What does it mean when the producer of the Gemini Awards broadcast gala defines the shows from the previous two years as ‘a bit vernacular’?

‘They were conversational,’ explains Joe Bodolai, the man once again putting the Gemini Awards broadcast on cbc-tv. ‘They had album cover titles: Live and Dangerous (1992) and Out On A Limb (1993). That was fine, but I want to get back to the whole point of the award. The industry has come a long way and it’s time to build up the award. I think it’s come to the point that people really want to win it.’

With that, Bodolai describes what he’s thinking about as he begins shaping the March 6 show, massaging its look, feel and mood. He recounts some of the trends and newsmaking events of 1993: talk of 500 channels, fragmentation, coming changes in distribution and receipt of electronic and video data, executive shuffles, Ivan Fecan, specialty channels, canceled series.

Whereas Bodolai says the Live and Dangerous show (which he also produced) acknowledged that Canadians had emerged from a year of watching near-live coverage of such world-shaking events as the Gulf War, the end of 1993 brought a different sensibility to the fore.

It’s a time of change and uncertainty, to be sure, as dozens of Canadian producers and programmers try to spike a specialty niche to offset the expected incursion of u.s. rivals. It’s a time of debate, as much over how the signal will be sent and who will send it as what content will ride on it.

Bodolai reckons Canadians are well-placed to take advantage of these changes. As the producer of the Geminis’ final night awards show, his view is from a television eyrie looking out past specific programs, performances and ratings to the controversies, business advances and expectations for the future. He infuses that view into a show intended to reflect, lampoon and ultimately hail Canadian tv prowess.

Flux may figure prominently in television in the coming months, but Bodolai is confident the quality of Canadian shows will stay at the higher level we’re coming to expect. ‘There is excellence and that’s what we should honor. We’re going to manifest that in an approach that respects the past and anticipates the future.’ In a reference to tv executive moves and program cancellations such as cbc’s Street Legal, he says the fact that ‘new people (are) coming in doesn’t mean we can forget the past,’ adding that the Geminis will find ‘a way of being happy with change and uncertainty.’

Throughout his association with the Geminis, Bodolai has pushed its Canadian-ness. He doesn’t think the show should import a big-name host and maintains Canadians can meet the challenge just fine. This year’s cohosts, veteran anchor Valerie Pringle of Canada AM and actor Albert Schultz (Street Legal), are ‘both completely natural people,’ he says, adding that he expects the pair will add mightily to the fun quotient.

If unsolicited offers are any barometer, anyone who’s free will be willing to serve as an award presenter. Phoned-in messages seem to be landing regularly on Bodolai’s desk.

The staging and set design for the program might put Toronto-area viewers in mind of the North York, Ont. production of Show Boat, currently racking up critical superlatives at a rapid clip. Bodolai says Peter Baran, who helped design the look of Show Boat, is also designing the set for the Geminis. ‘The set is architectural,’ Bodolai says, ‘with lots of changes and reveals, very much like a live theatrical show.’ Once again, the elements are intended to reinforce pride in the award.

Coproducer of the broadcast gala, which will be held at the John Bassett Theatre at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, is David Rosen who produced the 1992 Night Two Gemini Awards, aired on ytv. In all, Rosen has worked on eight Genie and Gemini broadcasts for the Academy and has been involved in such programs as Brian Orser’s Night Moves, Eric’s World and Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui.

The broadcast gala is to be written by writer/producer/ director David Kitching (LIFE: The Program, On The Arts), comedian/writer Lawrence Morgenstern (Comics, Friday Night! with Ralph Benmergui) and comedian/writer Mark Farrell (Evening at the Improv, Comics).

Jonathan Welsh of e.n.g. is hosting the Opening Night Gala, March 3, with Eric Wiegand producing. Wiegand is also in the producer’s chair for the March 5 Industry Gala, which will feature e.n.g.’s Karl Pruner as host. Both events will be held in Constitution Hall at the Metro Convention Centre.

The writers for the opening and industry galas are Doug Bagot, Timothy Lee and Diane Flacks.

Like Coombs, Alex Barris is an American-turned-Canadian and is also a winner of a 1994 Special Gemini. Barris wins the Margaret Collier Award for an outstanding body of written work in television. The committee selecting the Collier recipient concluded it was time that someone who wrote mainly for variety programs be recognized by the Academy. (While the committee was examining his writing for television, Barris’ resume recounts an eclectic entertainment career including experience as a journalist, broadcaster, author, lyricist, performer and producer.)

Barris did variety with a vengeance. He wrote ‘countless’ tv shows in Canada between 1956 and 1968. On cbc’s stalwart Front Page Challenge, Barris was an original panelist who also hosted intermittently and went behind the camera to write it between 1964 and 1968. At the time of Challenge’s 25th anniversary, Barris wrote a commemorative book.

In 1969 he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked with many big-name personalities and received an Emmy nomination for work on The Doris Day Special. He returned to Canada in 1977. Some of his credits include: 120 episodes of Celebrity Revue (1976), The Juliette Special (1977), seven episodes of King of Kensington (1978), 30 episodes of Rear View Mirror (1981-85), Lorne Greene Remembered (1987), and Gordon Pinsent Sings Those Hollywood Songs, (1987) which he cowrote and coproduced.

The special awards also recognize technical achievement. This year, a six-person jury concluded the award for outstanding technical achievement should go to Kodak Canada for its film stock 5293/7293. One member of the jury, Telesat Canada’s Wilson Markle, says the stock received testimonials from several well-known cinematographers, a main theme being that the stock afforded ‘flexibility and control… over the entire photographic process in television production.’

Finally, a new category is the special award for Best Local News Program. At press time, the jury for this award had yet to meet.