The Affable Behemoth

A fond memory from childhood, was watching the children's television program, "The Friendly Giant".  It was a mainstay of the CBC, first airing in the fall of 1958 and remaining on air for twenty-seven years.  Entertaining children, and then their children, and their children, then their's and their's and so on, with fun songs and stories.

At the start of every show, Friendly would position some wood chairs around a fireplace (as shown in the center picture), suggesting that a viewer and their family might like to come for a visit, to enjoy the festivities firsthand.  As a small tyke, I'd hoped on more than one occasion, that our family might take a vacation, traveling the vast distance to Friendly's castle.  With my nose pressed up against the TV, I'd choose which chair I'd be seated in and determine where my parents and sister would sit.  Even though I was awash with the magic and fantasy of it all, I did question the position of the chairs and fireplace with regards to where Friendly and his friends put on their show, often remarking how awkward it would be to have crook our necks all the way back to look virtually straight up.  The way Friendly handles those "over-sized" chairs, they still dwarf in his hands, therefore his size is much larger than that of a regular giant. We were like ants to him.  I'm certain that the fabled giant, who faced off against Jack when he climbed that beanstalk would appear quite puny if standing side-by-side with The Friendly Giant.

It wasn't just my small brain that questioned the logistics of the show.  As I grew older and smarter, I started to question everything about the show.  For instance, Friendly's sidekicks.  A giraffe and a chicken.  Growing up on a farm, I did get to see some large roosters and hens, but I've never seen a cock of giant proportions like Rusty the Rooster.  There was definitely some radioactive testing or some kind of shit going on in the late 1940s and early '50s in whatever far off land this was where Friendly and his gargantuan brood lived.  The one thing that badgered me, though, all the way through my childhood, adolescence and straight into adulthood, was: Why was the rooster kept in a burlap bag, hanging on the wall?  

The fifteen-minute program, aired commercial free, twice between ten o'clock in the morning and half past ten.  At 10:30am, was Mr. Dressup.  A former understudy to Mr. Rogers, Ernie Coombs had moved to Canada, eventually creating the longest running (29 years) children's program "Mr. Dressup".  Four thousand episodes which would eventually bridge the gap between "Friendly Giant" and "Sesame Street".  I never much cared for the show, myself, but we only had two networks to choose from and CTV never aired kids's shows, so "Mr. Dressup", it was.  Now, if you thought I questioned a lot of stuff about "The Friendly Giant", well I found "Mr. Dressup" was really f*cked up.

Mr. Dressup was a man who was in his forties who lived alone, but hung out with Casey, a redheaded child, who was NOT his son, nor related to him in ANY way, who lived in a tree house with his dog, Finnegan, for a number of years.  (Both Casey & Finnegan, were puppets, so some suspension of belief is supported).  Mr. Dressup entertained viewers with arts and crafts and songs and even some plays, complete with costumes that mysteriously and magically would appear in his colourful chest that he fondly referred to as the Tickle Trunk.

Twenty-two years after the show's debut, Judith Lawrence, the puppeteer who worked both Casey and Finnegan, retired.  Rather than replacing Lawrence, the story was told that Casey, along with his dog, began going to school, thus explaining his absence.  A much more sinister and suspicious mind would believe that Dressup simply grew tired of his young playthings and disposed of the bodies in a ditch somewhere.  Although, upon closer inspection, the Tickle Trunk might have disclosed a few more secrets than just colourful costumes and props.

As for the whereabouts of the cast of "The Friendly Giant".  Gerome the Giraffe passed away, shortly after the shows final airing in 1985.  Though he possessed an amazing singing voice, the giraffe had a three pack-a-day smoking habit and died from complications due to throat and lung cancer.  Bob Homme, the actor who portrayed Friendly, passed away in 2000.  Rusty the Rooster survived them all, retiring to a small town outside Toronto, with his same-sex partner Calvin the Cowboy, before passing away in 2011 at the ripe old age of 56, which is quite old for a chicken.  Here's a picture of Rusty and his partner of more than forty years,   As you can see from the photo, Rusty was into rough sex and was the bottom in the relationship.