Astronaut Chris Hadfield, the Loonie, the Calgary Stampede,
Canada Geese, the invention of Insulin, Marshall McLuhan, “Corner Gas”, William
Shatner, Stanley Park, the AVRO Arrow, Donald Sutherland, Keifer Sutherland,
Paul Anka, John Candy, SCTV, Alanis Morissette, Hockey Night In Canada, Celine
Dion and Don Cherry. They’re all Canadian.
Happy Canada Day to Canucks everywhere...and on Canada Day,
EVERYONE’s Canadian, Who’s up for a double double and a maple covered
doughnut? This year, July 1st falls on a
Tuesday and our quiz is all about Canada.
Sorry Americans, Brits, Australians, Scots, Russians, Irish, Europeans,
Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Italians, Greeks, Japanese and penguins from
Antartica – you’re all out of luck this week, unless you know your Canadian pop
culture trivia.
So let’s get started, eh?
QUESTIONS
1. What legendary
Canadian country singer/songwriter sang about Canadian cities and provinces
such as Tillsonburg, Sudbury and Prince Edward Island? Was it:
a. Hank Snow b. Wilf Carter c.
Stompin’ Tom Connors?
2. Regina may be the
capital city of Saskatchewan, but it’s Saskatoon that’s the provinces largest
city. Joni Mitchell and The Northern
Pikes (“She Ain’t Pretty”) both are from Saskatoon. Which group had a Top Ten Canadian hit in
1972 with the song “Running Back To Saskatoon”?
Was it: a. The Guess Who b. Bachman Turner Overdrive c. Chilliwack
3. Hollywood has long
looked to Canada to provide the scenery (and production expertise) for some of
its biggest hits. The “Twilight” series,
starring Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart was filmed in beautiful British
Columbia. The Oscar winning film
“Unforgiven”, direct by and starring Clint Eastwood was shot in and around Drumheller,
Alberta’s Dinosaur Valley. Which other
Academy Award winning film was shot in Alberta?
Was it: a. “Dances With Wolves” b. Tombstone
c. Brokeback Mountain
4. Which recent U.S. television
sitcom regularly poked fun at Canadian icons such as Mounties, Tim Horton’s,
our hockey obsession and saying ‘eh’?
Was it: eh. The Simpson’s b. Castle c. How I Met Your Mother
5. There have been a
great many Canadians who’ve made it big in television in the past few decades. Paul Shafer, David Letterman’s bandleader/sidekick
is one. Paul originally hails from
Thunder Bay, Ontario. Former Vancouver
natives Michael J. Fox and Jason Priestly became stars of “Family Ties” and
“Beverly Hills 90210” respectively in the 1980’s. Another British Columbia native, Cobie
Smulders co-starred in the recently ended series “How I Met Your Mother”. Cobie also appeared in the 2014 movie, “Captain
America: The Winter Soldier”. But there
is one Canadian who’s been on a continuous U.S. television program longer than
any other host. Can you guess his or her
name? Is it: a. William Shatner b. Alec Trebek c. Marilyn Denis
ANSWERS
1. That would be c. Stompin’
Tom Connors. Tom was a true blue, 100%
dyed-in-the-wool, fiercely proud Canuck.
“Sudbury Saturday Night”, “The Hockey Song”, “Bud The Spud” are but
three of Tom’s classic songs. Tom was
born in Saint John, New Brunswick and was later adopted by a family from
Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island. His
musical career took him to every corner of Canada, including Cornerbrook,
Newfoundland (that’s a joke son. Laugh,
I say laugh when you get a chance). Tom
received many honours over the years, including the Order of Canada in 1997. The legendary Canadian troubadour passed away
on March 6, 2013.
2. a. The Guess Who
is correct. “Running Back To Saskatoon”
was written by Burton Cummings and Kurt Winter and was recorded live in May of
1972. Although it made the Top Ten in
Canada, it languished at the bottom of Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, only climbing
as high as # 96. Pearl Jam covered the
song during concerts in Saskatoon in 2005 and 2011.
3. c. Brokeback
Mountain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger is the correct answer. Filmed in Calgary, Fort MacLeod and Alberta’s
Rocky Mountains, this 2005 Ang Lee directed movie, won 3 Academy Awards,
including “Original Score For A Motion Picture”, “Best Writing, Adapted
Screenplay” and Ang Lee became the first Asian to win for “Best Director”. 1993’s “Tombstone”, starring Kurt Russell and Val
Kilmer, was filmed in Arizona and 1990’s “Dances With Wolves”, starring and
directed by Kevin Costner, was shot in South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas and
Nebraska.
4. While The
Simpson’s has made many Canadian references throughout their decades on
television as well as visited the Great White North a couple of times, and
Castle stars Canadian born actors Nathan Fillion (Edmonton, Alberta) and Stana
Katic (Hamilton, Ontario), it’s c. How I Met Your Mother that saluted Canada in
an off handed humourous way. On the now
completed TV series, the character of Robin Sherbatsky, played by Cobie
Smulders is from Canada (as is Cobie in real life). Her character was once a teen idol called
Robin Sparkles who sang in malls, a la Debbie Gibson. Actor/writer/producer Allan Thicke made several
cameo appearances on the show and Robin’s TV fiancé and eventual TV husband
Neil Patrick Harris, even made a hilarious trek to Canada to track down an old
boyfriend of Robin’s and spent a lot of time in various Tim Horton’s.
5. Alec Trebek is the
name we were looking for. This June 13th, Alec bested Bob Barker’s record and
went into the Guinness Book of Records for “the most game show episodes hosted
by the same presenter”. Since 1984, Alec
has hosted 6,829 episodes of “Jeopardy”.
Alec began his broadcasting career at the CBC as a newscaster and
sportscaster. CBC programs Alec hosted
include “Music Hop” (1963-64) and “Reach For The Top” (1966-1973). The Sudbury native’s done very well for
himself, considering he has a degree in Philosophy from the University of
Ottawa. He’s won 5 Emmy Awards and has a
star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Alex
was the second of three game show hosts to be honoured with a star on Canada’s
Walk of Fame in 2006 (the first was “Let’s Make A Deal” host Monty Hall and the
third was Howie Mandel for “Deal Or No Deal”).
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