Thanks, I feel younger now! 
I’ll give you Rick Mercer and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Both very entertaining shows.
HNIC memories from my youth: For about a decade, from around 1983-1993, there were three or sometimes four serious Stanley Cup contenders playing in Canada. Between the Canadiens, the Oilers, and the Flames, you have, what, 6 or 7 Cups during that period? So anyway, most Saturday nights, my dad and I would sit down in front of the TV, turn to CBC, and watch the goddamn Maple Leafs get the stuffing kicked out of them in a meaningless game with little or no playoff implications while the aforementioned teams would get no coverage whatsoever… well, unless they were playing in Toronto that night. That sucked sooooo much. These days, the CBC has gone to that double-header format, so I can at least see one Leaf-free game per week, which is a major improvement. Kudos to you, CBC, for improving your content in that regard. Boo to you for not retaining The Theme!
Best Canadian show on television right now? Corner Gas, without a doubt in my mind. On CTV. CBC’s ripoff of the idea, Little Mosque on the Prairie? Well, it’s OK, I guess, but I personally wouldn’t call a show a comedy if there aren’t any funny moments in it ever.
Sandie Renaldo needs to fire her hairstylist. Seriously, it looks worse every time I see her. I feel sorry for her.
Lloyd Robertson is a national institution. I hope he keeps that job until he’s 1000 years old.
And that sums up every single nice thing I have to say about the CBC. 
…but Sandie Rinaldo and Lloyd Robertson are on CTV.
I’m 43–damn close. I don’t remember Don Harron, though. I very, very vaguely remember it when it was “This Country in the Morning” but I could be wrong. It took a while to appreciate that constant CBC stuff that my mother always had the kitchen radio tuned to.
I remember when Peter Mansbridge had hair, though.
Yeah, but other people were talking about Lloyd and he reminds me of Sandie and then I got on a bit of a roll…
…and I didn’t read upthread far enough, either, too anxious to jump in.
Speaking of CBC and Sandie–Double Exposure used to do her quite well.
Sorry - I have very little appreciation for CBC. Good news, I suppose. Good hockey if you like that kind of thing. I don’t think they ever made the puck any neon colours. As for CBC Radio, I only listen to radio for music, and I don’t listen to the radio at all anymore. So yeah, my tax money well spent.
ETA: Oh yeah, I like George Strombolopoulos, in spite of him being a flaming socialist. I guess you kind of have to be to get a job with CBC.
My default setting in my car is for Radio One. I listen to it on the way to work and on the way home every day.
As It Happens presents an ecletic mix from the truly quirky to hard news on a daily basis. I’ve heard interviews with polticians where I’ve wondered what the hell their handlers were doing in prepping them, and I’ve heard stories on the town of Slough in England and what people there think of the name.
There’s also some great weekend programming. The Dave and Morley stories on the Vinyl Cafe have reduced me to tears of laughter and occasionally sadness too at a particularly poignant story. I’m even paying to go to what will like be a sold out Vinyl Cafe concert this coming Monday to see the Christmas show. How will a reference to Dave Cooks the Turkey be worked into the annuall Christmas story yet again?
Quirks and Quarks is outstanding in its science coverage, with explanations in language for the layperson.
Definitely Not the Opera has had some shows that I’ve enjoyed with their themed episodes. Dopers would have appreciated the one that included Canadian customs, with an onstreet interview about shoes on or off in the house.
Finally, when it comes to news coverage, if there is anything of significance happening in Canada or internationally it is the CBC that I’m watching. That includes things like election coverage where both Rex Murphy and Rick Mercer were providing commentary, and also events like the national Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa, which yes, I do watch every year that I’m able to.
So, all in all, yes I appreciate the CBC.
(Even if they do show hockey).
(Cause I know that even though I find it boring, more than a few others don’t).
I always much preferred Radio Canada over CBC, both on television and radio. Brave New Waves and Two New Hours notwithstanding, I always found the classical music programming on the English channel a bit too conservative, I guess.
However, a few years ago, the CBC went on strike and the television programming was filled with reruns of old shows. Stuff like This Hour Has Seven Days from the 60s. These shows rocked and I was almost disappointed when they returned to their regular programming.
Leonard Cohen around the time he started singing
René Lévesque interviewed by… Pierre Elliott Trudeau
I’ve often called As It Happens the show with the world’s most annoying hosts and the world’s most fascinating guests. Somehow or other, they manage to get in touch with the folks who are either in the news or close to those who are, which is great. But the hosts always sound as if they’re (a) reading a script, (b) smug, (c) condescending to the listeners, or (d) all of the above. I suppose someone has to interview those fascinating guests, but there are times I just wish my radio was two way so I could tell them that good radio hosts don’t sound like they’re reading a script, for example, even if they are.
In the Key of Charles is a good show too.
Like many others, I grew up on CBC children’s programming: Friendly Giant, Mr. Dressup (heck, I even remember Butternut Square), Chez Helene.
And of course, CBC pioneered TV hockey coverage. You don’t realize how slick and seamless their hockey broadcasts are until you watch some other network try to cover a game. There is no need to colour the puck when the CBC covers a game; the director and the camera personnel will always make sure you know where the action is and what is happening.
Ah, Brandon. Great place to be from :). I also grew up on CBC and CTV, until we got an antenna and managed to pick up CKND from Winnipeg.
I have to say I’ve never been a fan of CBC television - it’s probably partially a holdover from having to watch innumerable episodes of the Beachcombers. I do listen to CBC radio occasionally, though.
Radio One is now the fixture for my commute. I gave up on listening to music on the radio about a year ago and I found a nice new home at CBC.
Plus they can’t be beat for hockey and election coverage.
IBTD. Barbara and Marylou always sounded like women I’d like to get to know better. There was a certain reserved warmth - I dunno, maybe you have to not be Canadian to appreciate it?
Also, the great Moe Koffman on flute playing each show in and out. I dig AIH, altho Iowa Public Radio doesn’t seem to carry it any longer.
I love the CBC for pretty much one reason only…The Simpsons reruns weekdays at 5:00.
But then, I’m an American, so the channel never really had a chance to “Grab my attention.” I also get the French CBC and CTV on my cable package. Sometimes I’m tempted to watch hours upon hours of the French one to see if I can start learning French…I don’t think it would work.
Your second link takes me to the same Leonard Cohen clip as your first link. Would you mind redoing the second link? I’d love to hear the interview, and I’ve searched for it myself, but I keep coming up empty. Thanks!
I actually had no idea these archives existed and I’m having a fantastic time searching through them. I suspect I’m going to be spending hours going through the archives, especially if I keep finding clips like this Genies en Herbes/Reach for the Top episode from 1978, hosted by the bilingual Alex Trebek.
What, no love for the ridiculously handsome Ian Hanomansing?
We were in Newfoundland for three years without a TV, and spent a lot of time listening to CBC radio. (A friend told me about the Hum Line on Basic Black and that was what first caught my attention.) I even called As it Happens once and got my call played on the air. That was fun.
But of course. And his teeth! Have you ever seen such white teeth? I’m not allowed to watch him because every single time I see him on television I remark to my husband: “he has such nice teeth. Look how white they are. His mother must be so proud of his smile. Man, his teeth are white.”
After hearing this same observation approximately 875 times, my husband will kill me if I say it again.
I can say “Ian Hanamansing” and my husband will roll his eyes and say, “yes. And his teeth, they’re so white. I KNOW.”
Most days I love the CBC. I’ve always thought that there was a need for a public broadcaster who at least tried to appeal to a broader spectrum of Canadians and not just rebroadcast mainstream American programming as CTV mostly does.
I’m not feelin the love this week tho…I’ve been keeping up with Rick Mercer online for the last few years and suddenly week before last the CBC has blocked content to people outside Canada claiming they do not have the international internet broadcasting rights for RMR. So either Rick is asking for too much for the rights or the CBC is just too cheap to pay him.
Ah, sorry about that. The Trudeau-Lévesque clip is here:
What’s particularly interesting is that this was in 1964, before Trudeau joined the Liberal Party and while Lévesque was still a minister for the Québec Liberals.