''The Barris Beat'' 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 ...

variety television series 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 1956 to 1957.

Premise

Alex Barris, an entertainment writer for Toronto newspaper ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', hosted this entertainment series. Initially, the series was a mid-year replacement for '' Cross Canada Hit Parade'', then was granted a full season run in October 1956. ''The Barris Beat'' functioned as a low-budget version of ''

The Steve Allen Show ''The Steve Allen Show'' was an American variety show hosted by Steve Allen from June 1956 to June 1960 on NBC, from September 1961 to December 1961 on American Broadcasting Company, ABC,

''. The series featured Bill Isbister's house band, accompanied by the Gino Silvi Octet and vocalists Betty Jean Ferguson and Roy Roberts.

Jack Duffy Jack Duffy (September 27, 1926 – May 19, 2008) was a Canadian singer, comedian and actor. Life and career Born in Montreal, Duffy grew up in Toronto, dropping out of Central Technical School to become a singer. At age 19, he was hired as a st ...

later joined the series as another vocalist and in a recurring role as a newspaper copy assistant with Barris who portrayed a columnist. For the full season, Ferguson left the series and was replaced by Gloria Lambert. Besides Duffy and Roberts,

Larry D. Mann Larry D. Mann (18 December 1922 – 6 January 2014) was a Canadian actor. He was best known as "The Boss" in a series of Bell Canada television commercials in the 1980s and for voicing the character of Yukon Cornelius in ''Rudolph the Red-Nose ...

joined as a series regular as did Sammy Sales who was previously a guest in the early episodes. Cynthia Barrett led a regularly seen vocal trio while musical direction was provided by Gordon Kushner and music was arranged by

Phil Nimmons Phillip Rista Nimmons, (born June 3, 1923) is a Canadian jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and educator. Nimmons is known for playing in a "Free Jazz" and mainstream styles. As well as playing jazz, Nimmons also played other genres, notab ...

. A recurring "billboard girl" character (Sheila Billing, then Babs Christie) was also introduced. Additional writing was provided by

Allan Manings Allan Manings (March 28, 1924 – May 12, 2010) was an American television producer and comedy writer. He was active in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and was best known for his work in co-creating with his wife, actress Whitney Blake, '' ...

and

Frank Peppiatt Frank Peppiatt (March 19, 1927 – November 7, 2012) was a Canadian (naturalized American) television producer and screenwriter, considered a pioneer of the variety show genre. His credits included ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour''. Most notably, ...

. Visiting performers during the series included

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.Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...

for the remainder of the series run. Barris later indicated conflicts with Casey regarding the series concept.

Scheduling

This half-hour series was broadcast Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. (North American Eastern time) from 4 July to 12 September 1956 as a mid-year replacement. The series began a full season on alternate Saturdays at approximately 10:30 p.m. from 20 October to 30 June 1957, following the hockey broadcast during the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

season. ''Wayne and Shuster'' was broadcast on the other Saturdays.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barris Beat CBC Television original programming 1950s Canadian variety television series 1956 Canadian television series debuts 1957 Canadian television series endings Black-and-white Canadian television shows