A nostalgic look back at fifty years of children's television from the beloved - Polka Dot Door, Mr. Dressup, Today's Special - to the bizarre - Kiddo the Clown, Coming Up Rosie, Maniac Mansion.
, former MuchMusic VJ
From the time CBC sputtered onto screens in 1952, children's television has been at the centre of Canada's cultural output. The country's first television host was an ornery puppet named Chichimus, who set the stage for future Toronto-based puppeteers, producers, directors, and actors to make children's television their own. With the studios of CBC, TVOntario, CFTO, and eventually YTV all located in Toronto, the city's televisual output was staggering and fed by the imagination and hard work of the local talent.
is a memory-filled trip for anyone who spent their weekdays after school or Saturday mornings staring at the idiot box. The story of each Toronto-produced series is covered - from inception through production to broadcast - along with the tales of local stations and the people who made it all happen.
is a trip you won't want to miss.
Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Viewer Discretion Is Advised
- 1950s
- 1. Let’s See (1952)/Uncle Chichimus (1953)
- 2. Space Command (1953)
- 3. Telestory Time (1953)
- 4. The Howdy Doody Show (1954)
- 5. Hidden Pages (1955)
- 6. Old Testament Tales (1957)
- 7. Maggie Muggins (1955)
- 8. Mr. O (1955)
- 9. Junior Magazine (1955)
- 10. The Friendly Giant (1958)
- 11. Tales of the Riverbank (1959)
- 1960s
- 12. Just Mary (1960)
- 13. Junior Roundup (1960)
- 14. Razzle Dazzle (1961)
- 15. CFTO-TV (1961)
- 16. The Professor’s Hideaway (1961)
- 17. Kiddo the Clown (1962)
- 18. The Uncle Bobby Show (1963)
- 19. The Forest Rangers (1963)
- 20. Misterogers (1962)
- 21. Butternut Square (1964)
- 22. Mr. Dressup (1967)
- 23. Passport to Adventure (1965)
- 24. Time of Your Life (1964)/Through the Eyes of Tomorrow (1966)
- 25. Barney Boomer (1967)/Upside Town (1968)
- 26. The Bananas (1969)
- 27. Adventures in Rainbow Country (1969)
- 1970s
- 28. Sesame Street (1970)
- 29. Drop-In (1970)
- 30. OECA (1970)
- 31. Polka Dot Door (1971)
- 32. Guess What? (1971)
- 33. The Waterville Gang (1972)
- 34. The World of B.J. Vibes (1973)
- 35. Circle Square (1974)
- 36. Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins (1974)
- 37: Coming Up Rosie (1975)
- 38. Report Metric (1973)/Report Canada (1978)
- 39. Inside/Out (1973)
- 40. Magic Shadows (1974)
- 41. Calling Captain Consumer (1973)
- 42. Two Plus You (1974)
- 43. Saturday Morning Supershow (1975)
- 44. Monkey Bars (1975)
- 45. CUCUMBER (1975)
- 46. The Adventures of Timothy Pilgrim (1975)
- 47. Tell Me a Story (1975)
- 48. The End of the Saturday Morning Supershow (1976)
- 49. Readalong (1975)
- 50. Homemade TV (1976)
- 51. Math Patrol (1977)
- 52. MathMakers (1978)
- 53. Write On! (1977)
- 54. Parlez-moi (1978)
- 55. Read All About It! (1979)
- 56. Camp TVO/What If… (1979)
- 57. The Littlest Hobo (1979)
- 58. Matt and Jenny on the Wilderness Trail (1979)
- 59. Kids Corner (1979)
- 60. The Canadian Children’s Channel (1979)
- 1980s
- 61. The Kids of Degrassi Street (1979/80)
- 62. The Body Works (1980)
- 63. Galaxie (1980)
- 64. Today’s Special (1981)
- 65. Kidsworld (1980)
- 66: News from Zoos (1980)
- 67 Music Box (1981)
- 68. We Live Next Door (1981)
- 69. Calling All Safety Scouts (1982)
- 70. Kidsbeat (1982)
- 71. Going Great (1982)
- 72. You Can Write Anything! (1983)
- 73. Artscape (1983)
- 74. Fraggle Rock (1983)
- 75. Téléfrançais (1984)
- 76. The Edison Twins (1984)
- 77. The Elephant Show/Sharon, Lois & Bram’s Elephant Show (1984)
- 78. The End of the Friendly Giant (1984)
- 79. It’s Mainly Music (1984)
- 80 The KangaZoo Club (1984)
- 81. OWL/TV (1985)
- 82. Spirit Bay (1985)
- 83. Wonderstruck (1986)
- 84. Dear Aunt Agnes (1986)
- 85. Degrassi Junior High (1987)
- 86. My Secret Identity (1988)
- 87. Ramona (1988)
- 88. YTV (1988)
- 89. Zardip’s Search for Healthy Wellness (1988)
- 90. Join In! (1989)
- 91. The Magic Library (1989)/Bookmice (1991)
- 1990s
- 92. Road to Avonlea (1990)
- 93. StreetNOISE (1990)
- 94. Maniac Mansion (1990)
- 95. The Afterschool Zone (1991)
- 96. The Grogs (1992)
- 97. The Big Comfy Couch (1992)
- 98. Catwalk (1992)
- 99. Ready or Not (1993)
- 100. The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon (1993)
- 101. TVO Grows Up (1992)
- 102. The Zone (1993)
- 103. YTV News (1993)
- 104 YTV Jr. Jays TV Magazine (1993)
- 105. Warren TV (1994)
- 106. Snit (1994)
- 107. Squawk Box (1994)/It’s Alive (1994)
- 108. Groundling Marsh (1994)
- 109. TVOKids – The Crawlspace (1994)
- 110. Polka Dot Shorts (1995)
- 111. The Brainwash (1995)
- 112. The Anti-Gravity Room (1995)
- 113. Mr. Dressup Says Goodbye (1996)
- 114. Sesame Park (1996)
- 115. Treehouse TV (1997)
- 116. Keep It Weird (1998)
- 117. Skinnamarink TV (1998)
- 118. System Crash (1999)
- 119. Nanalan’ (1999)
- Acknowledgements
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
About the Author :
Ed Conroy is a cultural historian, writer, producer, archivist, and vintage video sleuth. He is the founder of Retrontario.com and his writing on Canadian pop culture and history has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, and blogTO. He has appeared on CTV, TVOntario, CBC TV & Radio, Zoomer TV & Radio, and is a regular guest on Newstalk 1010. Ed currently lives in Port Perry, Ontario.
Review :
Like an autograph from a childhood hero, the book should trigger happy memories for all children of Toronto television.
ImagiNation is full of sumptuous detail, important history, and honours the people who created those programs. For me, it was The Friendly Giant, Mr. Dressup, Razzle Dazzle, and The Forest Rangers. For you, it will be a half-dozen other amazing programs. Lucky for us, Canada was particularly good at making kids’ shows. And lucky for us, Ed has gathered them all up and preserved them in this book.
A much-needed compendium of the history of Canadian television. Coming from an era where we threw out tapes regularly, I’m thankful for Ed Conroy and Retrontario for creating such a rich archive for us to enjoy.
ImagiNation took me down memory lane, sharing behind-the-scenes stories about the shows that coloured my world when I was a kid.
I don't know anyone who cares more and has done more to preserve the history of children's television in Canada than Ed Conroy. And I don't know where we'd be without him.… He does it because he cares about preserving the legacy of so many talented people, who have created so many wonderful memories through time.
Ed Conroy is a preeminent cultural historian, archivist, and vintage video sleuth.
Ed Conroy … has lovingly produced the definitive history of kids’ TV programs to date.… For this book, through his love of the genre and extensive research, he has unearthed numerous kids’ TV shows, many of which are deeply etched in the hearts and souls of our inner child.… So if you’re like me, and you believe that children’s programming is important to our culture or if you’re just feeling downright nostalgic, read this wonderful book!
Puppeteer Nina Keogh is especially grateful for the work Conroy has done in keeping this history in the public consciousness, especially with his book, which is part civic memoir, part archival act — a chronicle of how several generations of Toronto kids learned empathy, creativity and community from the glow of a cathode-ray tube.
