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Big Life

A peek inside the mailbag

Broadcast Date: Nov. 1, 1996

Just 15 episodes in, CBC Newsworld's Big Life – showcasing "new ideas of unusual attitudes" – has already covered subjects as diverse as Muslim artists, tantric sex, squeegee kids, Raelians, and junkie chic. Memorable though these eye-popping topics may be, one viewer has a major complaint: the program's title is utterly forgettable, and he can never find it on the TV schedule. In a viewer-mail segment, host Daniel Richler explains where the name Big Life came from.

A peek inside the mailbag

• Big Life first appeared on CBC Newsworld in April 1996 with a one-hour program about abstinence and female chastity. The show was cut to a half-hour in 1997 and ended in 1999.
• Before creating and hosting Big Life, Daniel Richler was host of Imprint, a literary program on TVOntario, and was also a host on Citytv's The New Music.

• After the first episode of Big Life, Greg Quill, TV critic for the Toronto Star, dissected it in detail and concluded: "Not a single new fact was imparted. Nor, apart from a brief, nonetheless revealing interview… was a compelling opinion raised about teenage sexuality in the 1990s. It was flash without substance, style without content, dazzle without context. In fact, a disappointment."
• Before Big Life debuted, TV critic John Haslett Cuff of the Globe and Mail was optimistic about the show and its host. "The promotional clips for Daniel Richler's Big Life are perhaps the slickest and most intriguing I've ever seen for a new show on the public network… Richler's return to prime-time television is welcome and I think important for what it reveals about big changes that are unfolding at the CBC."
• In launching Big Life, Newsworld head Slawko Klymkiw praised its host: "Daniel Richler's knowledge and understanding of popular culture is unparalleled. We believe he will attract a whole new generation of viewers who don't generally tune in to news channels.''
• Richler wasn't so sure. In an interview with the Edmonton Sun, Richler (who was 39 at the time) told reporter Neal Watson: "I'm not necessarily making TV for people who are 20 years younger than me.''

A peek inside the mailbag

Medium: Television

Program: Big Life

Broadcast Date: Nov. 1, 1996


Host: Daniel Richler

Duration: 3:35

Last updated:
April 16, 2008


End of list




All clips from this program

4 results available  

MediaTitle and dateDescription
Television
7:16 		Dec. 2, 1998
Canada's most flamboyant pot activist 		David Malmo-Levine has made a career out of civil disobedience, smoke-ins and getting arrested. He calls it a public service. (Warning: contains explicit language and nudity.)
Television
3:35 		Nov. 1, 1996
A peek inside the mailbag 		Daniel Richler explains how his CBC Newsworld show got its name.
Television
5:48 		May 31, 1996
Can Canadian hip hop break out? 		In 1996, two Canadian hip-hop experts discuss whether Canada will ever produce a bona fide rap star.
Television
7:15 		April 19, 1996
Marc Emery, Canada's 'Prince of Pot' 		Marijuana advocate Marc Emery describes his 1996 bust for selling marijuana seeds at his Vancouver hemp emporium.
4 results available