The iconic Moose Jaw TV blooper that left viewers in Saskatoon in stitches
Arguably the greatest TV blooper of all time happened on the greatest regional newscast anywhere. The broadcast was complex. The blooper has never been shown anywhere and can’t be. But I can describe it because I was the anchor of the newscast.
First is the background, as we say in TV news.
Even in the early days of TV, most of what you saw on a newscast was not new. You’d heard it, saw it, or read about it already. Not so with “The Local.”
This newscast came out of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, which sounds more like the punchline of this story than the background. Canada’s national public broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, had a TV station in Saskatoon but only a radio station in the capital city of Regina. So, CBC bought a privately owned station run out of a former shoe store in Moose Jaw to serve Regina.
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This purchase began what was called “The Moose Jaw Run,” in which the anchors, hosts, and newscasters drove an hour back and forth each day. I anchored the supper hour package of news, features, weather, and sports and then did the shorter late-night newscast, The Local.
Saskatoon, almost 200 miles north of Regina, had its own supper hour package. The Local went to both cities and surrounding areas. The late-night broadcast combined audiences from both cities, who were bound to see about 50 percent new material that had only been seen in the other city. We picked the best of both broadcasts to cobble together into The Local.
In my early 20s, I worked the night shift and then drove back to Regina just in time for last call at The Old Gold, a vibrant music venue known for its live soul and horn performances.
I was forever lobbying management for concessions – dry cleaning, more overtime, less overtime, and finally, I wanted Friday nights off. My co-workers often warned me not to push my demands – “They’ll get you for it.”
“What are they going to do to me?” I asked. “Transfer me to the night shift in Moose Jaw? I’m already there.”
I got my Friday nights off. The great George Dawes, our six o’clock news reader, was assigned to the night shift so I could leave at the end of the supper hour broadcast and be back in Regina at about 8:00 p.m.
George was a contemporary of renowned Winnipeg broadcasters, including the famous Monty Hall, who later hosted the game show Let’s Make a Deal. When George was trying to break into the big time, he went to New York and looked up Hall, who generously offered him the use of his office and was very supportive. Had things worked out differently for George, he wouldn’t have ended up filling in for me in Moose Jaw.
George made incorrigible use of puns and segues, as many broadcasters did back in the day.
When the last item in the newscast was about cats, George would stretch the point by saying, “Speaking of cats, and paws (or pause), we’ll take a short one and be right back.”
To introduce the weather, he’d say, “The weather is going to be just like the bottom of the old wood stove – great (or grate).”
The Local’s news and weather came from Moose Jaw, and sports came from Saskatoon. Each city ran its own commercials.
Back in Regina, I decided to spend my first Friday night off watching George anchor my newscast. After the news there was a commercial for Ichiban Noodles with cute young Asian kids extolling the virtues of the food. Unable to resist a quip, George came out of the commercial and said, “… a little something to nibble on in between periods of the hockey game. Now the sports with Lloyd Sauders.” Another version from an old timer’s memory has George saying, “A nice light snack after the game.”
“That’s George.” I thought no more about it until Monday when I walked into the station in Regina to pick up a CBC car to drive to Moose Jaw.
“Did you see The Local Friday night?” asked News Director Bill Cameron.
“No, Bill … Oh. What was the commercial in Saskatoon?” I asked, realizing that George’s quip might not have made sense in the other market.
It was a Playtex Bra commercial featuring a buxom woman and a proud husband. The man is projecting a picture of his wife on the wall. She’s in profile with her breasts dominating the scene. He’s saying, “I like my wife’s full figure …,” gesturing to the photo with outstretched hand as if cupping her breast.
That was the nice light snack for Saskatoon viewers.
Just then, in walked George. He took one look at us, cupped his hand to his temple to shield his eyes and just said:
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Allan Bonner has been a regular on TV and radio in North America and occasionally Europe and New Zealand for almost 60 years. Yes, he looks too young. He got his start on a kids’ show. At age 25, Allan was the youngest staff announcer hired by the CBC network and among the youngest to leave that plumb job at about 30.
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