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Movie Night in Canada

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Movie Night in Canada
GenreFeature films
Presented byRon MacLean (2004-05)
Country of originCanada
Original release
NetworkCBC Television
ReleaseOctober 16, 2004 (2004-10-16) –
December 2020 (2020-12)

Movie Night in Canada is a film programming block that has occasionally been aired by CBC Television. The branding has been used on two occasions by the CBC as replacement programming for its Saturday-night lineup during major interruptions of the National Hockey League which prevented the regular broadcast of the block's namesake, Hockey Night in Canada.

The branding was first used during the 2004–05 NHL lockout, airing a lineup of three films per week. Hockey Night host Ron MacLean presented wraparound segments on location during the block, highlighting amateur and junior hockey teams across the country. In March 2020, following the suspension of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CBC revived the branding with a focus on Canadian films.[1]

2004-05

The program first ran in 2004 during the 2004–05 NHL lockout,[2] premiering on October 16 with a triple bill of Dinosaur, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws.[3] The programming strategy in this era was to run a family film at 7 p.m., a blockbuster film at 9 p.m. and an "edgier" film at 11 p.m.[2] To "keep the hockey spirit alive", Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean presented short introductions for each film, first taped in an empty hockey arena[4] and later travelling across Canada to highlight and publicize amateur and junior hockey teams that were still playing.[5] The second week included The Princess Diaries at 7, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom at 9, and Blazing Saddles at 11;[6] later lineups included a golf-themed bill of The Legend of Bagger Vance, Tin Cup and Happy Gilmore on November 20.[7]

The series attracted ratings roughly equal to regular Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts.[8] It aired weekly until December 18, and then took a hiatus for Christmas programming,[9] before returning in January 2005. With the lockout's lack of resolution beginning to cast doubt on whether the 2005–06 NHL season would happen, the CBC began to send signals in February 2005 that it would continue to buy and schedule movies if the next hockey season was also cancelled.[10] By the time a deal was reached between the NHL and the players in July 2005, the CBC was also affected by a labour dispute with its own technicians, although that was resolved in time for the return of Hockey Night in Canada when the NHL season began in the fall.[11]

The block's reliance on American films in this era was criticized by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting for significantly reducing the amount of Canadian content broadcast by the network during its run.[12]

2020

The brand was revived in March 2020 when the 2019–20 NHL season was suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a lineup focusing on Canadian films. It launched on March 14, 2020 with the double bill of Bon Cop, Bad Cop and Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2.[13]

After June 20, the series started airing only a single film at 10 p.m. each week, with other programming taking up the first half of the former time slot. In the week of June 27, the CBC broadcast the international Global Goal: Unite for Our Future special, while in later weeks the 7-10 p.m. block was taken up by repeat broadcasts of CBC documentary programming such as The Nature of Things, CBC Docs POV and Taken.

When the NHL announced that the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs would begin on August 1, the Movie Night in Canada block went on hiatus following the July 25 broadcast and returned on October 3 after the playoffs ended five days prior; in late November, the programming shifted to air primarily Christmas-themed films, briefly returning to general theatrical films after Christmas until ending in January 2021 to accommodate the return of Hockey Night in Canada for the 2020–21 NHL season.

The CBC has continued to air Canadian films on Saturday evenings during the summer, although the block is no longer using the Movie Night in Canada branding.

Films

Date Films
March 14 Bon Cop, Bad Cop, Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2
March 21 Mr. Hockey: The Gordie Howe Story, Goalie
March 28 Hyena Road, The Right Kind of Wrong
April 4 Race, Across the Line
April 11 Hector and the Search for Happiness, Dr. Cabbie
April 18 The Breadwinner, Maudie
April 25 Still Mine, Brooklyn
May 2 Jean of the Joneses, Picture Day
May 9 The Adventure Club, Into the Forest
May 16 The Journey Home, Two Lovers and a Bear
May 23 Milton's Secret, Remember
May 30 Dr. Cabbie, Beeba Boys
June 6 Kayak to Klemtu, Mouthpiece
June 13 An Audience of Chairs, Octavio Is Dead!
June 20 Chaakapesh, Giant Little Ones, Rhymes for Young Ghouls
June 27 The Grizzlies
July 4 The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
July 11 Hector and the Search for Happiness
July 18 Angelique's Isle
July 25 The Grand Seduction
October 3 Disappearance at Clifton Hill, I'll Follow You Down
October 10 Clara, The Animal Project
October 17 American Woman, Mean Dreams
October 24 Red Snow, Unclaimed
October 31 Incendies
November 7 Trouble in the Garden, I Killed My Mother
November 14 Mommy
November 21 The Man Who Invented Christmas, Window Wonderland
November 28 Christmas Stars, Country Christmas Album
December 5 Once Upon a Murdoch Christmas, A Christmas Fury
December 12 A Heartland Christmas, Rock 'n Roll Christmas
December 19 The Man Who Invented Christmas
December 26 Window Wonderland, Across the Line
January 2 Race, Milton's Secret
January 9 The Adventure Club, Dr. Cabbie

References

  1. ^ "Just like the old days, gather for movie night". Calgary Herald, March 17, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Christopher Hutsul, "Flicks, not sticks, on CBC this fall; Movie night will fill in for hockey". Toronto Star, September 3, 2004.
  3. ^ Jack Todd, "Movie Night in Canada". Montreal Gazette, October 16, 2004.
  4. ^ "NHL lockout brings Ron MacLean to anchor Movie Night in Canada". Guelph Mercury, October 9, 2004.
  5. ^ "Hockey Night in Canada gives Barracudas prime-time coverage". Burlington Post, December 17, 2004.
  6. ^ Craig MacInnis, "Hockey Night goes Hollywood: How Indiana Jones raided our national airtime". Ottawa Citizen, October 23, 2004.
  7. ^ Bob Mackin, "Life without the NHL". Vancouver Courier, November 3, 2004.
  8. ^ Gayle MacDonald, "CBC films offer good defence". The Globe and Mail, November 10, 2004.
  9. ^ Jim Morris, "With no NHL, TV plans to branch into Europe to gain viewers". Sault Star, December 17, 2004.
  10. ^ Alex Strachan, "CBC adjusts to no hockey". Kamloops Daily News, February 17, 2005.
  11. ^ Chris Zelkovich, "Game on for Hockey Night in Canada; CBC and union look at priorities for work return". Waterloo Region Record, October 4, 2005.
  12. ^ "Can-con advocates attack CBC's 'Movie Night in Canada'". Canadian Press, October 18, 2004.
  13. ^ Debra Yeo, "CBC turns ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ into ‘Movie Night in Canada’". Toronto Star, March 17, 2020.
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