The Beachcombers

This article is about the Canadian TV series. For the similarly titled British-produced series of the early 1960s, see The Beachcomber.

The Beachcombers
Format	Comedy drama
Created by	Marc Strange Lynn Susan Strange
Starring	Bruno Gerussi Robert Clothier Jackson Davies
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	17
No. of episodes	387
Production
Running time	30 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC
Original run	October 1, 1972 – April 1990

The Beachcombers is a Canadian comedy-drama television series broadcast on CBC Television.

The series ran from 1972 to 1990 and is the longest-running dramatic series ever made for Canadian television. In all, 387 episodes were produced. During the final season, the show's title was shortened to Beachcombers.

Series overview

The Beachcombers followed the life of Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi), a Greek-Canadian log salvager in British Columbia who earned a living travelling the coastline northwest of Vancouver tracking down logs that had broken away from logging barges. His chief business competitor is Relic (Robert Clothier), a somewhat unsavoury person who will occasionally go to great lengths to steal business (and logs) away from Nick. The series also focused on a supporting cast of characters in Nick's hometown of Gibsons, often centering around a café, Molly's Reach, run by Molly (Rae Brown), a mother figure to virtually all the characters in the series (including Relic). Molly had two grandchildren living with her, Hughie (Bob Park) and his younger sister Margret (Nancy Chapple).

During the run of the series, storylines became more complex as the characters developed. Many episodes focused on Nick's Greek heritage.

The series' title was shortened to Beachcombers for its final season (with the CBC announcing that the intent was to give the aging show a fresh new look). Subsequent funding cutbacks at the government-supported CBC, however, led to Beachcombers being cancelled despite the fact that it was still popular in its homeland and had been syndicated around the world.

Music for the long running series was composed and orchestrated by Canadian composer and producer Bobby Hales.

The show was an active window into Canada's multicultural heritage. Gerussi's character, Nick Adonidas, as noted, was a Greek, and Clothier's character, Relic, was of Welsh ancestry. Other characters included Nick's Native business partner and friend Jesse Jim (Pat John), and RCMP Constable John Constable (Jackson Davies).

Davies and John were the only original cast members who starred in the show's follow-up TV movie The New Beachcombers, produced in 2002, which was an unsuccessful pilot for a revived series. By this time, Gerussi, Clothier and Brown had all died. A sequel, A Beachcomber's Christmas, was also produced, though this too failed to spark a new series.

Filming locations

The series was filmed on location in Gibsons, British Columbia and surrounding area. The café featured in the show, Molly's Reach, still survives today and is a local attraction in Gibsons. Molly's Reach became, however, a café only after the series had ended — it was a private film set, not a restaurant, while the series was being shot. After the series was cancelled, the building sat vacant for a time, with its future uncertain. Eventually private investors converted it into a functioning restaurant, which thrives as a centrepiece of the community. Also located at the site of Molly's Reach is the Persephone, the boat used by Nick Adonidas during filming.

International broadcasts

The series was syndicated around the world and was particularly popular in the United Kingdom and on PBS in the United States. It has also been shown in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland and Egypt. East German television also aired the series.

The German version of the series was titled Strandpiraten.

The show is currently seen in reruns on Sun TV in Toronto.

References

External links

• The Beachcombers at the Internet Movie Database
• Punk Rock Theme 1994, from the Sick Sick Yeah song National Film Board Security Guard
• CBC article on the making of the series, plus a "where are they now?" for the cast members.
• Queen's University Directory of CBC Television series: The Beachcombers
• Museum of Broadcast Communications: The Beachcombers
• Fernsehserien: Strandpiraten (German language page)
• - The Beachcombers honoured by MasterWorks (2004)
• TheBeachcombers.ca
• Bring Back the Beachcombers! petition to bring back the Beachcombers to the CBC