It’s Not a Living anymore for CBC’s Peter Jordan

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This article was published 31/10/2003 (7990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IT’S a Living will no longer be a living for Peter Jordan.

The host of the popular locally produced CBC series heard this week that his Gemini Award-winning show has been cancelled.

The series will complete its current 18-episode order for the 2003-04 season, but will cease production after that, and disappear from CBC’s lineup when the current campaign ends next April.

“All shows have a lifespan, and it was felt that It’s a Living was approaching the end of its lifespan,” CBC regional director Carl Karp said yesterday. “Viewership was down. I feel the programming was still excellent… but it really was reaching the end of its life cycle.”

Jordan, who won two Gemini Awards (1998, 2000) for his work as host of It’s a Living, said news of the show’s cancellation came as a disappointment, but not a surprise.

“Every year is the same in this business,” said Jordan, who tried his hand at more than 500 different jobs during the series’ run. “This show has always been in jeopardy, as has been every show on the (CBC) network. That’s the nature of the business. But I do think there was a message in the change in our timeslot (from Mondays to Fridays).

“I’m disappointed. I thought it was a great show… I didn’t feel the show had run its course. I actually feel the stories we’re doing this year are better than they were last year or the year before. And we’ve still got ideas galore — people are still writing in with good ideas every single day. It was an embarrassment of riches, really.”

In addition to Jordan, It’s a Living has staff of six full-time production personnel and employs numerous part-time and freelance technical and production workers, both locally and in other Canadian centres.

Karp could not confirm how many jobs could be cut as a result of It’s a Living‘s cancellation, but said that work has already begun on a couple of proposed locally produced shows that would feature Jordan and could provide work for local staffers.

“In the short term, we are losing an 18-part series, and we won’t have an 18-part series going to air (next) fall,” said Karp. “But what we will have is at least two shows that will go to air in the summer that we hope will lead to opportunities for the fall season.

“What I can say right now is that they’ll be more comedic than informational — the network has moved away from light-information shows, which is the best way to describe It’s a Living, and has gone more in a comedy direction… Peter will certainly have a place within those two shows. We’re looking to create programming that includes him.”

It’s a Living grew out of an occasional feature that ran on CBC Manitoba’s local 24 Hours newscast, and gained instant popularity when it became a weekly CBC-network series.

This isn’t the first time, however, that It’s a Living has faced cancellation.

When Jordan won the first of his two best-host Gemini Awards in 1998, the show had already been axed by the CBC. It was revived a year later and ran for another four seasons.

At this year’s Geminis, It’s a Living was nominated in two categories — best host and best lifestyle/practical-information segment — but came home without any trophies.

“There’s still irony in the fact that a week ago, we were at the Geminis and we were nominated for two awards for the first time, and now a week later we’re talking about this,” said Jordan. “But then, this show has always been surrounded by little ironies, especially when it comes to the Geminis.”

Jordan added that he has no idea what form his next TV project will take.

“But you know, in looking for my next job, I have one hell of a resume. I’ve done 500 jobs — mind you, I did most of them for only a day and didn’t do them very well.”

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