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; 1975-1980)
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 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 the neighborhood, always approaching problems with humor and empathy. The show is notable for its diverse cast and for featuring performances from many recognizable Canadian actors before they achieved international success.
King of Kensington ran for five seasons with a total of 111 episodes, each episode running 20 minutes long. In 1978 the Ottawa Citizen reported the show regularly brought in 1.5 to 1.8 million viewers from across Canada.
A statue of actor Al Waxman, who played Larry King, can be found in Kensington Market’s Bellevue Square Park.
Synopsis
The titular “King of Kensington” is Larry King, a convenience store owner who lives in Kensington Market. Larry is a friend to just about everyone in the neighborhood, always willing to help with any problems they might have. He is sometimes helped (or more often, hindered) by his stubborn mother Gladys, who lives with Larry and his wife Cathy. Larry runs a social club at a local bar where he and his friends play cards. These friends include recurring characters Duke, Hudson, x, x, and barkeep Max. For seasons 1 and 2, Larry’s wife is Cathy, played by xxx.
Later on in the series, Larry leaves his job at the store to work at a youth club.
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
A two disc DVD set of the first season was released by Morningstar Entertainment on November 13th, 2007.CITE This included all season one episodes as well as writer’s commentaries for the episodes Scouts Honour and Half-Way Home. Due to poor sales, none of the ensuing seasons received a home release, and season one has not yet been shared online in its entirety.
Retrontario, an independent television archive, has shared several promotional clips relating to King of Kensington on YouTube, but no full episodes. The longest episode clip the archive has shared is an 8 minute unlisted video of segments from the season one episode Scout’s Honour.
In his 2021 Blog TO article about the showCITE, 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; ‘’King of Kensington’’ is not currently among the shows offered on the service.
Episodes
The “feat.” portion of these episode titles are to indicate notable guest actors and are not part of the original titles.
Season One
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Variety Store | September 25th, 1975 | Lost |
| 2 | Hot Line Host | October 2nd, 1975 | Lost |
| 3 | Kensington Achievement Award | October 9th, 1975 | Lost |
| 4 | The Tax Audit | October 23rd, 1975 | Lost |
| 5 | Save Old George | October 30th, 1975 | Lost |
| 6 | Where’s Cathy? | November 6th, 1975 | Lost |
| 7 | Half-Way Home | November 13th, 1975 | Found |
| 8 | The Lady Who Came To Dinner | November 20th, 1975 | Lost |
| 9 | The Joy of Kensington (ft Andrea Martin) | November 27th, 1975 | Lost |
| 10 | The Gambler (ft Saul Rubinek & Luba Goy) | December 4th, 1975 | Lost |
| 11 | The Real Mrs. King | December 11th, 1975 | Lost |
| 12 | Scout's Honour (ft Mike Myers) | December 18th, 1975 | Partially Found |
| 13 | The Christmas Show | December 25th, 1975 | Lost |
| 14 | The Detroit Story (ft Dave Thomas) | January 15th, 1976 | Lost |
| 15 | Cathy’s Hobby | January 22nd, 1976 | Lost |
| 16 | Duke’s Dilemma | January 29th, 1976 | Lost |
| 17 | Delma’s Decision | February 5th, 1976 | Lost |
| 18 | Happy Anniversary | February 12th, 1976 | Lost |
Season Two
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fertility For Two | September 21st, 1976 | Lost |
| 2 | The Partners | September 28th, 1976 | Lost |
| 3 | The Checkup | October 5th, 1976 | Lost |
| 4 | The Dancer | October 12th, 1976 | Lost |
| 5 | Delma’s Fur | October 26th, 1976 | Lost |
| 6 | The Reunion | November 9th, 1976 | Lost |
| 7 | Gestalt of Kensington | November 16th, 1976 | Lost |
| 8 | Welcome to Canada | November 23rd, 1976 | Lost |
| 9 | The Friend | November 30th, 1976 | Lost |
| 10 | Duke’s New Job | December 7th, 1976 | Lost |
| 11 | Prisoner of Kensington | Dec 14th, 1976 | Lost |
| 12 | The Holiday | December 28th, 1976 | Lost |
| 13 | The End of the World | January 4th, 1977 | Lost |
| 14 | The Lottery | January 11th, 1977 | Lost |
| 15 | Gladys’ Teddy Bear | January 18th, 1977 | Lost |
| 16 | Bunny of Kensington | January 25th, 1977 | Lost |
| 17 | Mari Theresa Is Missing | February 1st, 1977 | Lost |
| 18 | Cathy’s Parents | February 8th, 1977 | Lost |
| 19 | The Central Tech Tiger | February 15th, 1977 | Lost |
| 20 | The Crush | February 22nd, 1977 | Lost |
| 21 | Tiny’s Job | March 1st, 1977 | Lost |
| 22 | Gladys’ Problem | March 8th, 1977 | Lost |
| 23 | The Quiz Show | March 15th, 1977 | Lost |
| 24 | The Big Shot | March 22nd, 1977 | Lost |
Season Three
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status | 1 | Cathy’s New Career | September 25th, 1977 | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | The Comic | October 9th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 3 | The Prom | October 16th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 4 | The Hostage | October 23rd, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 5 | The Boiler | October 30th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 6 | Hotel Buffalo | November 6th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 7 | The Photographer | November 13th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 8 | The Teacher | November 20th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 9 | The Move | November 27th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 10 | Gladys’ Restaurant | December 4th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 11 | The Hero | December 11th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 12 | The Dance Studio | December 18th, 1977 | Lost | ||||
| 13 | The Suitor | January 8th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 14 | The Hustler | January 22th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 15 | The Wizard | January 29th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 16 | Big Daddy | February 5th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 17 | The Racehorse | February 12th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 18 | The Dukedom | February 19th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 19 | Las Vegas | February 26th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 20 | Old Flame | March 5th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 21 | King’s Cousin | March 12th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 22 | The Blood of Kings | March 19th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 23 | Cathy’s Last Stand | March 26th, 1978 | Lost |
Season Four
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status | 1 | The King’s First Date | September 28th, 1978 | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Summer of ‘56 | October 5th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 3 | School Daze | October 12th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 4 | The Invitation | October 19th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 5 | Words and Music | October 26th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 6 | Carol’s Arrival | November 2nd, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 7 | Double Standard | November 9th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 8 | The Pursesnatcher | November 16th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 9 | Third Party | December 7th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 10 | Big Brother | December 14th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 11 | A Xmas Story | December 21st, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 12 | The Houseguest | December 28th, 1978 | Lost | ||||
| 13 | With This Ring | January 4th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 14 | Guido’s Job | January 11th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 15 | Over The Hill | January 18th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 16 | Dear Aunt Martha | January 25th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 17 | The Best Man | February 1st, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 18 | Hockey Night in Kensington | February 15th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 19 | True Confessions | February 22nd, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 20 | Mr. King Goes To Ottawa | March 8th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 21 | White Lace Gloves | March 15th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 22 | The Fishing Trip | March 22nd, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 23 | Cyrano de Kensington | March 29th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 00 | Title | January 5th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 00 | Title | January 5th, 1979 | Lost |
Season Five
| # | Episode Title | Air Date | Status | 1 | King’s Brave New World | September 13th, 1979 | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Diabolical Plots | September 20th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 3 | Life Begins At Forty | September 27th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 4 | The Hat Trick | October 4th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 5 | Home is Where the Heartburn Is | October 11th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 6 | The Rivals | October 25th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 7 | Born to Boogie | November 1st, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 8 | The Double Date | November 8th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 9 | Masters and Johnson and King | November 15th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 10 | The Bet | November 22nd, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 11 | Pawn to King Four | November 29th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 12 | Down But Not Out | December 6th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 13 | Catch 23 | December 20th, 1979 | Lost | ||||
| 14 | The Total Woman | January 3rd, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 15 | Look Ma, No Cavities | January 10th, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 16 | Sign of the Bull | January 17th, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 17 | The Spirit of Joy | January 24th, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 18 | Good News, Bad News | January 31st, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 19 | War and Peace | February 7th, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 20 | Counter Attack | February 21st, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 21 | Green Eyed Monster | February 28th, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 22 | Purple Passion | March 6th, 1980 | Lost | ||||
| 23 | Movin’ On | March 13th, 1980 | Lost |
Legacy
Despite airing its final episode in 1980, King of Kensington remains highly regarded for its memorable characters and its portrayal of Toronto. The series has been parodied by various other Canadian TV shows, including SCTV, This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Twitch City.
Comedian Mike Myers, who starred in ‘’King of Kensington’’ as a child, regards the show favorably in his autobiography ‘’Canada: “I thought King of Kensington was as close to an American sitcom as Canada ever got. [...] I felt that Al Waxman and the entire cast really wanted to do well for Canada, and they tried their best to give the Canadian taxpayers, who paid for the CBC, value for their money.”’’ Myers reportedly named Austin Powers character Vanessa Kensington after the show.
Al Waxman passed away on January 18, 2001 at age 65. A year later, a bronze statue created by sculptor Ruth Abernethy was placed in Kensington Market in his memory.
Gallery
Photos
External Links
Wikipedia page for King of Kensington IMDb page for King of Kensington TVarchive.ca episode guide