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» » King of Kensington Hot Line Host (1975–1980)

Short summary

The debate heats up when Larry challenges the local hotline radio show host on the subject of immigration.

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    • Author: Cointrius
    Larry King (Al Waxman) - a struggling variety store in Toronto's Kensington Market area has a progressive attitude towards most things. His mother Gladys (Helene Winston), with whom he and his wife Cathy (Fiona Reid) live, is very conservative in almost every way and is a fan of Pat Crane (Roy Wordsworth) - a local talk-radio show host who is a raving right-wing extremist.

    Larry gets fired up over one of Crane's anti-immigration rants and calls in to argue with the host. He is provocative enough to strike such a chord that he gets invited to be guest host. Having done considerable research on the issue Larry finds it disconcerting when none of the callers want to talk about immigration.

    The frantic radio show sound engineer (Jonathan Welsh) is throwing a fit in the booth because of Larry's gaffes and inability to speak off the cuff which makes Larry even more nervous as cranks of all kinds call in - but not to talk about immigration.

    Gladys King was intended to be a Canadian version of Archie Bunker. Portrayed by a Canadian actress that had appeared on multiple American sitcoms (Bewitched, Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Sanford & Son) she was a key factor in its success.

    King of Kensington seemed like an American sitcom and looked like an American sitcom in no small part because of the quality of the actors on it. There was not the kind of gap between the production value of this Canadian show and American ones that there usually is.

    What made it even more special to Canadians were the repeated references to our culture. This was OUR sitcom.
  • Episode cast overview:
    Al Waxman Al Waxman - Larry King
    Fiona Reid Fiona Reid - Cathy King
    Helene Winston Helene Winston - Gladys King
    Bob Vinci Bob Vinci - Tony 'Duke' Zarro
    John J. Dee John J. Dee - Max
    Ardon Bess Ardon Bess - Nestor Best
    Roy Wordsworth Roy Wordsworth - Pat Crane
    Jonathan Welsh Jonathan Welsh - Technician
    Rudy Lipp Rudy Lipp
    Nicholas Kilbertus Nicholas Kilbertus
    Kurt Freund Kurt Freund
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