Someone we looked up to

Recently I’ve been reminded of a children’s show that many of us Canadian Generation Xers will remember. The Canadian Expatriates blog featured a few videos from what they called “A true Canadian Idol”.

The show ran from 1958 to 1985, when it was cancelled amid a great deal of protest. It’s amazing that a show often called “slow-going” and “gentle” gained such popularity. It was unique in that much of the show was ad-libbed. Perhaps the most popular and well remembered parts of the show were the beginning and ending. It contained three main characters – two of which were puppets – Rusty and Gerome. Rusty was a rooster who lived in a book bag which seemed to contain endless treasures. He played instruments such as the harp. Jerome was a GOUS – a giraffe of unusual size.

But the star was, of course, the Friendly Giant himself, played by Bob Homme. All of a sudden we would see his boot, and he would say,”Look up. Waaaaaay up”. Homme received the Order of Canada, Canada’s highest civilian honour, for his contribution. He passed away in 2000, at the age of 81.

Here are three clips from The Friendly Giant. If you’ve never seen it, you just might not get it. If you have, it just may bring back some memories! Here are the links: