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August 24, 2020 9:25 am  #1


New Retro on CHCH

I have always thought that CHCH TV in Hamilton has  been an underrated and not talked about TV station.   In fact that is true of Hamilton media overall.

Over the past 5 or 6 years all day long they have put together a nice assortment of retro shows, and just looking at the current schedule they have one of their best.  Nice mix of classic comedy and drama, with a few that they have never shown. Two new favs in the line up for me at least, Green Acres and the Beverly Hillbillies back to back.

I like the way that they show the programs in the proper order, don't stick in extra commercial breaks on old programs like I Love Lucy.  When a program strip is complete they bring in something new or a sitcom or drama that was featured a year ago.  CHCH brought back Mission Impossible after a break.  That program was so unique for it's time.  Really enjoyed Hogan's Heroes as well without the laugh track.

They have good local news, morning show and some local live sports broadcasts with hockey, basketball and football prior to COVID at least.  This morning on Morning Live they had some great live breaks from the Ripley Aquarium in Toronto.  Scary critters in those big water tanks!!

I know that CHCH and Zero Media are moving into a new facility next year and the parent company ambitiously, is planning at producing and developing movies, so hopefully overall the station is on a little better footing.   But certainly like everyone else the current pandemic doesn't help much.

 

August 24, 2020 9:31 am  #2


Re: New Retro on CHCH

paterson1 wrote:

I have always thought that CHCH TV in Hamilton has  been an underrated and not talked about TV station.   In fact that is true of Hamilton media overall.

Over the past 5 or 6 years all day long they have put together a nice assortment of retro shows, and just looking at the current schedule they have one of their best.  Nice mix of classic comedy and drama, with a few that they have never shown. Two new favs in the line up for me at least, Green Acres and the Beverly Hillbillies back to back.

I like the way that they show the programs in the proper order, don't stick in extra commercial breaks on old programs like I Love Lucy.  When a program strip is complete they bring in something new or a sitcom or drama that was featured a year ago.  CHCH brought back Mission Impossible after a break.  That program was so unique for it's time.  Really enjoyed Hogan's Heroes as well without the laugh track.

They have good local news, morning show and some local live sports broadcasts with hockey, basketball and football prior to COVID at least.  This morning on Morning Live they had some great live breaks from the Ripley Aquarium in Toronto.  Scary critters in those big water tanks!!

I know that CHCH and Zero Media are moving into a new facility next year and the parent company ambitiously, is planning at producing and developing movies, so hopefully overall the station is on a little better footing.   But certainly like everyone else the current pandemic doesn't help much.

Nice on them for bringing Beverley Hillbillies and Green Acres back. Wish they'd show WKRP in Cincinnati!
 


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August 24, 2020 9:39 am  #3


Re: New Retro on CHCH

They likely will bring WKRP back again.  They did run it, maybe a year or two ago. They do a good job of picking these shows.  Only one missing so far for me is The Dick Van Dyke Show..

     Thread Starter
 

August 24, 2020 10:12 am  #4


Re: New Retro on CHCH

Excellent comments Mr. Paterson. Thank you CHCH! One of the highlights of my [and my sisters] day during these times is Cheers at 5. The series is almost at an end. I hope CHCH, will restart it. 
Norm!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuId9ilQtYk

 

August 24, 2020 10:14 am  #5


Re: New Retro on CHCH

A lot depends on who has rights to the DvD Show already in Canada. 

But if you're a fan of that classic comedy, there are a ton of them available online for free. 

Tubi.tv has the entire series in order, although you'll need a VPN to watch it in Canada

YouTube also has a ton of them, with no restrictions. 

Well worth watching and one of the best comedies ever made. 

 

August 24, 2020 10:21 am  #6


Re: New Retro on CHCH

I agree with you about CHCH making the best of a difficult media situation. The Retro TV idea is a pretty good one in a very crowded landscape, especially for over-the-air free TV.
 
But there’s little doubt they’re a shadow of what that station used to be.
 
Once they cut ties with the CBC in the 60s, which was considered a radical and deadly move for the station’s future, they were forced to figure out what to do next. Incredibly, they turned the place into a production powerhouse. Consider all the shows they made in house, at a time when networks like CTV were primarily relying on U.S. imports (some things never change!)
 
There was Tiny Talent Time, which was recently resurrected by the new owners. Schnitzel House, Randy Dandy, Captain Andy and Albert J. Steed (with Bill Lawrence) were popular kids shows. There were two talk shows, one called AM (which aired in the morning) and another called PM (not surprisingly,shown in the the afternoon, both fronted by future CBC host Bob McLean.) Jane Gray was an early version of Martha Stewart. Pierre Berton did a discussion show, complete with that whistling theme song. And they regularly covered OHL action and college football on the weekends.
 
And there were lots of radio tie-ins. Larry Solway had a show. So did CKTB’s John Michael. And Al Boliska. And Ray Sonin of CFRB fame. 
 
They also produced extremely cheap game shows, a very unusual idea for an independent. “It’s A Match” was an incredibly low budget memory contest hosted by Jack Barry, who ran to Canada for a few years after the quiz show scandals in the States caught up to him. The top prize on the show? $64. And who could forget “Party Game,” although God knows all these years later, I’ve tried!
 
Not to mention the legendary “Hilarious House of Frightenstein” that brought Billy Van into the lives of kids for years.
 
And long before uncut films became a big deal on cable, they made international headlines for “The Movies 11,” which debuted blockbusters (I think “The Godfather” was one of them) before anyone else, including the U.S. networks.
 
Pretty amazing for a small local station without a lot of resources. They’re a shadow of their former selves now, of course and there’s a lot more competition. Still, good on them for continuing to try in a very crowded media landscape. There aren’t many local stations like CHCH left in North America. And that continues to make them very unique.








 

August 24, 2020 10:35 am  #7


Re: New Retro on CHCH

Just found this in my collection. It appears they used to show a lot of reruns, even back then (around 1968.)

So maybe all this retro stuff is just Back To The Future!


 

August 24, 2020 10:43 am  #8


Re: New Retro on CHCH

paterson1 wrote:

They likely will bring WKRP back again.  They did run it, maybe a year or two ago. They do a good job of picking these shows.  Only one missing so far for me is The Dick Van Dyke Show..

I'd like to see WKRP, then the NEW  WKRP right after it! That would be great!









 


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RadioWiz & THE Wiz are NOT the same person.

 
 

August 24, 2020 11:14 am  #9


Re: New Retro on CHCH

Ah yes, who could forget Sweet Daddy Siki and Whipper Watson on channel 11 wrestling!! It was the best.

Channel 11 likely produces about the same amount of local programming as they always have. The thing is it is mostly news.  They produce 24 hours per week of news programming, along with a few local shows like Tiny Talent Time, The Pinkertons, andPOP and a few others along with some college sports.

And it will be interesting to see if anything becomes of Zero Channels studio division which was launched last fall.  They are producing original scripted content and I am sure some of this will end up on CHCH.

Nice to see all of the retro newspaper ads.  I bet CHCH does ok in the daytime with the block of old sitcoms and dramas, or at the least it makes money for them. They also show some good movies in prime time occasionally.

     Thread Starter
 

August 24, 2020 12:03 pm  #10


Re: New Retro on CHCH

I vaguely recall a talk show called "Charrington" with a gentlemen that took phone call over the air. Like a radio call in show. Does anyone else remember this show?

 

August 24, 2020 12:53 pm  #11


Re: New Retro on CHCH

I do, Tom Cherington was one of channel 11's anchors.  He had a great voice with authority and as I recall was considered a good newsman.

I had him as an instructor for one class at Conestoga College when I was in the first year of the broadcast course.  A few days later Tom had a heart attack.  He survived, and did come back to the college later for a bit.
 
We joked with him saying that if he came back for a second class it might kill him!  Tom was not offended and had a good laugh.   He had a sense of humour under a slightly gruff but courtly image and got on well with the class. He seemed to be a fairly straight forward person.

He would always refer to students as Mr, Miss or Ms. a  proper gentleman, but still fun and the students  enjoyed our brief time with him.  

Last edited by paterson1 (August 24, 2020 2:49 pm)

     Thread Starter
 

August 24, 2020 1:24 pm  #12


Re: New Retro on CHCH

I believe he was also a mainstay at CHML for many, many years.



Last edited by RadioActive (August 24, 2020 1:29 pm)

 

August 24, 2020 2:05 pm  #13


Re: New Retro on CHCH

Some of those "old shows" listed in the 1968 ad were old but some were still in production for new episodes. Gomer Pyle, My Three Sons, Hogan's Heroes and Petticoat Junction ( this was before the great rural purge) for example. Old in some cases may have just meant not being new additions that fall. Not sure how syndication of repeats worked in those days with shows that were still running.


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August 24, 2020 2:40 pm  #14


Re: New Retro on CHCH

Seems to me Cherington started by doing the 6 o’clock news on CHML and then “Nightline” from 9-11. Then a coordinated programming change with CHCH moved him to 6:30-9 right after the major news, weather (The World of Weather with meteorologist John Wingfield), and sports and a new title—Action Line. (Same time Perc Allen moved “Open Line” from 1:30-2:30 to right after the 12:30 p.m. newscast with Lloyd Dafoe) When Action Line started airing earlier, Cherington was free to go over to CHCH after the radio show ended and deliver the 11 o’clock news on TV.

 

August 24, 2020 3:17 pm  #15


Re: New Retro on CHCH

I still remember Dick Beddoes doing sports on CH, complete with those bizarre hats.

SCTV once did a satire of it, featuring a sartorially appointed Beddoes-clone spouting nonsense opposite Floyd Robertson. The camera would cut away and every time they came back to the character, the hat would get bigger and bigger and bigger, until it practically filled the entire screen. Joe Flaherty's reaction as Robertson was hilarious.

I've been looking to see this segment again for years, but have never been able to find it. But only those who lived in Southern Ontario knew what the reference really was.

 

August 24, 2020 7:10 pm  #16


Re: New Retro on CHCH

Dick Beddoes was an entertaining character. I believe CHCH in the 1970's carried the mid week Leaf games and he was on those. Can't remember the crew on that and there may have been some overlap with HNIC. I enjoyed reading his work in the Globe. My friends used to call him Dick "Bedclothes" and I think the only way they would have been aware of him is through the Hockey telecasts.


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