Film Front Online

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CANADIAN ANTIQUES ROADSHOW DEBUTS 

Saint John, Jan 14  2004 – The chatter could be heard the entire length of the building. Stepping off the elevator at one end, the laughter and backslapping of friends old and new ricocheted off the mile-long corridor.

Such is what happens when you bring together a swell of people from Toronto to Halifax, and many points in between, to celebrate the launch of Canada’s newest network television series, The Canadian Antiques Roadshow (CAR).

With a pre-debut party at CAR offices, series executive producers (photo above) Mark Pedersen (R) and John Brazill (L) welcomed the faithful, made up of expert appraisers (photo below shows, L-R,  New Brunswick-based expert appraisers Ian Lumsden, Liz Isaac, Tim Isaac), production crew, friends, investors and many supporters.

Just as the wall-to-wall crowd had grown to spill outside, creating an unofficial talking lounge beyond the imposing entrance doors, words of welcome were offered by Pedersen, the New Brunswick half of the production company which has engineered this monolith of a television program into reality.

Speech aside, and cheers, whistles and hooting exercised with zeal and great volume, several television monitors placed around the offices flickered to life, bringing the first-ever, home-grown Canadian Antiques Roadshow to the party at the same time as sets across Canada were tuning in. It was a proud moment, after almost three years of hard work, contract negotiations, hiring, logistics management, and postproduction, as residents of Calgary, Alberta, holding close their prized, aged possessions, brought the rest of Canada into their lives, sharing the stories and worth of their items.

Not to satisfy only with the expected, Pedersen et al went a step beyond, privately screening the upcoming Saint John show for everyone in attendance. Taped at the Imperial Theatre last May, it is scheduled to air in February, and it is a program not to be missed. Extraordinary were the items (Babe Ruth baseball in photo) for their uniqueness, quality, age, condition and value.

Congratulations to cast, crew and producers for a fine event, and a significant milestone in the life of Saint John’s film and television community. A tip of the glass to many years of success.

The Canadian Antiques Roadshow airs on CBC-TV Wednesdays at 8:00 PM, and on Newsworld at 9:00 PM on Fridays.