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Families Of Wayne & Shuster Are Angry At The CBC
There's an entire generation of people who have never heard the names "Wayne & Shuster," let alone some of their classic comedy sketches like "Rinse The Blood Off My Toga" or "Shakespearian Baseball." The Canadian comedy duo not only had yearly shows on the CBC, they hold the record for most appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in the U.S.
Now the families of both men are trying to make sure they're not forgotten and are staging a special theatrical recreation of their work at a local Toronto venue this weekend.
The first part of the linked article is about that special show, but the broadcasting angle of this story comes later on, indicating the survivors of the team are unhappy with the CBC, which they complain has digitized tons of material for the Archive section of its extensive website - including Mr. Dressup and DeGrassi Jr. High, but have all but ignored the Wayne and Shuster classics.
"...for years, the families have been trying unsuccessfully to convince the CBC that their fathers’ comedy shows are important pieces of Canadian cultural heritage that should be showcased widely on CBC television. The CBC still owns all the film rights to decades worth of Wayne and Shuster television shows, while the families own only the scripts.
But negotiations with the CBC have not born fruit, and are complicated...There are old copyright provisions still in effect even though almost all of the musicians and other members of the cast and crew are long dead."
I find it incredible that the CBC would ignore what was perhaps their most famous comedy achievement, although the Corp. insists it's those rights issues that are keeping them from preserving them for public consumption. But there is some urgency. No one is quite sure about the condition of the old tapes and the longer they're held in non-digital form, the worse that could get.
The part about the CBC dispute is in the second part of the article. You can scroll down and see it here.
- Forward Power
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Re: Families Of Wayne & Shuster Are Angry At The CBC
Once again, corporations passing the buck and blaming everybody but themselves. Our tax dollars at work. Frankly, the CBC people are full of crap and are lying to Canadians, just like they always do.
- paterson1
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In 1996/97 CBC did run a series hosted by Frank Shuster called Wayne and Shuster in black and white that was pretty good. Don't know why this couldn't be on GEM. They did just bring back all the episodes of Beachcombers so maybe there is hope. In 1999 Shuster also hosted an hour special- Wayne and Shuster The First Hundred Years.
Little known facts- Wayne and Shuster first appeared locally on CFRB in 1941. Their show became so popular CBC radio offered them a regular part on the Trans-Canada network's Blended Rhythm Show which was sponsored by Buckingham cigarettes. This was short lived since both enlisted in the army in 1942. In the army they were featured on many entertainment shows on CBC to entertain the troops. The shows featured lots of skits, music and general comedy.
Their first US TV appearance was in 1950 on Toni Twin Time hosted by a young Jack Lemmon. Wayne and Shuster were so popular the sponsor asked the duo to become regulars and then wanted them to take over hosting duties from Jack Lemmon. Wayne and Shuster were a little skeptical about TV and turned down the offer.
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Re: Families Of Wayne & Shuster Are Angry At The CBC
They also starred in a long-forgotten U.S. summer replacement series called "Holiday Lodge," in which they worked at a tourist inn as entertainment directors and intermixed with the rich, snobby guests. They at least had a terrific time spot - they took over when The Jack Benny Show took its annual hiatus.
It certainly wasn't a career highlight, but it does show how much CBS believed in them to give them their own show, however limited (13 episodes.). It was not a huge success and they never tried anything close to it again. I'd love to see at least one complete episode, because they apparently incorporated some of their bits in the show. But all that survives appears to be the opening credits.
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Thread Starter- paterson1
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Little correction RA. W&S had more than yearly shows on CBC. They were weekly beginning in 1954/55, and later in the 60's became monthly. In the 70's specials with 3 or 4 per year.
They also did two specials for BBC in the 60's.
- Tomas Barlow
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Forward Power wrote:
Once again, corporations passing the buck and blaming everybody but themselves. Our tax dollars at work. Frankly, the CBC people are full of crap and are lying to Canadians, just like they always do.
Pierre Poilievre? Is that you?
Of course it's true. No network loves to show off its archive more than the CBC. When an old show disappears and fails to come back, it's almost always because of music rights. They're complicated (separate negotiations for web and TV) extremely expensive and due to holdouts they end up being incomplete (ie. WKRP and the Wonder Years).
If it made financial sense and it was easy to do, the episodes would be on Gem. You can still watch Wendy Mesley's show on Gem and I guarantee you she's more toxic to their brand than Wayne and Shuster.
Last edited by Tomas Barlow (May 23, 2023 11:40 pm)
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Well, if the CBC won't put it up, YouTube will.
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Once again, corporations passing the buck and blaming everybody but themselves. Our tax dollars at work. Frankly, the CBC people are full of crap and are lying to Canadians, just like they always do.
to paraphrase....
Once again, an angry person passing the buck and blaming everybody but themselves. Our democratic society at work. Frankly, these people are full of crap and are lying to Canadians, just like they always do.
- John D
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Ok, it's time to bring back The Plouffe Family. It was broadcast live, twice on the same evening. One version in English and the other in French. A busy night for these actors. It was a weekly viewing habit at our home. Garth Hudson of the group The Band once told me he wished he could see old tapes of the show.
Last edited by John D (May 24, 2023 8:26 am)
- the original hank
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Re: Families Of Wayne & Shuster Are Angry At The CBC
ed sullivan was also a big fan of wayne & shuster.
- Hansa
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I'm a bit confused by this because the CBC released a re-edited package of Wayne & Shuster sketches in the 1990s that aired on the Comedy Network and was also sold internationally. If that packaged had the rights cleared in the 1990s why couldn't it be re-released today? I could see a problem with some of their earlier shows when they used to have musical guests singing popular songs (though even then CBC released Wayne & Shuster in Black and White which excluded those bits).
Also, the team appeared on Ed Sullivan around 60 times but the rightsholder who has put hundreds of Ed Sullivan clips on YouTube and in CDs and even in a TV package has excluded them entirely. Is that because the team is largely unknown in the US today or is there some other issue?
- Hansa
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I recall watching the black and white package in the 90s and was surprised to find that it was much funnier than the colour package. Partly it's because they weren't as energetic as when they were younger but also I think it's because at some point they stopped recording in front of a live audience so that they could film multiple takes until they were satisfied and then put in a laugh track. Unfortunately, not having a live audience hurt their comedic timing so things just weren't as funny (either that or the laugh track just dragged things down)
Last edited by Hansa (May 30, 2023 9:57 am)
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My guess is there are probably some issues around residuals since any contracts around the shows wouldn't have anticipated streaming but I suspect it's largely a funding issue - the cost of digitizing and paying artists' estates versus the likelihood that the CBC doesn't anticipate being able to recoup those costs from streaming on Gem or selling the package to streamers abroad.
There really should be some government or foundation grants for digitizing and making available Canadian broadcast archives since it is an important part of our heritage.
Last edited by Hansa (May 31, 2023 11:29 am)
- Glen Warren
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If someone has a contact for David Lenninck (former SOWNY member) he might be able to offer some insight to the Wayne and Shuster situation.
Both of David's parents, Ben and Sylvia, were regular members/players in the Wayne and Shuster troop on both the CBC runs, and the CBS/Ed Sullivan Show appearances.
just a thought....
- Bill101
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Podcast with the families here.
- Walter
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I'm angry at the CBC too, because they don't have anything even remotely as entertaining as Wayne and Shuster, 50 years later, and we're paying for it.