Network: TVA Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1995 to 1996
Broadcast Medium: Television
It’s said that sometimes the best moments are the shortest. Chabada only graced the TVA line-up during the 1995-96 fall-winter season.
Chabada’s year in the spotlight was a vast pot-pourri where Gregory Charles, who took over from Jean-Pierre Coallier, tooka high risk gamble in terms of hosting a daily talk-show. Every evening from Monday to Friday, during a time slot when Quebeckers were wont to watch the TV news, or else just going to bed, Gregory Charles featured various celebrities and his take on the events of the day.
All the same, with TVA’s support, Gregory breathed new life into the Théâtre Arcade, which is transformed into a TV studio, and he inaugurated the Promenade des stars based upon the model of Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
Surrounded by musicians with a very street sound, inspired by the New-York underground, he welcomed Garth Brooks and many other international celebrities interspersed with Quebec stars and icons of the time. While performing a duet with Céline Dion, he washed dishes in the midst of an unbridled jam session (a remarkable album piece for the ages!), and likewise formed an unforgettable operatic tandem with the renowned Diva Nathalie Choquette.
Gregory Charles, spirited, creative, simultaneously an actor and accomplished musician (pianist, violinist, clarinettist, choir conductor and singer) offered his TV audience a bewildering array of extraordinary experiences.
Written by Yvon Chouinard – September, 2008