Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod

Last updated
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod BodyBreak.jpg
Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod

Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod are Canadian television hosts and former international-level athletes. They are best known for their television segments called BodyBreak, which have been in intermittent production since 1988. The program is considered a cult classic among Canadian pop culture.

Contents

Johnson and McLeod were both international-level athletes, Johnson with baseball and McLeod with the track and field discipline of hurdles. The duo self-financed the pilot for BodyBreak in 1988. Rejected by over 40 companies, the first 65 episodes were funded by ParticipACTION. Over 300 short episodes have been produced, as well as a single-season television series. They have expanded the program into speaking engagements, exercise equipment, and other projects. As a result of racism that Johnson and his parents experienced, their programs and products have intentionally sought to feature an inclusive cast.

Biographies

Hal Johnson

Hal Johnson
Hal Johnson.jpg
Hal Johnson in 2011
Born (1956-06-14) June 14, 1956 (age 68) [1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Johnson was born in the United States, [2] and grew up in North York, Ontario, the child of Black and Irish parents. (Johnson has spoken on the racism they faced for their mixed marriage.) [3] Johnson was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child; he would later memorize all the lines for BodyBreak. [3]

The captain of his high school's hockey, baseball, basketball and football teams, Johnson attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship, earning a business degree. An all-star first baseman, he represented Canada at the World Baseball Championship. [1]

For a 10 year period, Johnson lived in the United States, attending the University of Colorado, and living in Washington, D.C., Long Beach, San Francisco, Denver, and Boulder. [2]

After his athletic career, Johnson was hired at TSN as a sports reporter. Network executives rescinded that offer the same day it was made, stating that they didn't want a second Black reporter. [4] As an extra in an advertisement for Woodbine Racetrack, during the 1980s, Johnson was moved so that he wouldn't be sitting next to a white woman. [4] [5] These experiences of racism, as well as the experiences of his parents, helped push Johnson to create BodyBreak as a countermeasure. [4] The show deliberately sought inclusive casting. Johnson has commented that "the media has not only a tremendous responsibility, but a tremendous power" to influence public perception and acceptance. [3] In 2020, the topic of racism became central, following the protests initiated by the murder of George Floyd. Johnson recorded an unscripted video titled "How We Battled Racism". The video received wide attention in Canada, and led to Johnson speaking on the subject on many media outlets. [6] TSN issued an apology.

Johnson appeared on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg over 100 times. [2] He acted in various television series between 1988 and 1990, including day player roles in T. and T. , Alfred Hitchcock Presents , and E.N.G.

Johnson is famous for his thick moustache, which he shaved at some point before his 2013 audition for The Amazing Race Canada. [7]

Joanne McLeod

Joanne McLeod
Joanne McLeod.jpg
Joanne McLeod in 2011
Born (1958-09-18) September 18, 1958 (age 65) [1]

McLeod is of German and Italian heritage, [3] and grew up in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario with her adoptive family. [1] McLeod's high school physical education teacher, who had competed at the 1968 Olympic Games, encouraged her to join a track club. [1] She became a 4-time national and 7-time provincial hurdle champion. She represented Canada at events including the Pacific Conference Games, World Cup, Tri-Meet-Canada/PolandEngland, and the 1978 Commonwealth Games. [1]

As of 2013, McLeod was reported to be still running marathons. [8]

As a couple

Johnson and McLeod met in a gym, and started to date. [8] They married in 1999. [9] Together they tour the country doing speaking engagements related to health and teamwork. [8] After living for a time in Mississauga, [10] the couple has lived in Oakville, Ontario since 2000. [6]

BodyBreak

Segments

Over 300 90-second episodes of BodyBreak have been produced, [6] with the first 128 segments created between 1988 and 1994. [3] The show focuses on how exercise can be incorporated into daily life. [1] The program was conceived by McLeod and Johnson after meeting in a gym. [1] The show was designed to be different than other fitness shows of the era: friendly, representing the sexes equally, [1] and showing racial and physical diversity, a result of Johnson's experiences. [6] Collectively, they financed the show's pilot with their last $2000. Johnson worked on the series, while McLeod worked at Canada Life insurance to pay their bills. [1] Three two-minute segments were filmed in July 1988, in Toronto's Sherwood Park, as a pilot. [1]

More than 40 TV stations, ad agencies, and other corporations turned the pitch down. [1] [6] More than one was concerned with the image of people of different ethnic backgrounds interacting as equals. [1] One was open to airing the program, but only if Joanne McLeod was joined by a white man; [6] at least one report lists that broadcaster as TSN. [11] Johnson decided to seek funding for the project from ParticipACTION, a federal government program. [6] The organization commissioned five segments, with an additional order placed in January 1989, before the first airing. [1] The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was the first network to air the spots. [1]

ParticipACTION dropped the hosts in 1991, after they had completed 65 segments, despite being the agency's most popular spots. [1] They found different funding, and were able to continue production in 1992. [1] They produced segments with Canada's Vitality project from 1993 to 1995. [1] The segments were broadcast during commercial breaks as public service announcements on many Canadian television channels, but the most frequent broadcaster of the program was TSN. [6]

Television series

In 1995, Life Network commissioned a 13 half-hour episode series based on the popular segments, which it aired in primetime. [3] [12] Most of the episodes included people with disabilities. [3]

Business

Johnson has stated that the duo has "no business plan," so that they don't close themselves off from unexpected opportunities. [13]

In 2020, Johnson commented that "as many successes that we've had, we've had a hundred failures. I expect that. I expect to fail... I'll find another way around it." [2]

The BodyBreak brand has been used on a treadmill, [8] Ab Master Workout, [14] Step Workout, [15] and other products. Hal and Joanne have also endorsed products without the trademark, including BackJoy. [16] [8]

Appearances

The couple competed in season 1 of The Amazing Race Canada . The duo spent months preparing for the competition, including studying prime ministers and Air Canada routes, as well as practising driving stick shift Chevrolet (one of the show's sponsor) cars at the dealership. [8] They finished in sixth place. [9] They felt they were portrayed in the series as "very vanilla," until the final episode, in which McLeod accidentally swore. [17]

In the months following The Amazing Race, they were the grand marshals of the 2013 Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Parade, [8] and guest "anchors" on news comedy program This Hour Has 22 Minutes . [18] Johnson and McLeod appeared in the music video for Sam Weber's "Anybodys'", chasing an anthropomorphized version of Johnson's mustache. [13] They self-parodied in a promotion for Netflix zombie series Santa Clarita Diet ; BuzzFeed deemed them "the cutest cannibals." [19] They created a COVID-19 physical distancing segment for Vancouver International Airport. [20] [21] [22]

Maclean's magazine has mused that "Trying to explain the cultural significance that “Hal and Joanne” have taken on since then is like trying to explain the cultural significance of Tim Hortons." [8]

Related Research Articles

The Sports Network (TSN) is a Canadian English language discretionary sports specialty channel owned by CTV Specialty Television, owned jointly by Bell Media (70%) and ESPN Inc. (30%), itself a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. TSN was established by the Labatt Brewing Company in 1984 as part of the first group of Canadian specialty cable channels. In 2013, TSN was the largest specialty channel in Canada in terms of gross revenue, with a total of CA$400.4 million in revenue.

<i>ParticipACTION</i> Canadian fitness program

ParticipACTION is a national non-profit organization, originally launched as a Canadian government program in the 1970s, to promote healthy living and physical fitness. It shut down due to financial cutbacks in 2001, but was revived on February 19, 2007 with a grant of $5 million from the Canadian federal government.

<i>TSN Hockey</i> Regional NHL broadcasts by Canadian sports channel TSN

TSN Hockey is the blanket title used by TSN's broadcasts of the National Hockey League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mira Leung</span> Canadian figure skater

Mira Leung is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. She is the 2004 Nebelhorn Trophy bronze medallist and a three-time Canadian national silver medallist (2006–2008). Leung placed 12th at the 2006 Winter Olympics and 5th at the 2008 Four Continents. She now works for Google as a software engineering manager.

Off the Record with Michael Landsberg, also known as Off the Record or OTR, was a Canadian sports talk show that was produced by TSN hosted by Michael Landsberg. The program aired from 1997 to 2015, making it one of the longest-running sports talk shows on Canadian television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TSN Radio</span> Canadian sports radio network

TSN Radio is a semi-national sports radio brand and part-time network in Canada carried on AM radio stations owned by Bell Media. The TSN Radio brand, and some of the stations' content, are shared with Bell Media's television sports channel, The Sports Network. With the American sports media company ESPN being a minority shareholder in TSN, most of the stations also air some ESPN Radio programming, usually on weekends and/or overnight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLeod Bethel-Thompson</span> American gridiron football player (born 1988)

McLeod John Baltazar Bethel-Thompson is an American professional football quarterback for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was a member of the Toronto Argonauts, winning two Grey Cup championships with the team: one as a back-up quarterback in 2017, another as the team's starter in 2022. He played college football at UCLA and Sacramento State. He is the grandson of the 1948 Olympic shot put champion Wilbur 'Moose' Thompson. Bethel-Thompson is a journeyman quarterback having been a member of five different NFL teams, three CFL teams, and one team in the Arena Football League (AFL), United Football League (UFL), and United States Football League (USFL).

Racism in Canada traces both historical and contemporary racist community attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents in Canada. Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenous First Nations combined with multiple waves of immigration, predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.

<i>The Amazing Race Canada 1</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race Canada 1 is the first season of The Amazing Race Canada, a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Jon Montgomery, it featured nine teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race across Canada. The grand prize included a CA$250,000 cash payout, two Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays, and unlimited air travel for a year with Air Canada. This season visited seven provinces and three territories and travelled over 23,000 kilometres (14,000 mi) during ten legs. Starting in Niagara Falls, Ontario, racers travelled through Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador before finishing in Toronto. The series premiere aired on July 15, 2013, on CTV, with the season finale airing on September 16, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election</span>

The 2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election was held on May 9, 2015, as a result of the resignation of Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak following the provincial election on June 12, 2014, his second loss in a row as party leader. Patrick Brown won the leadership with 61.8% of votes allocated, defeating Christine Elliott who had 38.2%.

Joanne Tod (R.C.A.) is a Canadian contemporary artist and lecturer whose paintings are included in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto and the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.

The Amazing Race Canada 5 is the fifth season of The Amazing Race Canada, a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Jon Montgomery, it featured ten teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race across Canada and the world. The grand prize included a CA$250,000 cash payout, a trip for two around the world, and two 2018 Chevrolet Equinox SUVs. This season visited six provinces and three additional countries and travelled over 50,000 kilometres (31,000 mi) during eleven legs. Starting in St. John's, racers travelled through Newfoundland and Labrador, British Columbia, Alberta, China, Thailand, Ontario, Quebec, Panama, and Saskatchewan before finishing in Quebec City. A new twist introduced in this season was the 150 Challenge, which was a task themed after the 150th anniversary of Canada. The season premiered on CTV on July 4, 2017, with the season finale airing on September 12, 2017.

<i>The Amazing Race Canada 6</i> Season of television series

The Amazing Race Canada 6(also known as The Amazing Race Canada: Heroes Edition) is the sixth season of The Amazing Race Canada, a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Jon Montgomery, it featured ten teams of two, consisting of everyday Canadian heroes, in a race across Canada and the world. The grand prize included a CA$250,000 cash payout, a trip for two around the world, and two 2018 Chevrolet Traverse Redlines. This season visited six provinces, one territory, and two additional countries and travelled over 50,000 kilometres (31,000 mi) during eleven legs. Starting in Colwood, British Columbia, racers travelled through British Columbia, the Yukon, Indonesia, Ontario, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Mexico, New Brunswick, and Alberta before finishing in Banff, Alberta. New twists introduced in this season include the Blind Double U-Turn and U-Turns placed at Detour decision points. The season premiered on CTV on July 3, 2018, with the season finale airing on September 11, 2018.

The Amazing Race Canada 7 is the seventh season of The Amazing Race Canada, a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Jon Montgomery, it featured nine teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, and one returning team of two given a second chance to compete by fans in a race across Canada. The grand prize included a CA$250,000 cash payout, a trip for two around the world, and two 2019 Chevrolet Blazer SUVs. This season visited six provinces and one territory and travelled over 17,000 kilometres (11,000 mi) during eleven legs. Starting in Toronto, racers travelled through Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Nova Scotia before finishing in Muskoka. New twists introduced in this season include the One Way, which allowed teams to force others to complete one specific side of the Detour, and the Blind Detour, where teams learned about the task that they chose after arriving at its location. The season premiered on CTV on July 2, 2019, with the season finale airing on September 10, 2019.

Nathan Rourke is a Canadian professional football quarterback for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Rourke played college football for the Ohio Bobcats. Rourke set the single-season CFL record for completion percentage (78.7%) during the 2022 CFL season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kayla Grey</span> Canadian television sportscaster (born 1993)

Kayla Grey is a Canadian television sportscaster, currently working as an anchor for SportsCentre on TSN.

The Amazing Race Canada 8 is the eighth season of The Amazing Race Canada, a Canadian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Jon Montgomery, it featured ten teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race across Canada. The grand prize included a CA$250,000 cash payout, a trip for two around the world, and two Chevrolet Silverado ZR2s. This season visited five provinces and travelled over 20,000 kilometres (12,000 mi) during eleven legs. Starting in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, racers travelled through Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, and New Brunswick before finishing in Vancouver. New twists introduced in this season include the On Ramp, which was a task that gave teams the chance to reenter The Amazing Race Canada; the Pass, which forced a team to stop racing until another team passed them; a double elimination leg; and four teams racing in the final leg. The season was originally scheduled to premiere on CTV in July 2020; however, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced production to postpone the season for two years due to travel restrictions between selected Canadian provinces, it premiered on July 5, 2022 with a preseason special etalk Presents: The Amazing Race Canada airing on July 1. The season finale aired on September 20, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakville Jr. Hornets</span> Ice hockey team in Ontario, Canada

The Oakville Jr. Hornets are a women's junior ice hockey team based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Ontario Women's Hockey League.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Hal Johnson; Joanne McLeod. "About BodyBreak". BodyBreak. Oakville ON. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Hal Johnson On How 'Body Break' Was Created To Combat Racism, Reacts To TSN Apology (Extended)". Youtube.com. ET Canada. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bendall, Lisa. "Keep Fit and Have Fun!". Abilities Magazine. Archived from the original on 15 May 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Johnson says popular 'Body Break' series was created to battle racism". The Cowichan Valley Citizen. Duncan, British Columbia. The Canadian Press. 16 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. ↑ Ontario Racing commercial (1988). YouTube .
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "'I just wanted it to be authentic,' Johnson weighs in on video about racism". Cochrane Today. Cochrane AB. The Canadian Press. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  7. ↑ McInnis, Frances (27 June 2013). "Body Break duo Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod are competing on Amazing Race Canada!". Toronto Life. Toronto ON: St. Joseph Media. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bell, Sonya (14 September 2013). "Amazing Race Canada: Hal and Joanne are happy—save for one edit". Maclean's. Toronto ON: Rogers Communications. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. 1 2 Ryan, Andrew (13 August 2013). "How Body Break duo were eliminated from The Amazing Race Canada". The Globe and Mail. Toronto ON. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Randall Stewart; Cindy Stewart (2006). Success Is a Four-Letter Word: Learn How to Bring More Abundance. Trafford. ISBN   1412099986.
  11. ↑ Corey Atad; Katie Colley (17 June 2020). "Hal Johnson Reacts To TSN's Apology: 'I Hold No Bitterness'". ET Canada. Toronto ON: Corus Media. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  12. ↑ Vale, Allison (31 July 1995). "New incarnation for Life Network". Playback. Toronto ON. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  13. 1 2 Muzyka, Kyle (2 February 2018). "How the Body Break duo turned a passion project into a 30-year career". CBC News Edmonton. Edmonton AB: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  14. ↑ Abdominal workout programme. OCLC   319878499.
  15. ↑ Hal Johnson; Joanne McLeod (2013). "DVD". BodyBreak. Oakville ON. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  16. ↑ Hal Johnson; Joanne McLeod (2018). "Body Break: Sitting -- It's Dangerous". ON the GO Toronto. Toronto ON. Archived from the original on 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "BodyBreak duo Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod say 'Amazing Race Canada' helped 'revitalize' their brand". National Post. Toronto ON: Postmedia Network Inc. The Canadian Press. 14 August 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "BodyBreak stars make comedy debut on This Hour Has 22 Minutes". Maclean's. Toronto ON: Rogers Communications. 9 October 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  19. ↑ Strapagiel, Lauren (7 February 2017). "Hal And Joanne From "Body Break" Are The Cutest Cannibals". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  20. ↑ Mangione, Kendra (30 March 2020). "The 'Body Break' duo just released a new segment on physical distancing". CTV News Vancouver. Vancouver BC. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  21. ↑ "Vancouver is Awesome". Vancouver BC. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  22. ↑ Vancouver International Airport (YVR). "The Prime Minister has implored and the movie stars have all weighed in but to truly get the message out about social distancing we needed the help of two Canadian icons to spread the safety message. @BodyBreak". Twitter. Vancouver BC. Retrieved 19 June 2020.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.