GREAT SCOTT! 40 Years Behind A Mike - By Richard (Dick Scott) Pratz
CHAPTER: Tonite Not Tonight (Continued)
I recall another “Elliott” with a Barbra Streisand connection who helped boost our ratings. His name was Pierre Elliott Trudeau and he appeared on The Tonite Show during the Federal Election campaign of 1974. My program was seen throughout Northern Ontario and he saved himself a lot of campaigning miles by appearing on it. In his prime, Trudeau was exciting, charismatic and sexy. He drove sports cars, wore capes, ascots and floppy hats, and always had the signature red rose in his lapel. He slid down banisters, canoed in white-water rapids, did pirouettes behind the Queen’s back at Buckingham Palace. He made politics fashionable for the upbeat sixties generation that emerged from the sleepy 50s. He dated some of the most interesting women in the world - singer, Barbra Streisand, movie star Margot Kidder, and classical guitarist Liona Boyd. He seemed to come from out of nowhere in the 60s saying things like, “The state has no business in the nation’s bedrooms.” He borrowed that phrase, by the way, from a Globe and Mail editorial in December 1967 when he was Minister of Justice, explaining legislation he had introduced in the House of Commons that would reform divorce laws and liberalize laws on abortion and homosexuality. One of the things that irked me most about his appearance on The Tonite Show was the fact the executive producer didn’t trust my knowledge of Canadian politics enough for me to chat intelligently with P.E.T. After all, they reasoned, I was still an American and even though I was the host of the show it may be best not to let a landed immigrant pose questions to the head of the country. So, other “political experts” were brought in to discuss the issues of the day with Pierre. I more or less just introduced everyone to one another and saw to it the commercial breaks were made on time. I did manage to squeeze in a few questions but they were not given much credence. Therefore, by the time the program ended I came away with a somewhat less-than-glowing opinion of the Prime Minister even though it was none of his doing. His well-known lack of affection for the news media and his often arrogant attitude may have coloured my opinion. Still, when he passed away September 28, 2000 after being named the top Canadian newsmaker of the 20th century, I remembered that evening 26 years earlier when I was privileged to meet him.
A few days after Pierre Trudeau’s appearance on The Tonite Show, another Canadian political leader who was also on the campaign trail stopped by. This time, I was allowed to be the main interviewer. Robert Lorne Stanfield, a lawyer, became (1948) the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in Nova Scotia, entered the provincial legislature (1949), and served (1956-67) as Nova Scotia’s Premier. During his ministry he concentrated on the province’s industrial development. After he was chosen his party’s national leader (1967), he resigned as Premier and entered the House of Commons where he became leader of the opposition the same year. Stanfield could not compare to Pierre Trudeau when it came to charisma. He was a balding man who looked older than his years and spoke in a less flamboyant style than the Prime Minister. Still, he was a man of high intelligence and his leadership qualities were seldom challenged. For a man most Canadians judged as humourless, to me he was a man with a quick and ready wit. On the occasions The Tonite Show had “name” guests, a makeup lady was always present to see to their makeup needs. I felt a sense of rapport with Stanfield from the moment he sat down in the makeup chair. As the pancake and powder were being applied, he sallied forth with a barrage of comments he’d collected over the years about his balding pate! He had all of us laughing not only off the air but on-air as well. Although he discussed the political issues of the day in all sincerity, he did so by utilizing his wry and dry wit. At the conclusion of the Trudeau appearance, I felt as though it may have been an enlightening but not entertaining hour of television. But at the conclusion of Stanfield’s appearance, I felt it had been a more well-rounded show that entertained as well as informed. After losing to Trudeau in the 1974 elections, Stanfield stepped down as head of his party.
In the world of broadcasting I always tried to be as nice as possible to my co-workers. Not only because it was the Christian thing to do but more selfishly, I had seen careers ruined by people who had burned their bridges behind them. One might make an enemy out of a fellow employee only to discover he later became a program director or station manager/owner down the line and what chance would there be of landing a job at his station? Unfortunately, this theory breeds insincerity and shallowness. But if it meant the difference between landing a job in this transient business or not landing a job, it often paid not to be a bridge-burner! One of the CKSO-TV directors who guided the early days of The Tonite Show was Brian Kienapple whom I considered a friend. A few months into the program, Brian received a better job offer from the University of Alberta in Edmonton and moved his family out west. Brian went to work for the U of A’s Department of Radio & Television. Eventually, University Brass wanted to produce a television program of its own to be aired on a commercial station in Edmonton to better acquaint the public with what the University was all about. The University powers-that-be wanted to eliminate the “ivory tower” image of the institution and show all Alberta its “human” side. Brian was asked to head up the project. But he needed help. He thought of that Dick Scott fellow in Sudbury who seemed to be doing alright with a TV talk show, and he gave me a call.
As the Monty Python saying goes - - “And now for something completely different!”
