Global Playhouse

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Global Playhouse, intermittently also known as Bell Canada Playhouse or Bell Canada Global Playhouse, is a Canadian television drama anthology series, which aired on Global Television Network in the 1980s. [1] A coproduction of Atlantis Films and the National Film Board of Canada, [2] the series aired film adaptations of short stories by Canadian writers. [1]

Its most noted episode was The Painted Door , a dramatization of a short story by Sinclair Ross which was an Academy Award nominee for Best Live Action Short Film at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985. [3] Other stories adapted for the series included Ross's "One's a Heifer", [4] Mordecai Richler's "Bambinger", [1] Margaret Laurence's "To Set Our House in Order", [5] W. D. Valgardson's "Capital", [6] W. P. Kinsella's "John Cat", [4] Guy Vanderhaeghe's "Cages", [4] Morley Callaghan's "All the Years of Her Life" and "A Cap for Steve", [4] David Walker's "A Good Tree", [4] Isabel Huggan's "Jack of Hearts", and Alice Munro's "Connections". [7]

The series produced 26 episodes overall, which aired monthly from 1984 to 1986, [8] and ended production at the discretion of Atlantis Films rather than being cancelled by the network. [9] All 26 episodes were then rebroadcast weekly in the 1986-87 television season. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Rick Groen, "Short is sweet on Global". The Globe and Mail , September 27, 1984.
  2. Bill Prentice, "Canadians on display in TV drama showcase". The Globe and Mail , September 22, 1984.
  3. "Oscar Nominations Give Canada the Nod Once More". Cinema Canada (116): 48. March 1985.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Atlantis completes 2 of Canlit series". Cinema Canada , April 1984. p. 34.
  5. Rick Groen, "Lofty standards maintained in TV version of Laurence tale". The Globe and Mail , May 23, 1985.
  6. Greg Burliuk, "Global Playhouse productions score another wistful winner". Kingston Whig-Standard , July 25, 1985.
  7. Salem Alaton, "The NFB gives some on-the-job training: Learning the tricks of the trade". The Globe and Mail , February 9, 1985.
  8. John Haslett Cuff, "New tax guidelines may have industry breathing easier". The Globe and Mail , October 30, 1986.
  9. Sid Adilman, "Trio had its fill of TV quickies". Toronto Star , April 2, 1986.
  10. Noel Taylor, "In with new, out with old at Global; Network bringing in 13 new shows, dropping some standbys for fall". Ottawa Citizen , September 4, 1986.