allniteshow

MEMORIES OF CHUCK - A look back at The All-Night Show
By Simon St. Laurent

There are markers in our lives - certainly when we are growing up. Popular
music/songs often fill this role, although, I have never been into songs, very
much, and television shows we watch in our youth and childhood are with us
forever; whether we like this fact or not. But, often what happens is that
when we put our toes back into the waters, we find the sensation less
pleasing or satisfying that what our memories of the experience suggest.

Some programs are exempted, of course. One of these is a short-lived live
production by the name of The All-Night Show, a Toronto produced (by
newbie station CFMT) series which ran from 1980 to 1981. Having sampled
some bits recently - bits are all that survive, actually - I was more than
surprised at how reputable my memories of "Chuck the Security Guard" (as
we called the show back then) are. Chuck was the host of TANS. The
premise was that the station's dependable night-shift security staff of one
man had the run of the station in the wee hours of the a.m. During these
hours to kill, Chuck would joke around with the off-screen, and never to be
seen, cameraman Ryerson, often doing gags or segments which a guy like
David Letterman would popularize from coast-to-coast in the following years.

(A large part of the appeal for this viewer, at least, was not knowing exactly
what I was in store for any given evening; but once the parameters of TANS
were understood - anything that could happen, might - I was ready for just
about anything. A favourite gag of mine was during one the many rather
surreal nights. God knows what time it was: Chuck and Ryerson humped the
camera up to the roof of the CFMT building and called a telephone booth on
the street below whenever they saw someone walking by.)

Looking, or thinking, back now, I realize the best way to sum up TANS was it
was Chuck's playground. And he was a fun kid to be around. Especially when
you are in high school and not supposed to be up all night as there are
scholastic achievements awaiting the next morning. Oh... that's why...

In reality, Chuck was played by Toronto actor-writer-comedian Chas
Lawther. Although reserved in real life (in the interviews I've seen), Lawther
in character is having the time of his life when in front of TANS camera. In
his sporty ubiquitous duty uniform, and white sneakers, Chuck bears some
resemblance to Pee Wee Herman - his slight lanky build furnished some of the
visual similarities. Chuck, unlike Pee Wee, is an adult but still exhibiting some
child-like tonalities not to mention, tendencies. (Always filling the required
duties of a real security guard, he would often do his "Hey You!", a guard's
warning for someone to stop doing whatever, as he pointed to our screens.)
Watching TANS now, as an adult, well, more of an adult, convinces me this
way of playing it was the right one. After all, don't we like it when someone
looks as though they are enjoying themselves? The by-product? We, as
viewers, enjoy ourselves. Stuffy or dull hosts need not apply.

Chuck definitely enjoyed programming the inserts, the old TV shows like The
Outer Limits - it was just 15 years old then - and The Twilight Zone, along
with industrial films from some years past, Betty Boop cartoons, and
independent shorts. One such short, Blowjob, was very memorable; this was
essentially a b&w film about a guy reading his last will, and contact
information, while sitting on a rock in what appeared to be the middle of
nowhere. At the pic's beginning, he fiddles with the camera (obviously having
just started it), focuses the lens, and walks over to the rock. This reading
goes on for a couple of minutes, then powee! The end. (The second time
Chuck showed this short he said he actually called the number that the "Last
Will Guy" left, but that there was no answer). This Blowjob was interesting,
as was a comically erotic piece, the name of which escapes me, about a
dishy blonde woman playing tennis with an eager, and male voiced, tennis
ball machine/cannon. No need to explain anything here. You can probably
figure out the climax without my help.

This was the tone of a typical evening with the dynamic security guard and
his all night show. Unfortunately, it all came to a crashing halt mere months
after it started. The show we slowly discovered was canned by the suits at
station CFMT-TV. I remember an interview with one of the head honchos
after he cut the string, where he said, exactly (I shall never forget these
words of such finality), "This station has to start thinking about making
money".

As I am interested in business affairs (I am not just a film geek), I do
understand all these words, the order they are assembled in, and what they
mean - they are without subtext, straight to the point, and non-elusive, or
evasive. But I also understand that when you have a hit show (media ratings
systems at the time pointed out that Chuck was bringing 'em in) like The
All-Night Show, it can pay dividends. You must give it a little more time. We
faithful Chuck fans really loved that format. As a matter of fact, CFMT
continued to promote the show after the cuts were made, but without Chuck
at the switcher. 'Hey, don't fret, you can still watch your favourite old series
on CFMT's The All-Night Show!' Like many, I turned on the new version (sans
Chuck), saw the graphic or title card; an old series or short came on; then I
pressed the 'off' button.

Fizzle.

Static.

2008 Simon St. Laurent

Note: The above article was originally written for Greg Woods' publication
"The Eclectic Screening Room".

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