It seems like only yesterday, but really I suppose that it was quite awhile ago… I can remember coming home from school and turning on my favourite radio station. This wasn’t a random act; I had something specific in mind.
The Unfriendly Giant.
If you’re familiar with the old CBC kids’ show, The Friendly Giant, this was a radio spoof of that show. At the time I had no idea that the man behind The Unfriendly Giant was Tom Rivers, a well-known Toronto DJ. All I knew is that the radio spots were hilarious, and I couldn’t wait to hear how Unfriendly was going to torment The Chicken and The Giraffe. It didn’t even matter to me if it was a repeat that I had heard already. They were too funny to pass up!
That Christmas I asked my parents for a cassette tape (remember those?) of episodes of The Unfriendly Giant that were being advertised on the radio. I was sooo disappointed when I finished opening my gifts, and there was no Unfriendly to be found. My Mum didn’t understand my obvious disappointment because it turns out that they had gotten me the cassette, but it was somehow missed when the presents were placed under the tree. I was happy then… very happy!
I played that cassette tape over and over. I laughed. My friends laughed. We would drive around town singing “Kill the Chicken… Kill the Chicken…”
Until one day I lost that cassette tape.
Years later began looking online for any information I could find on The Unfriendly Giant. It wasn’t easy to find. Harder still, were those lost episodes. But after writing a post on my personal blog, I received some great responses, one of which pointed me in the direction of a digital copy of that cassette tape. I was happy again!
I decided to create this website because of the number of people who still come to my personal blog looking for The Unfriendly Giant. I thought that it would be nice if Unfriendly and the gang had a place of their own to call home. I am not a web designer, so I won’t pretend to try to make this site more than it is. It’s not fancy… but it is functional.
It’s my hope that you enjoy the episodes of The Unfriendly Giant as much as I do.
Kill the Chicken…
