Classic Canadian TV Shows

When I was young, we never had cable television. In fact, for several years, we didn't have a TV at all, but when we did, we only got what came in on the rabbit ears. Most of the time, in this part of Canada in the 1980s, that was a grand total of two English broadcast stations. Every so often something else might come in, but it wasn't very reliable. So most of the television I watched as a kid was either reruns of American shows, or Canadian content. And as much as we all complain about Canadian TV, that's what I remember the most. Here is a Good/Bad/Ugly rating of a few classic Canadian shows I grew up with.

Danger Bay: Memory is a funny thing. I remember watching this show and thinking that it was basically awesome. Of course, I remember the same thing about The A-Team, and after catching an episode or two of that in syndication a few years ago, having to revise my opinion. I suspect the same thing might happen if I were to watch Danger Bay today.
After all, Danger Bay had all sorts of elements of awesome as far as a 11 year old need be concerned. You had a family that lived on a private island and had a jeep, a boat, and a friend with a floatplane. Plus the dad worked at the Vancouver Aquarium, so there were killer whales. That's a pretty full awesome quotient right there. I'm content to let my Good memories stand, no need to endanger them with reality.

The Raccoons: In the 1980s, Canadian cartoons were largely limited to National Film Board shorts that ranged from avant-garde to quirky to outright strange. Sure, they may have won lots of awards, but this was back in the day when cartoons were still considered kiddie fare. The Raccoons was different. It was fun, with a solid mix of action, story, and humour, plus a soundtrack rich in upbeat overproduced '80s pop/rock. What's more, for a show about animated raccoons, aardvarks, and henchpigs, the characters are surprisingly complex and not nearly as black and white as you might expect. In fact, much like actual raccoons, the characters had a fair amount of grey. And while that joke may have been terrible, the show was actually pretty Good.

The Littlest Hobo: There's a voice that keeps on calling me. Down the road, that's where I'll always be. Every stop I make, I make a new friend, can't stay for long, just turn around and I'm gone again.
Okay, show of hands time. How many of you have the theme from The Littlest Hobo stuck in their heads right now? Admit it now, you do. Unless you've never seen the show, which means you probably aren't Canadian. Seriously, this show is was so ubiquitous that I doubt there's a Canadian alive over the age of 20 or so who doesn't remember it. We all remember it as having the production values falling somewhere between infomercial and cable access variety show, and we remember that every episode was basically the same — dog wanders into town, somehow solves problem, moves on, but we remember it fondly. Maybe it's the surprising list of now-famous guest stars, featuring people like Leslie Nielsen, Megan Follows, Michael Ironside, Mike Myers, andDeForest Kelle, to name a few. Maybe we all like helpful dogs. But no matter how fondly the show is remember, the cheese value is so high and the production quality so terrible, this is the show everyone points to as the example of why Canadian TV is considered Bad.

The Beachcombers: This show ran on CBC from 1972 to 1991, with a total of 387 episodes, and I have no idea why. Seriously, I don't. It was about, well, quite frankly, I have no idea what it was actually about. I've blocked it all from my memory as best I can. I remember that the open sequence featured lots of logs and British Columbia coastline. Oh, and boats. I remember hating it with a hatred that burned like the fire of a thousand suns. Obviously some people must have felt differently, or it would have never lasted so long.
I do remember one character, the primary antagonist, Relic. Yes, that was his name. He was a crusty old guy who always wore a toque, regardless of the season. This was long before it became remotely fashionable to do so, so for that at least The Beachcombers is memorable. However, one toque-wearing old dude is hardly enough to elevate this show anywhere beyond Ugly.