Today's Special

Jeff's attempts to perfect a juggling act inspire his friends to organize a circus in the store with Sam as the ringmaster, Muffy as the magician, and Jodie and Jeff as clowns. Today's special guest is pianist Oscar Peterson, and there's also a circus story.

Today's Special was a Canadian children's television program produced by Clive VanderBurgh at TVOntario from 1981 to 1987. It was set in a department store, based on the flagship location of the now defunct Simpson's in Toronto. Many sequences for it were shot at the Queen Street West and Yonge Street store after hours.

Premise

In the children's department of a major department store, each night when Jodie arrives for work, she carries a mannequin (Jeff) upstairs, where Muffy says the magic words "hocus pocus alimagocus!" This brings him to life.
Many early episodes focused on a tangible object as a subject, such as hats or costumes, with the show revolving around teaching about it. Later episodes dealt with more complicated ones, such as the episode "Wishes" dealing with sacrificing one thing for another, or "Phil's Visit", which dealt with alcoholism.
Short films, often less than a minute long, were often inserted as breaks in the episode's main plot, narrated by Robyn Hayle (the same actress who provided the voice of TXL). These included Mime Lady segments, animated quizzes designed to test a child's observation, narrated storybooks, and popular nursery rhymes (which an unseen Muffy would introduce with "And now I'd like to introduce a nursery rhyme by Mother Goose").
Many episodes featured one or more one-time visitors to the store. Some would cause problems for the characters, while others would befriend them and help solve their problems. These visitors included the characters' friends or family, people coming to the store to do their jobs, people brought there 

When Jeff's friends discover that he never sleeps, they promptly get him a pair of pyjamas and a bed and instruct him on the art of falling asleep. The computer describes the ways different animals sleep, and Sam and Jodie visit radio host Bill McVean on a night shift

When the friends learn that their store will be torn down because no one can find the plaque that proves it to be a historic site, they pack their things and prepare to leave. Sam, Muffy, and Jodie reminisce about the highlights of their days together, and recall Karen Kain's visit and performance of the Swamp Dance.

Welcome to Todays Podcast!!

We are dedicated to telling the stories and history of Classic Canadian TV Programming from the People who made them and starred in them or both!!

Episode 2: Todays Special is Reunions Part One!

Today's Special is a Canadian children's television program produced by Clive VanderBurgh at TVOntario, originally broadcasting 120 episodes from 1981 to 1987. Much of the series was set in a department store, based on Simpson's then-flagship location in Toronto. It starred Nerene Virgin as Jodie, Jeff Hyslop as Jeff, Nina Keogh as Muffy Mouse and Bob Dermer as Sam Crenshaw

For Part One, we sit down with Nina Keogh (Muffy), Bob Dermer (Sam), Robyn Hayle (TXL) and Cheryl Wagner (Mrs Pennypacker) to talk about the memories of the show and all kinds of things.

Stay Tuned for Part Two!