User:BrochJam
Artist, animator, film student, occasional lost media hunter and ripper of VHS tapes. Particularly fond of esoteric Canadian stuff. Wikipedia editor since 2019. Need to contact me? Here's my carrd.
Finds
Digitized
- Under The Hula moon (1995)
Currently looking for
- The Pink Medicine Show (1978) missing episodes
- Point of No Return (1976, dir. Ed Hunt)
- King of Kensington (1975-1980)
- Wapos Bay (2005) Finnish dub
Holy Grails
- Him (1974)
- Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole deleted scenes
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Sandbox
King of Kensington (Partially found Canadian sitcom;
King of Kensington was a Canadian sitcom that aired on CBC from 1975 to 1980. The show, set in the Kensington Market neighborhood of Toronto, is considered one of the most iconic and memorable depictions of the city on television. Despite this, however, only the first season ever saw a home release, and all remaining seasons are lost to the public. The show followed affable shopkeeper Larry King as he dealt with everyday conflicts in his neighborhood, always approaching problems with humor and understanding. The show is notable for its diverse cast and for featuring cameos of many recognizable Canadian actors before they achieved international acclaim.
A statue of actor Al Waxman, who played the titular Larry King, can be found in Kensington Market’s Bellevue Park.
Synopsis
WIP
Episodes
WIP
Legacy
WIP
Availability
"It is depressing that one of our few pop-culture TV heroes of the 1970s, a cuddly ambassador for the "new" Canada, is fading into obscurity. A local legend lost in the mire - it's exactly the kind of issue Larry King would have stood up for.” - Ed Conroy for Blog TO, 2021
After concluding in 1980, King of Kensington briefly persisted through reruns. A DVD of the first season was made available for purchase in 2007, but sold poorly, and further seasons were never released. While the CBC has presumably kept an archive of all episodes, season one has not yet been shared online and seasons two through five are not publicly available.
Retrontario, an independent television archive, has collected and shared various clips from King of Kensington on YouTube, but no full episodes.
In his 2021 Blog TO article about the show, Ed Conroy suggests that CBC Gem, the network’s official streaming service, would be a logical place to release the show in the digital age; for unknown reasons, King of Kensington is not among the shows offered on the service.