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Lord Have Mercy

Lord Have Mercy

Lord Have Mercy was a Canadian television sitcom, which debuted on Vision TV in 2003. It also received a second run on Toronto One later the same year. The series, one of the first television productions launched by Vision TV's multicultural television development fund, starred Arnold Pinnock as Dwight Gooding, an ambitious new youth pastor at Mt. Zion, a Caribbean-Canadian church. Other main characters were Dennis Hall as head pastor Cuthbert Stevens, Rachel Price as Gooding's wife Desirée, Leonie Forbes as pastoral assistant Hope McCauley, and Shaun Singleton and d'bi young as Hope's grandchildren Kent and Crystal. The cast also included Gary Farmer, Russell Peters and Louis Negin. Category:Sitcoms in Canada

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States. Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom. Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23. Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million [http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm].

Overview

The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]] Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there. Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Canada has ten provinces and three territories: Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.

Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]] British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html] settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic. In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.) Newfoundland and Labrador In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent. Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982. The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Geography

unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia). Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east. Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia. Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands. Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.

Climate

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common. Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

Politics

1937] Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926. Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives. The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years. notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75. electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial. Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail). Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

Foreign relations

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country". United Kingdom.]] In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "middle power" able to work with large and small nations alike. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis when Lester B. Pearson mollified the tension by introducing the idea of peacekeeping and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In 1957, Pearson was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. Canada has cumulatively contributed more troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide than all other nations combined and currently serves in over 40 different peacekeeping missions, most recently in Afghanistan. Canada has contributed in some way to all UN peacekeeping missions. Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States (OAS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization, the G8, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Military

Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationA founding member of the NATO alliance, Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve military personnel.[http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/about/family_e.asp] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) are comprised of army, navy, and air force branches. Major CF equipment deployed includes 2,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 140 combat aircraft. Defence is an exclusive federal jurisdiction: defence spending in fiscal year 2004-5 was approximately $14 billion.[http://www.vcds.forces.gc.ca/dgsp/pubs/rep-pub/ddm/rpp/rpp05-06/sec3c_e.asp] However, in the 2005 federal budget, the Liberal government allocated an additional $12.8 billion over five years to the armed forces, and committed to increasing troop levels by an additional 8,000 regular and reserve personnel over the same period.[http://www.fin.gc.ca/budget05/speech/speeche.htm] Canadian forces have served in various wars including World War I, World War II, the Korean War and recently, in Afghanistan. Since Lester B. Pearson proposed the first UN peacekeeping force in 1956, the Canadian Forces have served in 42 peacekeeping missions — more than any other country. Canada was also the prime destination of American draft dodgers during the Vietnam War. These factors – along with its comparatively low level of military spending, other positions such as nuclear non-proliferation, and an international treaty banning personnel land mine usage – have led to Canada sometimes being referred to as a pacifist country. Battles significantly contributing to Canada's development and self-identity include the Battle of Vimy Ridge, the Second Battle of Ypres, the Third Battle of Ypres, and Juno Beach. Currently, CF personnel are involved in the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Smaller missions are also taking place in Haiti and Kosovo. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in two relief operations in the last year. The two-hundred member relief crew helped in Southeast Asia after the December 2004 tsunami, and DART was also deployed in response to the devastating earthquake that struck the Kashmir region in South Asia in October 2005. Moreover, CF (and RCMP) personnel recently assisted in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Provinces and territories of Canada

Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols. The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. The federal government can initiate national policies that the provinces can opt out of, but this rarely happens in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years. Lieutenant-Governor.]] Most provinces have provincial counterparts to the three national federal parties. However, some provincial parties are not formally linked to the federal parties that share the same name. Some provinces have regional political parties, such as the Saskatchewan Party. The provincial political climate of Quebec is quite different: the main split is between separatism, represented by the Parti Québécois, and federalism, represented by the Parti Libéral du Québec. The three territories have fewer political powers than provinces, having been created by acts of the national Parliament rather than having their status enshrined in the Constitution. There is no lieutenant-governor to represent and fulfil the functions of the Queen, but each has a politically neutral Commissioner appointed by the federal government to act as its senior representative. Only Yukon's legislature follows the same political system as the provincial legislatures. The other two territories use a consensus government system in which each member runs as an independent and the premier is elected by and from the members. There is also interest within Canada and the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas UK territory in the Caribbean, for the latter to enter into Confederation.

Economy

Caribbean, depicting (from top to bottom) Wilfred Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.]]As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada today closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. In the last century, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. Canada has vast deposits of natural gas on the east coast and in the west, and a plethora of other natural resources contributing to self-sufficiency in energy. The 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the U.S. Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8. Two long-term concerns loom. One is the continuing political differences over the Constitution between Quebec and the rest of Canada, periodically raising the possibility of Quebec independence. As the economy becomes stronger, notably in Quebec, fears of separation have generally waned. Another concern is the "Brain Drain", the emigration of professionals to the U.S. in search of higher pay, lower taxes, and high-tech opportunities. (However, a [http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1124920225033&call_pageid=971358637177&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes recent Toronto Star article] claims that the "Brain Drain" of doctors has abated, as more are returning to Canada due to high insurance rates in the U.S. and a more efficient medicare system in Canada.) Simultaneously, a larger, under-recognised "Brain Gain" is occurring, as educated immigrants (particularly from developing countries, a controversy in and of itself) continue to enter Canada [http://www.statcan.ca/english/indepth/81-003/feature/eqhi2000006003s1a01.htm].

Demographics

The 2001 national census recorded 30,007,094 people, and as of October 2005 the population has been estimated by Statistics Canada as 32.3 million people[http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm], an increase of some 2.3 million people by both immigration and natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 150 km of the U.S. border, and a similar proportion live in urban areas. In the 2001 census, 39.42% of respondents reported their ethnic origins as "Canadian", most of whom are believed to be of British, Irish, and French heritage of earlier immigrants. In addition, 20.17% identified their origin as English, 15.75% as French, 14.03% as Scottish, and 12.90% as Irish. Numerous other groups were also reported. Ethnic origins reported by more than 1 million people included: German (9.25%), Italian (4.29%), Chinese (3.69%), Ukrainian (3.61%) and North American Indian (3.38%). Close to four million people reported they were members of a visible minority, amounting to 13.44% of the total population. (Note that Aboriginal peoples are not considered visible minorities). Also, the 2001 census reported that Canada had 5,448,480 immigrants. [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/Immigration/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo=PR&Code=0&View=1&Table=1&StartRec=1&Sort=2&B1=Counts] According to the last census[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/contents.cfm], 72% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group – 43% of Canadians. One-sixth of Canadians declared no religious affiliation, and the remaining 12% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity.

Language

Catholics]] Canada's two official languages are English and French. On July 7, 1969, under the Official Languages Act, French was made commensurate to English throughout the federal government. This started a process that led to Canada redefining itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions.
- Any defendant in a criminal case has the right to a trial in either English or French.
- The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French.
- Official language minority groups in most provinces and territories have the right to be educated in their language, in their own schools, with their own elected school boards, where they exist in sufficient numbers.
- While multiculturalism is official policy, to become a citizen one must be able to speak either English or French.
- More than 98% of Canadians speak English or French or both. While the nation remains officially bilingual, the majority of Canadians are fluent only in English. The official language of Quebec is French, as defined by the province's Charter of the French Language, which was introduced by the Parti Quebecois in 1976. However, the charter also provides certain rights for speakers of English and aboriginal languages. Quebec provides most government services in both French and English. French is mostly spoken in Quebec with pockets in New Brunswick, eastern and northern Ontario, Saskatchewan, and southern Manitoba. In the 2001 census, 6,864,615 people listed French as a first language, of whom 85% lived in Quebec. 17,694,835 people listed English as a first language. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province, a status specifically guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some provincial governments, notably Manitoba and Ontario, offer many services to their French minority populations. Aboriginal languages are co-official in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Non-official languages are also important in Canada, with 5,470,820 people listing a non-official language as a first language. (The above three statistics include those who listed more than one first language.) Among the most important non-official first language groups are Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).

Aboriginal peoples

The Constitution Act of 1982 recognizes three groups of aboriginal peoples in Canada: the Indians (now often called First Nations), Inuit, and Métis. The aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the population in Canada. According to the Canada 2001 Census, people identified themselves as aboriginal numbered 976,305 people (or 3.3% of Canada's population) of whom about 62% are First Nations, 30% are Métis, and 5% are Inuit. Also, ethnic origin figures from the Census show that 1.3 million Canadians stated that they were partially of fully of aboriginal ancestry, including about one million people claiming full or partial First Nation ancestry, 307,000 Métis ancestry and 56,000 Inuit ancestry.

Culture

Canada 2001 Census originated from Canada when residents began playing hurley on ice.]] Due to its colonial past, Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by British and French cultures and traditions. In more modern times, Canadian culture is now greatly influenced by American culture, due to the proximity and the migration of people, ideas, and capital. Amidst this, Canadian culture has developed unique characteristics. In many respects, a more robust and distinct Canadian culture has developed in recent years, partially because of the civic nationalism that pervaded Canada in the years prior to and following the Canadian Centennial in 1967, and also due to a focus by the federal government on programs to support culture and the arts. There were and are many distinct First Nations across Canada, each with its own culture, language and history. Their culture was transmitted largely through oral means and stories were passed down through the elders to the younger generations. Various tribes created unique styles of artifacts such as woven baskets, painted pictures, and carved sculptures of animals. Much of this artistic legacy remains celebrated in Canada to this day. The emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is the inukshuk, a stack of rocks in human form that is a part of Inuit culture. [http://www.vancouver2010.com/Emblem/home.htm] From as early the 1500s, European explorers, traders, and fishermen from England, Ireland and France helped form the basis of Canadian culture. During their colonization of Canada, settlers created a folklore about the land around them. The tales of Paul Bunyan are a product of French-Canadian folklore and the style of jigs from Newfoundland found their origins in Ireland. Canada and the United Kingdom share a common history and continue to work together through many organizations such as the Commonwealth, G-8, and NATO. The two countries share the same head of state, and have among the oldest parliamentary democracies in the world. They still share many of the same customs, values, and traditions, which have been reinforced by working side by side in two world wars and over half a century of expanding peace and prosperity. The United Kingdom is Canada’s third largest trading partner and is the second largest source of tourists visiting Canada. The Canadian and U.S. governments share a variety of close working partnerships in trade, economic, legal, security, and military matters. These are occasionally strained by domestic politics; for instance, the ongoing softwood lumber dispute and the war in Iraq. This has led to successive drives by Canadian leaders to diversify trade with other countries; examples include Diefenbaker's efforts to increase trade with the U.K., Trudeau's efforts with Europe, and current efforts with China and India. As well, the decision to switch to the metric system in 1970 (though, like the U.K., both the metric and Imperial systems are in common usage) has similar roots. As Canada and the U.S. grew closer after World War 2 (the U.S. became Canada's largest trading partner in the late-1940s), many Canadians started to develop complex feelings and concerns regarding what makes Canada "distinct" within North America. The large American cultural presence in Canada has prompted some fears of a "cultural takeover" that have led to the establishment of laws and institutions to protect Canadian culture, including the CBC, the National Film Board of Canada, and the CRTC. Many American movies, authors, TV shows, and musicians are equally popular in Canada (and vice versa), many have been successful worldwide. Most cultural products of these types are now increasingly marketed toward a unified "North American" market, and not specifically a Canadian or American one. Though debatable, Canada has increasingly distinguished itself politically in recent years by being more fiscally conservative on issues such as balanced budgets, tax cuts, and reductions in government, while also being more socially liberal: the Canadian government currently supports universal health care, same-sex marriage, and decriminalization of marijuana. All of these issues are of varying contention amongst Canadians. Many Canadian citizens see Canadian culture as based on the policy of multiculturalism.

Sports

multiculturalism.]] Notable sports which are enjoyed throughout Canada include ice hockey, curling, lacrosse, basketball and the home-grown Canadian Football League. Although CFL teams compete in a variant of American football, traditional football (soccer) is hardly an unknown in Canada, and in 1986 the Canucks qualified for their only appearance at the World Cup in Mexico. In addition, as the vast majority of Canadians live in very close proximity to the United States, Canadians can also watch sporting events from the professional leagues in that country, such as NASCAR and the National Football League. The National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, the National Lacrosse League and Major League Baseball are comprised of teams from both Canada and the United States. Major League Baseball As of the 1994 National Sports of Canada Act, Canada officially has two national sports. Ice hockey is the national winter sport and lacrosse is the national summer sport.

National symbols

Major League Baseball The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates back to the early 18th century, and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, an

Sitcom

A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. Sitcoms usually consist of recurring characters in a format in which there are one or more humorous story lines centred on a common environment, such as a family home or workplace. The situation comedy format seems to have originated in the old time radio era of the United States, but today they have become among the most popular programmes on the schedule.

History

The situation comedy format originated on radio in the 1920s. The first situation comedy is often said to be Sam and Henry which debuted on the Chicago, Illinois clear-channel station WGN in 1926, and was partially inspired by the notion of bringing the mix of sexual confusion and continuity found in comic strips to the young medium of radio. The first network situation comedy was Amos & Andy which debuted on CBS in 1928, and was one of the most popular sitcoms through the 1930s. According to the 11th edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, the term sitcom was coined in 1951, making the term contemporaneous with I Love Lucy. Situation comedies have been a part of the landscape of broadcast television since its early days. The BBC in the United Kingdom broadcast Pinwright's Progress from late 1946 until early the following year. The first in the United States was probably Mary Kay and Johnny, a fifteen minute sitcom which debuted on the DuMont Television Network in November of 1947.

Characteristics

Traditionally, situation comedies featured individual episodes that were largely self-contained; the regular characters themselves remained largely static and events of the episode resolved themselves by the conclusion of the episode. Most sitcoms took this format; events of previous episodes would rarely be mentioned in subsequent episodes and while school friends or beloved relatives might appear, often they would only be seen once in the series, something apparent in The Brady Bunch and many other programs. This formula has been parodied many times by The Simpsons. The characteristics of animation allow the characters to be unchanging in appearance forever and the characters in the show sometimes make knowing reference to this. The true identity of Seymour Skinner parodies the habit of traditional sitcoms introducing a major upheaval in the story of an episode before returning everything to how it was before and subsquently never mentioning that change in later episodes. More recently sitcoms have introduced some ongoing storylines. Friends, a hugely popular US sitcom of the 1990s, contains soap opera elements such as regularly resorting to an end-of-season cliffhanger, and has gradually developed the relationships of the characters. Other sitcoms have veered into social commentary. Examples of these are sitcoms created by Norman Lear (including All in the Family and Maude) in the U.S., and Johnny Speight's Till Death Us Do Part in Britain. A common aspect of family sitcoms is that at some point in their run they introduce an addition to the family in the form of a new baby. One exception to this are the several sitcoms starring Bob Newhart, who insisted that his sitcoms not have babies or children. The addition of a new baby to the family provides new story situations for the series as the family must adjust to a new member, however the new-born baby itself - while appearing cute - provides only a limited range of stories due to their limited mobility, mental development and limited vocabulary. In addition there are the practical problems of working with a baby on set. Thus most sitcom kids are aged to four or five within two years of their birth—for example Andrew Keaton on Family Ties and Chrissy Seaver on Growing Pains, allowing the characters a wider range of storylines. Instances in which sitcoms retained the same child without such age jumps, such as Erin Murphy as Tabitha Stephens on Bewitched and the Olsen twins as Michelle Tanner on Full House are the exception to the rule. Most contemporary situation comedies are filmed with a multicamera setup in front of a live studio audience, then edited and broadcast days or weeks later. This practice has not always been universal and is used mainly for traditional style comedies. Several 1960s sitcoms such as The Munsters, The Addams Family, I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched used the single camera filming style which looked slicker and was more practical given the visual effects used in these shows. Overall the late 1960s was a period of increased production values for sitcoms, with others such as Get Smart also using the single camera filming style allowing it to feature carefully created and sharply edited sequences that parodied action and fight sequences of spy genre films and TV shows - something that would not have been achieved with the same level of finesse in a multi-camera production. In the 1970s M
- A
- S
- H also used the single camera filming style which again was more suited to the show's naturalistic, and flowing style, and more practical given its multiple sets and frequent location filming. In the 1980s US sitcoms again predominantly used the multicamera style.

Ensemble cast structure

Many sitcoms reuse a common mixture of character archetypes to achieve reliable comedic situations from week to week. The most common archetype appearing in sitcoms is the Holy Fool. Typically, this character accepts events and statements at face value, and often misunderstands situations in ways that create conflict in the plot. Examples of the naive fool character in sitcoms include:
- Rose Nylund in The Golden Girls
- Gilligan in Gilligan's Island
- Coach / Woody in Cheers
- Latka Gravas in Taxi
- Steve Urkel in Family Matters
- Joey in Friends
- Father Dougal in Father Ted
- Herman Munster in The Munsters
- Walter (Radar) O'Reilly in MASH
- Kramer in Seinfeld
- Barney Fife in The Andy Griffith Show
- Mork in Mork and Mindy
- Baldrick in Blackadder
- Uncle Fester in The Addams Family
- Kelso in That 70's Show
- Chrissy Snow in Three's Company
- Tim Taylor in Home Improvement The Sage is another frequently-occurring archetype in sitcoms. In the standard sitcom ensemble, this character usually has either an elevated intellect, advanced age, or "outsider" experience. The Sage frequently comments wryly on the situation into which the other characters have placed themselves, and often suggests solutions to resolve the major plot conflict. Examples include:
- Niles in The Nanny
- Chandler Bing in Friends
- Professor Roy Hinkley Jr. in Gilligan's Island
- Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch
- Jeffery in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Dr. Frasier Crane in Cheers
- Wilson in Home Improvement
- Lisa Simpson in The Simpsons
- Andy Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show
- Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable in The Cosby Show
- Debra Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond
- Steven Hyde in That 70's Show Other recurring archetypal characters that appear in sitcoms include:
- The meddling or nosy neighbor
- The wisecracking curmudgeon
- The well-meaning blue collar worker
- The lovable loser (the always-second-best)
- The acerbic servant/worker
- The cutesy moppet

Plot formulas

The plot and situations for many sitcom episodes arise out of a character's lying to or otherwise deceiving the other characters. Some sitcom television series, such as Mr. Ed, Bewitched, Three's Company, and Bosom Buddies based their fundamental premise on the main character's attempt to hide the truth through a series of deceptions and "white lies". The most common comedic situations based on deception include:
- Attempts to hide egregious mistakes or acts of weakness.
- Attempts to protect friends and family members from bad news.
- Attempts to "correct" a mistake before others find out about it.
- Attempts to hide the breaking of pacts.
- Attempts to maintain an advantage based on deception.
- Attempts to dupe someone so as to achieve an advantage.
- Attempts to return stolen property before discovery of the theft. The majority of sitcom episodes revolve around some form of the lying/deception premises listed above. Lesser-used sitcom plot formulas include:
- One or more characters going into a foreign environment only to return to "where they belong." Frequently, sitcom writers will use this plot formula to transplant the entire cast to Hawaii, Hollywood, or Europe in later seasons.
- A character choosing to make some fundamental change in their body, habits, job, or other component of their environment, only to return to "what feels normal."
- Characters entering contests or races.
- Characters being elevated to positions of responsibility they can't handle.
- Newcomers or strangers making one-time appearances that change the personal dynamics between the recurring characters.
- A special holiday episode, such as for Christmas or Halloween.
- A character thinks another character is going to die and does anything to please him/her, which the other character takes advantage of.

Lifecycle

Landmarks in the lifecycle of a typical sitcom include:
- Development
- pilot episode
- Jumping the shark
- Cancelation
- Reruns in syndication

Specific countries of origin

Most US sitcoms are half-hour shows in which the story is written to run a total of 22 minutes in length, leaving 8 minutes of commercial time. Sitcoms made outside the US may run somewhat longer. US sitcoms are often characterised by long series runs of 20 or more episodes, whereas the British sitcom is traditionally comprised of distinct series of six episodes each. US sitcoms often have large teams of young script writers from top universities firing gags into the script and round-table sessions, whereas most British sitcoms are written by one or two people.

Australia

Australia has not had a significant number of long running sitcoms, however there have been a large number of Australian sitcoms through each decade of Australian television that each had relatively short runs. The successful sitcoms it has had have been somewhat similar to UK comedies. In the 1970s it was the popular soap operas Number 96 and The Box that provided the forum for Australian-grown sitcom style comedy. There was also a number of sketch comedy programs, one of which, The Naked Vicar Show, spawned successful sitcom spinoff Kingswood Country in 1980, a series which itself was somewhat similar to UK comedy Til Death Us Do Part. At around this time there were also Australian versions of UK comedies Are You Being Served, Doctor in the House (as Doctor Down Under) and Father, Dear Father which transplanted key original cast members to Australia to situations markedly similar to those of the original series. A subsequent sitcom to achieve lasting success was Hey Dad...!. In 2002, sucessful sitcom Kath and Kim begun its hit run.

Canada

See also: Canadian humour Despite Canada's wealth of comedic talent, Canadian TV's conventional sitcoms have generally fared poorly with both critics and audiences. One particularly notorious example is The Trouble with Tracy, regarded by many Canadians as one of the worst TV shows ever made. Other Canadian sitcoms have included Snow Job, Check it Out!, Mosquito Lake and Not My Department, all of which were mocked in their time as being particularly unfunny. The few successful Canadian sitcoms have included: La famille Plouffe and its English version, The Plouffe Family, King of Kensington, Hangin' In and Corner Gas. Canadian TV networks have had much more success with sketch comedy shows such as The Kids in the Hall, CODCO, SCTV, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, You Can't Do That On Television, and Royal Canadian Air Farce, and quirky dramedies such as Twitch City, The Newsroom, Made in Canada, Trailer Park Boys, The Beachcombers, Naked Josh and Seeing Things. While being teen dramas, the shows Degrassi Junior High and it's sucessor, Degrassi: The Next Generation occasionally use sitcom-like subplots for comic relief. One of Canada's most enduring comedic television series airing today, The Red Green Show, is essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch series. Each episode unfolds through short comedic sketches rather than a conventional sitcom plot, but unlike a true sketch series, the sketches always draw from a single set of characters and no actor plays more than one role. A notable Quebec sitcom in recent years was La Petite Vie; one episode of that show holds the world record for the highest market share ever achieved by a television program. A popular current Quebec sitcom is Les Bougon.

Russia

See also: Russian humour Sitcoms have appeared in Russia in second half 1990s, for example, My beautiful nurse on channel STS.

New Zealand

New Zealand began producing television programmes later than many other developed countries. Due to New Zealand's small population the two main New Zealand networks will rarely fund more than one or two sitcoms per year each. This low output means there is less chance of a successful sitcom being produced to offset the failures. Early sitcoms included Joe & Koro and Buck House. Later there was The Billy T James Show (subsequently rerun in early 2004 as part of the first year's offering on Maori Television). The team of David McPhail and Jon Gadsby produced and/or starred in quite a number (such as Letter to Blanchy), with help from writer A K Grant. The most popular and successful New Zealand produced sitcom to date has been Roger Hall's Gliding On, based on his hit stage play Glide Time. Another Hall play, Conjugal Rites was also made into a sitcom, but by Granada in Britain. In 1994, Melody Rules was produced and screened. Critically and commercially unsuccessful, it has become part of the lexicon within the television industry to describe an unsuccessful sitcom. (e.g. that show will be the next "Melody Rules" ) Another sitcom to have its roots in a stage play was Serial Killers (2003), about the scriptwriters of a medical soap opera. Many British and US sitcoms are and have been popular in New Zealand, including many of those aforementioned in this article.

United Kingdom

Main article: British sitcom The United Kingdom has produced a wealth of sitcoms, many of which have been exported to other nations or redone in adaptation. Classic British sitcoms include Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, Fawlty Towers, Dad's Army, Blackadder, Open All Hours, and The Young Ones. More recent successes have included Father Ted (set in Ireland), The Vicar of Dibley, The Royle Family, Spaced and The Office. The British sitcom tends to rely less on quick-fire jokes and quirky characters than plots, the analysis of the British individual and exaggerated caricatures of everyday stereotypes. There are, of course, some exceptions. Bottom gained popularity through its exaggerated comical violence and childish humour mixed with adult situations, Red Dwarf was a parody of the sci-fi genre, and The League of Gentlemen revolves around the macabre. There is also a tendency towards black humour—Porridge, for example, is set in a prison, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin involves a man who is suicidal, Steptoe and Son can be heart-breaking as the ambitions of Harry are quashed by his needy, manipulative father, and the end of each series of Blackadder involved the ritual slaughter of the cast. Additionally, British sitcoms tend to be set in unusual situations—World War II, prison, the far future—than the more everyday situations preferred elsewhere. Many British sitcoms are re-made for American audiences. For example, Till Death Us Do Part became All in the Family, Man About the House became Three's Company, and the hugely popular Steptoe and Son became Sanford and Son. However, most British sitcoms usually fare better in their original forms. Re-makes of Red Dwarf, Men Behaving Badly, Coupling, and One Foot in the Grave fell victim to adaptations that largely removed the essence of the comedy and did not stand the test of time. Possibly the best example of this was Fawlty Towers, where the character of Basil became a woman. This eliminated the roles of the hen-pecked lead and the dragon-like wife.

United States

Mary Kay and Johnny was followed by The Goldbergs which first aired on January 17, 1949. Probably the most well-known and successful early television sitcom was I Love Lucy, starring Lucille Ball, which is well known because the producer took the step, unusual for its time, of shooting the episodes on film, thereby inventing reruns. The Simpson's is another very successful sitcom. In 2005, Bravo aired a reality show, called Situation: Comedy, produced by Sean Hayes. Out of 10,000 scripts, NBC President, Kevin Reilly, chose two pilots: Mark Treitel and Shoe Schuster's The Sperm Donor and Stephen's Life, with the later ultimately winning the reality series.

List of sitcoms

Listed alphabetically by decade

1940s


- The Aldrich Family (1949–1953)
- Mary Kay and Johnny (1947–1950)
- The Morey Amsterdam Show (1948–1950)
- Pinwright's Progress (1946–1947)
- That Wonderful Guy (1949–1950)

1950s


- The Adventures of Hiram Holiday (1956–1957)
- The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–1966)
- Amos & Andy (1951–1953)
- The Ann Sothern Show (1958–1961)
- Bachelor Father (1957–1962)
- Beulah (1950–1953)
- The Bob Cummings Show (1955–1959)
- Date with the Angels (1957–1958)
- December Bride (1954–1959)
- The Donna Reed Show (1958–1960)
- The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950–1958)
- Hancock's Half Hour (1954–1960)
- The Hank McCune Show (1950–1953)
- Hennessey (1959–1962)
- The Honeymooners (1955–1956)
- I Love Lucy (1951–1957)
- I Married Joan (1952–1955)
- Jamie (1953–1954)
- The Jean Carroll Show (1953–1954)
- Leave It to Beaver (1957–1963)
- Love and Marriage (1959–1960)
- Make Room For Daddy (1953–1965)
- My Favorite Husband (1953–1955)
- The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963)
- My Friend Irma (1952–1954)
- My Hero (1952–1953)
- Our Miss Brooks (1952–1956)
- The People's Choice (1955–1958)
- Private Secretary (1953–1957)
- The Real McCoys (1957–1963)
- Stanley (1956–1957)
- Those Whiting Girls (1955–1957)

1960s


- Accidental Family (1967–1968)
- The Addams Family (1962–1966)
- The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)
- Angel (1960–1961)
- The Baileys of Balboa (1964–1965)
- The Beverly Hillbillies (1962–1971)
- Bewitched (1964–1972)
- The Bill Cosby Show (1969–1971)
- The Bill Dana Show (1963–1965)
- The Bing Crosby Show (1964–1965)
- The Bob Newhart Show (1961–1962)
- The Brady Bunch (1969–1974)
- Car 54, Where Are You? (1961–1963)
- Citizen James (1960–1962)
- The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1969–1972)
- Dad's Army (1968–1977)
- The Dick van Dyke Show (1961–1966)
- The Dustbirmen (1969–1970)
- Fair Exchange (1962–1963)
- The Farmer's Daughter (1963–1966)
- The Flintstones (1960-1966)
- The Flying Nun (1967–1970)
- Get Smart (1965–1970)
- Gidget (1965–1966)
- Gilligan's Island (1964–1967)
- The Good Guys (1968–1970)
- Grindl (1963–1964)
- Hancock (1961)
- Hazel (1961–1966)
- Here Come the Brides (1968–1970)
- Here's Lucy (1968–1974)
- Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971)
- I Dream of Jeannie (1965–1970)
- In Loving Memory (1969–1986)
- The John Forsythe Show (1965–1966)
- Julia (1968–1971)
- The Liver Birds (1969–1996)
- Love on a Rooftop (1966–1967)
- Margie (1961–1962)
- Mister Ed (1961–1966)
- The Monkees (1966–1968)
- The Mothers-In-Law (1967–1969)
- Mr. Digby Darling (1969–1971)
- Mr. Terrific (1967–1968)
- The Munsters (1964–1966)
- My Favorite Martian (1963–1966)
- My Mother the Car (1965–1966)
- My Three Sons (1960–1972)
- O.K. Crackerby! (1965–1966)
- On the Buses (1969–1973)
- The Patty Duke Show (1963–1966)
- The Rag Trade (1961–1963, 1977)
- The Second Hundred Years (1967–1968)
- Steptoe and Son (1962–1974)
- The Tab Hunter Show (1960–1961)
- Tammy (1965–1966)
- To Rome With Love (1969–1971)
- Two in Clover (1969–1970)
- The Ugliest Girl in Town (1968–1969)
- Valentine's Day (1964–1965)
- Wendy and Me (1964–1965)
- Window on Main Street (1961–1962)

1970s


- Agony (1979–1981)
- Alice (1976–1985)
- All in the Family (1971–1979)
- All's Fair (1976–1977)
- Angie (1979–1980)
- Archie Bunker's Place (1979–1983)
- Are You Being Served? (1972–1985)
- Arnie (1970–1972)
- The Associates (1979–1980)
- Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976–1978)
- The Bad News Bears (1979–1980)
- Barefoot in the Park (1970–1971)
- Barney Miller (1975–1982)
- The Baxters (1979–1981)
- Benson (1979–1986)
- The Betty White Show (1977–1978)
- Bless This House (1971–1976)
- The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978)
- The Brian Keith Show (1972–1974)
- Bridget Loves Bernie (1972–1973)
- Butterflies (1978–1983)
- C.P.O. Sharkey (1976–1978)
- Chico and the Man (1974–1978)
- Terry and June (1979–1987)
- The Last Resort (1979)
- Working Stiffs (1979)
- Out of the Blue (1979)
- The Facts of Life (1979–1988)
- End of Part One (1979)
- The Ropers (1979–1980)
- Flatbush (1979)
- Turnabout (1979)
- Hello, Larry (1979)
- Delta House (1979)
- Tankki täyteen (1978)
- Please Stand By (1978)
- Diff'rent Strokes (1978–1986)
- Apple Pie (1978)
- Who's Watching the Kids (1978)
- WKRP in Cincinnati (1978–1982)
- Mork & Mindy (1978–1982)
- Taxi (1978–1983)
- The Waverly Wonders (1978)
- ABC Saturday Comedy Special (1978)
- America 2-Night (1978)
- The Ted Knight Show (1978)
- Father, Dear Father in Australia (1978)
- A.E.S. Hudson Street (1978)
- On Our Own (1977)
- We've Got Each Other (1977)
- The Love Boat (1977–1986)
- Sugar Time! (1977)
- A Year at the Top (1977)
- The ABC Monday Night Comedy Special (1977)
- All That Glitters (1977)
- Eight Is Enough (1977–1981)
- Three's Company (1977–1984)
- Blansky's Beauties (1977)
- Robin's Nest (1977–1981)
- The Fosters (1976)
- Ball Four (1976)
- All's Fair (1976)
- Big John, Little John (1976)
- George and Mildred (1976–1979)
- What's Happening!! (1976–1979)
- Viva Valdez (1976)
- Good Heavens (1976)
- Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983)
- On the Rocks (1975)
- King of Kensington (1975–1980)
- One Day at a Time (1975–1984)
- Grady (1975)
- The Cop and the Kid (1975)
- Fawlty Towers (1975–1979)
- When Things Were Rotten (1975)
- Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979)
- Phyllis (1975–1977)
- Big Eddie (1975)
- The Melting Pot (1975)
- The Last of the Australians (1975)
- The Good Life (1975–1977)
- We'll Get By (1975)
- The Bob Crane Show (1975)
- Barney Miller (1975–1982)
- The Jeffersons (1975–1985)
- Paper Moon (1974–1975)
- Rhoda (1974–1978)
- Rising Damp (1974)
- My Name Is Harry Worth (1974)
- Good Times (1974–1979)
- Happy Days (1974–1984)
- Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em (1973)
- Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973)
- Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1973)
- Needles and Pins (1973)
- Adam's Rib (1973)
- The Girl with Something Extra (1973)
- Lotsa Luck (1973)
- Thicker Than Water (1973)
- Here We Go Again (1973)
- Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (1973)
- Last of the Summer Wine (1973-)
- Steptoe and Son (1972)
- Fleksnes fataliteter (1972)
- Maude (1972)
- Temperatures Rising (1972)
- The New Bill Cosby Show (1972)
- The David Steinberg Show (1972)
- The Corner Bar (1972)
- Sanford and Son (1972)
- The Trouble with Tracy (1971)
- The Chicago Teddy Bears (1971)
- It's Awfully Bad for Your Eyes, Darling (1971)
- The New Andy Griffith Show (1971)
- The Goodies (1970)
- The Odd Couple (1970)
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977)

1980s


- My Wife Next Door (1980)
- Rising Damp (1980)
- Breaking Away (1980)
- Bosom Buddies (1980–1982)
- Too Close for Comfort (1980–1986)
- Mr. and Mrs. Dracula (1980)
- Semi-Tough (1980)
- Flo (1980–1981)
- When the Whistle Blows (1980)
- Family Matters (1989–1998)
- Yes, Minister (1980–1988)
- Kingswood Country (1980–1984)
- Keep It In the Family (1980)
- Hangin' In (1981–1987)
- Open All Night (1981)
- A Fine Romance (1981–1984)
- Gimme a Break! (1981–1987)
- Lewis & Clark (1981)
- Laverne and Shirley in the Army (1981)
- Mr. Merlin (1981)
- Best of the West (1981)
- Only Fools and Horses (1981–2003)
- Till Death... (1981)
- Aloha Paradise (1981)
- The Brady Brides (1981)
- Harper Valley P.T.A. (1981)
- Newhart (1982–1990)
- Star of the Family (1982)
- Cheers (1982–1993)
- Square Pegs (1982–1983)
- Silver Spoons (1982–1987)
- Family Ties (1982–1989)
- Third Time Lucky (1982)
- A.J. Wentworth, BA (1982)
- Teachers Only (1982)
- Report to Murphy (1982)
- Making the Grade (1982)
- Joanie Loves Chachi (1982–1983)
- Herbie, the Love Bug (1982)
- One of the Boys (1982)
- The New Odd Couple (1982)
- Reinikainen (1982)
- 'Allo 'Allo! (1982–1992)
- The Young Ones (1982)
- Foot in the Door (1983)
- Oh Madeline (1983)
- After MASH (1983–1985)
- Just Good Friends (1983–1986)
- Just Our Luck (1983)
- Webster (1983–1987)
- We Got It Made (1983)
- Herndon (1983)
- Zorro and Son (1983)
- Goodnight, Beantown (1983–1984)
- Baby Makes Five (1983)
- Krovim Krovim (1983)
- Ace Crawford, Private Eye (1983)
- Amanda's (1983)
- Mama's Family (1983–1985)
- Down to Earth (1983–1987)
- Shaping Up (1984)
- The Front Line (1984)
- It's Your Move (1984–1985)
- Three's a Crowd (1984–1985)
- Tripper's Day (1984)
- Who's the Boss? (1984–1992)
- The Cosby Show (1984–1992)
- E/R (1984–1985)
- The Duck Factory (1984)
- Double Trouble (1984–1985)
- Fresh Fields (1984)
- Pablo (1984)
- Night Beat News (1984)
- Duty Free (1984)
- Mother and Son (1984–1994)
- Night Court (1984–1992)
- What's Happening Now! (1985–1988)
- Check It Out (1985)
- Orazio (1985)
- In Sickness and in Health (1985–1992)
- Girls on Top