''This Is the Law'' was a Canadian panel game show which aired 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 ...

from 1971 to 1976.

Description

It presented short, humorous vignettes supposedly set in various towns and cities across Canada which ran with musical accompaniment rather than a soundtrack, and challenged panelists to guess which (obscure) law of that particular region was being broken by the "Lawbreaker" character who was always arrested at the end of the vignette. The vignettes were quite subtle, and more often than not, despite many guesses, the panelists were unable to come up with the law that was actually being broken, because the laws featured were generally archaic but, at the time of production, still on the books in the featured communities. (An example: in one vignette, the Lawbreaker is seen wearing a caveman-style costume at an event and engages in dubious behaviour before being suddenly arrested. After the panel failed to correctly identify the indiscretion, Willis indicated it was because the Lawbreaker's costume did not fully cover his chest, and in the Canadian locale where the vignette was set, it was illegal for individuals of any gender to expose their nipples in public.) The vignettes alternated with depictions of actual court cases, presented in a series of still cartoons, in storyboard format, with narration. The narrator would end by asking a question about how the judge eventually ruled. The four panelists would each guess what the judge decided, and why, and each panelist would conclude by lighting up a large "Yes" or "No" in front of his or her seat. After all four panelists had guessed, the answer would be revealed. Robert Warner starred as the police officer, and

Paul Soles Paul Robert Soles (August 11, 1930 – May 26, 2021) was a Canadian character actor, voice artist and television personality. He voiced the title character in ''Spider-Man'' (1967), and portrayed Hermey in the 1964 television special ''Rudolph ...

portrayed the Lawbreaker. Soles was the first show host, but after the initial 1971 summer episodes,

Austin Willis Alexander Austin Willis, (30 September 1917 – 4 April 2004) was a Canadian actor and television host. Biography Austin was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia to parents Alexander Samuel and Emma Graham (Pushie) Willis. His older brother, J. Fran ...

became host, from the regular 1971 fall season until the end of the series.

Cast

Panelists

* Julie Amato (1976) * Bill Charlton (businessman by profession) * Susan Gay (1971–1972) * Susan Keller (1972–1975) * Madeline Kronby (June–August 1971) *

Dini Petty Dini Petty (born January 15, 1945) is a Canadians, Canadian television and radio host. At 22, wearing a trademark pink jumpsuit and working for Toronto radio station CHKT (AM), CKEY, she became the first female traffic reporter to pilot her own h ...

(1971) *

Hart Pomerantz Hart Pomerantz is a Canadian lawyer and television personality, best known for his collaboration with ''Saturday Night Live'' producer Lorne Michaels in ''The Hart and Lorne Terrific Hour'' and to Canadian audiences for his many appearances as a r ...

(lawyer and comedian by profession) *

Larry Solway Lawrence S. "Larry" Solway (13 August 1928 – 9 January 2012) was a Canadian actor and broadcaster. Career During the 1960s he hosted radio programmes at CHUM in Toronto such as the early Canadian talk show ''Speak Your Mind''. He left th ...

(1971–1975)

Supporting vignette actors

* Paul Bradley *

Valri Bromfield Valri Bromfield (born February 10, 1949) is a Canadian comedian, actress, writer, and television producer who started her career as one half of a comedy team with Dan Aykroyd. Together, they joined the first Toronto company of The Second City wh ...

* Eric Clavering *

Trudy Desmond Trudy Desmond (October 11, 1945 – 19 February 1999) was a Canadian jazz singer. Career After moving from New York to Toronto, she worked as an actress, interior designer, club manager, and theatrical producer. She was one of the 16 original me ...

* Robert McHeady *

Monica Parker Monica may refer to: People *Monica (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress * Mônica (footballer, born 1978) (Mônica Angélica de Paula) * Mônica (footb ...

External links

Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series: ''This is the Law''
accessed 14 August 2006

accessed 16 May 2016 * 1970s Canadian game shows Canadian legal television series CBC Television original programming 1971 Canadian television series debuts 1975 Canadian television series endings {{game-tv-prog-stub