Al Waxman starred as Larry King, a convenience store owner in Toronto's Kensington Market who was known for helping friends and neighbours solve problems. His multicultural group of friends consisted of Nestor Best (Ardon Bess), Max (John J. Dee), and Tony "Duke" Zarro (Bob Vinci), who hung around regularly to the perennial disapproval of King's mother Gladys (Helene Winston).
For the first three seasons, Fiona Reid played his wife Cathy. At the end of the third season, Reid decided to leave the series, so Larry and Cathy divorced. Larry then dated Tina (Rosemary Radcliffe) in the fourth season and Gwen Twining (Jayne Eastwood) in the fifth.[1] At the same time, Larry sold the convenience store and took a new job with a youth community centre.[1]
Production
The show was created by Perry Rosemond, who also produced the first season. Other producers included Jack Humphrey (1976–1980) and Joe Partington (1978–1980). The original series pilot starred Paul Hecht and Sandra O'Neill as Larry and Cathy King, although the series was recast with Waxman and Reid by the time the show went into production.[1]
The show's gentle but politically conscious humour is seen by some critics as a Canadian version of the topical Norman Lear sitcoms of the 1970s, such as All in the Family and Maude.[3] The series maintained a tight production schedule, with episodes sometimes airing just one week or less after they were filmed, so that topical jokes about current news stories could be incorporated into the scripts.[1]
The series was syndicated to some American stations during the height of its popularity.[1]
After King of Kensington ended in 1980, many of the producers went on to create the new CBC sitcom Hangin' In, while head writer Louis Del Grande went on to create and star in Seeing Things, and Waxman was cast in the American series Cagney & Lacey.
In the SCTV episode "CCCP1-Russian television", one of the fake TV programs infiltrating the network is Hey Giorgiy, about "everyone's favorite Cossack", intended as a Russian knockoff of King of Kensington.
In the first episode of the 1990s television series Twitch City, also set in Kensington, the character Nathan (played by Daniel MacIvor) was sent to prison for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food. The producers of Twitch City cast Al Waxman in the role of the murder victim, as a symbolic wink to King of Kensington, although they claimed that they did not intend for the character to be seen as Larry King himself.[4]
In the late 1990s, This Hour Has 22 Minutes featured a sketch detailing the making of a film version of King of Kensington. In the sketch, director Atom Egoyan (played by Greg Thomey), re-imagines the series as a surreal crime thriller, with Larry King as a serial killer instead of a convenience store owner.
Following Waxman's death on January 18, 2001, a memorial to him was erected in Kensington Market.
In one episode of the Canadian comedy program Puppets Who Kill, the character Bill steals Al Waxman's preserved brain from CBC headquarters.
Home media
On November 13, 2007, Morningstar Entertainment released King of Kensington – Season One on DVD in Region 1.[5]
References
^ abcdefMary Jane Miller, Turn Up the Contrast: CBC Television Drama since 1952. UBC Press, 2011. ISBN9780774843218. pp. 134-144.
^"King to be bachelor". Ottawa Citizen. 1978-01-25. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
king, kensington, canadian, television, sitcom, which, aired, television, from, 1975, 1980, created, byperry, rosemonddirected, byray, arsenaultstarringal, waxmanfiona, reidhelene, winstonrosemary, radcliffe, jayne, eastwoodcountry, origincanadano, seasons5no,. King of Kensington is a Canadian television sitcom which aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1980 1 King of KensingtonCreated byPerry RosemondDirected byRay ArsenaultStarringAl WaxmanFiona ReidHelene WinstonRosemary Radcliffe Jayne EastwoodCountry of originCanadaNo of seasons5No of episodes111ProductionRunning time30 minutesReleaseOriginal networkCBC TelevisionOriginal releaseSeptember 25 1975 1975 09 25 March 13 1980 1980 03 13 Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Production 3 Cast 4 Episode list 4 1 Season 1 1975 76 4 2 Season 2 1976 77 4 3 Season 3 1977 78 4 4 Season 4 1978 79 4 5 Season 5 1979 80 5 Tributes 6 Home media 7 References 8 External linksSynopsis EditAl Waxman starred as Larry King a convenience store owner in Toronto s Kensington Market who was known for helping friends and neighbours solve problems His multicultural group of friends consisted of Nestor Best Ardon Bess Max John J Dee and Tony Duke Zarro Bob Vinci who hung around regularly to the perennial disapproval of King s mother Gladys Helene Winston For the first three seasons Fiona Reid played his wife Cathy At the end of the third season Reid decided to leave the series so Larry and Cathy divorced Larry then dated Tina Rosemary Radcliffe in the fourth season and Gwen Twining Jayne Eastwood in the fifth 1 At the same time Larry sold the convenience store and took a new job with a youth community centre 1 Production EditThe show was created by Perry Rosemond who also produced the first season Other producers included Jack Humphrey 1976 1980 and Joe Partington 1978 1980 The original series pilot starred Paul Hecht and Sandra O Neill as Larry and Cathy King although the series was recast with Waxman and Reid by the time the show went into production 1 The series featured many Canadian actors as guest stars including Andrea Martin Mike Myers John Candy Eugene Levy Dave Thomas Jeff Wincott and Mark Humphrey The show was popular with viewers prior to the start of the fourth season one of the producers noted the show drew 1 5 to 1 8 million viewers weekly 2 The show s gentle but politically conscious humour is seen by some critics as a Canadian version of the topical Norman Lear sitcoms of the 1970s such as All in the Family and Maude 3 The series maintained a tight production schedule with episodes sometimes airing just one week or less after they were filmed so that topical jokes about current news stories could be incorporated into the scripts 1 The series was syndicated to some American stations during the height of its popularity 1 After King of Kensington ended in 1980 many of the producers went on to create the new CBC sitcom Hangin In while head writer Louis Del Grande went on to create and star in Seeing Things and Waxman was cast in the American series Cagney amp Lacey Cast EditAl Waxman as Larry King Helene Winston as Gladys King Fiona Reid as Cathy King 1975 1978 Ardon Bess as Nestor Best 1975 1978 Bob Vinci as Tony Duke Zarro 1975 1978 John J Dee as Max 1975 1978 Jayne Eastwood as Gwen Twining 1978 1980 Peter Boretski as Jack Soble 1978 1980 Robert Haley as Ron Bacon 1978 1980 Rosemary Radcliffe as Tina 1978 1980 Linda Rennhofer as Dorothy 1978 1980 Episode list EditSeason 1 1975 76 Edit Ep Title Airdate1 1 Variety Store Sep 25 19752 2 Hot Line Host Oct 02 19753 3 Kensington Achievement Award Oct 09 19754 4 The Tax Audit Oct 23 19755 5 Save Old George Oct 30 19756 6 Where s Cathy Nov 06 19757 7 Half Way Home Nov 13 19758 8 The Lady Who Came to Dinner Nov 20 19759 9 The Joy of Kensington ft Andrea Martin Nov 27 197510 10 The Gambler ft Saul Rubinek amp Luba Goy Dec 04 197511 11 The Real Mrs King Dec 11 197512 12 Scout s Honour ft Mike Myers Dec 18 197513 13 The Christmas Show Dec 25 197514 14 The Detroit Story ft Dave Thomas Jan 15 197615 15 Cathy s Hobby Jan 22 197616 16 Duke s Dilemma Jan 29 197617 17 Delma s Decision Feb 05 197618 18 Happy Anniversary Feb 12 1976Season 2 1976 77 Edit Ep Title Airdate1 19 Fertility for Two Sep 21 19762 20 The Partners Sep 28 19763 21 The Checkup Oct 05 19764 22 The Dancer Oct 12 19765 23 Delma s Fur Oct 26 19766 24 The Reunion Nov 09 19767 25 Gestalt of Kensington Nov 16 19768 26 Welcome to Canada Nov 23 19769 27 The Friend Nov 30 197610 28 Duke s New Job Dec 07 197611 29 Prisoner of Kensington Dec 14 197612 30 The Holiday Dec 28 197613 31 The End of the World Jan 04 197714 32 The Lottery Jan 11 197715 33 Gladys Teddy Bear Jan 18 197716 34 Bunny of Kensington Jan 25 197717 35 Mary Theresa Is Missing Feb 01 197718 36 Cathy s Parents Feb 08 197719 37 The Central Tech Tiger Feb 15 197720 38 The Crush Feb 22 197721 39 Tiny s Job Mar 01 197722 40 Gladys Problem Mar 08 197723 41 The Quiz Show Mar 15 197724 42 The Big Shot Mar 22 1977Season 3 1977 78 Edit Ep Title Airdate1 43 Cathy s New Career Sep 25 19772 44 The Comic Oct 09 19773 45 The Prom Oct 16 19774 46 The Hostage Oct 23 19775 47 The Boiler Oct 30 19776 48 Hotel Buffalo Nov 06 19777 49 The Photographer Nov 13 19778 50 The Teacher Nov 20 19779 51 The Move Nov 27 197710 52 Gladys Restaurant Dec 04 197711 53 The Hero Dec 11 197712 54 The Dance Studio Dec 18 197713 55 The Suitor Jan 08 197814 56 The Hustler Jan 22 197815 57 The Wizard Jan 29 197816 58 Big Daddy Feb 05 197817 59 The Racehorse Feb 12 197818 60 The Dukedom Feb 19 197819 61 Las Vegas Feb 26 197820 62 Old Flame Mar 05 197821 63 King s Cousin Mar 12 197822 64 The Blood of Kings Mar 19 197823 65 Cathy s Last Stand Mar 26 1978Season 4 1978 79 Edit Ep Title Airdate1 66 King s First Date Sep 28 19782 67 Summer of 56 Oct 05 19783 68 School Daze Oct 12 19784 69 The Invitation Oct 19 19785 70 Words and Music Oct 26 19786 71 Carol s Arrival Nov 02 19787 72 Double Standard Nov 09 19788 73 The Pursesnatcher Nov 16 19789 74 Third Party Dec 07 197810 75 Big Brother Dec 14 197811 76 A Xmas Story Dec 21 197812 77 The Houseguest Dec 28 197813 78 With This Ring Jan 04 197914 79 Guido s Job Jan 11 197915 80 Over the Hill Jan 18 197916 81 Dear Aunt Martha Jan 25 197917 82 The Best Man Feb 01 197918 83 Hockey Night in Kensington Feb 15 197919 84 True Confessions Feb 22 197920 85 Mr King Goes to Ottawa Mar 08 197921 86 White Lace Gloves Mar 15 197922 87 The Fishing Trip Mar 22 197923 88 Cyrano de Kensington Mar 29 1979Season 5 1979 80 Edit Ep Title Airdate1 89 King s Brave New World Sep 13 19792 90 Diabolical Plots Sep 20 19793 91 Life Begins at Forty Sep 27 19794 92 The Hat Trick Oct 04 19795 93 Home Is Where the Heartburn Is Oct 11 19796 94 The Rivals Oct 25 19797 95 Born to Boogie Nov 01 19798 96 The Double Date Nov 08 19799 97 Masters and Johnson and King Nov 15 197910 98 The Bet Nov 22 197911 99 Pawn to King Four Nov 29 197912 100 Down But Not Out Dec 06 197913 101 Catch 23 Dec 20 197914 102 The Total Woman Jan 03 198015 103 Look Ma No Cavities Jan 10 198016 104 Sign of the Bull Jan 17 198017 105 The Spirit of Joy Jan 24 198018 106 Good News Bad News Jan 31 198019 107 War and Peace Feb 07 198020 108 Counter Attack Feb 21 198021 109 Green Eyed Monster Feb 28 198022 110 Purple Passion Mar 06 198023 111 Movin On Mar 13 1980Tributes EditIn the SCTV episode CCCP1 Russian television one of the fake TV programs infiltrating the network is Hey Giorgiy about everyone s favorite Cossack intended as a Russian knockoff of King of Kensington In the first episode of the 1990s television series Twitch City also set in Kensington the character Nathan played by Daniel MacIvor was sent to prison for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food The producers of Twitch City cast Al Waxman in the role of the murder victim as a symbolic wink to King of Kensington although they claimed that they did not intend for the character to be seen as Larry King himself 4 In the late 1990s This Hour Has 22 Minutes featured a sketch detailing the making of a film version of King of Kensington In the sketch director Atom Egoyan played by Greg Thomey re imagines the series as a surreal crime thriller with Larry King as a serial killer instead of a convenience store owner Following Waxman s death on January 18 2001 a memorial to him was erected in Kensington Market In one episode of the Canadian comedy program Puppets Who Kill the character Bill steals Al Waxman s preserved brain from CBC headquarters Home media EditOn November 13 2007 Morningstar Entertainment released King of Kensington Season One on DVD in Region 1 5 References Edit a b c d e f Mary Jane Miller Turn Up the Contrast CBC Television Drama since 1952 UBC Press 2011 ISBN 9780774843218 pp 134 144 King to be bachelor Ottawa Citizen 1978 01 25 Retrieved 9 April 2011 Geoff Pevere and Greig Dymond Mondo Canuck A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey Pearson Canada 1996 ISBN 9780132630887 p 209 Twitch City a weird look at television addiction Former King of Kensington gets whacked tonight Edmonton Journal January 19 1988 King of Kensington DVD news Announcement for King of Kensington Season 1 TVShowsOnDVD com Archived from the original on 2012 10 19 Retrieved 2011 05 22 External links Edit Television portal Canada portalKing of Kensington Cast Photo and Synopsis King of Kensington Episode Guide at TV Archive Site King of Kensington at IMDb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title King of Kensington amp oldid 1125409033, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
