All Night Show Ends, CFTR, August 8, 1981

By Anonymous

Uploaded August 15, 2022 18:33 UTC

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This news feature from CFTR radio in Toronto aired on August 8th, 1981. It lamented the end of the much loved "All Night Show" with Chuck The Security Guard on Channel 47, a multicultural privately owned UHF station that few people really watched. The "Monitor 680" piece features one of the producers behind the pioneering programming, who laments the one thing that never got to air, reflects on how they planned to end it on August 31st of that year, and why he was sure it would turn up somewhere else. Spoiler alert: it never did. In case you didn't get to see this overnight oeuvre, it starred Charles Lowther as Chuck, a security guard at the station who supposedly decided to keep the transmitter on and do an all night program with his never-seen cameraman Ryerson (aka the late Errol Bruce.) They showed old reruns like the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, which hadn't been seen in years, and also added long unseen cartoons and 1930s and 40s film shorts, and ancient "coming attractions," along with weird on-air interviews and commentary. There never was and has never been anything quite like it on Toronto TV since and it quickly became a cult classic. But because it was on overnight with a full crew, it became too expensive to produce and despite being a hit with many, the station cancelled it. Alas, the plans to resurrect this creature of the night never went anywhere (although I think everyone honestly believed City TV, another station in the market, would pick it up) and it remains a great memory for those night owls (or VCR owners) who got to see it. The "Goodbye All Night Show" feature is voiced by the great John Wilson, who now lives and works in London, Ontario.

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