''Krazy House'' is 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 ...

comedy television miniseries which aired on

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-l ...

in 1977. It was an anthology series of several different sketch programmes independently written, performed and produced by different performers in different cities. Members of the

Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...

were involved in writing and performing in Toronto-shot episodes 1, 2 and 5 (though

Dave Broadfoot Dave Broadfoot (December 5, 1925 – November 1, 2016) was a Canadian comedian and satirist. He is best known for his performances as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce.Luba Goy Luba Goy ( uk, Люба Ґой; born November 8, 1945) is a Canadian actress, comedian and one of the stars of ''Royal Canadian Air Farce''. Life and career Goy was born in Haltern, Germany, to Ukrainian parents and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Ca ...

were the only Air Farce members to appear on-screen), while episodes 3 and 4 were shot in Vancouver and featured the cast of

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

's ''Dr. Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show''. Episode 6 featured a cast of unknowns, and was not connected to either the Air Farce or Bundolo troupes. Twenty-one years later, Air Farce members

Roger Abbott Roger Abbott (July 10, 1946March 26, 2011) was an English-born Canadian sketch comedian who was a founding member of the long-lived Canadian comedy troupe ''Royal Canadian Air Farce'', and remained one of its stars and writers until his death. Ea ...

and Don Ferguson would create and produce a similar sketch-based anthology series: the 1998/99 CBC show ''

SketchCom ''SketchCom'' was a 1998 Canadian television comedy series, created by Roger Abbott and Don Ferguson of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. The series aired on Monday evenings, 7:30 pm in most time zones. The first of the series' 13 episodes aired ...

''.

Scheduling

This half-hour series was broadcast Wednesdays at 10:30 p.m. (Eastern) from 12 January to 23 February 1977.

Episodes

* 12 and 19 January 1977: these episodes of various sketches were created by

writers and performers. John Morgan, Dave Broadfoot, Roger Abbott and Don Ferguson were writers;

Dave Broadfoot Dave Broadfoot (December 5, 1925 – November 1, 2016) was a Canadian comedian and satirist. He is best known for his performances as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce.Heath Lamberts Heath Lamberts, (December 15, 1941 – February 22, 2005) was a Canadian actor.Robert Crew, "Lamberts, 63, stage's mirth master". ''Toronto Star'', February 23, 2005. He was born James Lancaster in Toronto, Ontario, where, as a boy, he won ...

Elizabeth Shepherd Elizabeth Shepherd (born 12 August 1936) is an English character actress whose long career has encompassed the stage and both the big and small screens. Her television work has been especially prolific. Shepherd's surname has been variously ren ...

and

Billy Van William Allan Van Evera (11 August 1934 – 8 January 2003), known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor, and singer. Biography Van was born in Toronto, Ontario, and dropped out of Bloor Collegiate Institute in Grade ...

starred. George Bloomfield directed. * 26 January 1977 and 9 February 1977: these episodes adapted

's ''Dr. Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show''; Jeff Groberman and Don Thatchuk writers; produced in Vancouver; starring Bill Buck, Norman Grohman, Bill Reiter with guests Barbara Barsky, Nancy Dolman,

Ross Petty Ross Petty (born August 29, 1946) is a Canadian actor and theatre producer. He is best known for his eponymous production company, which staged what were promoted as "family musical" theatre productions in the British pantomime tradition in Toront ...

and Susan Wright. Don Kowalchuk directed. * 16 February 1977: "Now Look Here"; John David Morgan writer; starring

Heath Lamberts Heath Lamberts, (December 15, 1941 – February 22, 2005) was a Canadian actor.Robert Crew, "Lamberts, 63, stage's mirth master". ''Toronto Star'', February 23, 2005. He was born James Lancaster in Toronto, Ontario, where, as a boy, he won ...

Luba Goy Luba Goy ( uk, Люба Ґой; born November 8, 1945) is a Canadian actress, comedian and one of the stars of ''Royal Canadian Air Farce''. Life and career Goy was born in Haltern, Germany, to Ukrainian parents and raised in Ottawa, Ontario, Ca ...

, Doug Chamberlain, Peggy Mahlon,

Harvey Atkin Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in ''Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in ''Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Sh ...

, and Charles Kirby. Eric House and Chris Braden directed, Bill Lynn produced. * 23 February 1977: Jack Sampson producer; Martin Lavut director; Christopher Langham writer

Reception

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 (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'' television critic Keith Ashford, reviewing the first episode to be broadcast on 12 January, blasted the series as "unfunny, uninteresting and shamelessly derivative", noting that a sketch featuring marital counselling was taken from a

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

routine. Dennis Braithwaite of

The 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 part ...

, meanwhile, issued a rave review of the show on 18 February, calling it "as light as a souffle, as brilliant as a diamond", and claiming it was "only rivalled by Global's '' Second City''", then still in its first season on TV. However, reviewing the episode of 23 February, Braithwaite noted that the performers he had earlier praised were all now absent from the series, and that the resulting episode was "awful, terrible, beyond question the worst attempt at humour that even the CBC has ever made."

References

External links

* {{Authority control CBC Television original programming 1977 Canadian television series debuts 1977 Canadian television series endings