Their popularity was massive, and from a time when the subject of Canadian Television was yet to get wrapped up in every other ridiculous regional conflict that roils Canada.
It's way before my time, and most of the W&S I've seen were in archived bits when I was at Ryerson, or in the CBC Archives, or at the Paley Center. Their comedy material, being kind of vaudevillian, does not hold up well. But nevertheless if you want a proper appreciation, truck on over to Bill Brioux's site.
Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster were quite simply the biggest Canadian TV stars of their day. Wayne was brash and outgoing, all eyes and ready grin; Shuster looked like a banker or a lawyer. He may have been more dialed down but this team did not really have a straight man, more like two comedians playing at different speeds.
Their long-running comedy/variety show was top-rated at CBC. But it was as Sullivan's "good friends from Canada" that they really made their mark. If Sullivan liked you, you got put into a six week rotation along with other comedy acts like Allen & Rossi and Stiller & Meara. And you became very, very famous overnight; just ask Paul McCartney and Ringo Star what Sullivan could do for your career.
I was a year old when the duo had their Sullivan debut. I remember many of their subsequent appearances; my parents would always remind me that they were from Canada. People took plenty of pride in their success.
Wayne & Shuster became our comedy ambassadors, representing Canada to a vast American audience. But it wasn't just that they were Canadian that set them apart. More important, probably, was the fact that they were college grads, two fellows from the University of Toronto. Most of the big TV comics back in the '50s, like Red Skelton, Milton Berle or Jackie Gleason, were from the school of hard knocks.
- Brioux's full appreciation is here.
No comments:
Post a Comment