Opening and closing credits for the 1972 family program "George", a CTV series filmed in Grindelwald, Switzerland starring Marshall Thompson (who also produced).
Sometimes some forgotten relic of your childhood surfaces and out of the blue you're transported right back into the heady days of your youth. The George opening is one of those relics.
The vocals for the Opening Theme song were recorded in Munich Germany! How do I know this? Because I sang on it along with my brothers! My father wrote and arranged the song and scored the music for George. Can't believe I found this on CZcams! Wow!
This was one of my favourite TV shows when I was a kid. I ended up naming 2 cats "George" because of it. I can still remember the lyrics to that song off the top of my head whenever I need a smile.
I am now 55 but I remember the show when I was a little boy and couldn’t wait to watch it but it was always sad when the TV show was over what a beautiful dog he was
#AmazingFilmsNS if you go to Google maps and type in "25 Terrassenweg, Grindelwald, Switzerland" the exact chalet where 'George!' was filmed is still there, pan to the right of the house and the Mittelhorn & Wetterhorn (with their very 'unique' shape) are right there...no mistaking it for just another mountain. 'George!' was one of my favorite shows when I was growing up, so glad I found it on CZcams!
Just checked it out on Google Maps! Man, it's so beautiful! I grew up in the prairies of Canada and loved watching the show in re-runs in the mid 70s, from 5-8yrs old. It's wierd, but, it somehow feels like home! One day I'd like to visit the area, or, maybe retire there!
Oh my! I was in Grindelwald August 2019. I always wanted to go to Switzerland because of this show and Heidi. I came home with a Heidi doll and a St. Bernard plush dog!
Talk about FUN FACTS! So much fun to look at the chalet and surrounding mountains! Says the Google map photo is from 2014. Fantastic that it's still there! Thanks for the smile @Lavendelblauen!
I was looking for this on CZcams ages ago and was beginning to think maybe I had imagined the series as a child. I used to Love watching it on TV on Thursdays after school. The memory comes flooding back. Thank you for posting this. I remember the opening tune and sing along to it.
@@rachaelbean1439 I live in Wellington. I was in hospital in '74 for a couple of weeks and remember watching George while in there on a portable TV you could hire. Nobody I know remembers this show. I remember the Beachcombers too - in particular when an episode was filmed in Wellington harbour. Nice memories.
I was 8 years old when this show first aired. Recently, out of nowhere the theme song entered my mind and I haven't been able to shake it since then. Very unsettling for an almost 59 year old man to be walking around singing theme song for obscure TV show from 50 years ago. HAHAHA!
I LOVED this show when I was little! Even had a school-bag with St. Bernards on it in honour of gorgeous George. Thanks so much for posting this clip. Those were the days!
I remember Thursday night on ctv, and I want h no itwith fad and his daughter Bonita and we all washed up to see George, within days I was having a great time in Canada,lots of memories.
Thanks for posting, robatsea2009 !!! I was in my early teens when this enjoyable show aired, and I remember these credits well. Enjoy very much hearing them again!!!
Here's the rest of the quote: "Freddie and his aunt (Trudy Young) lived in the chalet next door. Frau Gerber was Hunter's stereotypical frantic housekeeper, resigning twice per episode over some entirely predictable canine calamity. Based on a full-length 1970 film also starring creator/producer Thompson on behalf of Thompson International."
@MrStereo10 Yes, I remember "Story Theatre" very well! (I wondered if anyone else did!) That wonderful painted caravan at the beginning, and all that wonderful semi-Brechtian story-telling! I remember very clearly Alan Alda playing in "Sir Gawain and the Loathly Damsel". It was great stuff! I would pay serious money for a DVD, if anyone with influence is listening . . .
Thanks for posting this! I was asking around if anyone remembered a show about a dog and for some reason I kept thinking the song Georgie Girl was the theme, but clearly it wasn't. I must have seen this in reruns in the mid to late 70s because I wasn't around during it's first run. When did YTV play this? Man, I wish I had known, I would have taped it.
@robatsea2009 I thought that YTV graphic looked pretty old. I doubt there's any chance they'll air it again. It's probably too kitschy for them. It would be cool if Sun TV played them. They're a local channel that played King of Kensington and Family Affair a few years ago.
According to broadcasting-history(dot)ca, it looks like this series was filmed in BC to play the role of Switzerland (with some stock footage in the mix as well). It just seems like it would have been astronomically expensive for a Canadian series to have been produced right out of Switzerland, and could it have been that CTV is fudging the truth based on those credits?
The typeface you're seeing in the closing credits is Univers 55, which was originally Swiss but had a significant profile in Canadian media through the years.
@phillydisco By the look of the YTV logo-that would have been their very first years on the air. They aired some really strange programs back in those days. They even had the old CTV sitcom "The Trouble With Tracy" - serious cheezyness there(but I loved the theme music).
He’s lovable - George Laughable - George Sometimes he’s impossible He’s funny St. Benard He’s pampered, spoiled city dog Who’s live was something grand Was given away For a permanent day In far off, Switzerland He’s giant size - George Some surprised - George You’ll enjoy the time you spent In George’s Alpine home Trouble is his middle name Our (not sure what lyric is) found a home
Awesome show!!! Here's a not completely flattering excerpt from the Canadian television book "TV North" which also suggests that the show may have filmed partly in Canada (reshoots?): "Dreadful family comedy featuring George, a slobbering St. Bernard who wrecked havoc in the Swiss town of Grindelwald (a thinly disguised collection of British Columbia chalets) while fetching dates for his master, Hunter (Thompson had recently played an animal medico in the U.S. Series Daktari).
@visaman You are right. I loved the theme because I laughed all the time when I heard this theme. It was a great family tv show at that times when tv violence came on.
This series was run in Ireland during the early 1970s - I can strongly remember my reaction to it at the time: "Why on EARTH did anyone think THIS was worth making?" I mean, did ANYBODY ever watch it? It was pitiful! Poor Daktari!
Would have to agree. I can't have been more than 5 when I saw it but even then I thought it was crap and unfunny. Just a big slobby dog making a nuisance of himself in every episode. Seeing those credits now, it has a real Europudding joint production look about it. Nearly gives Roses from Dublin a run for its money in the kitch stakes.
@RetroWinnipeg While some of the scenery can be comparable I've never read any suggestion (including local publications) anywhere that "George" was filmed anywhere but in Switzerland; producer/star Marshall Thompson's website states it was filmed entirely there. At the time the show was produced there were numerous other syndicated series filming in Europe as it was economically feasible to do so; in 1971/2 one Canadian dollar was buying just over 4 Swiss Francs.
Been looking for this for years. hah. Now If i could only find the theme to "Story Theatre" that was made by the same people that did this. It featured a cover version of the Rolling stones "Sing This All Together" as the theme. Remember Alan Alda doing some of the skits on it as well.
Marshall Thompson Was A VERY TALENTED Actor/Writer This Show 'George'! Is Proof In The Pudding! Why He Chose To Appear In Such A Crummy/Has-Been Haven Tv-Show Like 'Murder She Wrote'! Is Tragic, RIP Marshall.
#DHeine the english version of the movie was released on Feb. 14, 2012...tried searching for this on Amazon / internet but no luck, did find the german version of movie & TV series @ www.amazon.de search for 'Alles Wegen George' (18 euros for all 3 and they do ship to Canada)
Sometimes some forgotten relic of your childhood surfaces and out of the blue you're transported right back into the heady days of your youth. The George opening is one of those relics.
The world was so simple back then. Very little technology, dogs, the outdoors,
Saturday mornings where I lived. It was a nice little escape every week from the crushing nightmare of my childhood.
First time I've ever seen this in colour! Remember watching this many years ago when we only had a black and white TV.
The vocals for the Opening Theme song were recorded in Munich Germany! How do I know this? Because I sang on it along with my brothers! My father wrote and arranged the song and scored the music for George. Can't believe I found this on CZcams! Wow!
Mark Vincent That's a very cool memory - thank you for sharing it!
Very interesting story. Thanks for sharing.
Thats awesome, I use to sing this all the time growing up in Montreal. Love this song.
This was one of my favourite TV shows when I was a kid. I ended up naming 2 cats "George" because of it. I can still remember the lyrics to that song off the top of my head whenever I need a smile.
+Mark Vincent (Nevadaslick) Awesome!
I am now 55 but I remember the show when I was a little boy and couldn’t wait to watch it but it was always sad when the TV show was over what a beautiful dog he was
57 here. Right on.
My heart just filled with so much joy. Loved this show.
Watched this growing up ❤️ I always wanted to go to Switzerland 🤞🏻
I remember this vaguely being on CTV before I had even started school.
#AmazingFilmsNS if you go to Google maps and type in "25 Terrassenweg, Grindelwald, Switzerland" the exact chalet where 'George!' was filmed is still there, pan to the right of the house and the Mittelhorn & Wetterhorn (with their very 'unique' shape) are right there...no mistaking it for just another mountain. 'George!' was one of my favorite shows when I was growing up, so glad I found it on CZcams!
Just checked it out on Google Maps! Man, it's so beautiful! I grew up in the prairies of Canada and loved watching the show in re-runs in the mid 70s, from 5-8yrs old. It's wierd, but, it somehow feels like home! One day I'd like to visit the area, or, maybe retire there!
Oh my! I was in Grindelwald August 2019. I always wanted to go to Switzerland because of this show and Heidi. I came home with a Heidi doll and a St. Bernard plush dog!
Talk about FUN FACTS! So much fun to look at the chalet and surrounding mountains! Says the Google map photo is from 2014. Fantastic that it's still there! Thanks for the smile @Lavendelblauen!
I was looking for this on CZcams ages ago and was beginning to think maybe I had imagined the series as a child. I used to Love watching it on TV on Thursdays after school. The memory comes flooding back. Thank you for posting this. I remember the opening tune and sing along to it.
Oh you didn't imagine it...it was real......I catch myself singing this while I walk down the street.....
This was an excellent television show !
So this show does exist...I knew I wasn't imagining it...everytime I would explain nobody knew what the hell I was talking about
dude, same here. i knew that it existed but nobody else seemed to remember it.
Me too and I watched it in New Zealand as a child. We got a lot of Canadian shows like The Beachcombers
@@rachaelbean1439 I live in Wellington. I was in hospital in '74 for a couple of weeks and remember watching George while in there on a portable TV you could hire. Nobody I know remembers this show. I remember the Beachcombers too - in particular when an episode was filmed in Wellington harbour. Nice memories.
Lol, I'd have known♥️🇨🇦
I was 8 years old when this show first aired. Recently, out of nowhere the theme song entered my mind and I haven't been able to shake it since then. Very unsettling for an almost 59 year old man to be walking around singing theme song for obscure TV show from 50 years ago. HAHAHA!
Nothing unsettling from my view. I think it's sweet! Amazing how the theme songs and jingles from our childhood's stay with us. Good memories!
Goodness I loved this show as a little child!
Air Canada ! I think I watched every show growing up. Frau Gerber!
I LOVED this show when I was little! Even had a school-bag with St. Bernards on it in honour of gorgeous George. Thanks so much for posting this clip. Those were the days!
I remember Thursday night on ctv, and I want h no itwith fad and his daughter Bonita and we all washed up to see George, within days I was having a great time in Canada,lots of memories.
I vaguely remember this opening. I thought I had dreamed it.
Thanks for posting, robatsea2009 !!! I was in my early teens when this enjoyable show aired, and I remember these credits well. Enjoy very much hearing them again!!!
my mom watched this when she was a kid.I might watch it one time.
Here's the rest of the quote:
"Freddie and his aunt (Trudy Young) lived in the chalet next door. Frau Gerber was Hunter's stereotypical frantic housekeeper, resigning twice per episode over some entirely predictable canine calamity. Based on a full-length 1970 film also starring creator/producer Thompson on behalf of Thompson International."
@MrStereo10 Yes, I remember "Story Theatre" very well! (I wondered if anyone else did!) That wonderful painted caravan at the beginning, and all that wonderful semi-Brechtian story-telling! I remember very clearly Alan Alda playing in "Sir Gawain and the Loathly Damsel". It was great stuff! I would pay serious money for a DVD, if anyone with influence is listening . . .
Thanks for posting this! I was asking around if anyone remembered a show about a dog and for some reason I kept thinking the song Georgie Girl was the theme, but clearly it wasn't. I must have seen this in reruns in the mid to late 70s because I wasn't around during it's first run.
When did YTV play this? Man, I wish I had known, I would have taped it.
i certainly remember story theater the north wind especially used shadow and lighting really well very imaginative.
It's been nearly 50 years but I remember the theme song like it was yesterday. Can't remember anything about the show itself, though.
@robatsea2009 I thought that YTV graphic looked pretty old. I doubt there's any chance they'll air it again. It's probably too kitschy for them. It would be cool if Sun TV played them. They're a local channel that played King of Kensington and Family Affair a few years ago.
According to broadcasting-history(dot)ca, it looks like this series was filmed in BC to play the role of Switzerland (with some stock footage in the mix as well). It just seems like it would have been astronomically expensive for a Canadian series to have been produced right out of Switzerland, and could it have been that CTV is fudging the truth based on those credits?
The typeface you're seeing in the closing credits is Univers 55, which was originally Swiss but had a significant profile in Canadian media through the years.
@phillydisco By the look of the YTV logo-that would have been their very first years on the air. They aired some really strange programs back in those days. They even had the old CTV sitcom "The Trouble With Tracy" - serious cheezyness there(but I loved the theme music).
Cute. Never watched the program but I do remember the opening credits.
He’s lovable - George
Laughable - George
Sometimes he’s impossible
He’s funny St. Benard
He’s pampered, spoiled city dog
Who’s live was something grand
Was given away
For a permanent day
In far off, Switzerland
He’s giant size - George
Some surprised - George
You’ll enjoy the time you spent
In George’s Alpine home
Trouble is his middle name
Our (not sure what lyric is) found a home
Awesome show!!! Here's a not completely flattering excerpt from the Canadian television book "TV North" which also suggests that the show may have filmed partly in Canada (reshoots?):
"Dreadful family comedy featuring George, a slobbering St. Bernard who wrecked havoc in the Swiss town of Grindelwald (a thinly disguised collection of British Columbia chalets) while fetching dates for his master, Hunter (Thompson had recently played an animal medico in the U.S. Series Daktari).
Love this! Can anyone post the lyrics in the comments? Thanks.
@phillydisco I think it was mid-to-late 1980s when YTV had it on their schedule
I wonder if YTV made some kind of "bulk" purchase of these old CTV series. They also had "The Trouble With Tracy" and "Circus" during that same era.
@visaman You are right. I loved the theme because I laughed all the time when I heard this theme. It was a great family tv show at that times when tv violence came on.
This series was run in Ireland during the early 1970s - I can strongly remember my reaction to it at the time: "Why on EARTH did anyone think THIS was worth making?" I mean, did ANYBODY ever watch it? It was pitiful! Poor Daktari!
Would have to agree. I can't have been more than 5 when I saw it but even then I thought it was crap and unfunny. Just a big slobby dog making a nuisance of himself in every episode. Seeing those credits now, it has a real Europudding joint production look about it. Nearly gives Roses from Dublin a run for its money in the kitch stakes.
You should really post the entire episode ... this is pretty rare.
I was a kid in 1972 (8 years old), but I don't remember this show, although the theme song is vaguely familiar
@robatsea2009 I hear you. GSN did something similar with Lingo in its first season.
Did you ever run across any "Peanuts and Popcorn" episodes (intro/outro especially)? They ran around the same time as this in Canada on Saturdays
@RetroWinnipeg While some of the scenery can be comparable I've never read any suggestion (including local publications) anywhere that "George" was filmed anywhere but in Switzerland; producer/star Marshall Thompson's website states it was filmed entirely there. At the time the show was produced there were numerous other syndicated series filming in Europe as it was economically feasible to do so; in 1971/2 one Canadian dollar was buying just over 4 Swiss Francs.
@joadhenry No, and I wish I would find some one day. I do remember the series and used to watch it.
frau gerber was a real dish......heard they are gonna remake this show, in Thailand this time, starring Kevin Spacy as over the hill dog adopter
Been looking for this for years. hah. Now If i could only find the theme to "Story Theatre" that was made by the same people that did this. It featured a cover version of the Rolling stones "Sing This All Together" as the theme. Remember Alan Alda doing some of the skits on it as well.
Marshall Thompson Was A VERY TALENTED Actor/Writer This Show 'George'! Is Proof In The Pudding! Why He Chose To Appear In Such A Crummy/Has-Been Haven Tv-Show Like 'Murder She Wrote'! Is Tragic, RIP Marshall.
#DHeine the english version of the movie was released on Feb. 14, 2012...tried searching for this on Amazon / internet but no luck, did find the german version of movie & TV series @ www.amazon.de search for 'Alles Wegen George' (18 euros for all 3 and they do ship to Canada)
@heine71 Not that I'm aware of.
Mike a raison