''The Waterville Gang'' is a Canadian children's television series, which aired on CTV Television Network from 1972 to 1974. Using puppetry, the series centred on a group of marine animals living at or under the sea, including Dodger Dolphin, Angel Fish, Sharky Shark, Eloise "Frenchie" the Seahorse, Sergeant Perch, Pearl Van Oyster, Tucker Turtle and Ace Seagull. The show's voice cast included

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 ...

Len Carlson Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman duri ...

, Franz Russell, Julie Amato, Sid Brown and Donna Miller. As of 1993, Amato was still owed money for her work on the show, due to

ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...

's inability to locate her in order to send her royalty cheques. Created by children's entertainer Barry Rosenberg and produced by

CFTO-TV CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...

, the network's affiliate in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, the show aired for two seasons on Saturday mornings. Following the end of production in 1974, it was sometimes seen in repeats on both CTV and YTV until 1995, as well as airing on Bop TV in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

and syndication in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In 1980, puppets from the series were included in an exhibition on the history of puppetry at the Ontario Puppetry Association Centre.Ira Vine, "Puppets find a home". ''

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 ...

'', November 20, 1980.

References

1970s Canadian children's television series 1972 Canadian television series debuts 1974 Canadian television series endings CTV Television Network original programming Canadian television shows featuring puppetry Television shows filmed in Toronto Television series by Glen-Warren Productions {{Canada-kids-tv-prog-stub