Radisson, or Tomahawk: The Adventures of Pierre Raidsson, was one of the earliest-ever Canadian TV series and it was filmed right here in Montreal. The CBC production - filmed in such exotic Canadian locations as Perot Island - turned out to be a big money loser and here, for the first (second.. third? - Chimples) time ever is an explanation as to why it did so terribly.
Somebody stole the scripts and nobody had a copy of them.
In December 1956 writer John Lucarotti parked his car outside of Renaissance Studios on Cote des Neiges while attending a staff Christmas party.
He had left two scripts and about a year's worth of research in the car.
When he got back the car and its precious contents had been stolen.
Lucarotti, a self-described "ardent-naturalized Canadian" went to the Laurentians and tried to rewrite the lost texts from memory but got frustrated and booted it back to his home in Toronto where he did his best to complete it as he remembered it.
The problem with the show was that its very-large projected budget rose to $15,000 per episode, which was already very high and then to $25,000 per episode and that total didn't even include the costs of CBC staff.
The show was aimed at young people and aired an hour before the hockey games on CBC. It was eventually sold to the USA and ITV Tyne Tees and Australia.
Some now-elderly folk in those countries still recall watching the show as kids and appreciating Canada somewhat while watching its adventures.
Some criticized the costumes, including a Montreal woman wrote that the Indians looked like white men "who dunked their heads into a bucket of multicoloured paint then donned ill fitting and badly decorated bathing caps."
. They did a survey of viewers and the summary said that "many felt Radisson emerged as an exaggerated and implausible figure."
Lucarotti took the whole thing pretty seriously, he hyped the show as "a titanic undertaking - a saga to stir the blood of every Canadian.""I'm not creating a cardboard hero it's a full dimensional portrayal of an ordinary man.. whose life was literally packed with exciting incidents."
Somebody stole the scripts and nobody had a copy of them.
In December 1956 writer John Lucarotti parked his car outside of Renaissance Studios on Cote des Neiges while attending a staff Christmas party.
He had left two scripts and about a year's worth of research in the car.
When he got back the car and its precious contents had been stolen.
Lucarotti, a self-described "ardent-naturalized Canadian" went to the Laurentians and tried to rewrite the lost texts from memory but got frustrated and booted it back to his home in Toronto where he did his best to complete it as he remembered it.
The problem with the show was that its very-large projected budget rose to $15,000 per episode, which was already very high and then to $25,000 per episode and that total didn't even include the costs of CBC staff.
The show was aimed at young people and aired an hour before the hockey games on CBC. It was eventually sold to the USA and ITV Tyne Tees and Australia.
Some now-elderly folk in those countries still recall watching the show as kids and appreciating Canada somewhat while watching its adventures.
Some criticized the costumes, including a Montreal woman wrote that the Indians looked like white men "who dunked their heads into a bucket of multicoloured paint then donned ill fitting and badly decorated bathing caps."
. They did a survey of viewers and the summary said that "many felt Radisson emerged as an exaggerated and implausible figure."
Lucarotti took the whole thing pretty seriously, he hyped the show as "a titanic undertaking - a saga to stir the blood of every Canadian.""I'm not creating a cardboard hero it's a full dimensional portrayal of an ordinary man.. whose life was literally packed with exciting incidents."