Hamilton's television renaissance?

Yesterday's post about the culture of broadcast which mentioned CHCH reminded me of the "glory days" of Hamilton's Channel 11.

While the bulk of the shows I remember included wrestling, roller derby and the Hilarious House of Frightenstein, the one I watched compulsively through the '70s and early '80s was Party Game. For what was essentially televised charades, featuring only the cheapest Canadian celebrities, it was remarkably entertaining.

A "home" team of Dinah Christie, Billy Van and "Captain" Jack Duffy competed against a team of guests, with each person having two minutes to get their phrase across successfully. It's simple fun, but it manages to be genuinely fun to watch.

What really made the show for me were the opening and close. The open would have a short "bit" from the home team, then go into the introduction by host Bill Walker. But as Walker stood on the set between the two couches, the home team would be wandering around, in front of camera but not really acting like it, slowly assembling on their couch. It's random and low budget, but it allows the show to use the real improv talents of Van and the others on the home team in a unique way, as you'll see in this example. And the close was not much different, with everyone simply gathering on the set talking, flirting, drinking...

Canadian programming has never been more low budget (with the egregious and unwatchable exception of The Trouble with Tracy). They got relatively low-budget local talent – very good talent, nonetheless – and let them run free. I'm guessing they had no choice; time and money enough for one take only, so have a couple of cameras running, and accept whatever minor chaos you get. But it works. The Party Game producers were able to acknowledge their obvious weaknesses while discovering some strengths they could celebrate. It's something to not just enjoy, but admire.