The Friendly Giant

Any Canadian child who lived between 1958 and 1985 will remember the joy that was CBC's Friendly Giant. That renaissance recorder music at the beginning and the order to 'Look UP...LOOK WAAAAAAAY UP' till we saw him. With his leather boots and medieval clothing Bob Homme welcomed us into this castle and even arranged the furniture for us so that we could sit closer to the fire. He didn't try to teach us numbers but instead his thing was turning us on to reading and installing a love of music with his co-stars - Gerome the Giraffe, Rusty the Rooster (who played a harp and lived in a magic bag from which a myriad of items could be instantly pulled ) and Angie and Fiddle, the Jazz Cats (I could never figure out who they were exactly but they were very cool, man.) The show was gentle and sweet and created by Homme who you immediately felt comfortable with. Captain Kangaroo was too manic while Mr Rodgers seems to be that creepy bachelor guy who lived down the street and had candy for the kids all year round. Even Mr Dressup never took the time just to relax for ten seconds. The Friendly Giant was at a different pace and would never survive today when kids need to be stimulated every two seconds. If fact we all chose the recorder in music class since we had already been primed to its greatest by our beloved Giant. I challenge you to find any Canadian child who would say a single bad thing about this show. This show is so engrained in our consciousness and we would defend its greatness to the death. Over 3000 episodes of this sweet show was produced over nearly 30 years. Thanks to BookSteve for showing off the below album and reminding me again how great my childhood was.