# Remember when City Tv played movies all night?



## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Every night...

Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but if you were up there was always something on. 

It was a simpler time I guess, but I miss it.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Mostly what I remember about that is that they were VERY rarely good movies, occasionally bearable, often garbage...and there was nothing else on. I also remember watching many movies I otherwise would never have watched.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I also remember Not So Great movies on Sunday afternoons.


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2018)




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## Guest (Jun 7, 2018)

Remember when they used to play videos of driving around Toronto at night with sad music playing?


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I do remember that. It was called Night Music and some of those videos are on youtube.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Speakers Corner was interesting sometimes.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

The Devil's Advocates


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

^ yes.

Great Movies, Late Great Movies, Not So Great Movies, and every 14 year old boys favoraite: Blue Movies (Wild Orchid every other week pretty much).


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Grand Champion...Ed The Sock. He was hilarious.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Around 40 years ago, I booked Humble Howard to DJ a dance at my high school (hey, financial reasons, I booked bands most of the time). The pig spent all night hitting on my 17 yo girlfriend.

"Ever won a radio contest? I'll make that happen. Just come outside and let's talk about it." Thankfully, he was only a small market AM DJ and not the superstar / Howie Mandel wannabe he became.


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## jbealsmusic (Feb 12, 2014)

Like it was yesterday.

"This is City TV ... Everywhere."


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I remember one of their ID's where a car pulls up to the side of the road, and a woman in a, ahem, skimpy dress bends over to the car, and then Mark Dailey's voice comes on saying, "Two minutes for hooking. City Tv everywhere!"


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2018)




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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)




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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

butterknucket said:


> I also remember Not So Great movies on Sunday afternoons.


That segment made it seem as though there were more hours in the broadcast day than Citytv knew what to do with.

But the late night stuff was great. Between that, and Elwy Yost on TVO, I got my self-education in cinema...I watched movies Id never heard of but found out later were classics....Like Rosemarys Baby, Barbarella, Woody Allen movies.
And I liked a lot of the old cheesy stuff too...Gene Kelly, Tyrone Power, James Cagney movies (mostly on Elwys show).

We have TBS on our satellite which plays a lot of the old stuff...finally got a round to seeing Casablanca, Bullitt and that Soylent Green one (all over-rated...or at least don't hold up over time).


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Elwy was the shiznazz. I miss him. You're aware that his son Graham is a big deal in filmdom? Graham Yost - IMDb

While TCM carries a lot of stuff that appeals primarily to my 95 year-old aunt, they also carry a lot of important flicks, and provide lots of background info on them sometimes.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Diablo said:


> That segment made it seem as though there were more hours in the broadcast day than Citytv knew what to do with.
> 
> But the late night stuff was great. Between that, and Elwy Yost on TVO, I got my self-education in cinema...I watched movies Id never heard of but found out later were classics....Like Rosemarys Baby.
> And I liked a lot of the old cheesy stuff too...Gene Kelly, Tyrone Power, James Cagney movies (mostly on Elwys show).
> ...


Yeah, TVO played a lot of great movies too. There were a few guys that took over the show after Elwy left and I watched it a lot through that era. They played a lot of newer movies that weren't mainstream at all, but quite good.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

mhammer said:


> Elwy was the shiznazz. I miss him. You're aware that his son Graham is a big deal in filmdom? Graham Yost - IMDb
> 
> While TCM carries a lot of stuff that appeals primarily to my 95 year-old aunt, they also carry a lot of important flicks, and provide lots of background info on them sometimes.


TCM slips in newer movies now and then.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)




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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)




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## Guest (Jun 7, 2018)

Bess Motta was the one that got done in on Terminator


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Funny, my wife and I were talking about that recently. Before the CityTV late night movies, stations would sign off at 11, maybe midnight, with the national anthem. There was nothing to do but go to bed. We were a better rested (and happier) society. Ah, the good ole days...


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

Saturday Night at the Movies on TVO was great. We have a bunch of movies we taped off of Elwy's show.
If I'm not mistaken didn't City TV used to channel 79 and they ran soft porn late at night. The Baby Blue Movies I think it was called.
I used to watch late night cheapie horror movies too, on WUTV channel 29 out of Buffalo. Long time ago.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

dtsaudio said:


> Saturday Night at the Movies on TVO was great. We have a bunch of movies we taped off of Elwy's show.
> If I'm not mistaken didn't City TV used to channel 79 and they ran soft porn late at night. The Baby Blue Movies I think it was called.
> I used to watch late night cheapie horror movies too, on WUTV channel 29 out of Buffalo. Long time ago.


Off Beat Cinema was great! I used to watch it until the cable package excluded that Buffalo station.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Why can't I stop looking at the girl in the Shiva video?


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I remember Baby Blue Movies on Friday nights.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

SCTV


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

butterknucket said:


> SCTV


Ok, and seeing as you brought up the workout videos, check what's on the TV:


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

jb welder said:


> Ok, and seeing as you brought up the workout videos, check what's on the TV:


I've seen that skit a bunch of times and never noticed what was on the tv. No wonder they're staring at it.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Do you guys remember when the porn scrambles messed up and we got a free half hour of porn every night for about a week?

It was like someone gave me glasses and I could see again. 






Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

adcandour said:


> Do you guys remember when the porn scrambles messed up and we got a free half hour of porn every night for about a week?
> 
> It was like someone gave me glasses and I could see again.
> 
> ...


I didn't even know about that until much later. Before that I had to rely on the French channels and hope for the best.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

adcandour said:


> Do you guys remember when the porn scrambles messed up and we got a free half hour of porn every night for about a week?
> 
> It was like someone gave me glasses and I could see again.
> 
> ...


Ya, I even bought a kit to DIY a descrambler for it....never worked. But I sucked at soldering.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Are you taking about the City TV baby blue movies? I was too young to watch, but I could see the tv if I kept my door open.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Since we're going down the road of Toronto nostalgia, does anyone remember "Caravan"?

It was around this time of year, at about 30 or so venues spread around the city, each location (might be a church hall, restaurant, or community centre) would turn itself into a place symbolic of a particular international city...they'd sell souvenirs, wear cultural costumes, sell ethnic food, usually have a bar with traditional live music from that place...I remember buying a boomerang at the Sydney pavilion, trying Armenian food at another one, seeing a mini-Oktoberfest at a German pavilion etc. I was just a kid but it seemed like a lot of fun.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

I believe I remember that.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

butterknucket said:


> I believe I remember that.


I think youd have to be at least 40 to remember it...assuming your parents even went to it.
It seemed pretty big then, I think the TTC even had maps showing the various locations on their routes. But it was like the CNE, only for a couple weeks a year, right around when school got out for summer.

It just seems like something that would be really fun...multicultural with variety....not just Caribana or taste of Danforth. I know my kid would love it.


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## butterknucket (Feb 5, 2006)

Diablo said:


> I think youd have to be at least 40 to remember it...assuming your parents even went to it.
> It seemed pretty big then, I think the TTC even had maps showing the various locations on their routes. But it was like the CNE, only for a couple weeks a year, right around when school got out for summer.
> 
> It just seems like something that would be really fun...multicultural with variety....not just Caribana or taste of Danforth. I know my kid would love it.


I'm 40

I never went to it, but I remember hearing about it.


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## Guest (Jun 12, 2018)

Your school would hand out the 'caravan passports' that you would get stamped at each pavilion.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Diablo said:


> Since we're going down the road of Toronto nostalgia, does anyone remember "Caravan"?
> 
> It was around this time of year, at about 30 or so venues spread around the city, each location (might be a church hall, restaurant, or community centre) would turn itself into a place symbolic of a particular international city...they'd sell souvenirs, wear cultural costumes, sell ethnic food, usually have a bar with traditional live music from that place...I remember buying a boomerang at the Sydney pavilion, trying Armenian food at another one, seeing a mini-Oktoberfest at a German pavilion etc. I was just a kid but it seemed like a lot of fun.


Windsor had the same thing...called the Caravan of Nations. I believe it ran around the time of the International Freedom Festival.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

laristotle said:


> Your school would hand out the 'caravan passports' that you would get stamped at each pavilion.


yes, exactly!


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## boyscout (Feb 14, 2009)

butterknucket said:


>


That program got a whole lot of guys up in the morning.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

boyscout said:


> That program got a whole lot of guys up in the morning.


My Gr8 teacher used to put that show on the tv when some of the class had their lunches in the classroom.
different times.

I had a crush on Bess Motta in those days.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Diablo said:


> Since we're going down the road of Toronto nostalgia, does anyone remember "Caravan"?
> 
> It was around this time of year, at about 30 or so venues spread around the city, each location (might be a church hall, restaurant, or community centre) would turn itself into a place symbolic of a particular international city...they'd sell souvenirs, wear cultural costumes, sell ethnic food, usually have a bar with traditional live music from that place...I remember buying a boomerang at the Sydney pavilion, trying Armenian food at another one, seeing a mini-Oktoberfest at a German pavilion etc. I was just a kid but it seemed like a lot of fun.


They have one in Winnipeg called 'Folklorama'. It's been going for 48 yrs. now. Same deal, passports, pavilions, great ethnic food.
2 weeks every August. They claim it's the largest and longest running multicultural festival in the world.


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## Eyeban Ezz (Jan 19, 2018)

RIP CityTV.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

I remember Caravan. My parents always took us to a couple places when we were kids. Loved getting the passport stamps. I think the reason they don't have it anymore is because in 2018 Toronto you can get any type of ethnic food you want any time you want. In 1970 Toronto it was steakhouses, delis and spaghetti parlours. Chinatown too of course.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Eyeban Ezz Syndrome said:


> RIP CityTV.


 Did I miss something? Still showing up on my tv.


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## Eyeban Ezz (Jan 19, 2018)

jb welder said:


> Did I miss something? Still showing up on my tv.


Same name, different product.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Eyeban Ezz Syndrome said:


> Same name, different product.


lol, when someone we know changes, we don't bury them. (yet  )


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