Train 48
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Train 48 was a Canadian television soap opera, broadcast on Global Television Network or CH (depending on location) airing from 2003 until 2005.
Train 48 was based on the format of an Australian television program called Going Home.
The show was broadcast daily, and recorded the same day. It took place in a railway carriage of a GO Train returning from Toronto to one of the suburbs, and followed the lives of the characters through their interactions. Although major plotlines were written in advance, much of the dialogue was improvised by the actors. The entire series was shot on an artificial train set in order to save budget during production. The same-day recording allowed for comments on topical news stories to be introduced. The show typically dealt with humorous or dramatic situations, mostly social issues (ie. worldwide issues, politics, the media, up to date news) and relationships. An example of the realism was during the first season in one particular episode the 2003 North America blackout was mentioned giving the sense of fictional characters speaking about factual events usually up to date. Another topic mentioned was the case about Scott Peterson and idealistic pros and cons views about President Bush. Several viewers’ reactions about the show were "It's so Canadian" due to the fact that the show is based in Canadian idealism. Most of half the viewers found the series as mediocre and some as poor quality television.
During the production of the series between 2003 to 2004 four episodes regularly were aired on Global during the week but since 2005 it was reduced to three with regular time slots. A few months before the shows termination the stories and plots were rushed allot to keep up, many fans reacted to these changes as rumors of Train 48 cancellation was to occur.
Cancellation
Rumors were finally concluded on June 2, 2005 when Global Television announced that Train 48 was cancelled due to it's low ratings and that the finale episode would be shown on July 1st Canada day. Fans from the official website Canada.com were outraged and some made petitions (writing to Global) to keep the show on air for another season. Some recommended it to be viewed on another channel after the finale, since then Global had no plans in doing so.
Theme song
The series theme song was entitled "Train goes" by Adam Crossley and 9 Point Landing. The theme music was changed during half the production having a version without the lyrics. The show did not have any themes during the filming only a few seconds intro beat of "Train Goes" once it came back from commersials.
Cast
- Krista Sutton (Liz Irwin-Gallo)
- Paul Braunstein (Johnny McLaughlin)
- Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Randy Ko)
- Lisa Merchant (Brenda Murphy)
- Raoul Bhaneja (Peter Subramani) AKA 'Pete'
- Joanne Boland (Dana Davin)
- Joe Dinicol (Zach Eisen)
- Andrew Kenneth Martin (Charles Lucas West-Matheson)
- Jack Mosshammer (Seymour Shackleton) (season 2+)
- Ingrid Hart (Shannon Lamarche) (2003-2005)
- Amy Price Francis (Nicole Svendsen) (season 1)
Regular guests
- Allana Harkin (Mag)
- Victoria Adilman (Julia)
- Lindsay Ames (Naomi Reisman)
- Kathryn Zenna (Mel)
- Monica Correa (Ana)
Other guest stars on Train 48 included politician Sheila Copps, actor Scott Thompson, comedian Rick Green, and former MuchMusic personality Amanda Walsh.
Total Length: 30 minutes
Produced by
- Eric Lunsky
- Duncan McKenzie
CanWest Global in partnership with Global had promoted the series with stories and columns generally shown on the National Post newspaper.
Reference
External links
- Canada.com page (The site is currently being revised)
- Train 48 at IMDb
- Train 48 fan site