This Hour Has Seven Days

HOME

TheInfoList

Click Here for Items Related To - This Hour Has Seven Days

OR:

This Hour Has Seven Days on: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Amazon]

''This Hour Has Seven Days'' was a CBC Television

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

that ran from 1964 to 1966, offering viewers in-depth analysis of the major social and political stories of the previous week. The show, inspired by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and

NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

series ''

That Was the Week That Was ''That Was the Week That Was'', informally ''TWTWTW'' or ''TW3'', is a satirical television comedy programme that aired on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced, and directed by Ned Sherrin and Jack (aka John) Duncan, and pr ...

'', was created by Patrick Watson and Douglas Leiterman as an avenue for a more stimulating and boundary-pushing brand of television journalism. CBC executives believed the controversial show went beyond the limits of

journalistic ethics Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional "code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...

and cancelled the show, leading to allegations of political interference. The show set new standards of

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

in Canada and the United States, and many of its elements inspired the

tabloid talk show A tabloid talk show is a subgenre of the talk show genre that emphasizes controversial and sensationalistic topical subject matter. The subgenre originated in the United States and achieved peak viewership from the mid-1980s through the end of t ...

genre in later decades.

Overview

Hosts and contributors

''This Hour Has Seven Days'' was initially hosted by John Drainie, Laurier LaPierre, and Carole Simpson (not to be confused with the now-retired

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

weekend news anchor of the same name); Simpson was soon replaced by

Dinah Christie Dinah Barbara Christie (born 1942) is a Canadian actress and singer. Christie was born in London, England. One of the five children of actors Robert and Margot Christie, she came to Canada at the age of two with her parents and grew up in Toront ...

, and Watson himself replaced Drainie in the show's second season when Drainie (who died in 1966) was too ill to continue with the series. It had a production staff of as many as 40 people, with a roster of producers responsible for separate segments. Contributing personalities—known at various times as story editors, writers, directors, and producers—included Charles Backhouse,

Donald Brittain Donald Code Brittain, (June 10, 1928 – July 21, 1989) was a film director and producer with the National Film Board of Canada. Career ''Fields of Sacrifice'' (1964) is considered Brittain's first major film as director. His other notable ...

, Cecily Burwash, Jim Carney, Roy Faibish, Beryl Fox, Allan King,

Tom Koch Thomas Freeman Koch (May 13, 1925 – March 22, 2015) was an American humorist and writer. He wrote for ''Mad Magazine'' for 37 years. Early life Koch (pronounced "Cook") was born in Charleston, Illinois, and spent his youth in Indianapolis b ...

, Heinz Kornagel,

Sam Levene Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and dr ...

, Brian Nolan, Charles Oberdorf, Peter Pearson, Alexander Ross, Warner Troyer, Jack Webster, and Larry Zolf.

Content

''This Hour Has Seven Days'' debuted on October 4, 1964, replacing the Cliff Solway-produced series ''

Background Background may refer to: Performing arts and stagecraft * Background actor * Background artist * Background light * Background music * Background story * Background vocals * ''Background'' (play), a 1950 play by Warren Chetham-Strode Record ...

''. The show used a one-hour

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

format which combined satirical songs (performed by Simpson or Christie) and sketches with

hard news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

interviews, reports, and documentaries. It also played a major role in bringing to public attention issues that had been suppressed or made taboo both in television and society as a whole. Leiterman and Watson divided the show into different components, which varied in length and weight from broadcast to broadcast. As a review of the week's events, ''Seven Days'' would rely on film reports, linked with contexts and updates from the studio hosts. ''Seven Days'' combined two types of public affairs television. Following the first type, the show employed the direct-cinema techniques of contemporary documentary filmmaking to cover issues of

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefor ...

in depth through hour-long film essays. Second, the show invigorated discussions with public policymakers, and helped establish television as a medium of public accountability. Interviews were drawn from the latter style of broadcast, and were labelled the "Hot Seat," proposed as a "tough encounter with a prominent guest who is hot in the news and prepared to be grilled." The "Small World" segment added the element of a studio audience for interview sessions. The producers also planned to include background commentary by a range of Canadian and foreign broadcasters and writers; among them they proposed

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.James Reston James Barrett Reston (November 3, 1909 – December 6, 1995), nicknamed "Scotty", was an American journalist whose career spanned the mid-1930s to the early 1990s. He was associated for many years with ''The New York Times.'' Early lif ...

, Blair Fraser,

Rebecca West Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

Gérard Pelletier Gérard Pelletier, (June 21, 1919 – June 22, 1997) was a Canadian journalist and politician. Career Pelletier initially worked as a journalist for ''Le Devoir'', a French-language newspaper in Montreal, Quebec. In 1961 he became editor-i ...

, James Wechsler, Simone de Beauvoir, and future Canadian Prime Minister

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

. Once each month, ''Seven Days'' was replaced by ''Document'' (1964–66), a single-item documentary series, also produced by Leiterman and Watson. One documentary commissioned by ''Document'', Fox's

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

film '' The Mills of the Gods: Viet Nam'', winner of Film of the Year at the

Canadian Film Awards The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

, became one of the most famous documentary films ever produced about the war, with editing by

Don Haig Don Haig (22 July 1933 — 2 March 2002) was a Canadian filmmaker, editor, and producer. His work in film and television spanned nearly five decades. Over the course of his career, he won Academy, Genie, and Gemini awards, and the Governor Gener ...

. Earlier, the creative team of Fox and Haig, along with cameramen

Richard Leiterman Richard Leiterman (March 7, 1935 – July 14, 2005) was a Canadian cinematographer, best known for documentary and feature film work in the 1960s and 1970s. His cinéma vérité, or direct camera, style helped define Canadian cinema at the time. ...

, John Foster and Grahame Woods, had gone to Mississippi to cover Freedom Summer following the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in August 1964. The result, known as '' Summer in Mississippi'', won a

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

for Best TV Information and was shown on ''Seven Days''. One of the most dramatic techniques was to ambush politicians and other figures at their homes or on their way to work and ask them difficult questions.

Select episodes and issues covered

As an example of the broad scope of each episode of ''Seven Days'', consider the one that aired on the January 1, 1966 episode. It featured:

Brian Nolan Brian Nolan (born November 28, 1979) is an American actor and producer, best known for starring as Frankie on all current seasons of Here! TV’s ''The Lair'' and as a producer on the Netflix films '' Secret Obsession'' and ''Fatal Affair''. As ...

's interview with surrealist artist

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

; Ken Lefolii's interview with reporter Richard Dudman, who was blamed for upsetting peace negotiations in

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

; Robert Hoyt and Douglas Leiterman's interview with Washington columnist Max Freedman concerning President Lyndon Johnson's performance in the latest peace offensive; a comedy sketch by

Stan Daniels Stanley Edwin Daniels (July 31, 1934 – April 6, 2007) was a Canadian-American screenwriter, producer and director, who won eight Emmy Awards for his work on ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' and ''Taxi''. Early life Born in Toronto to Jewish pa ...

and Barry Baldaro portraying future events in Rhodesia; a report on increased U.S. usage of chemical and biological weapons; a satirical report on Ronald Reagan's gubernatorial candidacy in California accompanied by film clips from some of his films; Dinah Christies' interview with actor Peter Ustinov, cartoonist

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...

, and writer Stan Freburg, regarding the 1960s; Larry Zolf's man-in-the-street interviews in London gauging public recognition of Canadian Prime Minister

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles "Mike" Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian scholar, statesman, diplomat, and politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. Born in Newtonbrook, Ontario (now part of ...

; and finally a round table discussion with Finance Minister Mitchell Sharp who discusses public life, federal-provincial relations, foreign ownership and Canada's economic condition. The show was also instrumental in news coverage of the

Munsinger Affair The Munsinger affair was Canada's first national political sex scandal in 1966. The affair involved Gerda Munsinger, a German citizen who had been convicted in Germany as a common prostitute, a petty thief and a smuggler, who emigrated to Canada ...

, a 1966 sex scandal involving former federal Minister of Defence Pierre Sévigny. When Zolf showed up on Sévigny's doorstep in pursuit of the story, Sévigny whacked Zolf on the head with his cane.

Allan Fotheringham Allan Fotheringham (August 31, 1932August 19, 2020) was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He styled himself Dr. Foth and "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words". Early life Fotheringham was born ...

, ''Birds of a Feather: The Press and the Politicians'' (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1989). Among other controversies inspired by the show, LaPierre was once shown wiping away tears on the air after a filmed interview pertaining to the Steven Truscott case,"Amid CBC turmoil, 'This Hour Has Seven Days' stands out as Golden Age"
''

Victoria Times-Colonist The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily C ...

'', November 27, 2014. a report on the

Miss Canada Miss Canada is a beauty pageant for young women in Canada. It was founded in Hamilton in 1946. No title was awarded from 1993 through 2008. The trademark was purchased in 2009 by a Québec organization who produces the pageant under the name to ...

pageant was criticized as journalistic "poaching" because the rival CTV Television Network had exclusive coverage rights to the event, and an interview with members of the Ku Klux Klan was deliberately engineered to provoke an on-air reaction when a black civil rights activist was brought in, unannounced, to join the interview partway through.

History

Created by Patrick Watson and Douglas Leiterman, ''This Hour Has Seven Days'' debuted on October 4, 1964, with a

studio audience A studio audience is an audience present for the recording of all or part of a television program or radio program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack (as opposed to canned ...

, unheard of for a news show at the time. The debut episode featured music by

, who sang original tunes based on the news of the week, and an interview with Marguerite Oswald, mother of

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...

. The show was initially hosted by John Drainie, Laurier LaPierre, and Carole Simpson (not to be confused with the now-retired

weekend news anchor of the same name); Simpson was soon replaced by Christie. In the show's second season, Watson himself replaced Drainie as co-host, after the latter (who died in 1966) was too ill to continue with the series. This would leave Leiterman as the sole executive producer.

Cancellation

Concerned about the show's approach to the news, the CBC fired hosts Watson and LaPierre in April 1966, just before the end of the TV season; Lapierre's tears following the Truscott report, purportedly betraying a

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...

in his reporting, were cited as the pretext for the firing. This resulted in a public outcry for weeks as viewers organized demonstrations, wrote letters and made angry phone calls, CBC staff threatened to resign, newspaper editorials fulminated about political interference in the decision, and politicians demanded a

parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

inquiry. A parliamentary committee hearing was convened, and

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Lester Pearson appointed ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' publisher Stu Keate as a special investigator. CBC president Alphonse Ouimet told the committee that CBC management had been battling the show's producers for two years, and that the show had consistently ignored CBC policies. Following two weeks of mediation, Keate said it was clear that there had been "mistakes made on both sides" and recommended that the CBC board of directors do a better job of explaining to the public its decision to fire Watson and LaPierre. CBC directors immediately reaffirmed the firing of Watson and LaPierre, while admitting that the way they were fired had been a mistake. The dispute heated up again in July, leading producer Douglas Leiterman to halt work on a new season of programs."Leiterman suspends work on '7 Days'," ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', July 6, 1966, p.1 Leiterman said he was told by CBC that his contract for the show would only be renewed if he signed a pledge to behave himself, and that he believed that Bud Walker—the CBC vice-president who had fired Watson and LaPierre—had been given a promotion to oversee all CBC English programming. The CBC denied that Walker had been promoted, fired Leiterman and cancelled the show.

Legacy

''Seven Days'' set new standards of

in Canada and the United States. Shortly after it ended, the rival CTV Television Network launched a similar program called '' W5'', which continues to air to this day (Watson contributed to this series on occasion). '' 60 Minutes'' and ''The Fifth Estate'' were two others shows that debuted within fewer than 10 years of ''Seven Days''' cancellation. It later also inspired the Canadian sketch comedy series ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics w ...

'', which took both its name and a comedic variation on ''Seven Days''-style ambush interviews from the earlier show. Watson continued to produce programming for the CBC, including the 1988 documentary series ''The Struggle for Democracy''. He also produces and narrates '' The Heritage Minutes'', which are made for the

Historica Foundation Historica Canada is a Canadian Charitable organization (Canada), charitable organization dedicated to promoting the Canadian history, country's history and Canadian citizenship, citizenship. All of its programs are offered bilingually and reach mo ...

and given to all broadcasters who want them (receiving some 50,000 showings per year across Canada). In 1989, he was named chairman of the CBC, a position he held until 1994. LaPierre, who also continued to produce CBC programming and authored a number of books on Canadian history, was named to the Senate in 2001. He died in Ottawa in December 2012. Christie continued to work as a singer and comedic actress. In 2001, the CBC reaired a number of old episodes of ''Seven Days'' as a summer series. In 2002, the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada honoured ''This Hour Has Seven Days'' as a MasterWorks recipient. In 2014, the October 24, 1965 episode of the series was screened at the Canadian International Television Festival in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. This episode featured the Ku Klux Klan segment noted above, as well as an invitation to political party leaders to appear on the show as part of the 1965 election campaign, a report on the shooting death of a policeman in Sudbury, an election "poll" of homeless men, interviews with

Bob Guccione Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ( ; December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine '' Penthouse'' in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner's ''Playboy' ...

and

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

, a feature profile on boxer

George Chuvalo George Louis Chuvalo, CM (born September 12, 1937 as Jure Čuvalo) is a Canadian former professional boxer who was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger. He is known for having never been kno ...

, and a comedic sketch mocking Prime Minister Lester Pearson and British Prime Minister Harold Wilson's negotiations to have the Canadian government purchase military aircraft from the United Kingdom.

''Document'' series

''Document'' was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

documentary television series that aired once a month on CBC Television from 1962 to 1969. This innovative series featured various documentaries, employing both direct cinema and traditional documentary techniques. The series, appearing on occasional random days and times, was given a monthly schedule in 1965 as a mid-year replacement for ''This Hour Has Seven Days''. The ''

Toronto Telegram ''The Toronto Evening Telegram'' was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at the federal and the provincial levels. The paper competed w ...

''s Chester Bloom expressed criticism of bias over the broadcast of "The Servant of All" episode of September 16, 1962. Bloom's politics sided with the Progressive Conservative party.

Production

The first executive producers for this series were Patrick Watson and Douglas Leiterman, whose intention was to air a documentary approximately each month to provide a detailed treatment of a subject. By the second season, Leiterman became executive producer on ''This Hour Has Seven Days'' and concentrated his work on that series; Watson became a host of ''Document'' at that time. Richard Nielsen became executive producer during the final episodes.

''Document'' episodes

References

External links

*
This Hour has Seven Days
' at '' CBC Digital Archives'' * {{IMDb title, 0168389
''This Hour Has Seven Days''
at

Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archi ...

Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series
via archive.org) 1964 Canadian television series debuts 1966 Canadian television series endings Black-and-white Canadian television shows 1960s Canadian television news shows CBC Television original programming CBC News English-language television shows Political scandals in Canada