Network: CTV Television Network
Broadcast Run: 1978 to 1985
Broadcast Medium: Television
The success of a one-hour Circus special prompted CTV to launch a series under the same title. Originating from a specially constructed big-top set in the studios of the network’s Toronto affiliate CFTO-TV, the series was hosted by Cal Dodd and Sherisse Laurence (and later by Pierre Lalonde). Each week’s show had its string of circus acts – jugglers, high-wire walkers, trapeze artists and clowns, as well as a wide range of animals large and small. Billy Van was added to the cast after the first year.
Circus debuted on CTV as a half-hour series in September 1978 on Fridays at 7:30pm. It was expanded to a full hour the following year, when it moved to Mondays at 8:00pm. When the one-hour format didn’t work out, Circus reverted to a half-hour format in CTV’s fall 1980 schedule on Mondays at 7:30pm. In subsequent years it moved to Saturdays at 7:30pm and then Fridays at the same time, before ending its run in the fall of 1985.
Written by Pip Wedge – June, 2002