King of Kensington

King of Kensington is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on CBC Television from 1975 to 1980.<ref name=miller>Mary Jane Miller, Turn Up the Contrast: CBC Television Drama since 1952. UBC Press, 2011. Template:ISBN. pp. 134-144.</ref>

Synopsis

Al Waxman starred as Larry King, a convenience store owner in Toronto's Kensington Market who was known for helping friends and neighbours solve problems. His multicultural group of friends consisted of Nestor Best (Ardon Bess), Max (John J. Dee), and Tony "Duke" Zarro (Bob Vinci), who hung around regularly to the perennial disapproval of King's mother Gladys (Helene Winston).

For the first three seasons, Fiona Reid played his wife Cathy. At the end of the third season, Reid decided to leave the series, so Larry and Cathy divorced. Larry then dated Tina (Rosemary Radcliffe) in the fourth season and Gwen Twining (Jayne Eastwood) in the fifth.<ref name=miller/> At the same time, Larry sold the convenience store and took a new job with a youth community centre.<ref name=miller/>

Production

The show was created by Perry Rosemond, who also produced the first season. Other producers included Jack Humphrey (1976–1980) and Joe Partington (1978–1980). The original series pilot starred Paul Hecht and Sandra O'Neill as Larry and Cathy King, although the series was recast with Waxman and Reid by the time the show went into production.<ref name=miller/>

The series featured many Canadian actors as guest stars, including Andrea Martin, Mike Myers, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Jeff Wincott and Mark Humphrey. The show was popular with viewers; prior to the start of the fourth season, one of the producers noted the show drew 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers weekly.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The show's gentle but politically conscious humour is seen by some critics as a Canadian version of the topical Norman Lear sitcoms of the 1970s, such as All in the Family and Maude.<ref>Geoff Pevere and Greig Dymond, Mondo Canuck: A Canadian Pop Culture Odyssey. Pearson Canada, 1996. Template:ISBN. p. 209.</ref> The series maintained a tight production schedule, with episodes sometimes airing just one week or less after they were filmed, so that topical jokes about current news stories could be incorporated into the scripts.<ref name=miller/>

The series was syndicated to some American stations during the height of its popularity.<ref name=miller/>

After King of Kensington ended in 1980, many of the producers went on to create the new CBC sitcom Hangin' In, while head writer Louis Del Grande went on to create and star in Seeing Things, and Waxman was cast in the American series Cagney & Lacey.

Cast

• Al Waxman as Larry King
• Helene Winston as Gladys King
• Fiona Reid as Cathy King (1975–1978)
• Ardon Bess as Nestor Best (1975–1978)
• Bob Vinci as Tony "Duke" Zarro (1975–1978)
• John J. Dee as Max (1975–1978)
• Jayne Eastwood as Gwen Twining (1978–1980)
• Peter Boretski as Jack Soble (1978–1980)
• Robert Haley as Ron Bacon (1978–1980)
• Rosemary Radcliffe as Tina (1978–1980)
• Linda Rennhofer as Dorothy (1978–1980)

Episode list

Season 1 (1975–76)

Ep	№	Title	Airdate
1	1	Variety Store	Sep-25-1975
2	2	Hot Line Host	Oct-02-1975
3	3	Kensington Achievement Award	Oct-09-1975
4	4	The Tax Audit	Oct-23-1975
5	5	Save Old George	Oct-30-1975
6	6	Where's Cathy?	Nov-06-1975
7	7	Half-Way Home (ft Eugene Levy)	Nov-13-1975
8	8	The Lady Who Came to Dinner	Nov-20-1975
9	9	The Joy of Kensington (ft Andrea Martin)	Nov-27-1975
10	10	The Gambler (ft Saul Rubinek & Luba Goy)	Dec-04-1975
11	11	The Real Mrs. King	Dec-11-1975
12	12	Scout's Honour (ft Mike Myers)	Dec-18-1975
13	13	The Christmas Show	Dec-25-1975
14	14	The Detroit Story (ft Dave Thomas)	Jan-15-1976
15	15	Cathy's Hobby	Jan-22-1976
16	16	Duke's Dilemma	Jan-29-1976
17	17	Delma's Decision	Feb-05-1976
18	18	Happy Anniversary	Feb-12-1976

Season 2 (1976–77)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Season 3 (1977–78)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date

Season 4 (1978–79)

Ep	№	Title	Airdate
1	66	King's First Date	Sep-28-1978
2	67	Summer of '56	Oct-05-1978
3	68	School Daze	Oct-12-1978
4	69	The Invitation	Oct-19-1978
5	70	Words and Music	Oct-26-1978
6	71	Carol's Arrival	Nov-02-1978
7	72	Double Standard	Nov-09-1978
8	73	The Pursesnatcher	Nov-16-1978
9	74	Third Party	Dec-07-1978
10	75	Big Brother	Dec-14-1978
11	76	A Xmas Story	Dec-21-1978
12	77	The Houseguest	Dec-28-1978
13	78	With This Ring	Jan-04-1979
14	79	Guido's Job	Jan-11-1979
15	80	Over the Hill	Jan-18-1979
16	81	Dear Aunt Martha	Jan-25-1979
17	82	The Best Man	Feb-01-1979
18	83	Hockey Night in Kensington	Feb-15-1979
19	84	True Confessions	Feb-22-1979
20	85	Mr. King Goes to Ottawa	Mar-08-1979
21	86	White Lace Gloves	Mar-15-1979
22	87	The Fishing Trip	Mar-22-1979
23	88	Cyrano de Kensington	Mar-29-1979

Season 5 (1979–80)

Ep	№	Title	Airdate
1	89	King's Brave New World	Sep-13-1979
2	90	Diabolical Plots	Sep-20-1979
3	91	Life Begins at Forty	Sep-27-1979
4	92	The Hat Trick	Oct-04-1979
5	93	Home Is Where the Heartburn Is	Oct-11-1979
6	94	The Rivals	Oct-25-1979
7	95	Born to Boogie	Nov-01-1979
8	96	The Double Date	Nov-08-1979
9	97	Masters and Johnson and King	Nov-15-1979
10	98	The Bet	Nov-22-1979
11	99	Pawn to King Four	Nov-29-1979
12	100	Down But Not Out	Dec-06-1979
13	101	Catch 23	Dec-20-1979
14	102	The Total Woman	Jan-03-1980
15	103	Look Ma, No Cavities	Jan-10-1980
16	104	Sign of the Bull	Jan-17-1980
17	105	The Spirit of Joy	Jan-24-1980
18	106	Good News, Bad News	Jan-31-1980
19	107	War and Peace	Feb-07-1980
20	108	Counter Attack	Feb-21-1980
21	109	Green Eyed Monster	Feb-28-1980
22	110	Purple Passion	Mar-06-1980
23	111	Movin' On	Mar-13-1980

Tributes

In the SCTV episode "CCCP1-Russian television", one of the fake TV programs infiltrating the network is Hey Giorgy, about "everyone's favorite Cossack", intended as a Russian knockoff of King of Kensington.

In the first episode of the 1990s television series Twitch City, also set in Kensington, the character Nathan (played by Daniel MacIvor) was sent to prison for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food. The producers of Twitch City cast Al Waxman in the role of the murder victim, as a symbolic wink to King of Kensington, although they claimed that they did not intend for the character to be seen as Larry King himself.<ref name=weird>"Twitch City a weird look at television addiction; Former King of Kensington gets whacked tonight". Edmonton Journal, January 19, 1988.</ref>

In the late 1990s, This Hour Has 22 Minutes featured a sketch detailing the making of a film version of King of Kensington. In the sketch, director Atom Egoyan (played by Greg Thomey), re-imagines the series as a surreal crime thriller, with Larry King as a serial killer instead of a convenience store owner.

Following Waxman's death on January 18, 2001, a memorial to him was erected in Kensington Market.

In one episode of the Canadian comedy program Puppets Who Kill, the character Bill steals Al Waxman's preserved brain from CBC headquarters.

Home media

On November 13, 2007, Morningstar Entertainment released King of Kensington – Season One on DVD in Region 1.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• King of Kensington Cast Photo and Synopsis
• King of Kensington Episode Guide at TV Archive Site
• Template:IMDb title