The First Broadcast of the CBC
June 23, 2017 4:56 PM Subscribe
Did Monty Python create a short film satirizing the CBC that aired in the 1970's?
While going through the comments in this post on The Blue, I recalled watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the first time with my father. As memory serves, the telecast was during the late 70's and aired on the CBC. I also remember that there was a short film by the Pythons that was broadcast right before the movie. I've tried over the years to find this short on the internet, but to no avail.
I can only remember two scenes in the short:
A group of men and a woman assemble before a snowy chasm. The men form in two lines with the woman between them. They pick up the woman by the arms and legs and heave her between them before they let go. She sails off into the snowy sky. The next shot shows the woman landing safely into a large snowbank on the opposite side of the chasm near another group of people. These people erupt in jubilant celebration as they pluck the woman from the snow drift. The narrator proclaims: "This was the first broadcast of the CBC."
The second scene was of a frontiersman type trudging through an icy wilderness until he comes upon a small log cabin. The narrator intones "CBC Headquarters." He walks up to the cabin and enters through the door. The next shot is inside the 'cabin', which is in fact a real large scale television newsroom, with dozens of workers, filled with equipment, and thousands of square feet of office space. The man walks through this giant space, removing his frontier outerwear, passing the items an entourage that collects around him, finally to reveal he's wearing a high quality suit.
But that's all I remember, and it's kind of driving me crazy!
I know that this short film existed, but was it by Monty Python? Was it about the CBC? I may be conflating these elements. Does anyone out there who lived in the great white north in the 70's recall this short? Because sure as heck, it's nowhere to be found on the internet.
While going through the comments in this post on The Blue, I recalled watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail for the first time with my father. As memory serves, the telecast was during the late 70's and aired on the CBC. I also remember that there was a short film by the Pythons that was broadcast right before the movie. I've tried over the years to find this short on the internet, but to no avail.
I can only remember two scenes in the short:
A group of men and a woman assemble before a snowy chasm. The men form in two lines with the woman between them. They pick up the woman by the arms and legs and heave her between them before they let go. She sails off into the snowy sky. The next shot shows the woman landing safely into a large snowbank on the opposite side of the chasm near another group of people. These people erupt in jubilant celebration as they pluck the woman from the snow drift. The narrator proclaims: "This was the first broadcast of the CBC."
The second scene was of a frontiersman type trudging through an icy wilderness until he comes upon a small log cabin. The narrator intones "CBC Headquarters." He walks up to the cabin and enters through the door. The next shot is inside the 'cabin', which is in fact a real large scale television newsroom, with dozens of workers, filled with equipment, and thousands of square feet of office space. The man walks through this giant space, removing his frontier outerwear, passing the items an entourage that collects around him, finally to reveal he's wearing a high quality suit.
But that's all I remember, and it's kind of driving me crazy!
I know that this short film existed, but was it by Monty Python? Was it about the CBC? I may be conflating these elements. Does anyone out there who lived in the great white north in the 70's recall this short? Because sure as heck, it's nowhere to be found on the internet.
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There were lots of "Americans think Canada is made of snow" sorts of gags, often using old footage with new narration. Perhaps you saw a snippet of this out of context?
It's dubious, but not completely impossible.
posted by suetanvil at 9:28 PM on June 29, 2017