Wayne and Shuster
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
comedy duo
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
formed by Johnny Wayne
Johnny Wayne
Johnny Wayne was a Canadian comedian and comedy writer best known for his work as part of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster alongside Frank Shuster....
and Frank Shuster
Frank Shuster
Frank Shuster, OC was a Canadian comedian best known as a member of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster ....
. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s.
Wayne (born Louis Weingarten, May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) and Shuster (September 5, 1916 – January 13, 2002) were well known in Canada, and were two of Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
's most frequently recurring guests—appearing a record 67 times on his show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
.
Beginnings
Wayne and Shuster met as high schoolHigh school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
students at Harbord Collegiate Institute
Harbord Collegiate Institute
Harbord Collegiate Institute is a public secondary school located in downtown Toronto, Canada. Specifically, the school is located in the Palmerston-Little Italy/The Annex neighbourhood, situated on the north side of Harbord Street, between Euclid Ave. and Manning St...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1930. They both studied at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, where they wrote and performed for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
there, and in 1941 they made their radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
debut on CFRB in their own show, The Wife Preservers in which they dispensed household hints in a humorous fashion. This exposure resulted in the pair being given their own comedy show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
's Trans-Canada Network
Trans-Canada Network
The Trans-Canada Network was the name assigned to the main English-language radio network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to distinguish it from the CBC's second network, the Dominion Network. Today, it is known as CBC Radio One...
as Shuster & Wayne.
They enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1942, and performed for the troops in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
as part of the Army Show (they would also later perform for the army in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
). They returned to Canada to create the Wayne and Shuster Show for CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
in 1946. They first performed on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1958, and set a record there by appearing 67 times over the next 11 years.
Wayne and Shuster turned down many offers to go to the U.S. permanently, preferring to remain in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
. (They did co-star in a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-TV sitcom, Holiday Lodge, which aired as a summer replacement for [and produced by] Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
in 1961.)
In 1965 The Wayne & Shuster Hour won the Silver Rose at the Rose d'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
Television Festival.
In 1965, the duo made a series of six short documentaries about comedians such as W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield , better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer...
and the Marx Brothers
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
, titled Wayne and Shuster Take an Affectionate Look At..., which were telecast on CBS in the summer of 1966. The programs were scored by the young composer "Johnny Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
". This series, incidentally, was the last US network prime time series to premiere in black and white (at least until the 1991 CBS retro-spoof Morton & Hayes
Morton & Hayes
Morton & Hayes was a short-lived comedy television series, shown Wednesday nights at 8:30 on CBS. Only six episodes were shown, from July 24 to August 28, 1991.This series was centered around the "rediscovered" work of a fictitious comedy duo.-Format:...
, which also included full-colour sequences).
Later career
After having a weekly television series in the 1950s, they began a series of long-running, monthly Wayne & Shuster comedy specials on CBC TelevisionCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
in the early 1960s, which continued into the 1980s. They were an influence for later Canadian comedians, such as Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, CM is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the various film and TV projects that spun off from it.-Early life:...
(Shuster's son-in-law), the Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
and The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall
The Kids in the Hall is a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson. Their eponymous television show ran from 1988 to 1994 on CBC in Canada, and 1989 to 1995 on CBS and HBO in the United States...
. In the late 1980s, many of their comedy skits were repackaged in half-hour chunks and syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
around the world under the title Wayne & Shuster; the comedians filmed new introductions for the series.
Supporting players in Wayne & Shuster's television sketches included Don Cullen, Jack Duffy
Jack Duffy
Jack Duffy was a Canadian singer, comedian and actor.-Biography:Born in Montreal, Duffy grew up in Toronto, dropping out of Central Technical School to become a singer...
, Tom Harvey, Bill Kemp, Paul Kligman
Paul Kligman
Paul Kligman was a Canadian actor.Born in Romania, he emigrated to Canada where he spent his youth in Winnipeg and studied at the University of Manitoba. He moved to Toronto in 1950 and established his career there...
, Ben Lennick, Sylvia Lennick
Sylvia Lennick
Sylvia Lennick, née Paige was a Canadian comedic actress. A supporting cast member of Wayne & Shusters television comedy troupe, she was most famous for her role as Calpurnia, with the famous catch phrase "I told him, Julie! Don't go!", in the Julius Caesar sketch "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga".In...
, Peggi Loder, Les Rubie, Eric Christmas
Eric Christmas
Eric Cuthbert Christmas was a British stage and screen actor, with over 40 films and several more television roles to his credit. He was well-known for his role as Mr. Carter, the principal of Angel Beach High School, in the 1982 hit comedy Porky's, the 1983 sequel Porky's II: The Next Day, and...
, Joe Austin, Larry D. Mann
Larry D. Mann
Larry D. Mann is a Canadian actor. Prior to his acting career, he was a disk jockey on CHUM 1050 radio in Toronto in 1949. His best-known Canadian television exposure was in a Bell Canada series of commercials called "The Boss" in which he played the title role for ten years beginning in 1981...
, Paul Soles
Paul Soles
Paul Robert Soles is a Canadian actor and television personality.-Acting roles:He is best known as the voice of Hermie the misfit elf in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964....
, Marilyn Stuart, Roy Wordsworth, John Davies, Carol Robinson, Lou Pitoscia, Peggy Mahon, Don Ewer, and Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire
Keith Hampshire is an English-born Canadian popular singer of the 1970s, famous in Canada for three top ten hits , and the successful television show Music Machine...
.
The humour of Wayne and Shuster
They performed "literate" comedy, combined with slapstick. They often used classical or ShakespeareanWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
settings and characters; on their first Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
appearance, for example, they performed Rinse the Blood off My Toga, a sketch which retold Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
in the style of a then-contemporary police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
television series such as Dragnet
Dragnet (series)
Dragnet is a radio and television crime drama about the cases of a dedicated Los Angeles police detective, Sergeant Joe Friday, and his partners...
. This sketch spawned the popular catchphrase, "Julie, don't go!"
After the opening of the Stratford Festival of Canada
Stratford Festival of Canada
The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
in 1958, they created a baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
-themed skit involving characters from Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. The duo treated these sketches the way singers treat their most popular songs by performing new renditions many times over the years.
Some of Wayne's characters were scientific in nature, and used Professor Waynegartner, a derivation of his birth name, which he created while still in high school. The duo often based their sketches on contemporary events, trends and television programs.
They spoofed All in the Family
All in the Family
All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...
as "All in the Royal Family", with the king calling Hamlet, "Meathead", and his queen "Dingbat". As Paramount was about to release Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
, the duo spoofed it with "Star Schtick". When The Equalizer
The Equalizer
The Equalizer is an American television series that ran for four seasons, initially on CBS, between 1985 and 1989. It starred Edward Woodward as an aging New York vigilante with a mysterious past...
went on the air, they responded with "The Tranquilizer", dealing with mysterious deaths on a game show that was a cross between The Price Is Right and The $64,000 Question. Similarly, The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man
The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a former astronaut with bionic implants working for the OSI...
became "The Six Hundred Dollar Man", assembled with body parts such as "rump: $6 at Loblaws
Loblaws
Loblaws is a supermarket chain with over 70 stores in Canada, headquartered in Brampton, with stores across Ontario and Quebec. Loblaws is a division of Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada's largest food distributor...
". When Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
was popular, it was spoofed with a character determined to corner the fertilizer market, and featured a cameo by Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum
Barbara Frum, OC was a Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Personal life:...
. Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
was spoofed with "Fantasy Motel". Not even their home network CBC was safe. Around the same time that Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Green Gables (1985 film)
Anne of Green Gables is a 1985 television movie based on the novel of the same name by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. The film was produced and directed by Kevin Sullivan for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was released theatrically in Israel, Europe and Japan.The film aired on...
aired, they spoofed it with "Sam of Green Gables," in which Green Gables farm is mistakenly sent a curmudgeonly old man from a retirement home.
The duo spoofed the commercials "we love to hate" with their own versions: "Crazar TVs" spoofed the "Quasar" TV brand with the high-pitched overture; "Oil of Oyvay" spoofed the de-aging Oil of Olay; "Macedonian Formula" spoofed Grecian Formula
Grecian formula
Grecian Formula is a popular men's hair coloring product in the United States. It is made by Combe Incorporated in White Plains, New York, and is also known as Grecian Formula 16. It is available as a clear liquid, cream and a foam...
, and questioned why a man would say he used it and thus reveal he has grey hair; "Russian Express" spoofed American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
, with a muscular KGB agent saying "Don't leave home!"
Occasionally, the troupe also satirized Canadian politics. For example, when televising the proceedings of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
was first proposed in the 1970s, Wayne and Shuster responded with "Question Time", a sketch which depicted Question Period
Question Period
Question Period, known officially as Oral Questions occurs each sitting day in the Canadian House of Commons. According to the House of Commons Compendium, “The primary purpose of Question Period is to seek information from the Government and to call it to account for its actions.”-History:The...
as a Las Vegas-style musical revue, with the Speaker of the House and members of parliament all performing a synchronized song-and-dance routine, slapping their desks in unison, and "debating" the issues by trading vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
-inspired quips and puns.
They spoofed accents and dialogue. After Wayne brought down an escaping felon with a gunshot (off screen), Shuster would say, "You got him in the rotunda/cloisters/etc.", with Wayne looking wryly at Shuster. "Srightry ahead of Panasonic!" "Srightry?" (Later...) "I go plug it in." "Don't you mean, 'prug it in'?" "No. One ethnic joke per sketch is plenty... or prenty if that's the way you like it." In another sketch, Shuster was calling on the phone for "Inspector Slattery." Wayne said, "Slattery will get you nowhere."
Late-career and posthumous awards
Wayne died in 1990. After his death the group received a special Gemini Award for their outstanding contribution to Canadian television. In 1996 Frank accepted the Margaret Collier AwardMargaret Collier Award
The Margaret Collier Award is the lifetime achievement honor presented the Gemini Awards to a writer for their outstanding body of work in Canadian television...
for the duo comedy writing and was later named to the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. Shuster, who died in 2002, attempted some solo work after Wayne died, but was mostly seen during his last decade hosting Wayne and Shuster retrospectives, including Wayne and Shuster in Black and White, a CBC series that aired in prime time during the early-1990s.
Shuster was a cousin of comic book artist Joe Shuster
Joe Shuster
Joseph "Joe" Shuster was a Canadian-born American comic book artist. He was best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with writer Jerry Siegel, first published in Action Comics #1...
, who co-created Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
with writer Jerry Siegel
Jerry Siegel
Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...
, and in this context is referenced in one of the Government of Canada-sponsored Heritage Minute
Heritage Minute
Heritage Minutes, also known officially as Historica Minutes: History by the Minute, are sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. They appear frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before movies...
short films broadcast on television in the 1990s.
As of 2005, the only Wayne and Shuster material available on DVD is the 1991 special Wayne and Shuster: 50 Years of Comedy which Shuster hosted.
"Frontier Psychiatrist"
In 2001, Australian music group The AvalanchesThe Avalanches
The Avalanches are an Australian electronic music group formed in 1997 with mainstays Robbie Chater on keyboards, Tony Diblasi on keyboards, bass and backing vocals, and Darren Seltmann on vocals and keyboards. They are known for their live DJ sets and their debut album Since I Left You , which was...
created a track called "Frontier Psychiatrist
Frontier Psychiatrist
"Frontier Psychiatrist" is a song by Australian group The Avalanches, released as the second single from their debut album Since I Left You.-Background:The song is a mix of audio samples of music, dialogue and sound effects....
", which was built on various samples of previously recorded material, most noticeably the Wayne & Shuster sketch "Frontier Psychiatrist". (Audio clips of two other Wayne and Shuster sketches were also used in creating the track, along with samples of dozens of pieces of music.) "Frontier Psychiatrist" was released as a single, and became a hit in the UK, reaching #18 on the charts. Frank Shuster's voice is especially prominent on the track.
External links
- Johnny Wayne at IMDB
- Frank Shuster at IMDB
- Wayne and Shuster Museum of Broadcast Communications biography
- Wayne and Shuster Tribute A tribute to Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster
- The Shakespearian Baseball Game. 1958 Text and Video.
- Wayne and Shuster Radio Show including the sketches "Shakespearean Baseball", "I Was a T.V. Addict", "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga", and "Frontier Psychiatrist".
- "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" sketch on Youtube
- "Question Time" sketch on Youtube