This Hour Has Seven Days
| This Hour Has Seven Days | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Patrick Watson Douglas Leiterman |
| Starring |
John Drainie Laurier LaPierre Patrick Watson Dinah Christie |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 50 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 min |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBC Television |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | October 4, 1964 – May 8, 1966 |
This Hour Has Seven Days is a controversial CBC Television newsmagazine which ran from 1964 to 1966. The show, inspired by the BBC-TV and NBC-TV satire series That Was the Week That Was, was created by Patrick Watson and Douglas Leiterman as an avenue for a more stimulating and boundary-pushing brand of television journalism. CBC executives believed the show went beyond the limits of journalistic ethics and cancelled the show, leading to allegations of political interference. Many elements of this show inspired the tabloid talk show genre in later decades.
The show debuted on October 4, 1964 (replacing the Cliff Solway-produced series Background) with hosts John Drainie, Laurier LaPierre and Carole Simpson (not to be confused with the now-retired ABC weekend news anchor of the same name). Simpson was soon replaced by Dinah Christie, and Watson himself replaced Drainie in the show's second season when Drainie (who died in 1966) was too ill to continue with the series.
The show used a one-hour newsmagazine format which combined satirical songs (performed by Simpson or Christie) and sketches with hard news interviews, reports and documentaries. Personalities associated with the show as reporters, interviewers or documentarians included Beryl Fox, Donald Brittain, Allan King, Warner Troyer, Jack Webster, Larry Zolf and future Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
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