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February 13, 2020 1:09 pm  #1


TVO turns the big 5-0

Do you watch TVO? Does the programming serve you? 

I do like watching the Agenda with Steve Paikin, the kids cartoons leave me wanting more...(just kidding) but this year marks the 50th anniversary of the station...

As they go into the next 50 years, what does TVO need to do to be relevant in your view?







 


The world would be so good if it weren't for some people...
 

February 13, 2020 1:11 pm  #2


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Like The Agenda with Steve Paikin and miss Saturday Night at the Movies.

 

February 13, 2020 1:22 pm  #3


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Broodcaster wrote:

Like The Agenda with Steve Paikin and miss Saturday Night at the Movies.

The Agenda is generally good watching. Paikin is generally a straight shooter who occasionally shows his bias, but unlike the CBC they are not afraid to put together genuinely ideologically diverse panels and the result is some good discussions. Unwatchable when Paikin sits and the woman with the hair hosts.

I have found myself staying on for a number of compelling programs which followed Steve at 9:00 pm, including some good BBC-type docs. The one where they have two opposing political representatives playing city mouse and country mouse in each others ridings is well done. My wife and I also really enjoy the adorable wildlife rescue show.

During the day it seems to be entirely given over to kids' programming.

 

February 13, 2020 2:24 pm  #4


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Would rather watch paint dry than TVO.  

 

February 13, 2020 4:01 pm  #5


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

I remember when TVO first signed on. It was then known only as CICA-TV, Channel 19 in Toronto. I think they also used OECA, the Ontario Educational Communications Authority.
 
It’s too bad the anniversary video doesn’t acknowledge John DeLazzer, the very first voice heard on the station when it debuted in Sept. 1970. He was their announcer and did all the IDs.
 


There were only two shows I ever watched on the newcomer. The first was a program that concentrated on weird logic puzzles and questions designed to stimulate your mind. (Obviously didn’t work on me!) It might have been called "It StandsTo Reason."
 
The other was Magee & Co., a 15 minute 6:30 PM weekday show starring Michael Magee (aka Fred C. Dobbs of CKEY fame) that was often really terrible but occasionally rose to brilliance. In one episode of the latter type, he played every single one of his characters at the same time, in a show that must have taken weeks to shoot in the pre-digital era.
 
It was a satire of “Reach For The Top” called “Reach For The Bottom” and was hosted by a character named Johnny HeeHaw (a take-off on CTV's Johnny Esaw.) At one point in the “show,” the audience begins booing him. Thinking he’s off camera, HeeHaw repeatedly gives them the finger, with a giant scowl on his face. But when he realizes the camera is on him, he instantly reverts to a huge phony smile and keeps it frozen on his face for at least 15 seconds.
 
At another point, one of the characters notes of the show that, “This is as stupid as Party Game!”
 
I was just a very young teen when it aired and remember watching it on our kitchen TV when my family was all having supper. I couldn’t finish my meal I was laughing so hard. It must have made an impression for me to recall it all these years later.
 
I’ve tried to find this episode for a long time in the Internet age, but it appears to have long disappeared into the TV ether. I rarely tune in now, but that's my favourite memory of what morphed into TVO.

 

February 13, 2020 4:32 pm  #6


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

I couldn’t find a TV Guide in my collection that listed Channel 19 from the time it signed on in September 1970. I have guides from that time, but apparently the station wasn’t in there until later.
 
The earliest one I could come up with is from five months later, Jan. 18-22, 1971. CICA did not sign on until noon in those days and there was certainly no 24 hour TV. Here’s a look at its line-up from a typical day early in that year.
 
12 PM: Misterogers- Children
 
12:30 PM: Classroom-Education
(I’m assuming this was a series of education shows, because there’s no other description and it goes on for three hours.)
 
3 PM: Making Things Grow
 
3:30 PM Paperweight
 
3:50 PM Frontiers- Education
 
4:30 PM Impressions of the Soviet Union
 
5 PM: Careers In View
 
5:30 PM: Sesame Street
 
6:30 PM: Le Jardins Des Sensations
 
6:40 PM: La Lecture a Sa Place
 
7:00 PM: Imagery Of Sound
 
7:30 PM: In View
 
8:00 PM: Castle Zaremba
 
8:30 PM: People Worth Knowing
 
9:00 PM: Here And Now
 
9:30 PM: Education Calendar
 
I’m not sure how long this last one was, but there are no more listings after it, so I’m assuming they signed off for the night when it ended. Other shows that appeared during the week: “The French Chef,” “Conversation With Glenn Gould,” “Nothing To Eat But Food,” “Adventures in Mathematics,” and “Margaret Mead.”
 
Yeah, I wouldn’t have been watching any of that stuff, either.  

 

February 13, 2020 4:48 pm  #7


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Broodcaster wrote:

Like The Agenda with Steve Paikin and miss Saturday Night at the Movies.

Elwy Yost cared about film and it showed every Saturday night.  Long before the TCM era,  Elwy's showing of uncut movies along with the accompanying interviews and insights,  made for a great viewing experience.

He always seemed to find the "gems" that had been long forgotten and not broadcast for many years.
 

 

February 13, 2020 4:48 pm  #8


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

If someone were to ask me to describe TVO I would say, "They play kids' cartoons all day, every day. There's some kind of public affairs show on at night and the rest of the time it's BBC stuff."  Am I wrong? Maybe a bit, but I'm not far wrong.  The Ontario government gives TVO 39 million dollars a year, there are some charitable donations and I think they have a beg-a -thon as well, a la PBS. Plus, I'm sure there's some "must carry" cable revenue. That's a nice chunk of change for about 5 hours of TVO-produced programming a week. Yes, I know they have spotlights on some Ontario towns and cities, but the same features are very long-in-the-tooth and they are shamefully out of date. The one  for Ottawa, for example, focuses on a business that hasn't existed for years.

The CBC is constantly excoriated by people in here who resent paying $32 a year for it.  Fair enough. But it's also fair to say TVO gets a free ride, and not just in here.

 

February 13, 2020 5:23 pm  #9


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Media Observer wrote:

Elwy Yost cared about film and it showed every Saturday night.  Long before the TCM era,  Elwy's showing of uncut movies along with the accompanying interviews and insights,  made for a great viewing experience.

He always seemed to find the "gems" that had been long forgotten and not broadcast for many years.
 

I always liked Elwy Yost, as well - until I actually met him. A long time ago, when I was at Ryerson's RTA, we were given an assignment to produce a radio documentary. I choose a profile of a well-known comedian who I loved and I had access to lots of source material. But I needed at least one local interview. So I called TVO and asked to get a Q&A with Elwy, who I figured would know a lot about every star (not to mention the fact that I hoped getting a local "celebrity" would increase my mark!)

I got to the complex on time and was ushered into Elwy's office. He was sitting there looking over a piece of paper, which I think was a press release of some kind, but I couldn't see it. But it was clear he wasn't happy. As I sat there with mic in hand, getting ready with my questions, he turned to me and said, "Have you ever seen anything like this? "

I had no idea what he was talking about.

"This is horseshit! I can't believe it!" He then went on for at least a minute about how they were giving him terrible product and complaining Rodney Dangerfield-like that he didn't get any respect.  

To this day, I'm not sure what he was referring to, but he was obviously upset. Talk about making a first impression! 

To be fair, the rest of the hour went well and he was very generous with his time and answers. And yes, I did get a good mark on the thing although in retrospect, the pacing of the doc was way too fast and needed a lot more breathing room - something I would learn later when I was actually producing real radio documentary segments.

 

February 13, 2020 5:46 pm  #10


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

The Agenda is an excellent show. Paikin knows his stuff.

 

February 13, 2020 5:55 pm  #11


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

I want my money back.

 

February 14, 2020 2:16 am  #12


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Does anyone,but me, remember CH 19 broadcasting LIVE, from the Victory Burlesque Theatre (in Toronto), the midnight show on New Years Eve - I think 70 or 71?

I invited two of my friends over to my house and we waited until midnight to watch what we hoped would be something 'special' - if you get my drift. It didn't really turn out to much of anything - really.

I did a quick Google search in an attempt to verify this but couldn't find anything.



 

Last edited by DeepTracks (February 14, 2020 10:54 am)

 

February 14, 2020 10:02 am  #13


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

DeepTracks wrote:

Does anyone,but me, remember CH 19 broadcasting LIVE, from the Victory Burlesque Theatre (in Toronto), the midnight show on New Years Eve - I think 70 or 71?

I invited two of my friends over to my house and we waited until midnight to watch what we hoped would be something 'special' - if you get my drift. It didn't really turn out to much of anything - really.

I did a quick Google search in an attt to verify this but couldn't find anything.



 

Nothing to do with TV0 but one of my early concert experiences was seeing the New York Dolls at the Victory and it was an afternoon show which I just realized for the first time why. They had other things to do at night.
 


Cool Airchecks and More:
http://www.lettheuniverseanswer.com/
 

February 14, 2020 10:27 am  #14


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

DeepTracks wrote:

Does anyone,but me, remember CH 19 broadcasting LIVE, from the Victory Burlesque Theatre (in Toronto), the midnight show on New Years Eve - I think 70 or 71?

I invited two of my friends over to my house and we waited until midnight to watch what we hoped would be something 'special' - if you get my drift. It didn't really turn out to much of anything - really.

I did a quick Google search in an attt to verify this but couldn't find anything. 

I recall reading somewhere that OCEA/TVO holds the milestone for being the first TV station in North America to air nudity and that it was during a New Year's Eve broadcast so it could be the one you're referring to. 

 

February 14, 2020 11:00 am  #15


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

I also believe it may have been the first UHF station in Canada. For years, many stations were on in the States but Canada never got into the higher frequencies until the 70s. But if memory serves, CICA was the first. 

 

February 14, 2020 11:04 am  #16


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

Hey Hansa...I'm sure that "milestone" is in fact what I'm claiming I watched.

And Fitz....here's the poster for that New York Dolls show;

 

February 14, 2020 1:31 pm  #17


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

DeepTracks wrote:

Hey Hansa...I'm sure that "milestone" is in fact what I'm claiming I watched.

And Fitz....here's the poster for that New York Dolls show;

Wow thanks for this DT.

I honestly don't remember seeing Rush. Perhaps we got there after they had played and I thought the show was in the afternoon. Possible I saw another show there in the aft. The glam and proto punk NY Dolls were great. I bought their first album after reading the reviews in Creem and RS etc. Local radio would not touch them at the time not even CHUM FM

Last edited by Fitz (February 14, 2020 1:31 pm)


Cool Airchecks and More:
http://www.lettheuniverseanswer.com/
 

February 15, 2020 12:43 pm  #18


Re: TVO turns the big 5-0

DeepTracks wrote:

Does anyone,but me, remember CH 19 broadcasting LIVE, from the Victory Burlesque Theatre (in Toronto), the midnight show on New Years Eve - I think 70 or 71?

I invited two of my friends over to my house and we waited until midnight to watch what we hoped would be something 'special' - if you get my drift. It didn't really turn out to much of anything - really.

I did a quick Google search in an attempt to verify this but couldn't find anything.

It was NYE 1971 - a very fortuitous evening as Jim Hanley from TVO was running the production and Moses Znaimer at the time running Thunder Sound Studio brought along Thunder’s 16-track to Victory in order to obtain the very best sound recording of the show. The 2 men met that night and went on to create shows such as The Originals, and TVTV.

The recording - McKenna Mendelson Mainline Bump'N'Grind Revue - was released commercially.