by Jim Bawden
Starweek Magazine - Monday, October 3, 2005

I’m not at all enthusiastic about being given the tape of Things That Move to review The show has one of the sillier titles of the still new TV season, but here goes. And one final thought: Is a sequel coming, titled Things That Can’t Move?

Well, the actual 20-part series is pretty neat. And it has a particularly good time slot - weekdays at 6 p.m. - for senior public school kids. Teachers should check it out and assign appropriate homework.

First night out Things That Move is about how fire engines operate, and all the things that can be done to stop blazes. The episode goes right back to the Great Toronto Fire of 1904 - when the downtown core burned out of control.

The host is actor Jeff Douglas, who became semi-famous in 2000 for his Joe Canadian “I am Canadian” rants in TV ads for Molson’s beer. He sits in with speeding firemen, tries to operate a fire hose none too successfully and really gets inside the drive of brave fire fighters.

The next episode I watched, on the Zamboni, was just as interesting. While it is hard to believe, the Zamboni is a Californian invention although we tend to think of it as uniquely Canadian.

Douglas goes to the original plant where the son of the Zamboni inventor shows how the incredibly complex machine works: the first one was sold in 1946 to skating ace Sonia Henie. And at the Canadian plant we see the range of models. And after two half-hours I’m already hooked on this series made by Toronto’s Primitive Entertainment.

Weekdays at 6 p.m. on History.