''Jake and the Kid'' is a Canadian television drama series, which aired on the

CanWest Global Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...

system of stations in the 1990s. The second television adaptation of

W. O. Mitchell William Ormond Mitchell, (March 13, 1914 – February 25, 1998) was a Canadian writer and broadcaster. His "best-loved" novel is '' Who Has Seen the Wind'' (1947), which portrays life on the Canadian Prairies from the point of view of a smal ...

's 1961 short story collection ''

Jake and the Kid ''Jake and the Kid'' is a collection of short stories by W. O. Mitchell, originally published in 1961. Many stories in the series appeared in ''Maclean's'' prior to the book's publication. Mitchell also published a sequel volume, ''According to J ...

'', the series is set in the small town of Crocus,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, and centres on the friendship between Ben "the Kid" Osborne (Ben Campbell), a young boy growing up on a farm with his widowed mother Julia (

Patricia Harras Patricia Harras, sometimes credited as Patti Harras, is a Canadian actress from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is most noted for her regular role as Julia Osborne in the television series '' Jake and the Kid'', for which she won the Gemini Award for Bes ...

), and Jake Trumper (

Shaun Johnston Shaun Johnston is a Canadian movie and theatre actor best known for his role as Jack Bartlett on the CBC drama ''Heartland'', which debuted in October 2007. He co-founded the Shadow Theatre in Edmonton and made his first professional forays ...

), a farmhand who becomes Ben's surrogate father figure. The supporting cast includes Fred Keating, Brian Taylor,

Lorne Cardinal Lorne Cardinal (born 6 January 1964) is a Canadian stage, television and film actor, best known for portraying Davis Quinton on ''Corner Gas''. He is a former rugby union player. Early life Cardinal was born on a reserve of the Sucker Creek ...

, Warren Ward,

Jenny Cooper Jenny Cooper (formerly credited as Jenny Levine) is a Canadian actress. She made her professional debut in 1995 as series star Molly in the Canadian TV series ''Jake and the Kid'' as the series regular Molly, went on to star in the Showtime ser ...

, Marty Chan, Joe Norman Shaw, Henry Ramer,

Tom Cavanagh Thomas Cavanagh (born October 26, 1963) is a Canadian actor. He is known for a variety of roles on American television, including starring roles in '' Ed'' (2000–2004), ''Love Monkey'' (2006) and '' Trust Me'' (2009), and recurring roles on ...

, Chad Krowchuk, Gabrielle Rose, Michael Hogan, Edanna Andrews,

Julie Khaner Julie Khaner (born December 5, 1957) is a Canadian television and film actress, best known for her roles in as Alana Newman Robinovitch in '' Street Legal'', Emily Henchpaw in the 1995 version of ''Jake and the Kid'', Sidney Dernhoff in '' The Ne ...

and

Robert Clothier Robert Allan Clothier, DFC (October 21, 1921 – February 10, 1999) was a Canadian stage and television actor most famous for his role as Relic on the CBC television series, ''The Beachcombers''. Biography Like many of his contemporaries, ...

. Mitchell's original stories were set during the Great Depression; for the series, however, the temporal setting was updated to the 1950s.Tony Atherton, "Jake and the Kid has some growing to do before it makes good". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

'', December 16, 1995. The series additionally consisted largely of original scripts featuring Mitchell's characters, rather than straight dramatizations of the original stories. Although set in Saskatchewan, it was filmed in and around Leduc,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Production and distribution

The first season premiered on December 16, 1995 and ran until March 9, 1996, and a second season was announced as part of the network's 1996–97 schedule. Due to a loss of $500,000 in production funding when the provincial government of Alberta shut down the Alberta Motion Picture Development Corporation, the network declined to order a third season; although it committed to air the second season that had already been commissioned, by agreement with the producers it delayed the scheduling so that they could attempt to reach a deal to continue the series with another network. However, the producers also alleged that Global was dropping the series in retaliation for the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's concurrent denial of CanWest's applications for new stations in Calgary and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The second season premiered on May 24, 1997. The producers did not succeed in finding a new network deal; in October 1997, its sets and props were auctioned off. The series was aired in repeats by YTV in 1998–99, and by Global in 2000. In the US, the series aired on Showtime Family Zone in 2003.

Episodes

Season One (1995–96)

Season Two (1997)

Awards

At the

12th Gemini Awards The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television's 12th Gemini Awards were held on March 1, 1998, to honour achievements in Canadian television. There were two awards ceremonies in 1998; the 13th was held on October 4, 1998. The 12th awards ceremony ...

in 1998, Harras won the Gemini Award for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role, and the series was a nominee for Best Dramatic Series. The series won four

Rosie Awards The Rosie Awards is the name given to the Alberta Film and Television Awards, presented annually by Alberta Media Production Industries Association (AMPIA). AMPIA is non-profit professional association that supports its members by encouraging the ...

from the Alberta Media Production Industries Association in 1997, for Best Television Series, Best Male Lead Performance (Johnston), Best Dramatic Script and Best Art Direction.Alison Mayes, "Jake and the Kid scoops up Rosies". '' Calgary Herald'', April 27, 1997.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0112023 1995 Canadian television series debuts 1997 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian drama television series Global Television Network original programming Television shows filmed in Alberta Television shows set in Saskatchewan