Canadian Entertainment, Music and Catch All II

[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

There was also a doc about the Dionne quintuplets with Pierre Berton but that may be protected by the NFB.

Found it, although this one was the easiest and the one I knew the most about. Both Pierre Berton and Donald Brittain appear in it, Brittain doing interviews and Berton narration.

Of course there's no sign of the doc, after all we have to protect a 50 year old property and figure out how to make money off it.

One thing though, there is extended footage from the doc that I haven't seen, so that's a bonus.

The Dionne Quintuplets
Film: Documentary 1978 1 h 27 min 2 sec

Direction: Donald Brittain
Production: Donald Brittain Peter Katadotis Paul Wright
Script: Pierre Berton Barbara Sears
Co-produced by the NFB and the CBC.

Back in 1934, Elzire Dionne delivered five identical girls. The Dionne Quintuplets follows Cecile, Emilie, Marie, Yvonne and Annette through twenty-one years of strange upbringing. When the girls were just infants, the premier of Ontario issued a court order removing them from parental care. Cut off from the world and their family, over-publicized, viewed twice daily in a special viewing compound, they grew up as prize exhibits. Director Donald Brittain uses old newsreel footage, home-movie sequences and interviews to depict a historic event that became a tragic exploitation of a family.

Based on the book The Dionne Years by Pierre Berton.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

There was also a documentary with former TVO exec Rudy Buttignol about the Alouette satellite. It may have been called Space Pioneers but I found something called that on Youtube and that wasn't it. It had footage with Gerry Bull and the Harp Project and lots of interviews with the folks who worked on the Alouette project

Found another one, but again no vid. This time we're only trying to make money off something 36 years old.

Space Pioneers: A Canadian Story

Documents the little known story of the first generation of Canadian space pioneers. Archival footage is blended with contemporary interviews with scientists and engineers who, in discussing those early days, reveal the enthusiasm and sense of adventure so essential to the scientific spirit.

Directed by Rudy Buttignol
1988, 53 minutes
Purchase: $210 Classroom Rental: $125

* Genie Award Nominee, Best Short Documentary

Not to be confused with Fresh Footprints: Canada's Space Pioneers (1999)

[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

I have been looking for a doc on the Eatons, possibly called The Eatons Saga It had a lot of old silent footage in it which I was able to find some of the sources on Youtube but not the documentary

Found another one, yet again from an obscure website and no doc to be found.

Eatons: A Canadian Saga

For over 130 years, Eaton department stores have been shaping the landscape of Canada's retail store, becoming an integral part of the country's identity. Eatons: A Canadian Saga depicts the powerful Eaton dynasty and the real retail giant it built, from Timothy Eaton's first Toronto store in 1869 to the fall of the Eaton Empire in 1999.

Key dates
Year of Production 2003

Generic
Production House Screenlife Productions Limited
Scripting Barbara Sears
Implementation John McGreevy
Distribution Screenlife Productions Limited

Technical
Financial Participation Canada Media Fund/Canada Media Fund
Executive Production Michael MacLear
Production Mike Feheley
Executive Production Mike Feheley

Artistic
Narration Martha Henry

Specifications
Type of Production Feature film
Gender(s) Documentary
Language original version English

[Gresto]

^I'm surprised all of these docs are unavailable for viewing. What a disgrace. The NFB, which owns the Dionne film, is usually quite generous with its properties. Many can be viewed at no cost at the NFB website. As you suggest, no one is going to make more than a few measly bucks off these arcane works, so they might as well be made available for free to enlighten and entertain. I have access to the Dionne film, but the Space and Eaton's docs are nowhere to be seen, at least not gratis. Some clown wants $200 bucks for some space documentary no one has ever heard of. Give me a break.

Pierre Berton was one of the best-known people in Canada for decades, not even that long ago. A prolific, respected author, and a renaissance man. To think that his house, a stone's throw from the McMichael Gallery, has fallen into such disrepair due to pure neglect is sad and shameful.

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by Gresto

^I'm surprised all of these docs are unavailable for viewing. What a disgrace...

I can't speak to these particular documentaries, but one issue that has affected releases of older TV shows is that when they were produced, the idea of online streaming and distribution - or sometimes even DVD/Blu-Ray - did not exist. Therefore, the rights acquired for the music and/or visuals do not permit those forms of distribution. If the series is popular enough, the music may be relicensed or replaced, but in many cases the production just ends up out of circulation.


NYT: Why Don’t Some TV Shows Sound the Way They Used To?

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

I can't speak to these particular documentaries, but one issue that has affected releases of older TV shows is that when they were produced, the idea of online streaming and distribution - or sometimes even DVD/Blu-Ray - did not exist. Therefore, the rights acquired for the music and/or visuals do not permit those forms of distribution. If the series is popular enough, the music may be relicensed or replaced, but in many cases the production just ends up out of circulation.


NYT: Why Don’t Some TV Shows Sound the Way They Used To?

It's a shame that happens. I doubt any government would bother with it; but I would be very supportive for modifying the Copyright laws to proactively extend those rights to new media/distribution methods for products made before those methods existed.

So if a Sitcom like WKRP had rights to the music it played in the eps when it aired, then a steaming service could use the same music when reairing the episodes later on, because streaming wasn't a thing when the episodes originally aired.

[MolsonExport]

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Thanks for the post. If you ever come up with titles, I'd be very interested to hear about them. I've done some searching on the first one you mentioned and found some books on the subject, but no documentaries yet. If I come up with anything I'll let you know.

I'm really not sure but I think the TV doc might be based on the first book in the list. I still haven't found any info on the doc.

Just thought I'd post these Google previews about the early days of TV in Canada. You can get quite a bit of information out of some previews

When Television Was Young Primetime Canada 1952-1967 Paul Rutherford
Turn Up the Contrast CBC Television Drama since 1952 Mary Jane Miller
Documentary Television in Canada From National Public Service to Global Marketplace David Hogarth
CTV-The Network That Means Business Michael Nolan
The Pierce-Arrow Showroom is Leaking An Insider's View of the CBC Alex Barris (No Preview)

Some other interesting sites

CBC Directory by Blaine Allan

​A complete listing of television programs produced in Canada and broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between 1952 and 1982, listed alphabetically

There is a 15 page series pf webpages that document
Television Listings For Canada's Eastern Maritime Provinces

These begin in 1966 and end in 1987. I think these would be pretty similar across Canada with some differences in programming and time but still present a familiar picture.

I can't seem to find a way to advance the pages so at the end of the first url lifestorytvlist0.html
Change the 0 to a 1 to go to the next page
lifestorytvlist1.html
Continue until you get to 15 for 1987
lifestorytvlist15.html

[Tvisforme]

Originally Posted by elly63

I'm really not sure but I think the TV doc might be based on the first book in the list. I still haven't found any info on the doc.

Just thought I'd post these Google previews about the early days of TV in Canada. You can get quite a bit of information out of some previews

When Television Was Young Primetime Canada 1952-1967 Paul Rutherford
Turn Up the Contrast CBC Television Drama since 1952 Mary Jane Miller
Documentary Television in Canada From National Public Service to Global Marketplace David Hogarth
CTV-The Network That Means Business Michael Nolan
The Pierce-Arrow Showroom is Leaking An Insider's View of the CBC Alex Barris (No Preview)

Some other interesting sites

CBC Directory by Blaine Allan

​A complete listing of television programs produced in Canada and broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between 1952 and 1982, listed alphabetically

There is a 15 page series pf webpages that document
Television Listings For Canada's Eastern Maritime Provinces

These begin in 1966 and end in 1987. I think these would be pretty similar across Canada with some differences in programming and time but still present a familiar picture.

I can't seem to find a way to advance the pages so at the end of the first url lifestorytvlist0.html
Change the 0 to a 1 to go to the next page
lifestorytvlist1.html
Continue until you get to 15 for 1987
lifestorytvlist15.html

Thank you very much - this looks like a veritable gold mine of Canadian TV history.

[Architype]

Charlie Angus's band *

L'étranger: Time and Place (1986)
• Video Link

* (Angus had left the band at this point)

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Architype

Charlie Angus's band L'étranger: Time and Place (1986)

Funny you posted that. I was looking at it yesterday when I was at his Wikipedia page. I was there to check if he was related to Iain Angus.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Tvisforme

Thank you very much - this looks like a veritable gold mine of Canadian TV history.

I've had about half of those in my bookmarks for a while now. The CTV link was particularly good because of how little information there is on the startup of CTV.

I forgot to include this one: The History of Canadian Broadcasting

It contains a lot of bits of information that will stir memories of old programs and personalities that might have been forgotten particularly CTV because we'd be lucky to have any footage from them. Here's some programs from 1971-72 where I have good memories of the titles but less recall of how the program's looked. We would be lucky to see some snippets on YouTube although I think I saw the entire series of George there

1971
All About Faces
Anything You Can Do
Ian Tyson Show
Kareen’s Yoga
Mantrap
Rollin’ On The River/Rollin’
Story Theatre

1972
Amazing World of Kreskin, The
Canada AM
Eye Bet
George
Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour
Headline Hunters
Little People
Police Surgeon
Puppet People
Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The
Waterville Gang
What’s The Good Word?

[Gresto]

^I always liked Kreskin, who just died a few months ago. He seemed like a genuinely kind, good-natured milquetoast (sort of like Fred Rogers), which may have just been part of his act.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Gresto

^I always liked Kreskin, who just died a few months ago. He seemed like a genuinely kind, good-natured milquetoast (sort of like Fred Rogers), which may have just been part of his act.

Remember the Kreskin "handshake"?

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by elly63

Remember the Kreskin "handshake"?

I didn't until you mentioned it and I looked it up.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Gresto

I didn't until you mentioned it and I looked it up.

Why waste money at a chiropractor? Funny video at the Pancake House from National Handshake Day. The poor greeting girl at the restaurant, lol.

I am old enough to remember his syndicated TV show (shot at CJOH Ottawa) and that's where I was introduced to the Kreskin handshake.

The funny thing is I had a great interest in magic as a kid (and a book collector as an adult) but never made the connection with Kreskin for a long time. One day it hit me, "Wait a minute, that guy's a magician"

Even though there is a mentalism "community" among magicians it is still the same family. Mentalists like Banachek, Bob Cassidy and Richard Osterlind are well known among magicians but Kreskin seemed to inhabit a world of his own, rarely mentioned in the magician or mentalist community.

I think that's why his gimmick was so great, he didn't play at being a mentalist, he was one.

[elly63]

Loved this show as a kid

Some things to note:

Notice the little flashing white square in the top right corner at 3:37, that was known as the cue dot or cue mark. It flashes for 15 seconds and was used to tell stations there was a minute to commercial or new program. It comes on again at 4:15 to show the change is upcoming

The first commercial at 4:37 would not be made today as it would be considered racist but was commonplace back in 1981. The actor looks to be Canadian Robert Ito of "Quincy" fame.

At 12:00 they have a guest and some cool footage of the CN Tower construction.

You notice the ad agency campaigns and slogans for the car commercials that span several commercials of the time.

23:41 has one of the more popular ad campaigns of the time with James Garner and Mariette Hartley shilling for Polaroid

• Video Link

[Taeolas]

Wow everything looked so simple back then; but that is what Canadian game shows were like. Some challenging questions/headlines there too and some notable production flubs that probably wouldn't have been in a modern show. (Like how the scores were so screwed up after the first few rounds).

Guy who won got a cordless razor, a sewing machine and a bonsu round where he got 150$ (and got a gimmy on the Capital of New York question at the end. ).

The video of the CN Tower construction was neat to see, especially the back view of the suburbia of Toronto. Pretty sure that entire view is now filled with highrises now.

And yeah, the commercials were some of the real gems there too.

Oh and the guests staying at the Howard Johnson Airport motel. (with locations in Fredericton and Moncton among other places )

[elly63]

Aside from smells being retained in our memory so is obscure music. I think we have more of a recall for TV themes and music in promos or commercials because they are repeated so often.

I read about Pol Martin and remembered he had a cooking show but I don't recall what he or the show looked like. Then I found this promo and remembered the theme to the show.

• Video Link

[Coldrsx]

Off to see Alan Cross tonight. Pumped.