Network: CTV Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1987 to 1990
Broadcast Medium: Television
This half-hour children’s series was a combination of sitcom and documentary. It depicted the adventures of a group of youngsters who ran a neighbourhood newspaper – called “Extra, Extra” – out of a converted Montreal garage. The sitcom part lay in the interaction between the performers in the newsroom setting, while the documentary parts came through the location shooting of interviews with real-life people doing their thing.
Members of the cast would go out to such locations as Cirque du Soleil, or a Fire Hall, and on one occasion the program secured an interview with then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, much to the chagrin of local professional newsmen.
Jacob Tierney, Jodie Resther and Diana Donnelly played the leading roles, and all of them went on to major acting careers in film and television. Gordon Courtney wrote the scripts and was co-producer with Paul Risacher, who also directed. The theme music was written by Jerry de Villiers. The series was a production of CTV’s Montreal affiliate CFCF-TV’s Champlain Productions. The Executive Producer was Janis Nostbakken, and the series played in the CTV Saturday morning block for three seasons, from 1987 to 1990.
Extra, Extra won a Children’s Broadcast Institute Award for Drama.
Pip Wedge – August 2003
Written by Pip Wedge – August, 2003