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TV North: everything you want to know about Canadian television (Whitecap $29.95)
Peter Keller's TV North: everything you want to know about Canadian television (Whitecap $29.95), with some cryptic notes by Martin Levin, doesn't deliver on its title, but it's a fun, less than authoritative encyclopedic journey from 'The Adventures of Tugboat Annie' to 'Zoboomafoo.'
'Razzle Dazzle,' with Howie the Turtle and its 120,000 members of the Razzle Dazzle Club in the early '60s, is appropriately cited as a remarkable show. Canadian sports gets one page. 'Cariboo Country' isn't cited as breakthrough fare. And locally made, before-its-time 'Kareen's Yoga' starring Kareen Zebroff, we are told, inspired a how-to book, when, in fact, it led to a series of books and the formation of a publishing company, Fforbez Enterprises-Zebroff spelled backwards. In all, 550 TV programs are mentioned.
But there are some nice bits. 'The Friendly Giant' ran from 1958 until 1984. "Seen on U.S. educational television, the Canadian giant became an unlikely icon of New York City's homosexual subculture, where the program, screened in gay bars in the early '70s, was greeted with wild applause.
"In typically courageous fashion, CBC hacks cancelled the still-popular Giant after more than 25 years of service, with nary a public handshake, giant gold watch, or gargantuan set of golf clubs to mark his impeccable service record.";
1-55285-146-X
[BCBW SUMMER 2002]
'Razzle Dazzle,' with Howie the Turtle and its 120,000 members of the Razzle Dazzle Club in the early '60s, is appropriately cited as a remarkable show. Canadian sports gets one page. 'Cariboo Country' isn't cited as breakthrough fare. And locally made, before-its-time 'Kareen's Yoga' starring Kareen Zebroff, we are told, inspired a how-to book, when, in fact, it led to a series of books and the formation of a publishing company, Fforbez Enterprises-Zebroff spelled backwards. In all, 550 TV programs are mentioned.
But there are some nice bits. 'The Friendly Giant' ran from 1958 until 1984. "Seen on U.S. educational television, the Canadian giant became an unlikely icon of New York City's homosexual subculture, where the program, screened in gay bars in the early '70s, was greeted with wild applause.
"In typically courageous fashion, CBC hacks cancelled the still-popular Giant after more than 25 years of service, with nary a public handshake, giant gold watch, or gargantuan set of golf clubs to mark his impeccable service record.";
1-55285-146-X
[BCBW SUMMER 2002]
Submitted on June 12, 2003 in By David.
