Air Farce gang returns for New Year special without Roger Abbott

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Arnold Pinnock as Oprah Winfrey with Alan Park as President Barack Obama in a scene from the Royal Canadian Air Farce. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, CBC

TORONTO - When the Air Farce gang returns with their latest year-end special this Sunday night on CBC, viewers will notice some key changes to the troupe.

Gone is beloved co-founder Roger Abbott, who passed away last March from complications with leukemia. He was 64.

Fellow founder Don Ferguson had already discussed carrying on the 40-year-old comedy troupe's tradition of creating New Year's specials when Abbott's death brought urgency to those plans.

"We wanted to give the new guys — Alan Park, Craig Lauzon and Penelope Corrin — the opportunity to carry on with the Farce and shine at least once a year on television,” says Ferguson.

Joining Air Farce's comedy cast for the first time Sunday night is Arnold Pinnock, an actor known for dramatic parts on Canadian series such as "Combat Hospital" and "The Listener." He also boasts Second City, "Life with Derek" and other comedy credits on his resume.

A visit to the Toronto set two weeks ago to witness the taping of the New Year's special found Pinnock fitting in nicely. He was busy playing a 6-foot-2 Oprah Winfrey, and, in another sketch, getting even crazier as Mike Tyson.

"We all remember Tom Cruise jumping up and down on the couch but Oprah lets it go too," says Pinnock.

In one of those crazy showbiz twists, the actor has actually been with the Farce before. Born in England but raised in Scarborough, Ont., he studied radio and television arts in college and landed a gig as an intern at CBC while still in his teens. One of the first shows he was assigned to as a production assistant was "Air Farce," then just beginning a 16-year run as a weekly CBC comedy series.

"Don and Luba [Goy] and Roger and all the gang were so kind to me," says Pinnock. Ferguson remembers him back then as "a bright light and a welcome sight on the floor." Dietmar Niemetz, still an Air Farce technical producer after 18 years, told Ferguson at the recent tapings that "Arnold always did a terrific job, whatever it was he had to do."

When Pinnock left his bottom rung CBC gig after a year to pursue his dream of acting and comedy, he kept in touch with his Farce friends. When he was starring in the CBC TV-movie "It Must Be Santa" a few years later, he stopped by the Farce set. Ferguson, then casting a pilot for the CBC sitcom "XPM," created a role for Pinnock. That show didn't fly, but Ferguson kept Pinnock's name on his Rolodex.

After Abbott's passing, writer-producers Kevin Wallis, Rob Lindsay and Wayne Testori all urged Ferguson to add Pinnock to this year's cast.

"He turned out to be a perfect fit," says Ferguson. "I've already invited him to join us for next year's New Year' special and he' said yes — we're very happy about that."

Pinnock says it is "humbling" to be part of a troupe he not only once pulled cables for, but that his parents used to listen to on the radio and laugh at on TV. He felt especially blessed to be with the Farce this winter as the experience helped him get through the death of his mother, who passed away just before Christmas.

"To be going through what I was going through at that time with my family, knowing there was another family to go to work with every day, you could push yourself, you could try new things, you could bring things to the table knowing this was a safe environment to give your best. That's not a normal in what we do in this industry and I just feel very blessed to be a part of it."

Ferguson admits it was "weird" and "there were tears occasionally backstage" as they did the show for the first time without friend and colleague Abbott. The duo were not only castmates and business partners but also best friends for over 50 years (as detailed in "Air Farce: 40 Years of Flying by the Seat of Our Pants," a book I was involved with as a contributor).

Still, as Ferguson says, "everyone backstage, as well as in front of the audience, was glad to participate." There's even a glimpse of Abbott in the show.

As his typically Canadian character Sam used to say in those doughnut shop sketches: "You got that right."

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Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont.