Stopwatch and Listen is a Canadian comedy television series which aired on CBC Television in 1952.
| Stopwatch and Listen | |
|---|---|
| Genre | comedy |
| Starring | Sam Aaron Barbara Hamilton Alfie Scopp |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Ross McLean |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBC Television |
| Release | 12 September – 10 October 1952 |
Premise
editThis mockumentary series was based on a 1951 programme on CBC Radio's Trans-Canada Network. All aspects of the production were managed by producer Ross McLean. He chose a theme such as feature films or telephones six weeks prior to airdate then conducted rehearsals on the resulting scripts four weeks later. This culminated in a live broadcast of that episode.[1]
Stopwatch and Listen was one of CBC's very first regular TV series, debuting the week the TV network went on the air. It not a success, with Peter Gzowski opining "it may well have been the most catastrophic flop in CBC history and which left the air in a flurry of bad taste." (The final broadcast, which like all episodes in this series was broadcast live, apparently included some ad-libs that were considered to be off-colour by 1952 standards.)[2] A contemporary review by Alex Barris after the first broadcast noted that the show suffered from "poor timing - on the part of the producer", but praised cast members Sam Aaron and Barbara Hamilton.[3] A few weeks later, Gordon Sinclair of The Toronto Star reported Stopwatch and Listen was cancelled "because it was so unfunny...[and] was replaced by a concert last night."[4]
Producer Ross McLean later wrote that the show was "nothing but a trauma".[5]
Scheduling
editThis half-hour series debut was broadcast on Fridays at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) from 12 September to 10 October 1952. Its time slot was filled by CBC Concert after this.[6]
References
edit- ^ Rutherford, Paul (1990). When Television Was Young: Primetime Canada 1952–1967. University of Toronto Press. p. 91. ISBN 0-8020-5830-2.
- ^ "ROSS McLEAN the TV star you never see | Maclean's | JANUARY 16, 1960".
- ^ Barris, Alex (16 September 1952). "On the Screen". The Globe and Mail. p. 11.
- ^ Sinclair, Gordon (18 October 1952). "Radio and Television". The Toronto Star. p. 15.
- ^ "C.B.C. Times - Vol 14 - No 4 - 22-28 Jan 1961". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 1961.
- ^ Barris, Alex (24 October 1952). "On the Screen". The Globe and Mail. p. 8.
External links
edit- Allan, Blaine (1996). "Stopwatch and Listen". Queen's University. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- Stopwatch and Listen at IMDb