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What a welcome arrival to CBC's programming this show was. After wasting most of my Saturday nights watching Keon, Ellis, Ullman, Sittler and the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs blow another hockey game, I was ready for some laughs. If there was enough time between the end of the game and 11:00 news, "Stay Tuned" provided them in spades!

This was NOT a Second City production, but the show depended heavily on Second City performers. I don't recall many from the cast, but Eugene Levy and Jayne Eastwood definitely stand out in my vague memory.

My favorite episodes were when the cast did a spoof of the 1958 cinematic sci-fi stinker, "Queen of Outer Space", starring Paul Birch. The actual film was screened (sound muted), while actors provided improvised dialogue from an off-screen venue, a unique concept at the time. After that, I always watched out for them to do another film this way again and I believe for a time they made their film spoofs a regular segment.

This idea was the probable predecessor to the brilliant and popular Mystery Science Theater 3000 concept that has entertained so many of us these many years later.

The time-slot was the worst possible for any program in Canada, because it aired after Saturday night hockey, which with 1970's trademark bench-clearing brawls and etc., often ran past 10:30 pm. This meant the show itself had anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes of airtime, depending on the length of the preceding game/punch-fest. I guess the only good thing about the time was that the show drew in viewers like me, disillusioned and frustrated hockey fans who went on to become huge fans of SCTV and SNL.

If any old CBC employees kept a video of the "Queen Of Outer Space" spoof, I'd be interested in purchasing a copy. This brilliant satire is one of those golden memories from my childhood.

I have been a hockey fan for almost 40 years and have collected almost every dramatic film ever made about the sport. But, I'd have to say that "The Rocket" is far and away, the best one ever made. The cinematography is stunning, the acting spellbinding and the story gripping. It tells the story of a simple and tortured man who drives himself to excel at the sport he loves. It leads him to become the reluctant hero of French-Canadian culture, self-perceived as being held back and oppressed by the anglophones.

Roy Dupuis, who portrayed Maurice in no less than two other cinematic projects, perfectly captures the fire and intensity of the man in a most fitting, if not THE crowning tribute, to the legend of Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. Biname goes to great lengths to duplicate the look and feel of the late-30s, on into the mid-50s and certainly captures the collective agony and anger of early-to-mid 20th century French Canada.

Julie LeBreton is beautiful and amazing as Richard's wife, Lucille. Notable also are the cameo appearances made by NHLers Sean Avery (Bob Dill), Vincent Lecavalier (Jean Beliveau); Mike Ricci (Elmer Lach), Ian Laperierre (Boom Boom Geoffrion) and Stephane Quintal (Dollard St. Laurent). What "Slap Shot" proved, "The Rocket" confirms. Pro hockey players are damn good actors!

I realize funding for this movie was brought up in the infamous "Sponsorship Scandal" that dissolved former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal government in 2006, but you can't fault it at any level. It was worth every cent used to make it and it will be hard for Canadian cinema to duplicate this level of quality ever again.

This was a great adventure series out of France that appeared during the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation "after-school" kid's TV series, "Razzle Dazzle". Thierry was not only an unmatched sling man, but the savvy leader of a band of French rebels during the Hundred Year War.

Jean-Claude Drouot portrayed Thierry of Janville, who begins the series as a young lord betrayed out of his title and property by conniving steward, Florent, played by Jean-Claude Deret. Actress Celine Leger played his love interest, Isabelle. Joined by his friends, Thierry becomes a "Robin Hood" type of character and fights undercover to end the iron rule of the ruthless Brits.

I remember the adventure was top-notch and very watchable. Thierry La Fronde was unique in that it portrayed the English as the bad guys and the French as the heroes. In Canada, we were used to English television portraying the Brits and the Yanks as the heroes. The dialogue was often hard to follow because, being dubbed into English, the lip movements often didn't match the spoken words.

I hope this isn't giving anything away, but the last episode had the most disappointing ending I can ever recall seeing on TV and I hope to one day see the series again to see if things really turned out the way I remembered.