User:Aeong/survival
This is a draft page for a (hopefully) future article, something I can revise/format to wiki standards and correct information until it is ready. Currently there are normal links in place of citations. This will be changed once the article is near completion.
TITLE: S*U*R*V*I*V*A*L (partially found/lost public access show, 1981-1987)
This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its discussion of paramilitary operations and murdering political opponents. The content is fictional, but in many ways mirrors the current political instability in North America..
S*U*R*V*I*V*A*L (sometimes referred to as "CATACLYSM") was a Canadian public access show that ran in the 80's on Winnipeg channel VPW-11, sometimes at 11:30PM CST. The show was created by Guy Maddin and Greg Klymkiw, and may be copyrighted under It was a mock talk show filmed by the fictional paramilitary cult S*U*R*V*I*V*A*L N*O*R*T*H. In each episode, S*U*R*V*I*V*A*L N*O*R*T*H leader "Trevor Winthrop Baines", a man wearing a crude purple mask and other hastily thrown together survival gear screams and rants at the viewer about the "inevitable" Nuclear Apocalypse. Joined by him are similarly dressed fellow members of his cult. Together they give you questionable advice on surviving the apocalypse, tell stories, do book and gun reviews, break out into dance numbers, and really just whatever the creators felt like doing each episode.
History
It is claimed that sometime after VPW-11 was purchased by Shaw Cable, all archives the station had of this show were destroyed. This claim has been disputed. Show creator Guy Maddin has claimed in the past that clips of the show have been uploaded to youtube, but this claim is from 2006, so if any clips from that era survived they are likely buried under Youtube's search algorithm.
Around the time these alleged clips were uploaded, episodes of the show were compiled into a 10~ minute long segment for a documentary called Winnipeg Babbysitter (2006), and from 2013 onward this compilation was uploaded multiple times to youtube and gained some exposure on reddit. For the longest time, this was the only publicly known footage of the show, other than a brief clip of Trevor saying "MUTANTS...WHAT ARE...MUTANTS?" in a trailer for a documentary.
Then on November 30, 2024, Youtube User rs.matr1x uploaded a 57:48 minute long video containing 3 episodes of the the show, with the third one containing incomplete footage. When asked, rs.matr1x claimed that they found them by "pure happenstance".
Later in 2024, Reddit user Aggressive_Ad posted an archive.org link to 3 episodes of the show, 2 newly discovered, 1 containing a slightly longer but still incomplete recording of the third episode in rs.matr1x's video. Aggressive_Ad did not respond to any inquiries when contacted.
All episodes containing the footage from the Winnipeg Babysitter compilation appear to have been uploaded to the internet, complete and incomplete. It is not currently known if these videos are from the same recordings of the show.
Episode Format
The run time of each episode appears to be inconsistent. While the format of each episode is never set in stone, most follow a somewhat consistent formula: Due to complaints from local officials, later episodes of the show begins with a disclaimer, and then transition to a scrolling marquee containing a message to the viewers and details about the episode. After which, the episode transitions to Trevor, who is silent at first and often staring at the camera. After a long pause, Trevor lets out an ear piercing rant introducing the viewers to his show. Afterwards he brings on his (often reoccurring) guests. at random intervals, the show will do a musical break, with some music composed by the showrunners. Some of these may be original songs, others are parodies of existing songs such as "Controller" by Oingo Boingo. This music should not be confused with the music made by the Winnipeg punk band "Kill the Mutants" who were inspired by the show but have no official affiliation. Some episodes end with music, others skip to a message at the end.
Known Episodes
It is not publicly known how many episodes were produced for this show. The episodes are presented in incomplete order, and have been given unofficial nicknames by lostmedia wiki contributors to differentiate each episode.
| Unofficial Nickname | Status | Airdate | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| "A Great Man" | Partially Found | ? | Only 15:56 Minutes of this episode have survived |
| "Dwindling Faith" | Partially Found | ? | |
| "Trevor Hates The X-MEN" | Partially Found | ? | |
| "Northern Survival" | Found | 1985 | in this episode, co-host Slieve Gullion claims to have written a book called "Northern Survival". This is not true, as the actual book he shows in his hands was released prior to recording, written by a different author, and contains no information about apocalyptic survival. |
| "God Complex" | Found | 1987 |
Characters
Trevor Winthrop Baines (Greg Klymkiw) - A Cartoonishly insane sociopath who is the leader of S*U*R*V*I*V*A*L N*O*R*T*H. The pitch of his voice seems to be different in certain episodes, such as "A Great Man".
Concerned Citizen Stan (Guy Maddin) - A religious man who wears a purple mask which completely covers his face.
Slieve Gullion (Actor Unknown) - A meek man with and a speech impediment. Through various found episodes, he wears different clothes, all which have plants covering his face.
Reed Manning (Actor Unknown) - A ski hat wearing Gun Nut.
M*U*T*A*N*T S*E*E*K*E*R (Actor Unknown) - A man tasked by the group of seeking out mutants with his homemade headgear which slightly resembles a Dragonball Scouter.
B*R*O*T*H*E*R Z*E*B*U*L*O*N (Actor Unknown) - A man who wears a trashbag over his head with cut out eyeholes.
General Niel (possibly a background character, actor unknown) - The man who betrayed the group and kidnapped Trevor.