Road Movies (TV series)

The series premiered in June 1992.^[2] The original run of 26 episodes was scheduled to end in December,^[4] although due to various schedule changes and specials during the year the final episodes actually aired in January 1993.^[6] It was co-produced by the CBC and Why Not Productions Inc.^[7] The show was not renewed for a second season.^[8]

The series was often compared in the media to either a video version of a university or college student newspaper,^[4] or a more polished version of a community channel show.^[9] John Haslett Cuff of The Globe and Mail opined, however, that the show effectively just duplicated programs that other Canadian television networks were already airing, such as YTV's Street Noise and MuchMusic's Mike & Mike's Excellent X-Canada Adventures.^[10]

In a 1993 piece analyzing the contrast between the popular success of La Course destination monde and the failure of Road Movies, Ray Conlogue of The Globe and Mail asserted that Road Movies's lack of a competitive framework meant that the young filmmakers were not receiving any professional feedback on areas where their work may have needed to improve; the destinations being limited to Canada, where the Quebec series allowed filmmakers to travel around the world, meant that Road Movies was not matching the Quebec series as a window for learning about different world cultures; and Road Movies's directive to avoid the controversial or challenging topics that were commonplace on La Course meant that the reports on Road Movies were rarely much more than tourism booster videos or human interest profiles.^[3]

The series was a Gemini Award nominee for Best Youth Program or Series at the 7th Gemini Awards in 1993.