For the Record was an outgrowth of Camera 76, a component of the CBC series Performance. Concentrating on social issues pertinent to Canadian viewers, the erratically scheduled series adopted a dramatized documentary format which was labeled as "journalistic drama" by the producers. The fact-based story material ranged from labor disputes to political corruption to medical iniquities. Typical episodes included "Dying Hard," about the economically dictated demise of a Newfoundland mining town, and "Tar Sands," which brought about a lawsuit from Alberta Premier Peter Lougheed, who didn't like the way he was depicted on screen. Ben Barzman, an American writer-producer who had been forced to relocate to Canada by the blacklist, was the series' creative consultant, while among the regular actors were Fiona Reid and the ubiquitous Al Waxman. Fluctuating between a 60- and 90-minute time slot, For the Record debuted on January 16, 1977, and was still going strong into the 1990s.
by Hal Erickson
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