Inside Stories

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Inside Stories is a Canadian television drama anthology series, which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1991. [1] The series aired half-hour short dramas telling stories written and directed by members of ethnic minority communities. [2]

Contents

The series was created by Paul de Silva. [3] It was initially produced for CBC Toronto, before being expanded into a national network series for the 1990–91 season. [4] The network cancelled the series in 1991, [5] although repeats continued to air on occasion until 1993.

Episodes

The series consisted of three 13-episode seasons; however, not all episode titles have been located. Known episodes included:

  1. "Cement Soul" — An Italian Canadian mother whose construction worker son is dying tries to find a way to honour his wish to have his body entombed in cement instead of being buried in a traditional coffin. [2]
  2. "The Twin" — Marc Gomes stars as twin brothers, one an ad executive who was raised as the adopted child of a wealthy Toronto family while the other remained in their native Jamaica and grew up to become a Rastafarian, who are reuniting for the first time. [6]
  3. "Looking for Nothing" — Hrant Alianak stars as the administrator of an Armenian club, who is convinced that there's a security threat when the Premier of Ontario is coming to his facility to give a speech. Directed by Atom Egoyan. [7]
  4. "Be My Guest" — A couple tries to help a new Polish immigrant adapt to life in Toronto. [2]
  5. "Gracie" — Gracie (Rachael Crawford) is caught in the middle of a family feud between her mother (Taborah Johnson) and grandmother (Jackie Richardson). [8]
  6. "In Limbo" — Deepa Mehta stars as a Sri Lankan doctor building a new life after emigrating to Canada. [9]
  7. "The Comic Book Chase" — A young Chinese Canadian boy saves his mother and himself from eviction after finding a valuable rare comic book. [10]
  8. "Here Comes the Groom" — A Black Canadian law student who is about to get married needs to find out more information about her estranged father whom she never knew. [10]
  9. "Welcome Home Hero" — Two estranged indigenous Canadian brothers (Tom Jackson, René Highway) reunite after their father's death. [11]
  10. "Baby Pinsky" — Two generations of a Jewish family disagree about the morality of circumcision. [12]
  11. "Heartbreak Hoteru" — Denis Akiyama stars as Aaron Iwata, a Japanese Canadian man working as an Elvis Presley impersonator, who enters a bowling competition to win the money to buy out his younger brother's share of the family motel after their father's death. [13]
  12. "Voodoo Taxi" — Two Haitian Canadian taxi drivers in Montreal exact revenge on a racist boss. [14]
  13. "Home on the Range" — An Indo-Canadian lawyer from Toronto (Sugith Varughese) moves to rural Saskatchewan. [15]
  14. "The Peggy" [5]
  15. "Dayglo Warrior" [5]

Awards

AwardDate of ceremonyCategoryNomineesResultReference
Gemini Awards 1989 Best Short Drama"Gracie"Won [16]
Best Leading Actress in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries Rachael Crawford, "Gracie"Nominated [17]
Deepa Mehta, "In Limbo"Nominated
Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries Atom Egoyan, "Looking for Nothing"Nominated
Best Original Music for a Program or MiniseriesGlenn Morley and Lawrence Shragge, "In Limbo"Nominated
Multiculturalism Award Inside StoriesWon [16]

References

  1. ↑ Helen Bullock, "Insider's report". Toronto Star , September 3, 1988.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ethnic side of city profiled". Toronto Star , September 1, 1988.
  3. ↑ John Haslett Cuff, "Film draws engaging portrait". The Globe and Mail , July 23, 1987.
  4. ↑ Tony Atherton, "Last year's produce in bumper CBC crop; Teen soap, three more new shows will join some old favorites for the coming season". Ottawa Citizen , June 21, 1990.
  5. 1 2 3 Tony Atherton, "Important memo to the CBC: We don't need more Canadian news, we need more Canadian drama". Ottawa Citizen , June 24, 1991.
  6. ↑ William Thomas, "Dinner date". Toronto Star , September 10, 1988.
  7. ↑ Eirik Knutzen and Jane Widerman, "The sheik of Araby". Toronto Star , August 20, 1988.
  8. ↑ Greg Quill, "Gracie shouldn't be missed". Toronto Star , May 1, 1989.
  9. ↑ Tony Atherton, "Television: A guide to the week". Ottawa Citizen , June 18, 1989.
  10. 1 2 John Haslett Cuff, "Uneven start for promising series: The CBC turns the camera on Canada's visible minorities in a commendable if clumsy venture". The Globe and Mail , October 3, 1990.
  11. ↑ John Haslett Cuff, "'Lighter moments' aren't always necessary to hold an audience Drama undermined by feeble humor". The Globe and Mail , October 17, 1990.
  12. ↑ Elizabeth Aird, "Film clips". Vancouver Sun , September 7, 1990.
  13. ↑ Greg Quill, "Elvis-like bowling wizard gets a strike". Toronto Star , October 31, 1990.
  14. ↑ Brian Gorman, "Civil War returns this week". Toronto Star , March 17, 1991.
  15. ↑ Erica Smishek, "Saskatoon-raised actor sees parallels to own life in drama". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix , January 23, 1991.
  16. 1 2 Greg Quill, "R.H. Thomson's Banting best Glory Enough For All the big winner at Gemini Awards". Toronto Star , December 6, 1989.
  17. ↑ "This year's TV Gemini nominations". Toronto Star , October 26, 1989.
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