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CBC Television Network

Playdate

Network: CBC Television Network

Broadcast Run: 1961 to 1964

Broadcast Medium: Television

Aired Wednesday nights from October 1961 to June 1962; aired Thursday nights from October 1962 to June 1963; aired Monday nights from September 1963 to June 1964

Formerly known as GM Presents, this one hour anthology of drama was led by executive producer Ed Moser, who cut his teeth in American Television. While the show didn’t offer much work to new Canadian writers, at least the actors and production team had the experience to work in live broadcasts that were slowly being replaced by filmed shows.

First Season highlights:

Stop the World I Want to Get Off by Jacqueline Rosenfeld, produced by George McCowan

In The Good Time by AM Kittermaster, produced by David Gardner

The Cell 5 Experience by Bruce Stewart

Valerie by Patricia Joudry, produced by Basil Coleman

Buy Happiness and The Prizewinner by Bernard Slade

War Games by Hugh Kemp

That Gold Belongs to Uncle Angus by Leslie McFarlane

Nightmare by Alf Harris

Air on a Shoestring by Paul Wayne

One Man to Beat by Fred Edge

Hosts: Robert Goulet and Christopher Plummer

Season 2 highlights:

The Gimmick by Bernard Slade, produced by Melwyn Breen.

The Looking Glass World by Donald Jack

The Troubled Heart by Arthur Hailey

The Broken Sky by Paul Almond and Rudi Dorn

The Old Ones by Tony Van Bridge

Season 3 highlights:

You Can’t Win ‘Em All by Alun Owen, produced by Paul Almond

A Wicked, Wicked Woman by Roger O. Hirson, produced by Leo Orenstein

The Messenger by Jacqueline Rosenfeld

Blue and White by Kenneth Jupp, produced by Basil Coleman

The Ninety-Ninth Day by Eric Koch and Melwyn Breen

The Cowboy and Mr Anthony by Hugh Kemp

Don’t Shake Your Family Tree by Leslie McFarlane

CBC sold 26 episodes to Australian television in 1964.

Written by John Corcelli – May, 2005