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.
TITLE: S*U*R*V*I*V*A*L (partially found/lost public access show, 1983-1986)
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. The show was created by future screenwriter/director 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.
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.
For the longest time, the only publicly known footage was from a documentary called "Winnipeg Babysitter", where excerpts from the show were edited into a compilation that was 10:48 minutes long. This compilation was uploaded multiple times to youtube.
Then on November 30, 2024, Youtube User rs.matr1x uploaded a 57:48 minute long video containing 3 episodes of the the show, with only 1 containing complete footage. When asked, rs.matr1x claimed that they found them by pure luck.
Later in 2024, Reddit user Aggressive_Ad posted an archive.org link to 3 more episodes of the show, 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.
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.
| 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 hfave 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)
Concerned Citizen Stan (Guy Maddin)
Slieve Gullion (Actor Unknown)
Reed Manning (Actor Unknown) - A ski hat wearing Gun Nut.
M*U*T*A*N*T S*E*E*K*E*R (Actor Unknown)
B*R*O*T*H*E*R Z*E*B*U*L*O*N (Actor Unknown)
General Niel (possibly a background character, actor unknown)