Airwaves (TV series)

1986 Canadian TV series or program

Airwaves

Starring| Roberta Maxwell
Ingrid Veninger
Roland Hewgill
Country of origin| Canada
Original language| English
No. of seasons| 2
No. of episodes| 26
Production
Producers| John Frizzell
Michael MacMillan
Seaton McLean
Janice Platt
Running time| 26 min
Production company| Atlantis Films
Original release
Network| CBC
Release| 27 January 1986 (1986-01-27) –
8 June 1987 (1987-06-08)

Airwaves is a Canadian comedy drama television series that aired on CBC Television in 1986 and 1987.[1]

## Plot

[edit]

The Toronto-filmed show stars Roberta Maxwell as Jean Lipton, a radio talk show host and widowed mother, who lives with her daughter Zoe, played by Ingrid Veninger, and her father Bob, played by Roland Hewgill.[2] Maxwell has indicated that Canadian journalist-activist June Callwood was a basis for her portrayal of Jean.[3]

The show's cast also includes Taborah Johnson, Alec Willows, and Kimble Hall.[4] Writers for the series included Judith Thompson, John Frizzell, Susan Martin, Rob Forsythe, Linda Svendsen and Paul Gross.[4]

## Production

[edit]

Some of the early episodes were criticized as clunky, with Ross McLean of The Globe and Mail writing that the show seemed unsure of its identity,[5] and even the producers later acknowledging that they had tried to fit too much into a half-hour show.[2] The show was retooled slightly in its second season, with the writers getting a firmer grasp on the stories they wanted to tell and adding two new characters: Christopher Bolton in the role of Matt, Jean's nephew, and Patrick Rose as Dale, Jean's new coworker at the radio station.[2] Critics responded favourably to the changes, with even McLean himself noting by 1987 that the show had significantly improved.[6]

The show was modestly successful, with an average audience of 850,000 viewers per week in its first season.[2] and 761,000 viewers in its second.[7] Although the CBC was willing to order a third season, the producers decided to end the series as they felt it was better to move on to other projects than to continue tinkering with a show that wasn't getting the ratings they wanted.[7] However, CBC subsequently reran the first two seasons, outside of prime time, in 1990.

The series was repeated on Vision TV from 1989 to 1991.[8]

## Episodes

[edit]

### Season one

[edit]

#| Title| Directed by| Written by| Original release date

|
|
|
|

1| "Pot Roast"| Unknown| Unknown| 27 January 1986 (1986-01-27)
2| "Blast from the Past"| Unknown| Unknown| 3 February 1986 (1986-02-03)
3| "Turkey"| Unknown| Unknown| 10 February 1986 (1986-02-10)
4| "Breakfast Man"| Unknown| Unknown| 17 February 1986 (1986-02-17)
5| "Angelfish"| Unknown| Unknown| 24 February 1986 (1986-02-24)
6| "Too Hot"| Unknown| Unknown| 3 March 1986 (1986-03-03)
7| "Chameleon"| Unknown| Unknown| 10 March 1986 (1986-03-10)
8| "The Runway"| Unknown| Unknown| 17 March 1986 (1986-03-17)
9| "Laundry"| Unknown| Unknown| 24 March 1986 (1986-03-24)
10| "Paul"| Unknown| Unknown| 31 March 1986 (1986-03-31)
11| "Fair Game"| Unknown| Unknown| 7 April 1986 (1986-04-07)
12| "Rockets"| Unknown| Unknown| 14 April 1986 (1986-04-14)
13| "On Air"| Unknown| Unknown| 21 April 1986 (1986-04-21)

### Season two

[edit]

#| Title| Directed by| Written by| Original release date

|
|
|
|

1| "Welcome Matt"| Scott Labarge| Unknown| 2 March 1987 (1987-03-02)
2| "Splashdown"| Unknown| Unknown| 9 March 1987 (1987-03-09)
3| "Cordon Blues"| Unknown| Unknown| 16 March 1987 (1987-03-16)
4| "Too Good to Be True"| Unknown| Unknown| 23 March 1987 (1987-03-23)
5| "Design for Living"| Unknown| Unknown| 30 March 1987 (1987-03-30)
6| "Scene from a Balcony"| Unknown| Unknown| 6 April 1987 (1987-04-06)
7| "Reunion"| Unknown| Unknown| 13 April 1987 (1987-04-13)
8| "Love Interests"| Unknown| Linda Svendsen| 20 April 1987 (1987-04-20)
9| "Happy Sixteenth"| Unknown| Dan Sexton| 4 May 1987 (1987-05-04)
10| "A Second Look"| Unknown| Unknown| 18 May 1987 (1987-05-18)
11| "Charge!"| Unknown| Unknown| 25 May 1987 (1987-05-25)
12| "The Write Stuff"| Unknown| Linda Svendsen| 1 June 1987 (1987-06-01)
13| "Dinner at Eight"| Unknown| Unknown| 8 June 1987 (1987-06-08)

## References

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1. ^ "Airwaves a show with a difference - and mother doesn't know best". Montreal Gazette, May 2, 1987.
2. ^ a b c d "Airwaves gets back to basics after reaching too far". Ottawa Citizen, February 27, 1987.
3. ^ Posesorski, Sheri (25 January 1986). "Chance meeting brings actress back to Toronto". The Globe and Mail. p. P9.
4. ^ a b Corcelli, John (April 2006). "Airwaves". Canadian Communications Foundation. Retrieved 2007-03-04.
5. ^ "Airwaves fails to live up to its potential". The Globe and Mail, March 15, 1986.
6. ^ "Shaking down hosts and bolstering Airwaves". The Globe and Mail, March 21, 1987.
7. ^ a b "Snapped off". Toronto Star, June 10, 1987.
8. ^ "Year later, YTV and Vision TV mature". Ottawa Citizen, September 6, 1989.

## External links

[edit]

* Airwaves at IMDb

*[No.]: Number