CFTO Ontario Place promo 1970s

[Gladman]

Place hasn't changed much!

[fendergibsonto]

Where is the rest of that footage ? ... I have been looking for a copy of this forever. My baby sister was having her 6th birthday party at Ontario Place that day when the camera crew were shooting .. she's in a couple shots playing in the children's village at the end of this clip. She never saw this promo film and would get a kick out of seeing it. She just had her 44th birthday this June ... time moves quickly !

[streetcarjay]

Wasn't the band Crowbar?

[retroclipps]

@streetcarjay

It's Lighthouse.. That's Skip Prokop on drums and Bob McBride on lead vocals.

The Forum concerts were free with admission to the EX. But Ontario Place was very easy to get into free back then. I remember just walking up a delivery/service entrance and no one giving us a second glance.

[OofusTwillip]

See, kids?  Like the CNE, Ontario Place didn't always suck! In fact, it used to be pretty great!

[jenzeppelin]

ooooh i'm probably the only person in Ontario who has not yet been there, despite spending vast amounts of time in Toronto. i've just never taken the trip to the island.

[davinci5152]

I just remembered.. in the winter there was a a different video shown.. Something about skiing.. I think maybe Collingwood/Blue Mountain or something.. I never saw the end of that one either..

Ontario Place rocked in the early and Mid-70's. The free concerts at the Forum were legendary.

[davinci5152]

Wow.. I've looked allover for this obscure video.

I remember it from really early in the morning on CFTO..

It was basically filler between the end of the last program and the beginning of the news.

How much of it was shown depended on when the final program of the night ended.

If it ended at 5:55AM, then this was only shown for 5 minutes. if it ended at 5:58AM then only 2 minutes were shown.

I never sawf the end of this! It was very frustrating. But thanks for this much. :)

[VinnyLLL]

Wow - Great to see Lighthouse and Bob McBride wailing away at the Forum.

[markyph123]

The Forum was a great place to see concerts, and it was included in the ground admission price. Many great memories there. The place hasn't been the same since.

[ZELIG500]

Sorry ... I always thought Ontario Place was a screaming bore except for the Cinesphere ... even then ... how many times was I supposed to sit throught North of Superior?

[markojameow]

That's alright. I didn't think that Canada's Wonderland was that big a deal when I was younger, either. I preferred such American amusement parks as Disney World, Busch Gardens, Darien Lake, and Knotts Berry Farms, and I saw the CNE as something of a tradition that should not be put aside for some overhyped new park. Today, though, the CNE is a screaming bore - everything that made that event as magical as it was is now gone. I don't think it'll be around 10 years from now.

[Neville6000]

The CNE should have gone a long time ago, but is just hanging on for dear life for no good reason. It should go and never come back, and the land used for something else.

[davinci5152]

@Neville6000 It's sad to see what the CNE (The EX) has been reduced too.

I went a couple of years ago and left in disgust after less than an hour.

It's a ghost of what it once was.. it was really pathetic. I agree, it should be put out of it's misery. It's completely lost it's identity.

They should tear down what's left of it and build a proper outdoor baseball stadium AND a 25,000 seat outdoor football stadium.

The skydome is a mausoleum. The worst ever place to see any sports event.

[aqwertyuilo]

@davinci5152 Couldn't agree more! I preferred watching ball games at Exhibition Stadium, can't stand the Skydome. How exciting it used to be to have a ballpark in the middle of the Ex!

[ValsHere]

Ontario Place the way it was meant to be.

A little something for everyone. The forum will hold a special place in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to enjoy the free concerts with that revolving stage. Countless great times I spent there on those balmy Toronto evenings.

Nice memories come flooding back.

Cheers!

[secordman]

Wow, remember when there were crowds back in the early days? This place being government-run no wonder it became a white elephant.

[markojameow]

I think the reason why Ontario Place has declined in recent years is because its novelty has worn off. Besides, there is plenty of competition from privately run attractions, including Canada's Wonderland, Darien Lake, almost anything in Niagara Falls, and numerous others that are just a drive away. Ontario Place will have to be very aggressive - and come up with something innovative - if it wants to be around for another 38 years.

[secordman]

Ontario Place had a few good things going for it: There was the water, the pedal boats. The outdoor patios. The Forum was integrated into the site, but later on it and the Ampitheatre became detached from the rest of the place.

The pods, what have they ever been used for? What a waste of space, I know they get rented out sometimes but all that cool architecture is never really utilized. Hey don't remind me it was 38 yrs ago, I was there in year one!

[markojameow]

I feel old, too! I was alive in 1971, but I was two going on three during its first season. And, I agree: Ontario Place is a dynamic place, with the lake just a stone's throw away. (Oh, I love any view of the lake, the odd dead fish and all.) It also needs to use their pods to their full advantage; otherwise, they're just there to gawk at and little more.

[cjthemusicman]

Ah, yes! Yes, the Forum holds very special memories for me, too, Val! Thank you for this great memory!

If I think very hard, I remember seeing this pretty girl up on the grassy knoll huggin and kissin with Fred...

[markojameow]

I remember all my summers at Ontario Place back in the 1970s - the fun I had at the old Children's Village, gawking at the wonderful architecture of the place (I found the Cinesphere very impressive), and the forum's free concerts. I think I saw Uncle Bobby there once - and that was thrilling for a little girl growing up in Toronto during that wonderful era.

[HeavensMee]

Hey, fellow children of the Seventies. Does anyone remember a large poster of several blocks forming downtown Toronto, drawn in a cartoonish style? I think the bottom right-hand corner contained a simple 3-D drawing of Queens Quay at Bay, where the ferries depart for Centre Island. I hope a fellow Torontonian who is enjoying a nostalgic look at CFTO will remember this iconic artwork.

[BeeRich33]

They still do those maps by hand. I don't know where though.

[cycimian]

Beer 5 bucks for a 24. Those were the best of times. Excellant in bringing back the memorys my friend.

[tokyo1972]

Thank you for a precious picture!

(opening performance of Lighthouse Concert,1971： Is not there the picture of

FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND)?

[hanksr]

OMFG. I have looked for this for years. I remember getting up in the morning and turning on the TV at around 5:50 AM and seeing this little piece of awesomeness.

Thanks so much for this.

P.S...Love the Beverly Thomson story. LMAO at "an anchor in the back for better traction".

Now if someone could only find a clip of Gail Smith and Condredge Holloway we would be all set. LOL

[markojameow]

Gail Smith? That's one person from Toronto TV's past who we haven't seen in a very long time. I remember her as a brunette bimbo with long hair and boring, frilly clothes - and people had the audacity to mistake me for her back in the day! (After I cut my hair short around 1990, people then mistook me for Thalia Assuras.)

[secordman]

Gail "not one hair out of place" Smith, with all her knowing nods and winks, whatever happened to her we wonder.

[markojameow]

I know that she briefly anchored the 11 o'clock news for CKVR (now A-Channel Barrie), sometime,in the early to mid 1990s. Of course, she hasn't been seen since.

[waynedaytonmedia]

Definitely 1990-91 vintage because of Beverly Thomson. I was on a media tour with her to Las Vegas in 1992, and she hadn't been with CFTO for very long at the time. Videotron's Jay Rubinstein grabbed her and put her in the trunk of the car, because, as he said "we need an anchor in the back for better traction".

[finwel1]

Wow, I worked there as a patrol boat operator back in the early 70's. Lots of good memories.

[Roguear]

I guess I was too young to be up that early...does anyone remember "PICK A LETTER" with George Fare?

[markojameow]

Yes, I do! I remember watching this innovative little piece of Canadiana in reruns when I was little. It was old even in the 1970s, but it was something different, original, and one thing that we don't see around (but we do see such stellar fare - ha! - as Rocket Robin Hood in reruns). As for George Fehr, he was beginning to become successful in the States when he killed himself in 1967, aged 47. A loss of a fine Canadian cartoonist who happened to be born in another country.

[ZELIG500]

Wow ... I always wondered what happened to George Fehr. Thanks. I remember the vignettes quite well.

[ZELIG500]

Yes I do ... it was either part of Rocketship 7 ... or CFTO's Cartoon Playhouse ... or Uncle Bobby ... menory is a little hazy now, more than forty years on. I do remember it was in black and white ... and the artist (George Fare) would sketch out a drawing with a matching narrative story. They were a couple of minutes each. But I'm the only one in my crowd who remembers. Good on ya!

[markojameow]

It was Cartoon Playhouse, and it aired during the earlier half of the 1970s. It was in black and white, though, and from some research I've done on Pick a Letter, it was produced in 1963 - some five years before my time. I thought that series was cute and well produced but somewhat dated considering the production values and George Fehr's suit and skinny tie. (The 1970s had wide lapels and fat, colorful ties.)

P. S. You're not the only person who remembers that show.

[CliffColeclough]

That was awesome. I have never seen that clip before. It was amazing seeing the old Forum. So many great concerts that I got to see there. Never got to see Lighthouse - but that looks like it was a rocking good time!

[RealBMac]

CFTO ran a bunch of neat fillers before the 6a news... among others, there were various National Film Board cartoons ("The Cat Came Back" and "The Hockey Sweater" come to mind) and a truckers film (Reimer Transport) from roughly the same era as this Ontario Place film. Does anybody on YT have this film?

[frankd1965]

@RealBMac I saw thes on TV stations in The USA. Americans love to visit Canada.

[pefferlawrose]

Wow...so many years ago, my grandfather is the clown performing magic in this video. RIP Topper the Claown!

[streetcarjay]

By looking at the footage. I think that was filmed in 1971. The official opening of Ontario Place. The Ontario Place Forum is now the Molson Ampetheatre.

[thedab101]

Woah! Haven't seen that news opening in over a decade.

The OP tape was cool.

[88HJS]

YES! I've been wanting to see that news open too!

[tvlondon]

Back in the 80s the CBC network signed on at 10 AM eastern time. The CBC O&Os signed on much later than the affiliates, and CBLT which had its own morning show for awhile.

[tvlondon]

This is Canada though, and live morning news is surprisingly uncommon, even in large markets. CTV and CBC are very shy of local morning programming.

[fanotv]

They still have a pre-recorded morning newscast at 5:55 AM.

[WNED17]

Yeah, they always said upfront it was pre-recorded

[brithgob]

I didn't know there was a "NightBeat News at Dawn" but I have a suspicion they taped it as soon as they were done the 11:30 cast. Other affiliates simply repeat the 11:30 news at 6am, and also pretape the Canada A.M. inserts the night before.

[mrceleb2006]

The CFTO Night Beat News at Dawn is from the mid 1980s.

[tvlondon]

More like circa 1991