Network: CBC Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1980
Broadcast Medium: Television
Aired Wednesday nights for three weeks, from March 12 to March 26 1980.
This short series of 90-minute dramas was based on the stories of
Morley Torgov from the book of the same name. It was about growing up
Jewish in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The stories were adapted by Isreal
Horovitz.
Episode one, titled Today I Am a Fountain Pen, took place in 1939, and
concerned family secrets. Esther and Moise Yanover try to conceal their
love of bacon from their ten year old son Irving, while their Ukrainian
maid, Annie, tries to keep hidden the fact that she is dating an
Italian hockey player, a secret she shares with Irving. Helen Burns
played Esther, Harvey Atkin played Moise, Hollis McLaren was Annie, and
Allen Levson played Irving.
Episode two was called A Rosen By Any Other Name, which took place
in 1943. Barney Rosen, played by Peter Boretski, decided to change his
name to “Royal” when someone threw a brick through the window of his
tailor shop. The dilemma was solved by his son Stanley, played by Jeff
Lynas, just in time for his bar mitzvah.
The last episode, The Chopin Playoffs, brought characters from the first
two stories together when, in 1948, Irving Yanover and Stanley Rosen
squared off in a piano competition for a music scholarship and for the
love of Fawn, played by Ella Collins.
The series was produced by Robert Sherrin. The executive producer was
Robert Allen.
Written by John Corcelli – November, 2005