Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

For a resident in the «West», I’m much more pro-​CBC than some of my militant friends who think TO is all this, and all that… their beef that CBC plays too many Leafs and Habs games on Saturday’s Hockey Night in Canada…
well guess what, 2/3^rd’s of Canadians live back East, so that’s where their advertisers are targeting with their big budget marketing dollars. Simple as that.
Quality, in-​depth channels like the Passionate Eye and the National, ppl take these guys seriously.

I have visited the CBC for a few different events, including a couple of food fests and some tapings of their TV shows. The building itself is pretty cool, with various items from Canadian broadcasting history to look at.
When you are in the audience of a taping, sometimes you even go home with a little prize, Oprah style! Most recently I was here for a taping of The Steven and Chris show and went home with a Happy Light while having enjoyed a half day full of laughs.
If you have a few hours to kill in Toronto on a weekday coming up, I highly recommend signing up in advance to attend a taping of a CBC show. Good times!

an independent news station, independent not only of government, but also the ‘market’ channels? and still manages to somehow stay relevant even with Harper’s ‘government’ becoming ‘board members’? (is this interference with the Fifth Estate?)
\\\\\\incredible!

«George Stromboulopoulos Show»
The Good: A taping of George Stromboulopoulos first brought me here. The building is of course huge and the studio has been constructed very well.
Lise, the «Gatekeeper», has always been very helpful and accommodating. Just don’t be late for the taping! No latecomers allowed which I found out last year!
Even though the taping is long (3.5 hrs), there is a guy who keeps the audience entertained. Can’t remember his name but he’s a local comedian.
The best part is seeing George live and getting really into his interviews. You can see that passion coming out when he leans forward and creates such a natural back and forth with his guests.
The Bad: I was sad that their souvenir shop closed! Was going to go last week, but found out that they are no longer selling anything. Would’ve liked to get something from the Strombo show, but alas, couldn’t even win the prize when they did a quick question contest giveaway in between takes.
The Overall: So here’s a tip — if you’re in love with George, like I am, it’s not hard to get tickets. Just go to his website to get yourself on the ticket list and Lise will eventually get you on the email list.
Revisit: It’s a long time to be sitting in a chair (3.5 hours!) with scheduled washroom breaks in bw filming. I’d say go at least once just to see George doing his thing in person, but anymore than that, you might find your bum turning into a pancake from all the sitting.

Was here for a taping of George during TIFF. The building is nice. Managed to walk around a little, there is lots to see and would warrant another trip. The staff were all friendly and informative. There wasn’t much in the way of signage telling me where to stand or anything so I totally stood at the front of the line instead of the back. Luckily I realized before anyone behind me punched me in the head. I’ll admit I never watch CBC ever, but this was a cool thing to do with a day and free. Plus I got to be like 10 feet away from George and Benjamin Bratt. That’s the stuff dreams are made of. I’ll go back.

During my occasional trips to the Great White North, I find sometimes find myself in front of the TV. If I’m in the Hotel, I watch The National with Peter Mansbridge, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, and of course Colleen Jones for the morning weather and her professional curling perspective. If I’m out and about (and it’s the season), I’m in a bar watching Hockey Night in Canada and listening to crusty old Don Cherry opine in his dapper duds. I’m also a big CFL fan, but more often I end up at McMahon or Commonwealth Stadium in person to watch a game live.
Back home, I will sometimes buy a DVD for a CBC series. And that’s been kind of a mixed bag. For whatever reason, I just couldn’t engage with «Little Mosque on the Prairie» or «Corner Gas», even with my Iowa background. On the other hand, «Slings and Arrows» was superb, especially during the Macbeth season. I’m also looking forward to taking a closer look at «Battle of the Blades», a reality show where they match up hockey player/​figure skater pairs who compete against each other and at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Gayle and I are currently ²⁄₃ of the way through «Being Erica». Maybe it’s Dr. Tom or Leo, but there’s a certain redemptive quality about many of these episodes that touches us both. And of course, who wouldn’t want a chance to uniquely deal with our own personal life regrets?

When I was 12, I wrote to the host of CBC’s Switchback, a Sunday morning youth TV show, and asked her if she could hook me up with some penpals. Mere weeks later, my freaking name was announced on live television. I flipped.
For a period of a year, I received big packages from CBC full of forwarded mail from kids all over Ontario. Can you imagine? Our tax dollars going to support a 12-​year-​old girl’s obsession with letter writing? Humph.
This is where my faith to CBC has been rooted. I know CBC’s made some mistakes, like cancelling Brave New Waves, RadioSonic, and Nightlines, and extending that Avonlea series for way too long. However, it’s shaped a lot of my life, from my music obsession and fascination with Kids in the Hall tapings (at their old Mutual Street address), to volunteer work and free beer with the Royal Canadian Air Farce in this very building. Their radio programs have now taken over my heart, and a day can’t go by without me resting to Carol, Barbara, Andy, Ana-​Maria, Jian, and Bob.
Some people may not agree with the CBC, but it’s a solid national broadcaster and one of the few that’s remained relatively faithful in reflecting the voice of our nation, including this unpopular girl here from small town Ontario.

my connection with the cbc is twofold. i too have visited the building which, sure, is nice enough. i have passed by their monuments to their own history which is interesting. i have always gone to the 5^th floor where there is the acting and film school. i have done films with some of the students there and (whether you can attribute this to their school or not i dont know — my impulse is to say no) they have been pretty professional and some have written good stuff.
the second fold is listening to the radio, which overall i find very interesting except for their dramatic programs. my favorites would be listening to gian ghomeshi, carol oft, matt galloway.
i remember being driven to high school every day by my dad while we listed to peter gzowski (on metro morning i think.)
he was great too.

I recently went to the CBC Building for the first time, to watch a taping of The Hour, on the day that Billy Corgan was there. Apart from all the excitement contained in that facet of my experience, I still found it pretty cool to take a look around, and thought it strange that I never had before.
I think that my relationship with the CBC is the same as a lot of Canadians’ (well those of us who aren’t conscious superfans), and that is of a peripheral presence in their lives and development. *National Identity And The Building Of/​Issues With*, etc, yadda, yadda… I still think it’s pretty cool, cuz I think Canada is pretty cool (and to all those people calling CBC «nerdy», I think I just out-​nerded you, cuz nothing can beat sheepish Canadian self-​acceptance in that department).
Highlights for me:
1. the giftshop, with sub-​highlights: «The Friendly Giant» brooch (jaw-​drop!), and David Suzuki t-​shirts.
2. knowing that the Kids in the Hall used to walk these…*ahem*…halls…

This beautiful building is a definitely a landmark in Toronto and a place you should see if you’re a tourist visiting the city.
The building is HUGE which is probably why they call it the mothercorp. The inside has super high ceilings, and a lounge with a giant TV showing — what a surprise — CBC. The inside of the building is several levels high with many elevators and brightly coloured walls to mark each floor.
I was lucky enough to get a personal tour of the building from my friend who works there, and it was really an interesting experience. They film everything on location, including The Hour with George S. and The National with Peter Mansbridge and of course, the daily newscasts.
There is a gift shop filled with CBC swag from your favourite shows and a food court downstairs if you get hungry on your tour. Also, there’s some air tight security, so make sure you go in with someone you know and get your very own visitors pass!

The CBC is like a nerdy kid who keeps trying so hard to be cool that he makes himself more and more a laughing stock. They still do news and investigative journalism well (traditionally nerdy), but the entertainment section doesn’t have a clue, making clumsy rip-​offs of faddy reality shows and failing to put its tired comedy shows out of their misery.
For this season, CBC cancelled the excellent crime show «Intelligence» («CBC drops intelligence», indeed) and is crowing about how acquiring Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy is some kind of broadcasting coup.
The CBC building is worth seeing, with its enormous atrium in which special events are often held. You can get free tickets to tapings of CBC shows here. If you’re lucky, you might get a chance to tell George Stroumboulopoulos to pull up his pants, for God’s sake.

Giant building. Went to see a taping of The Hour here. It was pretty fun and would definitely skip work to do it again. Anyway, CBC is good tv, I think, and represents us well. They love hockey, I love hockey. They love comedy, I love comedy. They love Canada, some might say I love Canada. See?