The Beachcombers

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

The Beachcombers

Genre	Comedy drama
Creator(s)	Marc Strange Lynn Susan Strange
Starring	Bruno Gerussi Robert Clothier
Country of origin	Canada
No. of episodes	387
Production
Running time	30 min.
Broadcast
Original channel	CBC
Original run	October 1, 1972 – April 1990

The Beachcombers is a popular Canadian television series broadcast on the CBC.

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.

1 Series overview
2 Filming locations
3 International broadcasts
4 Trivia
5 External links

[edit] Series overview

The Beachcombers followed the life of Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi), a Greek-Canadian log salvager in British Columbia, whose job is to travel the coastline northwest of Vancouver tracking down logs that have broken away from logging barges (for which he is paid a reward). His chief competitor in this business is Relic (Robert Clothier), a somewhat unsavory individual 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 home town 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), and Grandmother. Molly had two grandchildren that lived with her. Hughie played by Bob Park and his Younger sister Margret Played by 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.

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, played by Pat John, and RCMP Constable John Constable, played by 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.

[edit] 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. Ironically Molly's Reach became a café only after the series had ended - it was a film set, not a restaurant while the series was being shot, and was not open to the public. After the series was cancelled the building sat vacant for a time, with its future being entirely uncertain. Eventually private investments were made to convert it into a functioning restaurant, which thrives as a centrepiece of "Lower Gibsons".

[edit] 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 and Ireland. East German television also aired the series.

The German version of the series was titled Strandpiraten.

[edit] Trivia

For a few years during production of The Beachcombers, Gerussi also hosted a popular daily Vancouver-based cooking show for the CBC entitled Celebrity Cooks, which led to the actor becoming a commercial pitchman for the then-new technology of home microwave ovens. Celebrity Cooks is best remembered today as the series on which actor Bob Crane appeared just before his murder; it also gave early TV exposure to future talk show host David Letterman.