Jimmy MacDonald's Canada
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
television series that aired on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
in the summer of 2005.
The show is a mockumentary
Mockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
, purporting to be a lost Canadian public affairs series of the mid-1960s, hosted by the fictional Jimmy MacDonald (Richard Waugh) with additional commentary (from a woman's point of view) by Marg Margison (Teresa Pavlinek
Teresa Pavlinek
Teresa Pavlinek is a Canadian actress, writer and television producer, best known as the creator and star of The Jane Show.-Career:...
). The premise of the show is that Jimmy MacDonald's Canada was a wildly popular TV show in the 1960s, but that MacDonald had a breakdown while on the air and fled to northern Canada, taking all of the filmed episodes with him. His plane crashed and he was presumed dead, and the premise is these films have recently been found. The humour of the show is derived from the differences in social values between the 1960s and today. This humour also extends to now-taboo, then-common cigarette advertisements being included in the show, and even the opening credits, which lampoon the similar style of manic, partially animated credits that were common in the era.
Incorporating scripted retrospective commentary from actual public figures (including two former Prime Ministers and the then-current Governor General), the series never breaks character. In his series, ultra-conservative MacDonald rails against various innovations and the rise of youth culture. Although fictional in nature, the series incorporates actual news and human interest footage from the CBC archives.
Commentaries were provided by:
- Then-current Governor General of CanadaGovernor General of CanadaThe Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
Adrienne ClarksonAdrienne ClarksonAdrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation.... - Then-current Prime Minister of CanadaPrime Minister of CanadaThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Paul MartinPaul MartinPaul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.... - former Prime Minister (1979-80) Joe ClarkJoe ClarkCharles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
- CTV news anchor Lloyd RobertsonLloyd RobertsonLloyd Robertson, OC is the currently the co-host of CTV's weekly magazine series, W5. Robertson previously served as the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV's national evening newscast, CTV News with Lloyd Robertson, until September, 2011, when he retired from the CTV National News...
(who is also featured in one of the archival clips featured in the series as he used to work for the CBC) - journalist, TV personality and historian Pierre BertonPierre BertonPierre Francis de Marigny Berton, was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist....
, known for his work on the CBC's Front Page ChallengeFront Page ChallengeFront Page Challenge was a long-running Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth and produced and aired by CBC Television, the series ran from 1957 to 1995.-Synopsis:The series featured notable journalists attempting to guess the...
(who died before the show was broadcast) - Paul HendersonPaul HendersonPaul Henderson is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. A left winger, Henderson played 13 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Atlanta Flames...
, an iconic hockey player from the 1970s known for his winning goal in the 1972 Summit SeriesSummit SeriesThe Summit Series was the first competition between the Soviet and an NHL-inclusive Canadian national ice hockey teams, an eight-game series held in September 1972... - Don Cherry, hockey commentator (Hockey Night in CanadaHockey Night in CanadaHockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
) - former senator and TV personality (Front Page ChallengeFront Page ChallengeFront Page Challenge was a long-running Canadian panel game about current events and history. Created by comedy writer/performer John Aylesworth and produced and aired by CBC Television, the series ran from 1957 to 1995.-Synopsis:The series featured notable journalists attempting to guess the...
) Betty KennedyBetty KennedyBetty Kennedy, is a Canadian broadcaster, journalist, author, and retired Senator, who is best known as a panelist on the CBC television show Front Page Challenge .... - historian and author Charlotte GrayCharlotte Gray (author)Charlotte Gray, CM is a Canadian historian and author.Born in Sheffield, England and educated at Oxford University and the London School of Economics, Gray came to Canada in 1979. She worked for a number of years as a journalist, writing a regular column on national politics for Saturday Night and...
- TV personality Jeanne BekerJeanne BekerJeanne Beker is a Canadian television personality, author and newspaper columnist, who covers fashion and lifestyle news for CTV's FashionTelevision, FashionTelevisionChannel, and The Toronto Star.-Family:...
- former Prime Minister of Canada (1963-1968) Lester B. PearsonLester B. PearsonLester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
, shown in stock footage from the 1960s, apparently eulogizing MacDonald. - Although neither appears on screen, frequent mentions are also made of the CBC comedy duo Wayne and ShusterWayne and ShusterWayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
and their images appear in the opening credits of each episode.
MacDonald begins each episode by saying: "I'm Jimmy MacDonald, and I'm going to give it to you straight!"
MacDonald provides commentary on trends in Canadian society from a reactionary viewpoint, opposing such "fads" as physical fitness
Physical fitness
Physical fitness comprises two related concepts: general fitness , and specific fitness...
, rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
, from the point of view of an ultra-conservative with Victorian
Victorian morality
Victorian morality is a distillation of the moral views of people living at the time of Queen Victoria's reign and of the moral climate of the United Kingdom throughout the 19th century in general, which contrasted greatly with the morality of the previous Georgian period...
sensibilities.
Margison hosts a segment called "A Woman's Advice", providing advice on social issues based on personal experiences. "Let's build a great Canada!" she encourages viewers at the end of each segment. Running jokes related to this segment include Margison's expressions of veiled contempt towards her husband, and MacDonald's own attraction to her (at one point he is caught on camera asking for her phone number).
All but the first and final episodes have a section called Outrage of the Week where Jimmy presents three news clips related to the week's topic and then picks the one that outrages him the most.
MacDonald regularly promotes the show's (fictional) sponsor, "Provincial Brand" cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s, a parody of commercial advertisements common on television in the 1960s.
Several episodes include MacDonald conducting interviews with people in archival footage, most notably iconic broadcaster Foster Hewitt
Foster Hewitt
Foster William Hewitt, OC was a Canadian radio broadcaster most famous for his play-by-play calls for Hockey Night in Canada. He was the son of W. A. Hewitt, and the father of Bill Hewitt.-Early life and career:...
. A running joke with this segment is, since the original interviews were done with someone else, MacDonald is always having to correct his interviewees when they get his name wrong.
MacDonald's "collapse" is given a slow build up throughout the series as the ultra-conservative, traditionalist host becomes increasingly more frustrated with the modern innovations he's forced to cover (this is often played to comic effect, such as when he rails against the advent of the zamboni
Ice resurfacer
An ice resurfacer is a truck-like vehicle or smaller device used to clean and smooth the surface of an ice rink. The first ice resurfacer was developed by Frank J. Zamboni in 1949 in the city of Paramount, California...
during one of his "Outrage of the Week" segments), but accelerates when he loses his temper on the penultimate episode dealing with the hippie movement -- he is particularly frustrated with (vintage) news footage of a group of young people draping themselves over the statue of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
in Queen's Park in Toronto. The final episode of the show, about the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
, is the one in which MacDonald suffers his breakdown on the air because of his outrage over how the show was turning out with what he believed was taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
material. He finally snaps after viewing a segment on elderly nudists and has to be physically restrained after he lunges at the cameraman while Marg looks on in horror.
Time frame
The series never specifically identifies the year in which it is supposed to take place. This allows it to cover topics from the course of several years, ranging from the TwistTwist (dance)
The Twist was a dance inspired by rock and roll music. It became the first worldwide dance craze in the early 1960s, enjoying immense popularity among young people and drawing fire from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed...
craze of circa 1962, up to the Summer of Love
Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
of 1967, although the lack of references to Canada's Centennial that year suggest the series itself is not meant to be seen as taking place in 1967. On the other hand, a segment refers to Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
being the new justice minister, which happened in 1967.
The final episode of the series is set in 1966. After MacDonald storms off the set, on-screen titles indicate that "MacDonald died 72 hours later," followed by "Jimmy MacDonald, 1921-1966." The time frame of the other episodes is not given; the previous episodes of the series are not assumed to be set in consecutive weeks.