The Great Eastern (radio show)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Great Eastern was a radio comedy show on CBC Radio One. It ran from 1994 to 1999.
Billed as Newfoundland's Cultural Magazine, The Great Eastern was an hour long summer replacement show on CBC Radio One for the first two seasons, and then became a half hour regular show for the next three seasons.
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[edit] The (Fictional) World of the Great Eastern
The Great Eastern purported to be a long-running show on the Broadcasting Corporation of Newfoundland of which hour long and half-hour long segments were broadcast on Radio One (and, through atmospheric anomalies, to Iceland). Although content varied from show to show, most shows started with theme music, moved to a hearty introduction and hello from host Paul Moth, a visit to Ish Lundrigan and the BCN vault for old radio content, the "What's that noise from Newfoundland" contest, and then to the meat of the show, which would involve anything from discussions of the religion/get-rich-quick scheme Economology to Newfoundland Christmas radio plays. Some recurring characters on The Great Eastern are:
Paul Moth (played by Mack Furlong), the mostly genial host. He has a shoe fetish, a fear of being probed by aliens, a checkered past replete with substance abuse and a past career involving such things as directing Mexican versions of Lassie movies.
Ish Lundrigan, the BCN's surly director of radio and custodian of the BCN vault.
Morris Jesso, host of the BCN series Interred.
Kathleen Hanrahan, book reviewer.
[edit] Behind The Great Eastern
The show was written by Mack Furlong, Glen Tilley, Steven Palmer, and Ed Riche, although to maintain the illusion of The Great Eastern as being a "real" show this was never mentioned on the show itself.
[edit] The Decline of The Great Eastern
The Great Eastern developed a fairly large group of fans; however, late in the show's run the CBC attempted to cut the budget and suggest script changes aimed at making the show more accessible; as The Great Eastern had a large backstory it was not a show that lent itself well to casual listening. The last episode of The Great Eastern aired in 1999 and, apart from a 2002 one-off celebrating the life of Marconi, the show never returned to the CBC.
[edit] The Great Eastern on the Web
Gerry Porter maintains a detailed site on the show -- it includes complete episodes in MP3 format amongst other content.
