Canadian TV

I was running a race in Geddes, NY today and carried along a little angel figure that Tammie had given me years ago. As usual, I ran the race with my great friend, Sean. Although he rarely uses that name when he runs and instead, was looking for an assumed name to use. After some thought, I suggested Joe Mufferaw. Big Joe was and is the Canadian version of Paul Bunyan.

Recently, I discovered this Canadian songster named Stompin' Tom Collins and he has this crazy song about Big Joe Mufferaw. Sean as Big Joe seemed very funny to me and as far as I was concerned, he just had to run under that name. Listening to Stompin' Tom got me thinking to all these Canadian shows that Tammie and I used to watch as kids. We were so excited when my parents got cable in 1976 and fortunately for us, the package included a televsion channel from Kingston, Ontario (CKWS).

There were two shows in particular that we would just love to watch. The first was a national show called Mr. Dressup. The star of the show was Ernie Coombs, who was the Canadian version of Mr. Rogers and in fact, worked with Fred Rogers years ago in Canada. Mr. Dressup was famous for its puppets; Casey ( a small red-headed boy with a high-pitched voice) and Finnegan ( a dog who talked in whispers) were the most well-known. I am sure that this was supposed to be a serious show, but Tammie and I would be laughing from the theme song.

The other show was called Harrigan and was locally produced in Kingston. I mostly remember Tammie and I watching this program around Christmas. During this time, Harrigan would have several tables set-up in a large room surrounded by a bunch of children who were coloring and drawing and waiting for a chance to speak with Santa Clause. Harrigan would be trying to organize things and find kids that really and truly wanted to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

Despite his best efforts, these kids invariably would get stage fright and completely freeze on-camera. By the end of the show, Harrigan would be pleading with the kids to say something when they got up there with Santa. He was on the verge of completely losing it when the show would end and he would have to sing his silly Harrigan song and do an Irish jig. The guy was so frustrated and furious, but being a professional, he found a way to pull it together for the closing number. Tammie and I would laugh so hard, that we could barely breathe.

In later years, we would talk about these crazy shows and remember the laughter. I loved laughing with Tam.