''On the Spot'' was the first

television 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 television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

made specifically for TV by the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

, 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 ...

from 1953 to 1955. Each episode reported on a different aspect of life in Canada. The series was originated by

Bernard Devlin Bernard Devlin, (December 15, 1824 – February 7, 1880) was an Irish-born lawyer, counsel to the Abraham Lincoln administration of the United States Government during the most northerly engagement of the United States Civil War, Quebec-b ...

.Allan, Blaine
"CBC Television Series, 1952-1982."
''Queen's Film and Media: Queen's University''. Retrieved: January 21, 2016. Series segments were produced with a three-person crew: a director, cameraman and on-screen host, usually Fred Davis. The series debuted on October 6, 1953, at 7:45 pm and ran until June 30, 1954, for a total of 39 episodes. Episodes were initially 15 minutes in length. However, the NFB asked the CBC to increase the time slot to 30 minutes for the second season. The series changed time slots frequently, playing as late as 11:45 pm on Monday nights before going to Sundays at 4:30 pm. The second season aired on Sundays at 10 pm. Cancelled after the 26 episodes of the second season, ''On the Spot'' was replaced by '' Perspective'', a 30-minute show that mixed documentary reports and dramatizations on contemporary Canadian issues.Ohayon, Albert
"On the Spot: The NFB in the early days of television."
''

''(NFB.ca), April 14, 2010. Retrieved: January 21, 2016.

Episodes

Episodes included ''Survival in the Bush'', with producer Robert Anderson, acting as host, apparently dropped off in the Quebec north armed with just an axe; ''The Dresden Story'', looking at racism in a small Ontario town, where the town's white and black populations insisted on being filmed separately; and ''Artist in Montreal,'' written and directed by

Jean Palardy Jean Palardy (1905November 28, 1991) was a French-Canadian painter, art historian, ethnologist and filmmaker. Biography Born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Palardy moved with his family to Canada as a child in 1908, one of eight children. He was ...

, looking at the Automatistes movement. ''

Transpacific Flight A transpacific flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Pacific Ocean from Asia or Australia to North America, Central America, or South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, balloons and other t ...

'' involved an account of a flight across the Pacific Ocean in 1953, based on first-person interviews of the flight crew by Fred Davis. Another aviation-themed episode was ''

Radar Station Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weat ...

'' (1953). The documentary involved an account of a visit to a

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

station while it is involved in a simulated air attack, and is based on first-person interviews by

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environme ...

Squadron Leader Bill Lee, of the staff at the radar station.Armbruster, Fred
"National Film Board Videos: Radar Station".
''Canadian Civil Defence Museum Association''. 2012. Retrieved: January 20, 2016. One episode that was cancelled was a segment on the workings of the

Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...

, with a mock session with actual

members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

. When the film was shown to the Prime Minister's Office, there were complaints about showing a session of Parliament without including the PM and the NFB was forced to shelve the episode.

''Sur le vif''

Devlin and the NFB also produced a similar French series, ''Sur le vif''. Twenty-six 15-minute episodes of ''Sur le vif'' aired on

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

from October 1954.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Complete list of ''On the Spot'' episodesOn The Spot
- Canadian Communication Foundation National Film Board of Canada documentary series CBC Television original programming 1953 Canadian television series debuts 1954 Canadian television series endings 1950s Canadian documentary television series Black-and-white Canadian television shows