''Coming Up Rosie'' was a Canadian children's

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

, aired for three seasons from 1975–1978.

Premise

The show focused on a group of tenants in an office building located at 99 Sumach Street,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

. Rosemary Radcliffe played the title character, aspiring Canadian documentary film-maker Rosie Tucker. The initial cast also included

Fiona Reid Fiona Reid, CM (born 24 July 1951) is an English-born Canadian television, film, and stage actress. She is best known for her roles as Cathy on the TV series '' King of Kensington'' and Harriet Miller in the film ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding''. ...

as Mona Swicker, an operator for the Ringading Telephone Answering Service; John Stoker as elevator operator Dwayne Kramer; Dan Hennessey as Ralph Oberding, salesman for the Neva-Rust Storm Door Company; Barry Baldaro as Rosie's production assistant Dudley Nightshade; and

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, producer, musician and writer. He was an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1979). During his tenure on ''SNL'' ...

as building janitor/superintendent Purvis Bickle. Aykroyd appeared as a regular in this series concurrently with his star-making turn on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...

'', which debuted less than a month after ''Coming Up Rosie''. The name of Aykroyd's character ("Purvis Bickle") seemingly parodied the name of the disturbed "hero" of the 1976 film ''

Taxi Driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying and ...

'', cab driver

Travis Bickle Travis Bickle is a fictional character and the anti-hero protagonist of the 1976 film ''Taxi Driver'' directed by Martin Scorsese. The character was created by the film's screenwriter Paul Schrader. He is played by Robert De Niro, who received a ...

...however, the film coincidentally debuted five months ''after'' this TV series began. Cast member Fiona Reid was cast on '' King of Kensington'' almost simultaneously with the start of ''Coming Up Rosie'', and citing her lack of improvisational skills ("I wasn't comfortable....''Rosie'' demands a great improvisational head. I need set lines."), left ''Coming Up Rosie'' only a few months after its debut. Aykroyd also left the show after its first season. Later cast members -- replacing Aykroyd and Reid -- included

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' ser ...

as Wally Wypyzypychwk, the Ukrainian owner of Sleep-Tite Burglar Alarms, and

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian-American actress. She is known for her comedy work on '' Second City Television'' (1976–84) and ''Schitt's Creek'' (2015–2020) and in films such as '' After Hours'' (1985), '' Beetle ...

as answering service operator Myrna Wallbacker. Both Candy and O'Hara concurrently starred in ''

Second City Television ''Second City Television'', commonly shortened to ''SCTV'' and later known as ''SCTV Network'' and ''SCTV Channel'', is a Canadian television sketch comedy show that ran intermittently between 1976 and 1984. It was created as an offshoot from To ...

'', actually appearing on ''Rosie'' concurrently with their early episodes of SCTV, which began in September 1976. Candy was also a regular on the sitcom '' The David Steinberg Show'' (1976-77) during this period, thereby simultaneously appearing as a regular on three separate series for three different Canadian networks. Many of the actors in this series also appeared in the less successful 1974–1975 CBC series ''

Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins ''Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins'' was a CBC children's television series which ran three afternoons a week from 23 September 1974 to 14 April 1975. Although the show was cancelled after one season, it was notable for the number of cast members who we ...

''.

Broadcast

For the first season, the series aired at 4:30pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The series frequency was reduced to once per week for the remaining seasons, Mondays in 1976-77 and Tuesdays in 1977–78.

Cast

(Purvis Bickle) * Barrie Baldaro (Dudley Nightshade) *

(Wally Wypyzypywchuk) *

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

(Ralph Oberding) *

(Myrna Wallbacker) * Rosemary Radcliffe (Rosie Tucker) *

(Mona Swicker) * John Stocker (Dwayne Kramer)

References

External links

* 1975 Canadian television series debuts 1978 Canadian television series endings CBC Television original programming 1970s Canadian children's television series {{Canada-kids-tv-prog-stub