From time to time, a random thing from the past just hits me while I'm doing something completely related to that thought. This morning, while walking to work, a random quote crawled into my head:
"Get on with it!"
This quote specifically was spoken by an old man with a German accent, holding up a handwritten sign saying the same thing. I don't know what the guy was talking about, as it was just one of many clips shown in the commercial for a Canadian television show, Speakers' Corner. Back when it aired, I didn't care to watch it, because I thought it was boring drivel. In many cases, it really was drivel, but the one thing you couldn't deny was how the show was years ahead of its time.
Not to be confused with the British public-speaker event, Speakers' Corner was a Canadian television program that started in 1990 by the Citytv network (you can get more details on Wikipedia, here). It started in Toronto, but then panned out to the other major cities across the country. Anyone in the area would be able to go to the video booth, pop in their dollar, and get their two minutes in the spotlight (provided that their footage would be selected for the show). People could talk (or sing) about anything they wanted, provided it was suitable for the airwaves, and the Citytv editors would aggregate their picks for the week and make a 30-minute show.
Most of the people that showed up on this show were just regular people, but a few talented people would use the video booth to launch their careers, like the Barenaked Ladies. Even already-established stars, like Mike Myers, Will Ferrell or Weird Al Yankovic, would show up at the booth to say a few things or share a few laughs candidly.
After remembering this TV show this morning, I thought to myself that this show couldn't have possibly survived to this day, considering that we now have social networking at our disposal to whore ourselves out. Sure enough, the show was pulled off the network in 2008 for the same reason I thought about. After realizing when the show first came out, and how long it lasted, it blew my mind a bit. Just think about it...Speakers' Corner was YEARS ahead of both social media AND reality television. I wonder if Citytv even understood that what they were doing was so revolutionary.
At the same time, I wonder if the good ol' video booth would still be popular if instead of it being broadcast over the network, it'd be posted on the Citytv website somewhere. When you think about it, not everyone knows how to set up their smartphone to record and post a video....it's like the 2010's equivalent of programming your VCR to record a weekly show. Having someone do all the work to record and post might still appeal to a large enough crowd...
Ah, whatever....sometimes there are just some trends that aren't meant to be revived...like parachute pants. In any case, it was just a funny thought to remember something like Speakers' Corner.
"Get on with it!"
This quote specifically was spoken by an old man with a German accent, holding up a handwritten sign saying the same thing. I don't know what the guy was talking about, as it was just one of many clips shown in the commercial for a Canadian television show, Speakers' Corner. Back when it aired, I didn't care to watch it, because I thought it was boring drivel. In many cases, it really was drivel, but the one thing you couldn't deny was how the show was years ahead of its time.
Not to be confused with the British public-speaker event, Speakers' Corner was a Canadian television program that started in 1990 by the Citytv network (you can get more details on Wikipedia, here). It started in Toronto, but then panned out to the other major cities across the country. Anyone in the area would be able to go to the video booth, pop in their dollar, and get their two minutes in the spotlight (provided that their footage would be selected for the show). People could talk (or sing) about anything they wanted, provided it was suitable for the airwaves, and the Citytv editors would aggregate their picks for the week and make a 30-minute show.
Most of the people that showed up on this show were just regular people, but a few talented people would use the video booth to launch their careers, like the Barenaked Ladies. Even already-established stars, like Mike Myers, Will Ferrell or Weird Al Yankovic, would show up at the booth to say a few things or share a few laughs candidly.
After remembering this TV show this morning, I thought to myself that this show couldn't have possibly survived to this day, considering that we now have social networking at our disposal to whore ourselves out. Sure enough, the show was pulled off the network in 2008 for the same reason I thought about. After realizing when the show first came out, and how long it lasted, it blew my mind a bit. Just think about it...Speakers' Corner was YEARS ahead of both social media AND reality television. I wonder if Citytv even understood that what they were doing was so revolutionary.
At the same time, I wonder if the good ol' video booth would still be popular if instead of it being broadcast over the network, it'd be posted on the Citytv website somewhere. When you think about it, not everyone knows how to set up their smartphone to record and post a video....it's like the 2010's equivalent of programming your VCR to record a weekly show. Having someone do all the work to record and post might still appeal to a large enough crowd...
Ah, whatever....sometimes there are just some trends that aren't meant to be revived...like parachute pants. In any case, it was just a funny thought to remember something like Speakers' Corner.
And what happened to the video bombers... the guys who would slip between the glass & the wall behind the speaker to make faces. Speakers corner was awesome. Now we have Tosh to crawl the internet to find material to broadcast.
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