:54

tell me today, did all my friends have

26:56

fun at play? Okay.

27:03

Brent Kabelka in Turtle Lake,

27:05

Saskatchewan. That's an

27:07

hour and a bit northwest of North Battleford. Well,

27:12

the obvious answer is, of course, the

27:14

national. However,

27:18

not wanting to be accused of pandering to the

27:20

host, I want to share with you my thoughts

27:22

of another show from my

27:24

formative teen years. I believe

27:26

it was a seminal Canadian show because it

27:28

introduced Canadian viewers to a number of emerging

27:31

Canadian stars that would soon

27:33

be loved around the world for their comedic

27:35

chops, acting skill, and passion

27:37

for Canada. Coming

27:43

up, Rosie on CBC.

27:45

I recall watching the

27:47

personas of Dan Aykroyd,

27:50

John Candy, Catherine

27:57

O'Hara, and Fiona Reed. I'm

28:00

alive as Purvis Bickle, Myrna

28:02

Walbecker, and Rosie in that

28:05

downtown Toronto building. Denise

28:09

Clark in Ottawa. The

28:11

first show that comes to mind is

28:14

Mr. Dress Up. His sweet manner and

28:16

encouragement to use our imaginations and

28:18

thoughtful lessons helped me to believe in myself,

28:21

to draw and to create. When

28:23

Ernie Coombs passed away, I was 29 years

28:26

old and it felt like we all lost a

28:28

friend. I feel so

28:30

grateful to have grown up with him.

28:35

Kevin Goulet in Calgary. The

28:38

one show that my wife and I really enjoyed

28:40

was Being Erica. The

28:42

storylines had the interesting twist of time

28:45

travel and being able to go back

28:47

in time to learn, change and understand

28:49

past regrets. For the

28:52

main character, Erica, played by Erin

28:54

Karplak. Her therapist,

28:56

Dr. Tom, played by

28:59

a great actor, Michael Riley, provided

29:01

the opportunity for Erica to fix these

29:04

regrets in this unusual course

29:06

of therapy. Who

29:08

hasn't wished just once that they

29:10

could go back and change something in

29:13

their lives? Robin

29:18

Ward in Edmonton. The

29:21

Canadian TV program that immediately came to mind

29:23

for me when I heard this week's topic,

29:26

Reach for the Top. I've

29:28

never been a big TV watcher, even as

29:31

a child, but I remember that show intriguing

29:33

me and being curious about the answers. So

29:39

Reach for the Top was a quiz show for high

29:42

school students. I'm sure many of you remember it. Aired

29:45

on CBC local stations and eventually

29:47

there was a national championship. And

29:50

from 1961 to 1985, apparently there's a version still on YouTube. In

29:56

Toronto, one of the original quiz masters

29:58

was Alex Trebek. and

30:00

then Jan Tenant, who would one day

30:02

become the first woman to anchor the

30:04

national. Annette

30:08

Duval in Barrie, Ontario. A

30:11

show that I feel stands out in

30:13

terms of Canadian representation is Murdoch Mysteries.

30:16

Although we have many excellent Canadian

30:18

produced programs, this one appears to

30:21

make a concerted effort to identify

30:23

specific Canadian places, institutions,

30:25

politicians, entertainers, etc.

30:29

Great entertainment and a bit of Canadian history

30:31

all in one place. It was awesome. Still

30:35

is awesome. Murdoch Mysteries. Just

30:38

keeps churning the moat. And

30:40

yes, I will guess

30:42

on that one once too. Glenn

30:48

J. Lee in Berlin. Nothing

30:54

impressed me more than City TV when it

30:56

came on the air with much music. I

30:59

couldn't get enough of it, and the Canadian

31:01

bands that appeared live liked a tragically hip

31:03

and more. I learned

31:06

so much from much music that

31:08

Canada produced some great musicians and

31:11

bands. Devon

31:14

Baines in Ottawa. Kids

31:17

in the hall. Funniest sketch

31:19

comedy I have ever seen. Julie

31:25

Smith Allen in Lothbridge, Alberta. When

31:30

I was little, Mr. Dress-Up felt

31:32

to me like a kind, funny family

31:34

member. The sound of

31:37

his scissors cutting construction paper

31:39

was ASMR before we knew what that even

31:41

was. I

31:44

still don't know what it is. So

31:48

we looked it up. Autonomous

31:50

Sensory Meridian Response. A

31:53

term used to describe a tingling,

31:55

static-like, or goosebumps sensation in response

31:57

to specific triggering audio.

32:00

or visual stimuli. Today

32:03

when I find myself in a situation

32:05

where the exact right thing is close

32:07

at hand I say it's like Mr.

32:10

Drekka, Mr. Dress-ups, tickle-trunk, where

32:12

whatever he needed was always on top.

32:16

My adult offspring know the difference

32:18

or know the reference even though

32:20

they weren't fortunate enough to

32:23

see the show. Marina

32:29

Skinner in Nanaimo, BC. As

32:33

a young girl growing up in on Quadra

32:35

Island in the 1980s my favorite

32:37

television show was Danger Bay. The

32:42

drama and excitement of rescuing animals and

32:44

marine life was never ending. I could

32:46

picture myself doing that someday. The float

32:50

plane in the opening credits sticks with me to

32:52

this day. I recently took

32:54

a float plane over to Vancouver and

32:56

upon realizing there would be only one

32:59

pilot I pictured myself taking

33:01

over the controls should

33:03

something happen to the pilot. Just the

33:05

way Nicole Roberts did in

33:08

one episode. Nicole

33:11

Roberts by the way was played by actress Ocean

33:14

Hillman and was nominated for

33:16

a Gemini Award for that role in

33:19

1988. Greg Slate

33:24

in St. Alexandre, Quebec about

33:27

45 minutes southeast of

33:29

Montreal. My

33:31

most memorable show is The Raccoons.

33:34

Educational concerning environment and forest management

33:36

but also a great cartoon with

33:39

an excellent theme song. My

33:41

father was in the Navy and

33:44

sailing during the late 80s and

33:46

brought me back a stuffed toy

33:48

raccoon that I promptly

33:50

named Bert from the show. I

33:53

handed him off to my daughter some years ago. My

33:55

stuffed Bert is now 34 years old but it's doing

34:00

great. Michael

34:06

Van Steenkist in

34:09

Toronto. My

34:12

favorite program is actually more of a

34:14

series of vignettes that we would watch

34:16

in between our favorite programs. Are

34:19

you ready? Interland

34:22

Who's Who. Come on,

34:24

I know many of you remember that. Not

34:27

the young ones. But

34:31

if you're of an age, you remember

34:33

Interland Who's Who. I

34:36

can think of nothing more iconic in Canadian

34:39

than the program which for 50 years

34:41

has brought the wildlife of Canada into our

34:43

living rooms. Learning

34:46

about the lives of beaver, moose,

34:48

bear, and a loon

34:50

makes you really appreciate the beautiful country we

34:53

live in. Finally,

34:55

who can forget that beautiful and

34:57

slightly haunting flute gives

34:59

me goosebumps every time I hear it.

35:05

The first Interland Who's Who ran

35:07

in 1963, sponsored

35:11

by Environment Canada and the Canadian

35:13

Wildlife Federation. Jeff

35:19

Stover in Thamesford, Ontario.

35:24

Every day before school, I remember

35:26

being a nine-year-old eating Eggo waffles

35:28

and watching The Hilarious

35:30

House of Freitenstein. Billy

35:33

Van played a host of different characters along

35:35

with other actors, all

35:37

living in a big spooky castle. It

35:41

was sketch comedy for kids with

35:43

actual learning squeezed in with the laughs.

35:47

Vincent Price narrated. I

35:50

learned many things without realizing it. I was

35:52

just there for the laughs. To

35:55

this day, I can't eat an Eggo

35:57

waffle without thinking of The Hilarious House

35:59

of Freitenstein. of Frightenstein. Okay,

36:04

you don't remember that one? It

36:07

was produced at CHCH in

36:09

Hamilton. 130 episodes all done

36:11

in 1971. It's

36:16

available still on the free

36:18

streaming site 2B. T-U-B-I.

36:22

I guess

36:27

you'll be looking that up, eh? Mark

36:33

Lanarcic in Toronto. Or,

36:36

Lanarcic in Toronto. I'll

36:39

vote for it. This is the law. That

36:42

was a very entertaining show with Larry Solway

36:45

and Hart Pomerance. With

36:47

Paul Sols acting out the violation.

36:51

Austin Willis was a great

36:53

host. The Great

36:55

Austin Willis. Basically,

36:59

the program ran as a quiz show

37:02

with Sols performing in a short film

37:04

breaking some obscure law like patting

37:06

a horse on its head while it was drinking water. That,

37:10

apparently, is illegal. The

37:13

panel had to figure out what Sols

37:16

had done that was illegal. They

37:19

usually couldn't. All

37:30

I can say is, thank God this one

37:32

came in, or I would be in even

37:34

more trouble than I normally am at home.

37:38

Ralph Goering from North Saanich, B.C. writes, The

37:41

best Canadian TV show

37:44

is street legal. The

37:47

beauty of it was the characters were

37:50

relatable, and the stories were not always

37:52

focused on their personal lives, but

37:54

on the clients' lives as well. The

37:58

stories were great. actors

38:00

were believable. CBC

38:03

has a lot of great shows but sometimes

38:05

there comes a show that it knocks right

38:07

out of the park. Street

38:12

legal. Thank

38:15

you very much. Okay

38:19

a couple more before we wrap it up for

38:22

this week because

38:25

there's so many there'll be more next

38:28

week of your favorite

38:31

Canadian shows. Cameron

38:34

Houl from Winnipeg. One

38:38

Canadian TV show I have fond memories

38:40

of is the sitcom Mr. D. It

38:43

had eight seasons by the way starting in 2012. Star

38:46

Jerry D was an inept school teacher.

38:49

It's still on CBC Gem. The

38:53

fond memories aren't necessarily because it's the

38:55

best sitcom ever but because it's one

38:58

I watch with my father says Cameron.

39:01

I often bond over watching silly

39:03

shows like that and it's just

39:06

a great bonus that it's Canadian. D.

39:11

Medhurst and Victoria. My

39:14

sister and I would sit and watch the

39:16

friendly giant every day and at the end

39:19

of the show we'd race to shout out

39:21

which chair we wanted to sit in, curl

39:24

up in, in front of the fireplace.

39:28

Something comforting about that show and

39:31

its routines. You

39:37

want to read a little story about the friendly giant?

39:40

Get my book off

39:43

the record. There's a story about

39:46

the friendly giant in there that I'm not going to tell

39:48

you now but you

39:50

might want to read it. My

39:54

friend Marilyn Trenholm Council in Sackville,

39:57

New Brunswick. One

40:02

show came immediately to mind.

40:05

Don Messer and His Islanders, on

40:08

Don Messer's Jubilee. Beginning

40:10

with the radio shows that started in 1939,

40:13

the TV version started in 1957. This

40:21

was a childhood favourite in my little

40:23

village of Bayvert, New Brunswick, and

40:26

went with me to Toronto, where it nurtured

40:28

my maritime roots. When

40:31

I listened or watched that show, I knew

40:35

who I was. Of

40:41

that? Okay,

40:44

well with that one, we're going to stop

40:46

for this week, because I said we had

40:48

many, many letters. And

40:51

we had letters that came in after

40:53

the deadline, last night. So,

40:57

I will extend the deadline to tomorrow

41:02

night, Friday night, 6pm

41:06

Eastern Time, Friday. Name

41:09

the one Canadian television show, and I bet

41:11

if you've been listening today, your memory has

41:13

been sparked of others. And

41:17

we will run a second and final week next week. Keep

41:22

it short. Include

41:25

your name and location. Alright?

41:31

Okay, that's it for

41:33

your turn. It's now the Rantor's turn. And,

41:36

as I kind of hinted

41:38

at the beginning, the

41:40

Rantor is on a tear this week. And

41:44

you know the Rantor, he kind of spreads

41:46

the blame around when he rants. He

41:48

doesn't just pick on one party, or

41:50

one politician, or one person, or one

41:52

business, or

41:55

one personality. He

41:59

moves the dial around. Well,

42:02

he sure has a target this week. It's

42:05

all related to this continuing discussion

42:07

around the carbon tax. So,

42:15

you ready? Here

42:17

we go, the random ranchers rant for

42:20

this week. This

42:26

week I've been inundated with people

42:28

telling me about Polyev's plan to

42:31

lower emissions by selling natural gas

42:33

to China, India, and

42:35

basically anyone who will buy it.

42:38

As the story goes, the whole thing

42:40

is great for the environment and great

42:42

for us. We sell natural

42:45

gas to a country that burns coal

42:47

so that they can make the switch

42:49

and lower their emissions. And

42:51

that counts as us doing our part,

42:54

because the world would be

42:56

a better place with more

42:58

clean and green Canadian natural

43:00

gas. Well, sorry,

43:03

but that's not the way it works. If

43:05

we sell something to a country

43:07

that helps them lower their emissions,

43:09

those credits go to meeting their

43:12

target. Not ours. I

43:14

mean, the buyer and the seller cannot

43:16

claim the same credit. If

43:19

we buy solar panels from China or

43:21

wind turbines from the US, we're

43:24

not giving them credit for our lower

43:26

emissions. Emission reduction

43:28

agreements are on a per country basis.

43:31

We all have our own targets that

43:33

we've agreed to. And while

43:35

selling our natural gas might help a

43:37

country reduce its emissions, producing

43:40

it will see ours go

43:42

up significantly. And I'm sure

43:44

Mr. Polyev knows this. But credit

43:46

to the Liberals, they've got a rhyme of

43:48

their own to counteract the tax. And

43:51

it's Pierre doesn't care. And

43:54

I really believe that. He doesn't

43:56

care about the environment. His natural gas nonsense

43:58

is just a matter of time. just his

44:00

version of Trump's building a wall and

44:02

getting Mexico to pay for it. It's

44:05

never going to happen, but it

44:07

sounds good to the people who want

44:09

to believe it. So why let

44:11

the facts get in the way? I

44:13

mean, his BS is effective. He's

44:16

taken a global cost of living

44:18

crisis and bamboozled the majority

44:21

of the Canadian public into blaming it

44:23

all on Trudeau and the carbon tax.

44:26

But it's pure propaganda, just

44:28

like the laughable idea that natural

44:31

gas is somehow green. I

44:33

mean, burning natural gas is better for

44:35

us than burning coal the

44:37

same way arsenic is better to

44:40

ingest than cyanide. The

44:42

results are the same. It's only the

44:44

timeline that differs. But again,

44:47

Pierre doesn't care. He's

44:50

all about his common sense

44:52

conservatism, which to me

44:54

is just BS baffles brains by

44:56

another name. Where I

44:58

come from, it's common sense

45:00

to listen to experts. So

45:03

if 200 economists from across the

45:05

country told me something, I

45:07

would think it would be common sense to

45:09

listen to them, even if I

45:12

didn't like what they were telling me. But

45:14

not Pierre, because Pierre

45:17

doesn't care. Listening

45:19

to experts would mean he's not the smartest

45:21

person in the room, something

45:23

I'm sure his apple munching fragile

45:25

ego could never accept. Now,

45:28

I'm no fan of Trudeau and his ham handed

45:30

ways, but I do believe in

45:32

the carbon tax. It's

45:34

an inconvenient truth, but pollution

45:37

isn't free. It

45:39

costs all of us. But without

45:41

a price on it, there's no

45:43

incentive to change anything. The

45:46

carbon tax uses market

45:48

forces to incentivize better

45:50

choices. It's not heavy

45:52

handed and it's revenue neutral.

45:55

Remember, you get a check from

45:58

the government, a check that went up

46:00

as of April 1st, and

46:02

that in most cases, more than

46:04

offsets what you pay. It's the

46:07

least disruptive way to reduce

46:09

emissions. And if you believe

46:11

in global warming, then you have to

46:13

believe we should be reducing our emissions.

46:16

But Pierre doesn't care. He's

46:19

not interested in right or wrong.

46:22

He's interested in votes. And

46:25

frankly, so are all the premiers out there

46:27

who are siding with them. I

46:29

mean, look at Daniel Smith. She's

46:31

complaining about the carbon tax adding three

46:33

cents to a liter of gas as

46:36

she hikes her own fuel surcharge to

46:39

13 cents per liter. And

46:41

if she really cared about the cost of

46:44

living for Albertans, she could easily ax

46:46

her own tax or spike her

46:48

own hike. But why be

46:51

responsible when you have a perfectly

46:53

good scapegoat to lay your problems

46:55

on? Look, it's not the

46:57

carbon tax driving up the price of

46:59

groceries. It's the impact of climate change.

47:02

It's maple syrup drying up

47:04

in Quebec. It's cattle herds

47:06

being thinned in Alberta. And

47:09

it's the spike in crop insurance

47:11

across the West. And that's

47:13

just Canada. I didn't even

47:15

mention California. But inconvenient

47:17

truth, you'll never hear Pierre

47:19

talk about any of this. Because

47:21

when it comes to the environment, Pierre

47:24

doesn't care. So

47:30

I know the question you're asking, or at least some of

47:32

you are, who is that guy?

47:36

Who is that random rancher? Well,

47:40

for longtime listeners, you know the answer to

47:42

that question. Well, you

47:44

sort of know the answer to that question. Random

47:49

Rantor goes nameless to encourage the sort of

47:52

action around his

47:56

thoughts and his claims and his rants.

47:58

It's just an interesting little side

48:01

piece to, well,

48:03

to get you to listen, I guess. But

48:06

we do know this about the random rancher. The

48:10

random rancher lives on

48:12

the prairies. Okay,

48:15

he's from the West. Lives

48:18

on the prairies, he does not work for

48:21

a political party on

48:24

any level. He's,

48:29

the way we like to say it is, he's just a guy. He's

48:33

just a guy, has a good

48:35

job, travels a lot,

48:40

sees the country, loves

48:42

talking to people, gets

48:45

their take on things. They like

48:47

talking to him. They

48:49

like giving him their take. They

48:53

don't know that he's the random rancher on the

48:55

bridge, unless

48:58

they can kind of spot that voice.

49:04

But so far, nobody's tracked him down. And

49:08

so far, he keeps giving us things to think about. You

49:11

don't have to agree with the rancher. Bet

49:14

it's nice to be provoked into thought

49:16

around issues that matter to all

49:18

of us at one point or another.

49:22

And I know many of you like this

49:24

issue because I hear about them, about

49:27

your thoughts. Pro and con on the

49:29

carbon tax. Pro

49:31

and con on Justin Trudeau. Pro

49:33

and con on Pierre Poliev. I

49:36

see your letters, I read them. And

49:39

keep that in mind, I do read all

49:41

your letters. Some of them

49:44

make it on there, some of them don't. Some

49:46

of them occasionally get a reply from me, but

49:49

I can tell you, it would be a full-time

49:52

job just to reply to letters because

49:55

we get so many of them here at the bridge. And

49:57

as you know, we at the bridge

49:59

is very. He's a small number. But

50:02

a shout out once again to my good friend and

50:04

co-author on some of the books, Mark

50:06

Boulgitch, who helps go

50:09

through the letters each week since

50:12

we started this new format. And

50:15

it's great fun and Mark, like he does on

50:17

everything, does a heck of a job on it.

50:20

All right, that's going to wrap it up for

50:22

today. Tomorrow it's a good talk with Chantal A.

50:24

Bear and Rob Russo filling in for Bruce, who's

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away this week. He'll be back with us next

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week. And

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we'll discuss tomorrow on Good Talk the things

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we normally discuss, whatever is out there. And

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I look forward to doing that. So

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until then, I'm Peter Mansbridge. Thanks so much for listening,

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and we'll talk to you again in 24 hours.