Billed as Newfoundland’s Cultural Magazine, The Great Eastern was an hour long summer replacement show on CBC Radio One for the first two seasons, and then became a half hour regular show for the next three seasons.

Rockin’ Downtown Rocktown Ronnie sent me a CD of the 1994 to 1999 broadcasts as MP3 files.

Fantastic.

I’ve just finished Season 1 and am enjoying it immensely. It’s as smart and sophisticated as The Daily Show, Colbert or Rick Mercer.

It’s a spoof of all lame, self-important local radio affiliates everywhere, propped up by tax dollars.

Paul Moth, the radio host, kept a blog during the production of The Great Eastern, it seems.

Happily, a fan named Gerry Porter maintains a website dedicated to the Great Eastern which includes a full archive of the shows. Episode 1, series 1 starts here if you want to check it out.

Or click the link to hear a sample “historical” clip from the show where the Mayor of St. Johns, NFLD surrenders the city to the Germans.

CBC Radio is too slow, fat and thick to make those classic broadcasts available on their own site. (Someone should parody that company.)

In 2004, the character of Paul Moth was put in a new CBC show called Sunny Days and Nights. Fired from the BCN, Moth gets a temporary job with fictonal CBC affiliate CBNR in the “cottage country” region of Ontario. … The series ran for only one summer.

The Great Eastern – Wikipedia

We miss you Paul!