''Not My Department'' 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 ...

television

sitcom A sitcom, a 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 troupe may use ne ...

, 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 1987.''Not My Department''
TVarchive.ca. The show lasted only a single season. Based on Charles Gordon's

comedic novel A comic novel is a novel-length work of humorous fiction. Many well-known authors have written comic novels, including P. G. Wodehouse, Henry Fielding, Mark Twain, and John Kennedy Toole. Comic novels are often defined by the author's literary ...

''The Governor General's Bunny Hop'',"Shelley Peterson says new sitcom won't embarrass hubby David". ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'', September 26, 1987. the show was essentially an attempt to create a Canadian version of the British sitcom ''

Yes Minister ''Yes Minister'' is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Comprising three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, ''Yes, Prime Minister'', ran for 16 episodes fro ...

''. Prior to its premiere, its original working title was ''Welcome to Ottawa''. The series starred

Harry Ditson Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

as Gerald Angstrum and Shelley Peterson as Margaret Simmons, civil servants in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

working for the Department of Regional Incentive Targets, a government ministry whose sole job was to inherit files that other government ministries did not want to deal with. Robbie O'Neill appeared as Robert, a junior assistant whose distinguishing trait was that he had learned French from watching '' Bleu Nuit'', resulting in him saying things like "You must be hot in all those clothes" in bilingual meetings;"CBC comedy show filed under wrong department". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', October 2, 1987. Alpha Boucher appeared as Henri, the blunt-talking operator of the chip stand outside the department office."Just whose department of unfunny affairs is this?". ''

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 ...

'', October 2, 1987. The cast also included Barry Stevens, Pierre Chagnon,

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor. Career He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952. Wiggins is probably ...

, Robert Benson, Bonnie Brooks, James Edmond and Suzanne Coy. Peterson was the wife of then-

Premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly of On ...

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgro ...

. (Long after the series ended, a few media references mistakenly claimed that David Peterson made a bit part appearance on the series in the role of a janitor, although in reality this occurred on Shelley Peterson's later series ''

Dog House A doghouse, also known as a kennel, is an outbuilding to provide shelter for a dog from various weather conditions. Background Humans and domesticated dogs have been companions for more than 15,000 years, beginning with the wolf and hunter–ga ...

''.) The series premiered on October 2, 1987 on CBC Television's

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

s, although some private affiliates aired it in an alternate time slot or failed to carry it at all. Its debut episode attracted 743,000 viewers,"CBC 'pleased' with ratings for TV comedy". ''

'', October 28, 1987. but critical reviews were highly unfavourable and the show almost immediately dropped fully a third of its initial audience, with just 498,000 viewers in the second week. The CBC cancelled the series on November 14, 1987, after just six episodes had aired."CBC suspends production of Not My Department". ''

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 '' ...

'', November 14, 1987.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0217947, Not My Department CBC Television original programming Canadian political comedy television series Television shows set in Ottawa 1987 Canadian television series debuts 1987 Canadian television series endings 1980s Canadian sitcoms 1980s Canadian workplace comedy television series