356:, much of the show was devoted to viewers calling in and sharing their stories of their reaction to Lennon's death. Viewers were also encouraged to send in videos they had made, and some viewers would do this frequently, becoming semi-regular contributors to the show. There were periodic contests, with viewers being invited to correctly guess the origin of old movie clips, or to identify actors in the TV series being shown. One memorable contest featured producer Jeff Silverman (in character as a pirate) giving clues to the location of a buried treasure. Unfortunately, the show found themselves in trouble with the local police when a larger-than-expected crowd of people, spurred on by the clues, started digging up Toronto's isolated
244:). With very little to do on the overnight shift, every night Chuck -- with the help of his friends Ryerson and P.B. -- would take over the facilities of CFMT. Ostensibly without the knowledge of the station owners, Chuck and company had found "a bunch of cool old tapes in the basement", and – each night after the station officially went off the air – would start broadcasting their favourite shows while fooling around with the equipment. In the series continuity, rather than fire Chuck, the station decided to let him continue by giving Chuck his own overnight show.
363:
A recurring feature was "The
Elevator To The Stars", in which various individual local performers would ride the CFMT freight elevator up to the studio level and—without leaving the elevator—be given a short period of time to sing, dance, or tell jokes on-air before the elevator doors closed and took
304:
Chas
Lawther played Chuck, a friendly, slightly awkward late-night security guard. Chuck addressed the audience directly, and introduced the night's programming from a TV studio control panel—actually placing the video tapes in the playback machine to be played on air. Chuck's show opening, a loud,
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as Fran the Night Nurse, a cheerful friend who would drop by to visit Chuck after her late shift had ended. Another recurring character was Paul
Goldberg as Paul del Stud, a fifties-styled 'greaser' who would incongruously read out household cleaning tips as show bumpers leading into or out of
305:
upbeat "Hey, you!", became a catchphrase for both the character and the show. Occasionally, Chuck would venture beyond his base in the CFMT TV control room and explore the empty station at night while doing his rounds; memorably, he once broke into real-life station president
324:
program. Heard far less frequently as an off-camera voice was audio technician P.B. Leonard, played by
Michael Lennick. (Behind the scenes, Bruce and Lennick really did operate the camera and run the audio system, and were also the show's co-directors.)
429:(which also served as a de facto reunion special) was aired on CFMT in 2007. The special was hosted by Lawther, and featured clips and reminiscences from Lawther, Bruce, Silverman, Lennick and others associated with the show.
239:
The premise was that
Lawther's character, Chuck the Security Guard, was the overnight security guard for CFMT (which at that time was branding itself as "MTV", prior to the introduction of the American music channel
332:
inserted into a photograph of a famous person, and having LaMarche imitate that person to deliver a show promo or announcement. When LaMarche left the show, a young up-and-coming comic named
419:
The show only lasted one year, ending when CFMT cut its budget for the time slot. In the final moments of the final episode, as the credits rolled, Ryerson was finally seen on camera.
223:
ran
Mondays through Saturdays, running from the end of other programming (typically 2 am, but 1 am on Saturdays) until 6 am. It featured early voice work by
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The show had a deliberately loose, semi-unstructured feel. Viewers would often call in and chat with Chuck and
Ryerson—the day after the death of
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The show would have musical guests, usually on
Thursday nights, both as interview guests and as performers. Notable musicians who appeared on
486:
292:, and many others. The show filled the space in between each episode with current and decades-old music videos (including old
316:
friend
Ryerson Dupont (Errol Bruce), the Scottish-accented camera operator. As an in-joke, Ryerson was named after Toronto's
336:
was recruited to take his place as a voice actor. Both Carrey and LaMarche were at this point just beginning their careers.
252:
296:), old movie shorts, clips sent in from viewers, viewer call-in segments, and comedic banter with Chuck and the crew.
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403:. Other guests would occasionally be interviewed; however, a supposed interview with Twilight Zone writer/director
380:
317:
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407:(via telephone) was a hoax, as Pittman died in 1962. "Pittman", it was later revealed, was played by
216:. The show was created and written by Errol Bruce, Chas Lawther, Michael Lennick and Jeff Silverman.
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to recover the hidden 'treasure', creating a safety hazard for beach visitors.
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The other ever-present regular on the show was Chuck's often-heard but
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309:'s office and made himself at home in Iannuzzi's absence.
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Errol Bruce, Chas
Lawther, Michael Lennick, Jeff Silverman
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Errol Bruce, Chas Lawther, Michael Lennick, Jeff Silverman
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which ran from September 19, 1980, to August 29, 1981 on
536:"Channel 47's Chuck turning in his keys," Jim Bawden,
250:generally showed reruns of classic series such as
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231:, both at the very start of their careers.
598:Canadian late-night television programming
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593:1980s Canadian variety television series
588:1981 Canadian television series endings
447:"The birth of Late Night TV in Toronto"
583:1980 Canadian television series debuts
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339:Seen on-camera from time to time was
328:A continuing feature had the lips of
485:Weisblott, Marc (21 January 2008).
13:
16:1980 Canadian TV series or program
14:
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516:Silverman, Jeff and Drew Tapley,
200:is a television series starring
520:, BurmanBooks, New York, 2011.
470:Foolish Earthling Productions:
318:Ryerson Polytechnical Institute
569:All-Night Show Reunion Special
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478:
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348:Content and recurring features
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1:
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423:Ten Thousand Shiftless Nights
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542:, August 6, 1981, p. E1.
567:10,000 Shiftless Nights
472:10,000 Shiftless Nights
364:them downstairs again.
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277:The Beverly Hillbillies
474:production information
425:, a documentary about
271:Car 54, Where Are You?
397:Mary Margaret O'Hara
136:Production locations
283:Dave Allen at Large
557:The All-Night Show
427:The All Night Show
405:Montgomery Pittman
369:The All Night Show
248:The All-Night Show
221:The All Night Show
197:The All-Night Show
172:September 19, 1980
128:Executive producer
23:The All-Night Show
253:The Twilight Zone
193:
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93:Country of origin
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495:. Archived from
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401:King Biscuit Boy
330:Maurice LaMarche
320:, known for its
259:The Outer Limits
225:Maurice LaMarche
219:During its run,
204:and produced by
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154:Original release
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83:Maurice LaMarche
74:Michael Lennick
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550:External links
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518:Funny Business
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451:www.blogto.com
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501:. Retrieved
497:the original
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454:. Retrieved
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409:Wayne Robson
381:David Wilcox
373:James Cotton
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358:Cherry Beach
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307:Dan Iannuzzi
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265:The Prisoner
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202:Chas Lawther
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146:Running time
139:CFMT studios
72:Errol Bruce
70:Chas Lawther
22:
354:John Lennon
115:of episodes
577:Categories
503:2008-02-04
492:Eye Weekly
456:2021-04-23
433:References
334:Jim Carrey
314:never-seen
294:Scopitones
289:Sgt. Bilko
229:Jim Carrey
186:1981-08-29
176:1980-09-19
123:Production
104:of seasons
87:Jim Carrey
59:Written by
51:Created by
371:included
149:4-5 hours
67:Starring
235:Premise
214:Toronto
210:CFMT-TV
184: (
180: –
174: (
169:Release
163:CFMT-TV
159:Network
33:Variety
524:
415:Demise
96:Canada
37:Comedy
41:Humor
29:Genre
562:IMDb
522:ISBN
399:and
300:Cast
227:and
45:Talk
560:at
242:MTV
212:in
113:No.
102:No.
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107:1
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