''Harrigan'' was 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 ...

children's television series in the 1970s and 1980s. The show starred Barry Dale as Harrigan, a

leprechaun A leprechaun ( ga, leipreachán/luchorpán) is a diminutive supernatural being in Irish folklore, classed by some as a type of solitary fairy. They are usually depicted as little bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, who partake in mischief. I ...

. ''Harrigan'' was produced by

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between Toro ...

television station

CKWS-TV CKWS-DT (channel 11) is a television station in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, the station maintains studios on Queen Street in downtown Kingston, and ...

, and aired across Canada in

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

. Part of the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

included the words: "H - A - double R - I - G - A - N ... it's Harr-i-gan!" Portions of the half-hour program would involve the title character viewing hand drawn pictures submitted by his loyal fan-base of children by looking into his magical pot of gold. His co-star for these segments was Dale's daughter, Deb-Lyn. Miss Sunflower, who delivered the mail while riding a unicycle, was played by Dale's wife, Jo-Anna. Another segment would have Harrigan sitting with his good

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

friend Mr. Green (also played by Deb-Lyn) as they read a book to the children watching. The character originated at

CJOH-TV CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Pembroke-licensed CTV 2 outlet CHRO-TV (channel 5). Both stations share ...

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 ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, where it ran for its first two seasons. The leprechaun originally appeared on a children's show called ''Sandbox'' at 7 a.m. on the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...

. Dale suggested syndicating the television show, a request that the station manager was not willing to do. Lorne Freed of CKWS-TV invited Dale to syndicate Harrigan from his station. Harrigan taped original shows until 1985 and then ran re-runs until 1992. The Harrigan series won three CanPro Awards, which are the Canadian equivalent of the Emmy Awards for syndicated programs. The Harrigan show is no longer running due to a technical issue. The show was recorded on large two-inch tapes that eventually wore out. At the time nobody thought to transfer the media to a longer-lasting media. At CKWS, Dale was also promotions manager and for a time had a lunchtime variety show, but left in a dispute and started Godfatha Pizzas. Customers who recognized Dale and performed the song or a little jig, received an extra slice or topping. The Dales moved to Arizona in 2001.

External links

TVArchive.ca: ''Harrigan''''Barry Dale Show''
Television shows filmed in Ottawa Television shows filmed in Kingston, Ontario Canadian television shows featuring puppetry 1960s Canadian children's television series 1970s Canadian children's television series 1980s Canadian children's television series 1969 Canadian television series debuts 1985 Canadian television series endings {{Canada-kids-tv-prog-stub