Canadian TV Shows

On Peter Mansbridge's podcast the other day, he asked people to write in with their favourite Canadian TV shows. It brought back lots of memories for me as I grew up without cable until I was in Grade 6 (I think) so my only choice of television was Canadian content, and I am grateful for that. 

Some of the ones that stood out for me on that list:

Mr. Dressup - Casey and Finnigan were Mr. Dressup's friends when I started watching. I loved that he always had exactly the art supplies and costumes he needed, and that he made drawing look so easy. What a Canadian treasure. 

Fred Penner's Place - Another one of those weekday morning staples. Fred crawled through the log and then he was in this special part of the forest where his guitar was hidden and Word Bird showed up each day. I once saw Fred Penner at the airport, it was a highlight of the trip!

Polka Dot Door - This was actually on TV Ontario so I only remember this from before we moved to Nova Scotia when I was four. Polkeroo is still a reference I make. He was a character that was only ever around when the kids were there, but no adults. And then when the adults came back, Polkeroo was gone. So the reference is sort of like when someone is elusive. 

North of 60 - This was a one hour drama series, taking place in a fictional Dene First Nation (north of the 60th parallel).  The main characters were the RCMP officers - one white man, and one local Dene woman, and the various people that lived in the town. It was ahead of its time I think, and something that I didn't quite appreciate at the time was that it featured indigenous actors as real people, not just stereotype roles.

Wok with Yan - This is an obscure one, but I loved it. Chef Yan cooked up lots of good stuff in his wok, and he always had a new apron with a funny wok pun.

Street Legal - I could credit this program for my career, as I watched it when I was very young.  It was actually set in a law firm in Toronto.  They seemed so glamourous in their '80s and early '90s power suits. I think they mostly did trial work (which I do not do), but something likely inspired me.

Anne of Green Gables - This was a made for TV movie (and then it had a sequel) and I watched it so many times.  It was just perfect, the setting, the cast, the puffed sleeves, Matthew!! Anne with an E was pretty good, but nothing beats Kevin Sullivan's production. And then of course Road to Avonlea was a weekly Sunday night staple.

Much Music - This was our version of MTV, but it was actually mostly music videos even up until I graduated high school (in 1999).  Tuning into the Countdown on Friday night was a highlight of our weekends.  

The Red Green Show - This was on every day after school so I watched it a lot. It was always funny and had some great catch lines "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." and the Man Prayer "I'm a man, I can change, if I have to, I guess". Brilliant stuff.

And some honourable mentions - Danger Bay, The Friendly Giant, Degrassi High (pre-Drake), and The Raccoons.

I know I'm missing some, but it was fun to take a walk down memory lane. What Canadian shows do you remember?

Weekend Recap

We went to our first Blue Jays game of the season on Sunday. We love going to see the Jays play and feel very fortunate we live in Toronto and can easily take transit to the games. 

We decided to take the Spadina streetcar for part of the ride. I love this time of year, our city is coming alive after the winter and it was nice to be above ground on our travels to see all the people and the flowers starting to come out.

It was the first day of Jr. Jays so we visited some of the activities for the kids. Photo op, check out the nameplate on that locker.

And then a pose for the baseball card.

Look at those blue skies!

Although the roof was closed for the game. 

We met some friends there, but I forgot to get a phot of our whole group.  

Checking out the arcade.

We signed up to run the bases after the game.

It's so fun to be down on the field!

The game was great, the Jays won, and we had all of the food :)

Despite not taking any other photos, we had a busy rest of the weekend, including:

Watching the Masters

Kung Fu Panda 4

New golf clubs for E

Q went to a joint birthday party for two of his friends

I went to Old Navy to buy some socks and shorts for the boys

Dave and E went to Dune 2 at Imax

Dave worked on the grass and made sure the watering system was working

Q worked on his reading and voluntarily read 10 books to add to his reading log for school

Friday Favourites

 

We had a very busy week.  Of course Monday was the eclipse.  We walked down to the river so we could get a good glimpse and see if there was any changes related to the birds.  It was clear at the beginning but was cloudy for most of the first bit and then cleared up a bit while it was at 99% totality (or whatever percentage it was here in Toronto) and then we saw a bit at the end.  

We only had three sets of glasses so Dave and I had to share and this is why he is pouting here. 

It got dark and cold and the streetlights came on, not sure if you can really see it in this photo.  It was pretty neat even though we had the cloud cover. 

Also on Monday we all got to go to the Maple Leafs game.  Our neighbour had some tickets to give us, which was so nice!  They were not together so Q and I started our night in the upper section, but then Dave and E said no one was sitting next to them in the Platinum section so we joined them for the second and third periods.

Q is the only one with Leafs' gear.

We got all of the things.

They were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins! We love Sidney Crosby!

Together! We enjoyed the game, saw Matthews' 65th goal of the season, and especially the overtime win by the Leafs.

Q got a new bike this week too. Dave found a used one to buy him, and it is perfect.  It has gears which will make it easier to go up the hills.  And since he has t-ball, soccer, and ball hockey at High Park this summer, we will be using those bike lanes as much as possible.

Dave's parents were here for a couple of days this week and took E down to the curling event downtown. Not the real Brad Gushue...

...but this is the real Rachel Homan and Emma Miskew!

It's every golf fan's favourite weekend - the Masters! We will be watching as much as possible.

Yesterday I shared some photos of our new entryway, you can click that out if I missed it. 

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.