Recently, my friend Ben and I came across a website that listed a bunch of old TVO shows from the late 1970’s – early 1980’s (or at least shows that aired on TVO). For all you Westerners or those who spent their childhood outside of Ontario, TVO stood for ‘TV Ontario’ and was mostly lame, but had at least a few gems in the line-up that I remember fondly.
Last night I showed the site to Dan and proceeded to dance a little to the theme songs, only to have Dan look at me quizzically. He had only heard of one or two (and they obviously didn’t bring back the same happy memories for him). I was shocked and saddened that he hadn’t shared in the joy that these shows once brought me and my brothers.
It wasn’t until later that I figured out that it wasn’t that western Canada wasn’t lucky enough to have access to these shows, it was that the Fullerton’s didn’t have cable until Dan was around 8 years old. His loss.
Click on the pics to bring back some memories of some of my old faves…oh, and you’ll need speakers. I had to limit myself to 8…It was hard.
And I didn’t do much digging otherwise, but would have liked to have added The Littlest Hobo (probably my favourite – I loved that pooch), Just Like Mom (the bake-off rocked…I still think my mom and I would have won) and Jackpot! (a game show no one seems to remember but me). Hopefully I’ll be able to hunt them down in the near future. Stay tuned!
Old shows are fun.
Sonja - My dad and I loved Jackpot!!
dan - Ah yes, but you guys didn’t have Switchback, which showed on Regina CBC. If I remember correctly, it was kind of a kids version of Letterman or Leno, 2 hrs long on Sunday morning, and played an old Batman episode in the middle of it. My friend Cory and his grandma were on there as guests because they could touch their tongues to their noses.
Muffy the mouse was creepy. No matter where her head was turned, she was looking … right … at … you.
Sarah - I totally remember Switchback! I went to school with a girl in Winnipeg….the guy on Switchback is her Dad!
LISA - we did have some local Ottawa show called Switchback with a host named DAN and at the end there was this big shoe ( a converse high top) and you could call in and pick one of the show lace holes and it would have a prize behind it…..i phoned like mad everyweek…..
shannen - When you said Dan was the host it reminded me of the GIANT Dan that used to host video hits. Anyone else a fan of that one?
Giant Dan. He he he…