This imaginative and ambitious Canadian pre-teen children’s series was a major success story for CTV.
Each show had songs and skits performed by the resident cast (11-year-olds Doug, Harry, Suzin and Cathy) and a number of adult guest performers in various settings, including a concert stage, a giant pinball machine, and even a Tinker Toy set.
There were remote video inserts with Canadian celebrities talking about and presenting their favourite parts of Canada and “What does your mom/dad do?” segments in which kids narrated videos of their parents at their jobs.
There were also quizzes, magicians, advice segments and dramatisations of typical children’s problems and suggested solutions.
Kidstuff was produced in the studios of CFCF-TV Montreal and debuted in September 1975 on Saturdays at 10:00 am. Though only 26 original episodes were produced, such was the quality and originality of the material that it continued to appeal to new and returning viewers in repeats for a four-year span.
The series won a gold medal at the International Film and Television Awards in New York and an ACTRA Award in 1976. An LP was issued featuring many of the songs used during the series.
Doug
Doug Springall Harry
Harry Coates Suzin
Suzin Schiff Cathy
Cathy Cornell
