Line #18 Trivia/TheRedGreenShow


1	* ActorSharedBackground: Steve Smith also worked as a handyman in his youth, and continued to use his skills in ''Handyman Corner'' and other segments. His being a car buff also repeatedly factors into the show (such as the frequent {{Take That}}s against [[TheAllegedCar Chrysler K-Cars]]).
2	* CaliforniaDoubling: One portion of a province ''doubling for another''. The show is set in the Muskoka area of Ontario, but exterior scenes were filmed in and near Hamilton, Ontario (where CHCH-TV broadcasts from). Sometimes averted between the third and sixth seasons, as some scenes (mainly at Ranger Gord's watch tower and Buzz Sherwood's dock) were actually filmed in and near Port Carling, a town located in the Muskokas.[[note]]Unsuprising for Canadians, but for non-Canadians, keep in mind Ontario is 1.076 million square km, big enough to fit Texas in '''with room to spare'''[[/note]]
3	* CastTheExpert:
4	** The late Joel Harris (who played Young Walter) was a professional stuntman and the show's stunt coordinator, making him all the more qualified to portray one of Possum Lake's resident butt monkeys.
5	** Steve Smith is an accomplished handyman and car buff in real life, and Rick Green had a lot of experience with physical comedy. They drew on their experience when creating the show.
6	* ChannelHop: The show began on CHCH-TV in Hamilton, who cancelled it two seasons in, though the show was quickly picked up by CFPL-TV in London and Creator/{{YTV}} (for national distribution) for a third season. The show then moved to Creator/GlobalTelevisionNetwork in the fourth season and was finally moved to Creator/{{CBC}} in the seventh season, and would stay there until the end of the show's run.
7	* CreatorBreakdown: Patrick [=McKenna=] began suffering this in the late '90s. In part, he was burned out from working on both ''The Red Green Show'' and ''Traders'' at the same time. He also felt increasingly ridiculous playing a supposedly teenaged Harold when he himself was in late thirties. As a result, Harold was PutOnABus for a couple of seasons. Once [=McKenna=] had taken a break for two years, TheBusCameBack with [=McKenna=] now playing an adult Harold who works as a director of public relations for the company that hired him after he went to college.
8	* TheDanza: A few Season 9 episodes featured a later version of the "Quality Time" segments, which involve Dalton spending time with a younger kid. The first version of the "Quality Time" segments, instead featured Red spending time with a younger boy named Max or Dave. Max and Dave were both played by Steve Smith's real life sons, and shared the names of their characters.
9	* DawsonCasting: An JustForFun/{{egregious}} example; [=McKenna=] was at least ''29 years old'' when he started playing teen-aged Harold. Averted in the later episodes, in which Harold was portrayed as an adult.
10	* DirectedByCastMember: Steve Smith (Red) directed every episode of Season 1, and Rick Green (Bill) directed every episode between Seasons 3 and 6.
11	* DoingItForTheArt: The 4th season. As Steve Smith mentioned on the DVD sets, the company had to buy time slots in order for the show to air (this is also why the show was titled "The New Red Green Show" during this time, to differentiate it from seasons 1-3 that were still airing in reruns). Creator/GlobalTelevisionNetwork was so impressed with the show's growing American popularity and Smith & Smith Productions' own efforts to find money for the show, they agreed to finance the show for its fifth and sixth seasons. It was no longer a problem by season seven when Steve Smith secured a deal with Creator/{{CBC}} and got a guaranteed budget.
12	* ExecutiveMeddling: Steve Smith isn't too fond of the second season, during which the executives at CHCH-TV pressed him to make the show into more of a sitcom. Hence the expanded cast and plotlines that we actually saw develop, as opposed to simply being related by Red. When Smith got back full creative control from the third season onwards, he went back to the old format. That said, one major aspect of the show did originate in the second season and was kept thereafter: The possum squeal sound effect which signaled the start of the lodge meeting.
13	* NetworkToTheRescue: Happened twice, believe it or not:
14	** When the show became ''The New Red Green Show'' in season four, it acquired a large American audience by airing on PBS. This was one of the factors in the show continuing after it was dropped by CHCH-TV.
15	** Steve Smith credits the Creator/{{CBC}} both for giving the show a bigger budget (as he put it, "now we could really go nuts") and also for putting an end to the grief he had for the first few years dealing with ExecutiveMeddling and trying to find airtime for the show.
16	* NoBudget: Like many Canadian series, ''The Red Green Show'' was made on the cheap in the early seasons. Sets were reused from Steve Smith's previous shows ''Smith And Smith'' and ''The Comedy Mill'', smaller props like the Possum Lodge badges and the [[ItMakesSenseInContext Red Green-shaped syrup bottle]] were hand-made by Smith's wife Morag, and production manager Sandi Richardson had to get creative finding other ways to save money, like driving around until she found a suitable treehouse to shoot the Ranger Gord scenes in and then persuade the property owner to let them use it. This became less of an issue when the show moved to the CBC and got a bigger budget. Smith later commented that they "could really afford to go nuts", particularly with more elaborate Handyman Corner projects.
17	* RealLifeRelative:
18	** Dougie Franklin's brother Benjamin was played by Ian Thomas' older brother [[Series/{{SCTV}} Dave Thomas]].
19	** Max and Dave, the two boys Red interacted with in some first-season episodes, were played by Steve Smith's real-life sons.
20	* RecognitionFailure: Steve Smith has said that he will be mobbed in public when he wears Red's IconicOutfit of a plaid shirt, suspenders and a fishing hat. However, when he wears any other kind of clothing, no one ever recognizes him.
21	* RecycledSet: As mentioned under NoBudget above, Steve Smith reused sets from his previous shows to save money.
22	* ReferencedBy:
23	** In the song "Jackpine Savage" by Music/DaYoopers: "He always watches ''Red Green Show'' and makes me take down notes."
24	** Anthropomorphic fox versions of Red and Harold are some of Jenny Black's relations in the webcomic ''WebComic/TwentyFirstCenturyFox.'' Red is noted to be something of a MadScientist who spent his carreer trying to get a fusion reactor to run on duct tape. The Possum Lodge van has since been refurbished with plywood paneling instead of fibreglass. It's still a cantankerous jalopy, at least untill Jack's (equally bonkers) great-uncles get their paws on it.
25	** On ''Series/TrailerParkBoys'', Bubbles shows off a barbecue he put together. He says "I'd like to see that Red Blue Green cocksucker put one of these together, duct taping it..."
26	* TroubledProduction: Quite a lot of it during the first few years:
27	** In season one, the production crew was only given a very limited amount of studio time and they had to do some marathon shooting sessions to film everything. Steve Smith praised Patrick [=McKenna=] for his ability to go through all that material. [=McKenna=] himself [[DisabilitySuperpower credited his Attention Deficit Disorder]], which he said allowed him to give laserlike focus to each script for a short time. He would lose mental interest in a script after it had been shot, and by then he was eager to start on the next one.
28	** In season two, Smith repeatedly butted heads with CHCH-TV executives who demanded that the show be more like a sitcom. [[ShaggyDogStory Then the same executives who forced Smith to change the show cancelled it anyway.]] Notably, [[CreatorBacklash this is Smith's least favourite season of the show and one he nearly kept off the DVD releases.]]
29	** Season three only happened when the show was UnCanceled due to a wave of fan protest. Even then, Smith had to find another home for the show after that season.
30	** In season four, Smith made a deal with Creator/GlobalTelevisionNetwork for them to air the show, but they wouldn't finance it. Smith & Smith Productions had to buy its own time slots and pay Global to air the show. It had to scramble to find additional funding to meet the show's budget, and even then Steve Smith had to take a second mortgage on his house to cover it.
31	** Fortunately, Global was so impressed by Smith & Smith's efforts, and the show's rapidly increasing popularity in the United States due to airing on PBS, [[EarnYourHappyEnding that they agreed to finance seasons five and six.]]
32	* WrittenByCastMember: Taken to its literal conclusion. Steve Smith co-wrote all 300 episodes. Rick Green co-wrote every episode from Seasons 1 through 8 and Seasons 14 and 15 as well as a few Season 13 episodes. Other cast members also contributed to many episodes in their own right. Some examples:
33	** Peter Wildman (Buzz) was credited with co-writing every episode between Seasons 4 and 7, as well as a few episodes of Season 8.
34	** Bob Bainborough (Dalton) was credited with co-writing every episode between Seasons 8 and 10, as well as most of the episodes of Season 7. He was also a contributing writer on many episodes of Seasons 5, 6, 11 and 12.
35	** Jeff Lumby (Winston) was a contributing writer on many episodes between Seasons 5 and 12.
36	** Patrick [=McKenna=] (Harold) was a contributing writer on Season 3.
37	** Steve Smith has co-written every episode of the Possum Lodge Podcast with his son Dave, who's also part of the cast. Dave was also credited with co-writing every episode of the final two seasons.
38	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Steve Smith wanted his wife Morag to do a cameo as Bernice in the GrandFinale where Harold gets married, but she declined.
39	** Steve Smith contemplated having TheGhost characters like Buster Hadfield and Stinky Peterson be portrayed by actors on camera, but decided against it because he thought it would clash with how viewers already imagined the characters looked.
40	* YouLookFamiliar:
41	** George Buza appeared as Mike's "guardian angel" in the Season 9 episode "Angel" before taking on the role of Dwight Cardiff. He also played a motel manager in TheMovie.
42	** Lawrence Dane appeared as Reg Hunter in Season 3. In TheMovie, he played [[BigBad Robert Stiles]]'s lawyer.
43
44	!!List of segments on ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'':
45	* ''Adventures With Bill'': Black-and-white segment featuring tons of slapstick as Bill tries to do something for fun but fails spectacularly. Red narrates the proceedings. Eventually, other characters joined the fun. During seasons 9-12, Bill was replaced by Walter, a younger guy (played by Joel Harris, the stunt coordinator for the series). Walter would stick around for two more seasons when Bill returned to the show, however.
46	* ''Auto Biography'': Only seen during season 6. A Possum Lodge member waxes about their favorite vehicle.
47	* ''Buddy System'': Debuted during season 4. Red and another character address the camera about a problem they just created (usually something stupid the unseen character said to his wife). In later seasons, Red would be replaced by two other characters (e.g. Edgar and Mike).
48	* ''The Experts'': Harold reads a letter from a viewer, asking their advice on a topic. It's always answered by Red and another character. Harold's place was occasionally taken by another character during and after his absence.
49	* ''Famous People In Possum Lake History'': Debuted during season 9. Red would present a biography of an interesting person of Possum Lake, and other characters would add their two cents.
50	* ''Fishing Conversations'': Debuted during season 11. Red and two other characters (usually Mike and Dalton) would talk about various topics while fishing. The topics tended to be serious, but jokes were peppered in anyway. This segment is notable because it doesn't contain audience laughter or a laugh track, at least not until the last joke.
51	* ''Handyman Corner'': Red uses various scraps to create inventions, (almost) always ending each segment with a CatchPhrase: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy." While this segment used to be limited to OnceAnEpisode, starting in the 9th season there were ''three'' Handyman Corners in each episode: A short one featured as a ColdOpen, then the main one during the first segment, and another short one during the third segment.
52	* ''Harold at the Office'': Only aired during season 9. Red would visit Harold at his office in the big city, where Harold would usually be exceptionally busy and Red would embarrass him.
53	* ''Harold's Handy Crafts'': Debuted during season 5, and only done three times. Harold would try (and fail) to make various handicrafts such as a wool blanket, a country clock and a duck decoy.
54	* ''Harold's Hobby House'': Debuted during season 14. Harold and another character talk about some crafts they made. This segment is notable among ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' fans for having a special guest appearance by Colin Mochrie as Frank Kepke, a sausage and wiener sculptor.
55	* ''Harold's Segments'': Debuted during season 3. Harold addressed the teenagers in the audience about various topics. Often ended with Red crashing the sketch and making a snarky comment.
56	* ''If It Ain't Broke, You're Not Trying'': Debuted during season 7. Ostensibly a fix-it segment, the emphasis is more on explaining how the item in question was broken in the first place, such as Dalton's wife hitting him over the head with a tennis racket.
57	* ''Male Call'': Letters from viewers.
58	* ''Men Anonymous'': Debuted during season 6. A parody of "Alcoholics Anonymous", except with the men declaring that they resisted acting like a stereotypical man for a certain amount of time.
59	* ''New Member Night'': Debuted during season 8. Red invites lodge members to introduce prospective new members, all of whom have some special quirk that the introducing member finds appealing, and then Red has the lodge members vote whether to let him. The introducing member usually convinces everyone to vote yes by giving them an incentive for doing so.
60	** In a commentary by Steve Smith on a Red Green DVD, the prospective new members are actually played by someone from the studio audience that the actors on the show would randomly pick to stand up there in front of everyone and make jokes about.
61	* ''North of Forty / Midlife / Red's Sage Advice'': Debuted during season 4. Red, sitting at his desk, gives humorous advice, usually to middle-aged married men. Always ended with the CatchPhrase "Remember, I'm pullin' for ya; we're all in this together."
62	* ''Poetry'': Red reads a poem or passage from a book. During seasons 1-3, the poems often took on a theme based on a season (e.g. "It is winter/It is spring"). Depending on the season the poem was based on, the segment could be titled ''The Winter Of Our Discount Tent'', ''Spring Hopes Eternal'', ''Endless Summerrr'', or ''The Harder The Fall''.
63	* ''Possum 911'': Debuted during season 6. A character calls in to Possum 911 about a problem, usually trivial.
64	* ''Possum Lodge Word Game'': Debuted during season 5. One member has to get another to guess a word, but always has difficulty doing so. The word is frequently guessed by accident. The winner receives a very crappy prize that is either initially teased as a much better one, or offered by a strange business. The host was initially Harold, but it began rotating between various characters during and after Harold's absence.
65	* ''Quality Time'': Dalton spends "quality time" with a young kid that the kid finds less than enjoyable. Also done by Red in season 1 with his real-life sons.
66	* ''Ranger Gord's Educational Films'': Debuted during season 9. A series of animated cartoons done by Ranger Gord (in real life, animated by Bryce Hallett, with Peter Keleghan [who also played Gord] [[ActingForTwo doing all the voices]]). Gord was portrayed as a handsome, buff stud, while Red and Harold were portrayed as a possum and beaver respectively (one episode also had Dalton and Mike as a bear and raccoon). Ironically, it was Red and Harold who gave the correct advice, while Gord was always wrong.
67	* ''Red's Campfire Songs'': Red plays guitar while singing a song with a punchline. Harold accompanies on "percussion". This segment was absent from seasons 9-13 before making a brief return appearance in season 14's Christmas special.
68	* ''Talking Animals'': Debuted during season 8. Animal expert Ed Frid fearfully introduces the day's animal.

Context Trivia / TheRedGreenShow