''Chez Hélène'' is a

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

produced by and broadcast on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

. The 15-minute weekday program was broadcast on the English television network to provide viewers with exposure to the French language. The program was produced at CBC's

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

studios. It began its 14-season run on 26 October 1959, with the final program airing 25 May 1973. Hélène Baillargeon portrayed the title role. Other cast members were Madeline Kronby who portrayed the bilingual Louise, and a mouse puppet named Suzie who generally spoke English. Corinne Orr provided the voice for Suzie. In terms of children's series, the program remained popular in its final season, with a reported 437,000 viewers recorded by BBM in November 1972. But CBC executives cancelled the series, claiming that it had run its course, and that the network's broadcasts of ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'' would incorporate five minutes of French-language segments per episode. By the end of the 1970s, a newer program, '' Passe-Partout'' started airing on CBC Television's French counterpart,

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...

References

External links

Chez Helene
– Canadian Communication Foundation
Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series
via archive.org) * 1959 Canadian television series debuts 1973 Canadian television series endings 1950s Canadian children's television series CBC Television original programming Television shows filmed in Montreal French-language education television programming 1960s Canadian children's television series 1970s Canadian children's television series Black-and-white Canadian television shows Canadian television shows featuring puppetry {{Canada-kids-tv-prog-stub