The Beachcombers

Canada

Drama Family
English     6.5     1972     Canada

Overview

The Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran from October 1, 1972 to December 12, 1990 and is the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canadian television. In all, 387 episodes were produced.

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The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.

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This Space for Rent is a Canadian dramedy on CBC starring Dov Tiefenbach that premiered on January 4, 2006 as a 'special' CBC pilot as part of its "Comedy Week". Tiefenbach plays Lucky Carroway, a recent university graduate and writer who finds that life after university is not as perfect as it might seem. The show begins shortly after his valedictorian speech, when his world comes crashing down after his first book is rejected by his literary agent. His life becomes worse as his arch-nemesis becomes a published author who appears in "Vancouver Magazine's" top 10 writers list. He becomes a recluse who constantly wears his graduation robe and plays video games all day. However, he quickly recovers by writing a vicious 'letter to the editor' to Vancouver Magazine where he decries the selection of his arch-nemesis as a top 10 writer. This letter angers so many readers of the magazine that they offer him a job as an anonymous "Hate Male" article writer. He lives in downtown Vancouver in a flat with several friends. Emily Hampshire plays a recent law school graduate named Iona Goldenthal, a binge drinker who must deal with the chauvinistic world of law. Rainbow Sun Francks plays a recent graduate named Barnaby Sharpe who majored in economics and Russian literature. He fails his first audition and ends up working at a Jar Heads, a Starbucks parody, as a "coffee jerk". Kea Wong plays Rumour Wong, a medical intern and Lucky's girlfriend, who must deal with Lucky's mental breakdown and reclusive nature. Jason Bryden plays Elliot Hayden, a mutual gay friend who speaks Mandarin and frequents Chinatown. He teaches English to immigrant children and acts as a foil to the rest of the characters.

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