Canadian Entertainment, Music and Catch All II

[SignalHillHiker]

They often raise the weather thing, yeah. It's not that different here, and almost no weather is ever for an extended period. They might lose a day or two here and there, but that's it, really. There's nothing occurring that could ever justify more than a couple of days from Moncton to St. John's.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

They often raise the weather thing, yeah. It's not that different here, and almost no weather is ever for an extended period. They might lose a day or two here and there, but that's it, really. There's nothing occurring that could ever justify more than a couple of days from Moncton to St. John's.

Trust me, I was in the position to know. It is that different there and seemed to get worse. Good managers would rather have to work through bad weather than to get backed up. One or two days compounds the problems.

If you've ever watched an ep of Ice Pilots NWT, I can vouch that it is very realistic. Now ramp the amount of freight they had to store in their warehouse (and then carry) up by 10-20 times per flight and you'll get the idea.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by elly63

Trust me, I was in the position to know. It is that different there and seemed to get worse. Good managers would rather have to work through bad weather than to get backed up. One or two days compounds the problems.

If you've ever watched an ep of Ice Pilots NWT, I can vouch that it is very realistic. Now ramp the amount of freight they had to store in their warehouse (and then carry) up by 10-20 times per flight and you'll get the idea.

I guess freight is quite different from passenger transport, but I personally have never had a flight delayed of rerouted going to NL because of weather, but then it's not usually in winter either. Why can't they have a system for unloading that takes wind etc. into account, like having a hangar to unload freight inside?

[elly63]

Originally Posted by Architype

I guess freight is quite different from passenger transport, but I personally have never had a flight delayed of rerouted going to NL because of weather, but then it's not usually in winter either. Why can't they have a system for unloading that takes wind etc. into account, like having a hangar to unload freight inside?

It's a very time sensitive business. I once heard two guys get into a very heated argument over a five minute delay. Once the plane lands and comes to a standstill the unloading begins, you can't take the time to maneuver it into a hangar even if you had one. Also you would need the room to move the equipment around. Basically you have 30-45 minutes (depending on the a/c size) to unload and load a plane and get it moving to its next destination. And now with Amazon and Canada Post the time sensitivity is even more critical.

Just so people know, that a/c below can carry about 33 of those pallets they are loading up top and if you look at the other side they can load about 14 of those on the lower deck, not to mention smaller areas where freight can be hand loaded ie dangerous goods. All in all you could put about 220,000 lbs of freight on that a/c, pretty similar to a 747 jumbo jet. In contrast, the planes on Ice Pilots NWT carried about 3-10,000 lbs of freight.

Start at 4:30

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[SpongeG]

Heated Rivalry spots in Hamilton are probably going to be a draw this year.

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[elly63]

Not sure why, but this caught my eye at CBC docs and I watched it. Reminded me a bit of Three Identical Strangers, lots of twists and turns.

I really liked it and it ran the gamut of emotions. I noticed there seemed to be several others films on the subject that somehow evaded me over the years.

Highly recommended

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[whatnext]

Oh wow, this hurts. I've been a big fan of hers since SCTV days.

Legendary Canadian actress Catherine O'Hara dead at 71
Updated2 minutes ago
Actress was known for her roles in Schitt's Creek, Home Alone and Beetlejuice

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainmen...dead-9.7068523

[kwoldtimer]

That is very sad news.

[Hecate]

This sucks.

She deserves a state funeral.

[SpongeG]

I was really upset by the news, I don't usually react that way to these kinds of things. She was great, a national treasure.

[elly63]

Originally Posted by elly63

I'm a big fan of the Archive of American Television interviews and find it interesting to hear how Canadian talent was "discovered" Here are some quick clips (cued) of some big players talking about Norman.

Michael Dann on wanting Norman Jewison to direct Your Hit Parade
Perry Lafferty on producing Your Hit Parade, directed by Norman Jewison
Bernie Orenstein on his first television writing job, which was on an early Canadian variety show produced by Norman Jewison called The Barris Beat

In the Perry Lafferty interview he mentions Jack Kane as being a special talent. I can't believe I found some clips of his CBC show.

This is the stuff that US TV was dying for. US TV execs Perry Lafferty and Mike Dann (CBS) were extolling the talents of Canadian artists and their shows back in the 1950s. They mentioned people like Norman Jewison and Jack Kane for their high level of creativity and talent. They were brought down to New York and Hollywood just by seeing the recordings of what they were doing in Toronto.

Jack Kane is about 34 here. Sadly, he would die two years later of cancer at 36.

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[elly63]

The YouTube page for Sylvia Murphy (seen above) contains quite a few vintage CBC variety clips from the late 50s/early 60s. I'm wondering how the site came about getting them.

There were clips from shows like: MusicMakers 59, The Jack Kane Show (1961), Cross Canada Hit Parade, CBC Music 60, Wayne and Shuster and Club O'Connor.

Unfortunately, there are no full episodes but you get the drift.

In an interesting coincidence, this clip opens with a promo for The Aquanauts (aka Malibu Run) which was later produced by the aforementioned Perry Lafferty (not noted at Wikipedia)

From the YouTube comment header:

On Oct 1, 1960, Camelot had its world premiere at the opening of Toronto's new arts venue, the O'Keefe Centre. This video begins with two interviews with Wayne and Shuster and (an out of character) Carol Channing (6:13).

Then we jump to Charles Templeton and Sylvia Murphy, married just 18 months. In the style of 1960 they are introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Charles Templeton, but that is quickly corrected.

Also notable but not shown is Toronto native Robert Goulet, launching his international career playing Lancelot.

JFK liked this musical so much his administration got named after it.

The debut lasted over 4 hours, and was trimmed greatly before it went to Broadway.

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[SpongeG]

it's Toronto to Cancun

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[Gresto]

Can anyone recommend a good Canadian nightly news show? I'm looking for something approaching the style of the old PBS News Hour. Camera stationary on an anchor without affectations who summarizes the main headlines of the day quickly and without bullshit. In the '80s, "The National" with Knowlton Nash was a good source, but nowadays much of it is about attitudinizing, "throwing" to co-anchors, and other precious stylistic horseshit I don't want to see in a newscast.
I have watched CTV National News for some years (despite the farcically bombastic intro music - especially the extra strings added a few years ago - which I must FF past or mute, lest I spike my blood pressure), and it's tolerable despite its self-seriousness, but is there nothing better? Global is fair, though I don't like Dawna Friesen's inauthentic aspect. To my mind, hands down the best, most no-nonsense anchor/reporter in Canada at the moment is Mark Carcasole, who was a weekend anchor at Global, but is now a reporter with CBC.
As for local news here in Toronto, the pickings are even slimmer. I guess this is what we are left with when we don't have a proper national public broadcaster in Canada, and the corporate stations are down to skeleton staffs. Here in Ontario, TVO has the stylistic and methodological approach I like, but not the financial resources to provide a nightly newscast, as I was told when I emailed with that request a few years ago. And now "The Agenda" (nee "Studio 2") is gone, too.

Alternatively or additionally, is there a good, comprehensive Canadian website for news?

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Gresto

Can anyone recommend a good Canadian nightly news show? I'm looking for something approaching the style of the old PBS News Hour. Camera stationary on an anchor without affectations who summarizes the main headlines of the day quickly and without bullshit. In the '80s, "The National" with Knowlton Nash was a good source, but nowadays much of it is about attitudinizing, "throwing" to co-anchors, and other precious stylistic horseshit I don't want to see in a newscast.
I have watched CTV National News for some years (despite the farcically bombastic intro music - especially the extra strings added a few years ago - which I must FF past or mute, lest I spike my blood pressure), and it's tolerable despite its self-seriousness, but is there nothing better? Global is fair, though I don't like Dawna Friesen's inauthentic aspect. To my mind, hands down the best, most no-nonsense anchor/reporter in Canada at the moment is Mark Carcasole, who was a weekend anchor at Global, but is now a reporter with CBC.
As for local news here in Toronto, the pickings are even slimmer. I guess this is what we are left with when we don't have a proper national public broadcaster in Canada, and the corporate stations are down to skeleton staffs. Here in Ontario, TVO has the stylistic and methodological approach I like, but not the financial resources to provide a nightly newscast, as I was told when I emailed with that request a few years ago. And now "The Agenda" (nee "Studio 2") is gone, too.

Alternatively or additionally, is there a good, comprehensive Canadian website for news?

Relying on a single news source seems naive. If you must, CBC Radio 1 does the job, istm.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Gresto

Can anyone recommend a good Canadian nightly news show? ...

Alternatively or additionally, is there a good, comprehensive Canadian website for news?

Except for CBC there isn't much IMO, I think the CBC's Power & Politics is good, as well as At Issue.

Most of what you are looking for is likely online, not on Legacy TV.

You might try these:

https://www.youtube.com/@EnergiMedia

https://www.youtube.com/@therationalnational

[Gresto]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

Relying on a single news source seems naive. If you must, CBC Radio 1 does the job, istm.

I don't listen to the radio.

Originally Posted by Architype

Except for CBC there isn't much IMO, I think the CBC's Power & Politics is good, as well as At Issue.

Most of what you are looking for is likely online, not on Legacy TV.

You might try these:

https://www.youtube.com/@EnergiMedia

https://www.youtube.com/@therationalnational

Thanks for those suggestions, Architype. I do watch "At Issue". I don't know why I have never checked out "Power and Politics", but I shall. As for "opinion and politics", all the other stuff I watch is American. TDS, Washington Week, Real Time, Fareed Zakaria. I hate to watch Youtube (though I do), because I loathe social media, "influencers", "creators", and curation, i.e. "my feed" (Fuck off with that shit!). It's all alien to me, and I wish to keep it that way. I'm older than my age. I read a daily newspaper, though they have really gotten up there in cost.

[jamincan]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Heated Rivalry spots in Hamilton are probably going to be a draw this year.

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I was pretty late to watching it, and I was surprised how good the show is, and also how it seemed to capture such a huge audience.



I wonder how it's compared to Schitt's Creek which is probably the most comparable in terms of breaking out of Canada?

[SpongeG]

Speaking of growth, I grew up Catholic and in our Church there were quite a few families with at least 10 children in them, one guy in my glass was one of 8, a girl was one of 13 kids. If you go to a church these days you never see large families anymore, obviously they are breaking the rules by using some form of birth control I assume ad most families now only have 1 or 2 kids now.

Immigration could soon account for all of Canada's population growth: expert

By The Canadian Press
Published: March 04, 2026 at 6:09AM EST

OTTAWA — With Canada’s population growth now essentially flat, the country could be heading toward an unprecedented situation where population growth is driven entirely by immigration, one expert says.

Based on the federal government’s latest Immigration Levels Plan, the parliamentary budget officer projects 2026 will be Canada’s second consecutive year of zero population growth.

Canada saw rapid population growth as it emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic. That growth, which was driven almost entirely by immigration, peaked at 3.1 per cent in 2023 — high above the historic average of 1.1 per cent going back to 1972.

Statistics Canada data shows the population grew by 816,000 temporary and permanent immigrants in 2024, while natural population growth — births over deaths — came to roughly 34,000 people.

...

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/articl...growth-expert/