So happy to have found this, tried for many years to recall the name of the show...and I was close!! I LOVED this show as a child!! After ALL these years, I retained wonderful memories, and always remembered the tune, note for note!!! I am now 54 years old.
Back in 1969? my two year old daughter faithfully watched this sweet, low key program. I have hummed the tune to all my grandchildren. RUclips is great when memories like this can be seen anytime.
I started watching this shortly after moving to Michigan in late '63. I was about 4 going on 5 and I watched FG everyday weekday. I'm amazed it was on so long. Even after I graduated from high school it was still on. It was still on halfway thru my 6-year stint in the service. You could have been born in 1980 and still have grown up watching FG. That's amazing.
Do you remember when Jerome was late? Of all the episodes, that's the one I remember the best. Apparently, Jerome's puppeteer was actually late getting on set on that day. When Jerome stuck his head through the window, he did it so fast he almost took out Friendly! Pretty funny to think about, looking back on it.
I ran across this by accident on PBS and looked for it here. Ah....sigh. I now totally remember watching this on TV when I was a child in the (shhhh...she looks around and whispers) 50s. It brings back a feeling of happiness and calm.
i just about started blubbing when I saw this. I loved this man and his show was one of the brightest spots for me when I was just little. Rest in peace gentle Friendly Giant.
I watched this when I was little. I still love this. Brings back memories of time with my mother and I drinking enjoying milk and cookies together. I loved my child hood.
This show wasn't available where I grew up, but when my daughter was little, I stopped whateverI was doing and watched it with her every morning. It really was a good show. It exposed kids to good music, good books, and kindness.
Man ... that takes me back. The Frendly Giant was one of the only sane things in my young life. thank yoiu Freindly Giant for a glimps of daylight and kindness and the direction out.
This is so endearing for me-I loved watching the show as a young child in the mid to late 1960s. I found out decades later that one my Dad's best friends, and whom I was named after, the late Doug Davidson, was Producer/Director of the show from 1960-1965. This old clip brought tears to my eyes. I remember my Mom staying home all day and I would watch TFG-she would then watch Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date-anybody remember that?
I used to see this playing on Channel 13 in New York City back when I was a young cub living in Brooklyn in the late 50's early 60's provided or black & white portable TV set wasn't in the shop. Arund 1965-66 when we were getting ready to move from Brooklyn I was kind of sad because I knew I'd miss the old neighborhood when we left and I would watch this show in the afternoons as it would help to cheer me up. At that time I felt that the show was mainly meant for children younger than I, but I still enjoyed it and would watch it every day. Seeing these old clips brings back many fond memories of those days when worries and troubles were few ad there were nice shows like this to keep you company.
I love this! I would buy Friendly Giant DVDs in a minute! What a wonderful, gentle show to have been able to watch when we were children. We need this back again for the current generation of little ones.
Thank you for posting this. I loved this show when I was a child. When I was home sick my mom would let me lay on the couch and watch this show. I love the opening of the show and the friendly giant himself. They just don't make shows like this anymore😢
LOVED that show. Was born in 1964......so yeah, i started to watched that show and for some reason, i was just taken by this show. And i was looking Waaayyyy Up😍. Loved it when hé would place those roching chair in front of that foyer.......so many Wonder full memories
This was a great show. The man who did this show said he paced the show to help kids build their attention spans. It was something he did with his own kids. I remember watching this when I was way outside the target demographic. It was a sweet show. Done by a man that obviously loved kids. He never did any public appearances. He wanted to maintain the illusion. He was a good man.
I remember this show from my youth! We lived in far upstate New York (my Dad was stationed at Plattsburgh AFB) in the late 1950's-early 1960's and we watched this show from Montreal....beats ANYTHING today on TV for kids!
I've got goosebumps. Grew up on the Freindly Giant in the early 60's, Im sure it molded my nature for the good. I still play the simple tune on the piano when I need a fix of peace. My mom sang the song, will have to ask her if she still remembers it. I sure do.
Wow! What a great memory. I watched it with my mom until kindergarten came to life. Then when I watched it, I had to run to class when it was over. I didn't know it was on 'till '85. I asked my mom a long time ago if she remembered watching it and she said "Oh, I didn't watch it . I just wanted to listen to the song." I remember one time as Bob was talking, there was a "crunch" and he looked down. I still wonder if he had stepped on one of the chairs. A nice, simple time in life.
I thought I had remembered all my childhood idols. Sally Starr, Pixanne, Gene London, Uncle Pete, Wee Willy and Happy the Clown. But this show I had completely forgotten about. What a flashback I just had. Thank you for uploading this wonderful video.
Oh my gosh. You know, I used to watch this as a child in the 1960's. I thought I imagined it! thank you for sharing this, you have brought back fond memories of childhood to me.
Wow! I remember this as a kid during the 60's. Talk about time machine! A truly innocent tv show. The perfect babysitter also. How did we detour ourselves away from this? I miss my youth... Mr. Homme was the perfect host!
"What a nice children's show! I used to watch it back in 60's on CKLW from Windsor, ONT. Just a nice show that had no agendas or indoctrination about anything. Letting kids be kids and using their imaginations. Too bad the world today is jaded & cynical and kids today seem to be 6 going on 38." That's how I feel about it as well.
+Christopher Sobieniak It was a good show. I watched it a lot as I grew up. And that continued off and on well into my twenties. It was a comforting show.
@@drkjk CKLW used to be Channel 9 in the sixties as well, but it was turned over to different management in the 70's I believe. That's when it became CBET-TV.
Thank you for putting this up for all to see. I too remember watching it in the mid 1960's. I think it might have been on KNME-TV (a PBS affiliate) in New Mexico. I have looked for this for years. It was my favorite show as a child, but most people I would ask about it had no idea of what I spoke. I am glad to see that it was real and so pleasant for kids. (I remember that I liked it much more than Captain Kangaroo and Kukla Fran and Ollie--it was much less frenetic, well frenetic for a child.)
When our local NET [National Educational Television] station, today a PBS station, first went on the air, in 1963, in Wilmington Delaware, WHYY-TV, they aired the Friendly Giant just before their local newscast. I remember catching the tail end of the program waiting for the news. I didn't realize it was a CBC program. He had that Mr. Rogers calm and gentle personality before Mr. Rogers did on American TV.
wow... I remember seeing his somewhere. Must not have been the mainstay in my area. Reminds me of Mr Rogers. How sweet.. I would love my little boy to see this. Thanks for people getting thes out on you tube. I found so many lost memories here.
This was actually picked up and carried on North Carolina Public TV back in the late 60s-early 70s. This was one of my favorite shows when I was 5 and 6.
I watched this in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. I am almost 52 years old. I remember it was in black and white and each episode ran for 15 minutes which was unusual for TV shows since most were 30 minutes or 1 hour. It seems like I watched it on PBS, but I'm not sure. I LOVED this show. A few years ago I read an article on the internet about Bob Homme, but I didn't realize that the show ran until 1985. How interesting. Thanks for sharing the video.
Those of us along the 49th parallel, whether American or Canadian, were lucky enough to get this show twice a day! For those of us south of the border that would be on UHF Channel 64 from B.C. and PBS Channel 9 from Seattle. We were lucky ducks. Yea!
I only watched Friendly after its production switched to color. Unlike the high concept, flashy shows that my niece and nephew now watch, the stuff that I watched back then were low key, imaginative, and didn't rely on fluff and puff to be popular. I still learned a lot.
I watched Friendly on WHA in the 50s when my older brothers would fiddle with the outside antenna mast to get ch. 21's snowy picture "way out" in Sun Prairie! Today I whistle the theme song and think of this wonderful show.
This is the Friendly Giant I remember......not the colour versions you see on RUclips....I have no memory of them and their openings. I just read that the Friendly Giant, Bob Homme, was American......Mr. Dressup, Ernie Coombs, was American, too. They died within a year and a half of each other. A big part of my childhood. Thanks for posting.
I watched this as a child back in the early 60's. It came on CBC Television at 10 a.m. followed by Chez Helene at 10:15. I remember there was a Jazz Trio of mice or squirrels not cats...am I imagining this? I absolutely loved this show and the end is my favourite part, I always wanted to go and sit in front of that fireplace.
There is no other children's show that was as original as The Friendly Giant. I truly believed he was a giant had a castle and had cats a rooster and a giraffe as friends.
I was recently at a Friends Birthday Party, only to run into a man who ran Camera for this show !!! What nostalgia to talk to him about this great show. When I asked him about a possible DVD of this, he told me that the CBC DID NOT SAVE ANY OF IT !!! What a dam SHAME !!!!
My name is Jerome, so naturally this was my favorite show as a kid. The kids at school nick named me, 'Jerome the giraffe'. Even today when introdced to people who are in my age group, (I'm 49) they always remember my name if I tell them to think of Jerome the giraffe. Everybody knew him and the Friendly Giant. Seeing this clip sure brings back memories.... I had no idea that Rusty and Jerome were played by the same guy lol. It really is a shame that CBC never archived the show.
I also watched The Friendly Giant, though since I was born in 1984, I most likely saw reruns (I'd like to think that at the time, they were recent reruns), I loved that show ♥ I did read stories over the years about the cancellation, budget cuts and whatnot, not sure if that's true as I can't find them now, it'd be a shame if it were because of some fool thinking kids programming wasn't worth investing in.. Bob Homme, the guy who played The Friendly Giant, was given the Order of Canada, so I'd like to think the guy got some love ♥
Hello! I can answer that question for you actually (in the 2nd paragraph)! My Great Aunt is Ann Homme (Bob Homme's Daughter). I sometimes come over to her place (which was formerly Bob's home), and have talked to her about the cancellation. This was a while ago, so forgive me if I am mis-remembering for any of this. She said that the CBC asked for something very unreasonable (not sure I remember what it was because that part of the conversation is a bit foggy). She hasn't made the DVDs yet because if I recall correctly, CBC was asking for an unreasonable amount of money for her to retrieve all the footage and stuff from them. I do hope this get's resolved in the end, because I see many people want to be able to watch/re-watch this series!
Frank Gillis Me, too! Whenever I was at my grandma and grandpa’s house in Detroit I would watch The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dress Up. The Friendly Giant was my favorite, though. My grandma and grandpa were originally from Canada and grandma liked watching the CBC.
Rusty was great Cause he had everything in the place where he lived: Books, the harp, the guitar. Jerome was a good Giraffe....maybe some crazy lawn clippings. Always remember Bob Homme. Bless His Heart. The Friendly Giant.
The Friendly Giant started in Madison, Wisconsin at WHA where my father worked. I remember going in to see the set once and being shocked at how small it was. It didn't go to Canada until 1958 but they seem to lay claim to it now.
Alice That's because the CBC offered to produce the show in Canada so Bob Homme moved the show to Canada and it ran until 1985. It was a Canadian Institution for all those years because we all grew up with CBC television, the National Channel. In many places in Canada it was the only channel that you could get at the time.
Rod Coneybeare as Rusty and Jerome! Such a funny and talented guy with an amazing career. And of course, Bob Homme is great as Friendly. I can remember when the music would play signaling the end of another episode of Friendly Giant, my little brother's eyes would well up with tears, and I'd have to reassure him that Rusty, Jerome and Friendly would be back soon. Promise.
A Canadian "Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood," I remember seeing this in 1964 on WHYY, Channel 12 in Philadelphia. If you visit Broadcast Center (CBC) in Toronto, you can see some of the original props and sets.
The format of Friendly Giant didn’t change much during its run. It was a comforting, timeless and reliable one - and a testament to the old truism, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
One of the issues with releasing the shows are problems with getting copyright permissions. They would need to get permissions from the copyright holders of each of the books read on the shows. I'd buy them too if they were available.
I was just reading on Wiki that TFG stopped being telecast in the US when NET became PBS. Why was that and is this the only pre 1980's piece from the show?
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So happy to have found this, tried for many years to recall the name of the show...and I was close!! I LOVED this show as a child!! After ALL these years, I retained wonderful memories, and always remembered the tune, note for note!!! I am now 54 years old.
Back in 1969? my two year old daughter faithfully watched this sweet, low key program. I have hummed the tune to all my grandchildren. RUclips is great when memories like this can be seen anytime.
I started watching this shortly after moving to Michigan in late '63. I was about 4 going on 5 and I watched FG everyday weekday. I'm amazed it was on so long. Even after I graduated from high school it was still on. It was still on halfway thru my 6-year stint in the service. You could have been born in 1980 and still have grown up watching FG. That's amazing.
I was a cameraman on this show about 1962,
Do you remember when Jerome was late? Of all the episodes, that's the one I remember the best. Apparently, Jerome's puppeteer was actually late getting on set on that day. When Jerome stuck his head through the window, he did it so fast he almost took out Friendly! Pretty funny to think about, looking back on it.
Where was the show filmed, from 1975- 1984 i watched on cbet 9 in Windsor ont ca.
I'll tell you this much, I hated the ending, because I didn't want to say goodbye or leave yet *Sniff* What a lovely show
Too cool!!
I ran across this by accident on PBS and looked for it here. Ah....sigh. I now totally remember watching this on TV when I was a child in the (shhhh...she looks around and whispers) 50s. It brings back a feeling of happiness and calm.
i just about started blubbing when I saw this. I loved this man and his show was one of the brightest spots for me when I was just little. Rest in peace gentle Friendly Giant.
I watched this when I was little. I still love this. Brings back memories of time with my mother and I drinking enjoying milk and cookies together. I loved my child hood.
This show wasn't available where I grew up, but when my daughter was little, I stopped whateverI was doing and watched it with her every morning. It really was a good show. It exposed kids to good music, good books, and kindness.
Man ... that takes me back. The Frendly Giant was one of the only sane things in my young life. thank yoiu Freindly Giant for a glimps of daylight and kindness and the direction out.
This is so endearing for me-I loved watching the show as a young child in the mid to late 1960s. I found out decades later that one my Dad's best friends, and whom I was named after, the late Doug Davidson, was Producer/Director of the show from 1960-1965. This old clip brought tears to my eyes. I remember my Mom staying home all day and I would watch TFG-she would then watch Elwood Glover's Luncheon Date-anybody remember that?
Doug Rea same memory of these two shows running back to back and mom taking over. 11:30 and noon I believe.
First show I remember in 1964. Grew up with this. He was a wonderful man.
this was such a brilliant show....watched it in the 60's..thanks for the memories
Wow this brings me back to watching CBC..I was only 10-20 miles away from Canada..in the late 70's..God Bless you Robert M Homme!
God Bless Bob Homme. Truly a wonderful show & person. I'll never forget him.
I used to see this playing on Channel 13 in New York City back when I was a young cub living in Brooklyn in the late 50's early 60's provided or black & white portable TV set wasn't in the shop. Arund 1965-66 when we were getting ready to move from Brooklyn I was kind of sad because I knew I'd miss the old neighborhood when we left and I would watch this show in the afternoons as it would help to cheer me up. At that time I felt that the show was mainly meant for children younger than I, but I still enjoyed it and would watch it every day. Seeing these old clips brings back many fond memories of those days when worries and troubles were few ad there were nice shows like this to keep you company.
I love this! I would buy Friendly Giant DVDs in a minute!
What a wonderful, gentle show to have been able to watch when we were children. We need this back again for the current generation of little ones.
Thank you for posting this. I loved this show when I was a child. When I was home sick my mom would let me lay on the couch and watch this show. I love the opening of the show and the friendly giant himself. They just don't make shows like this anymore😢
LOVED that show. Was born in 1964......so yeah, i started to watched that show and for some reason, i was just taken by this show. And i was looking Waaayyyy Up😍. Loved it when hé would place those roching chair in front of that foyer.......so many Wonder full memories
This was a great show. The man who did this show said he paced the show to help kids build their attention spans. It was something he did with his own kids. I remember watching this when I was way outside the target demographic. It was a sweet show. Done by a man that obviously loved kids.
He never did any public appearances. He wanted to maintain the illusion. He was a good man.
I remember this show from my youth! We lived in far upstate New York (my Dad was stationed at Plattsburgh AFB) in the late 1950's-early 1960's and we watched this show from Montreal....beats ANYTHING today on TV for kids!
This, Sesame Street, and Mr. Dressup were my go to shows as a kid. Thank you for the nostalgia.
Don't forget good ol Mr Rogers
I've got goosebumps. Grew up on the Freindly Giant in the early 60's, Im sure it molded my nature for the good. I still play the simple tune on the piano when I need a fix of peace. My mom sang the song, will have to ask her if she still remembers it. I sure do.
Wow! What a great memory. I watched it with my mom until kindergarten came to life. Then when I watched it, I had to run to class when it was over.
I didn't know it was on 'till '85.
I asked my mom a long time ago if she remembered watching it and she said "Oh, I didn't watch it . I just wanted to listen to the song."
I remember one time as Bob was talking, there was a "crunch" and he looked down. I still wonder if he had stepped on one of the chairs.
A nice, simple time in life.
I thought I had remembered all my childhood idols. Sally Starr, Pixanne, Gene London, Uncle Pete, Wee Willy and Happy the Clown. But this show I had completely forgotten about. What a flashback I just had. Thank you for uploading this wonderful video.
...Many FOND memories when I was little....A True Classic Children's show......Unlike the Garbage of today...
One of my favorite shows when I was a kid. So simple, gentle and peaceful :)
Oh my gosh. You know, I used to watch this as a child in the 1960's. I thought I imagined it! thank you for sharing this, you have brought back fond memories of childhood to me.
Boy what memories, I grew up too watching this beloved show!!!! Lovely, thanx!!
Wow! I remember this as a kid during the 60's. Talk about time machine! A truly innocent tv show. The perfect babysitter also. How did we detour ourselves away from this? I miss my youth... Mr. Homme was the perfect host!
this almost made me cry. I haven't seen this since I was 4. It's gentle and lovely. Thank you.x
I watched The Friendly Giant W-a-a-a-y Back in 63-64, then we moved away.
My earliest childhood.
"What a nice children's show! I used to watch it back in 60's on CKLW from Windsor, ONT. Just a nice show that had no agendas or indoctrination about anything. Letting kids be kids and using their imaginations. Too bad the world today is jaded & cynical and kids today seem to be 6 going on 38."
That's how I feel about it as well.
Christopher Sobieniak You would have watched it on CBC. As I recall that would have been channel 9 in SE Michigan. By the way CKLW is a radio station.
drkjk I know.
+Christopher Sobieniak It was a good show. I watched it a lot as I grew up. And that continued off and on well into my twenties. It was a comforting show.
@@drkjk CKLW used to be Channel 9 in the sixties as well, but it was turned over to different management in the 70's I believe. That's when it became CBET-TV.
Thank you for putting this up for all to see. I too remember watching it in the mid 1960's. I think it might have been on KNME-TV (a PBS affiliate) in New Mexico. I have looked for this for years. It was my favorite show as a child, but most people I would ask about it had no idea of what I spoke. I am glad to see that it was real and so pleasant for kids. (I remember that I liked it much more than Captain Kangaroo and Kukla Fran and Ollie--it was much less frenetic, well frenetic for a child.)
When our local NET [National Educational Television] station, today a PBS station, first went on the air, in 1963, in Wilmington Delaware, WHYY-TV, they aired the Friendly Giant just before their local newscast. I remember catching the tail end of the program waiting for the news. I didn't realize it was a CBC program. He had that Mr. Rogers calm and gentle personality before Mr. Rogers did on American TV.
wow... I remember seeing his somewhere. Must not have been the mainstay in my area. Reminds me of Mr Rogers. How sweet.. I would love my little boy to see this. Thanks for people getting thes out on you tube. I found so many lost memories here.
This was actually picked up and carried on North Carolina Public TV back in the late 60s-early 70s. This was one of my favorite shows when I was 5 and 6.
I watched this in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. I am almost 52 years old. I remember it was in black and white and each episode ran for 15 minutes which was unusual for TV shows since most were 30 minutes or 1 hour. It seems like I watched it on PBS, but I'm not sure. I LOVED this show. A few years ago I read an article on the internet about Bob Homme, but I didn't realize that the show ran until 1985. How interesting. Thanks for sharing the video.
I remember watching this on PBS KCET, Channel 28 , Los Angeles in the late 1960s and early 1970s.👍
I just loved this show. And that Giraffe cracks me up!!! What a trip.
What a nice looking show.
The first time I heard "Early One Morning," I was taken back to watching "Friendly Giant". My first beloved piece of music!
I used to watch The Friendly Giant a long time ago when I was a lot younger, I liked it. :)
me as well,great memories
wow...out of the blue today I thought of this old favorite show and found it hear, does this ever take me back...I loved these!!!!
Lovely memories- lucky to be a Canadian kid and watch this
I used to watch this in the 60's on KUHT Ch 8 in Houston Texas. Great old show!!
Thank you for sharing this. Friendly Giant was the best show on TV ever.
Wow. Every morning at about 10:15 or 10:30 I think. And only in black and white. My favourite kids show. Thanks for posting, Reg.
What a great cast. I carry Jerome, the Cats, Rusty and Friendly with me on my visits to the city every day. They are part of my heart.:-)
yes I loved this show and the end as well. I always could hardly wait to see the cow jump over the moon. Thanks for the memories!
Fun fact: Both Bob Homme and Ernie Coombs (Mr. Dressup) were born in the USA but later became Canadian citizens.
i have been trying to find out the name of this for years -- and today it came to me and I check here --and WOW! THANK YOU!
Such a beautiful show.
I was in northern ontario at the time. 2 tv stations, lol, one in english, one in french. The "must have" instrument at the time was a recorder. 😍🥰
Wow, brings me back to another time.
it did make me cry...simple and wonderful...
Those of us along the 49th parallel, whether American or Canadian, were lucky enough to get this show twice a day! For those of us south of the border that would be on UHF Channel 64 from B.C. and PBS Channel 9 from Seattle. We were lucky ducks. Yea!
RIP Bob Homme. Loved this show.
I only watched Friendly after its production switched to color. Unlike the high concept, flashy shows that my niece and nephew now watch, the stuff that I watched back then were low key, imaginative, and didn't rely on fluff and puff to be popular. I still learned a lot.
I watched Friendly on WHA in the 50s when my older brothers would fiddle with the outside antenna mast to get ch. 21's snowy picture "way out" in Sun Prairie! Today I whistle the theme song and think of this wonderful show.
I loved Rusty the chicken! I never realized that there was so much humor. I saw this as a young child in the 60's
This is wonderful!! I remember watching him when I was just a kid in International Falls, Minnesota! This just made my day. Thank you for posting it.
This is the Friendly Giant I remember......not the colour versions you see on RUclips....I have no memory of them and their openings.
I just read that the Friendly Giant, Bob Homme, was American......Mr. Dressup, Ernie Coombs, was American, too. They died within a year and a half of each other.
A big part of my childhood. Thanks for posting.
I watched this as a child back in the early 60's. It came on CBC Television at 10 a.m. followed by Chez Helene at 10:15. I remember there was a Jazz Trio of mice or squirrels not cats...am I imagining this? I absolutely loved this show and the end is my favourite part, I always wanted to go and sit in front of that fireplace.
There is no other children's show that was as original as The Friendly Giant. I truly believed he was a giant had a castle and had cats a rooster and a giraffe as friends.
@ Tarn Sand you mean he didn't? WTF ?
I was recently at a Friends Birthday Party, only to run into a man who ran Camera for this show !!! What nostalgia to talk to him about this great show. When I asked him about a possible DVD of this, he told me that the CBC DID NOT SAVE ANY OF IT !!! What a dam SHAME !!!!
Chilhood souvenirs... I used to listen to the show on CBC in the early 70's
I remember watching this when I was a kid. It use to come on CKLW Channel 9 Windsor.
I always loved it when he described the rocking chair as one for those "who liked to rock!" .... lol ....
What joy watching this!!!
Thanks for the memories!!❤❤
I would buy the DVDs if they were available - for sure! This was a gREAT show - I want my grand daughter to see it!
My name is Jerome, so naturally this was my favorite show as a kid. The kids at school nick named me, 'Jerome the giraffe'. Even today when introdced to people who are in my age group, (I'm 49) they always remember my name if I tell them to think of Jerome the giraffe. Everybody knew him and the Friendly Giant. Seeing this clip sure brings back memories.... I had no idea that Rusty and Jerome were played by the same guy lol. It really is a shame that CBC never archived the show.
I remember watching this on Channel 13 in NYC when I was a kid on our old black and white DuMont. This would have to have been sometime around 1965.
thanks :) I loved the Friendly Giant in 70s and 80s....
This brings back memories. Thanks for posting.
I also watched The Friendly Giant, though since I was born in 1984, I most likely saw reruns (I'd like to think that at the time, they were recent reruns), I loved that show ♥
I did read stories over the years about the cancellation, budget cuts and whatnot, not sure if that's true as I can't find them now, it'd be a shame if it were because of some fool thinking kids programming wasn't worth investing in..
Bob Homme, the guy who played The Friendly Giant, was given the Order of Canada, so I'd like to think the guy got some love ♥
Hello! I can answer that question for you actually (in the 2nd paragraph)! My Great Aunt is Ann Homme (Bob Homme's Daughter). I sometimes come over to her place (which was formerly Bob's home), and have talked to her about the cancellation. This was a while ago, so forgive me if I am mis-remembering for any of this. She said that the CBC asked for something very unreasonable (not sure I remember what it was because that part of the conversation is a bit foggy). She hasn't made the DVDs yet because if I recall correctly, CBC was asking for an unreasonable amount of money for her to retrieve all the footage and stuff from them. I do hope this get's resolved in the end, because I see many people want to be able to watch/re-watch this series!
Best kids show ever!!!
Watched this on channel 9 Windsor Ontario, in Detroit !
Frank Gillis Me, too! Whenever I was at my grandma and grandpa’s house in Detroit I would watch The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dress Up. The Friendly Giant was my favorite, though. My grandma and grandpa were originally from Canada and grandma liked watching the CBC.
Rusty was great Cause he had everything in the place where he lived: Books, the harp, the guitar. Jerome was a good Giraffe....maybe some crazy lawn clippings. Always remember Bob Homme. Bless His Heart. The Friendly Giant.
ty, this brought back some fond childhood memories
I grew up with the Friendly Giant. It certainly influenced me in a positive way.
I used to watch this on NET (National Educational Television) in B&W in the US.
The Friendly Giant started in Madison, Wisconsin at WHA where my father worked. I remember going in to see the set once and being shocked at how small it was. It didn't go to Canada until 1958 but they seem to lay claim to it now.
Alice That's because the CBC offered to produce the show in Canada so Bob Homme moved the show to Canada and it ran until 1985. It was a Canadian Institution for all those years because we all grew up with CBC television, the National Channel. In many places in Canada it was the only channel that you could get at the time.
Rod Coneybeare as Rusty and Jerome! Such a funny and talented guy with an amazing career. And of course, Bob Homme is great as Friendly.
I can remember when the music would play signaling the end of another episode of Friendly Giant, my little brother's eyes would well up with tears, and I'd have to reassure him that Rusty, Jerome and Friendly would be back soon. Promise.
@ZacCrazy76 Yep, at least Ernie Coombs did. I think Bob might have been dual US/Canadian citizen.
Did they save these on video? There's obviously a market for them!
The greatest show ever. The people at the CBC who decided to cancel Friendly should be ashamed of themselves.
RIP Mr. Homme
Was that the last episode of Friendly Giant?
In 1985.
A Canadian "Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood," I remember seeing this in 1964 on WHYY, Channel 12 in Philadelphia. If you visit Broadcast Center (CBC) in Toronto, you can see some of the original props and sets.
What a beautiful show. When I was a little girl I believed that he actually WAS a real giant!
you mean he isn`t?
Loved watching The Friendly Giant as a kid & young adult. Still kind of 1/2 to see it air on CBC weekday mornings. Didn't it come on around 10-10:30.
The format of Friendly Giant didn’t change much during its run. It was a comforting, timeless and reliable one - and a testament to the old truism, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
One of the issues with releasing the shows are problems with getting copyright permissions. They would need to get permissions from the copyright holders of each of the books read on the shows. I'd buy them too if they were available.
Rusty was a giant rooster!
My favourite!!
I was just reading on Wiki that TFG stopped being telecast in the US when NET became PBS.
Why was that and is this the only pre 1980's piece from the show?
I'm a preacher's wife, so while I can't put it quite like you did, I totally agree!
Thank you.
As did I. Wonderful.
I would for sure.