Read more about Red Green at: Wikipedia Official Site: S&S Productions The Red Green Show is a Canadian television comedy that aired on various channels in Canada, with its ultimate home at CBC Television, and on PBS stations in the United States, from 1991 until the series finale April 7, 2006 on CBC. The Red Green Show is essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch comedy series, and is a parody of home improvement, do-it-yourself, fishing, and other outdoors shows (particularly The Red Fisher Show). Reruns currently air on CBC Television, The Comedy Network, and various PBS stations. It was produced by S&S Productions, which is owned by Steve and Morag Smith, and directed by William G. Elliott. The title character, (Steve Smith), is a Canadian handyman who generally tries to find shortcuts to most of his projects, trusting the vast majority of his work to duct tape (which he calls "the handyman's secret weapon" and the "universal adapter"). He is the president of the Possum Lodge, a fiction men's club in the small northwestern Ontario town of Possum Lake, near the also-fictional town of Port Asbestos. He and his fellow lodge members had their own TV show (which was more or less the show itself), in which they gave humorous lessons and demonstrations in repair work and outdoor activities (such as fishing and camping), and advice for men on relating to women, among other things. The characters Bob & Doug McKenzie, from SCTV's Great White North sketch, are an obvious comparison and a likely inspiration (with Dave Thomas, who played Doug McKenzie, appearing on an episode of The Red Green Show along with his real life brother Ian Thomas, as Ben and Dougie Franklin). The show's basic concept was that of a cable TV show, taped in part on a hand-held camera by Red's nephew Harold. The show's structure evolved over time and included several regular segments that appeared in almost every episode. These segments were interspersed with each episode's three main plot segments. They included such staples as the "Possum Lodge Word Game", "Handyman Corner", and "Adventures with Bill" (a slapstick home movie-style sketch with a voice-over by Red). In "Handyman Corner", Red attempted to demonstrate creative and often humorous ways to tackle relatively common tasks, such as taking out the trash or making use of derelict cars. Memorable examples included a paddlewheeler made out of a van on pallets and a revolving door, a jetpack made from two propane tanks, a hybrid car from recycled golf carts and satellite dishes, and a kiddie ride made from a bar stool attached to the agitator of a washing machine. Green often used duct tape in these projects. In one episode, he tried to duct tape the Ontario-Quebec border as a potential solution to Quebec separatism. The segment customarily concluded with the aphorism "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." |
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Red Green