Still Standing truly takes us places

Not previously being much of a TV watcher, I have changed that habit just a bit due to Covid-19.

Just last month I heard that Middleton, N.S., was going to be on the tube and that’s how I discovered Still Standing on CBC. Now I’m kind of addicted.

Comedian Jonny Harris has been the host for seven seasons now.

Late in this season, he arrived in Middleton, which is touted as being halfway between Halifax and Yarmouth, and he learns about how the town used to be a busy railway hub. Deputy Mayor Gail Smith was his kindly tour guide.

I loved the mixture of comedy and reality TV. Jonny finds all kinds of hidden gems and outright characters because he’s not a big city guy slumming it. He’s from Pouch Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, so he gets small towns. It’s obvious he spends time in each one before the Still Standing team puts each segment together.

So, I started binge-watching. Berwick was featured during the first season in 2015. Carol Boylan-Hartling, the town’s late lamented recreation director, acted as tour guide. It was lovely to see her again.

Jonny, with his fishing background, got to see agriculture in progress: a lamb being born and some beautiful alpacas and horses.

His reaction to the birthing was delightful and so is watching the townsfolk respond to his brand of stand-up comedy.

At the end of each segment, he evokes his mother while encapsulating what he’s witnessed.

After Berwick, I watched the other Nova Scotia towns in the series thus far.

Mabou was a treat. Former Premier of Nova Scotia and well-known fiddler Rodney MacDonald, songstress Heather Rankin, Gaelic teacher Joanne MacIntyre and single malt whiskey distiller Daniel MacLean showed Jonny what the village was all about.

“We tried some single malt, we laughed, we fought, we cried and then we became best friends,” he joked.

The CBC program was grounded for nearly a year due to the pandemic, so when host Jonny and crew got back on the road in 2021 things looked different and pivoting was necessary.

The filming had to take place outdoors or under tents and capacity was limited for the closing comedy night.

Catching various episodes, as you can easily on CBC Gem, I’ve been struck by how many small towns from coast to coast began with a resource-based economy. Looks like logging was a big enterprise everywhere, but so was farming and fishing.

During each visit he makes, Jonny proves that he understands community and the deep connections between people and place.

“I think our show is still trying to explore what home means to certain people,” he has said, “but it’s important to be there, even if it’s not the most economically advantageous place to be.”

Even in the diminished town of Canso, for example, we see the resilience in small-town Canada. Displaying great pride, people do their best to stay in the town that is home to them.

Meanwhile viewers get to do some vicarious travel via television.

Yet, as Jonny says, each town is so different from the one the week before — “every town really has its own story to tell,” he says.

I watched the segment on Lytton, B.C. and plan to catch Hope, B.C. from this season. Both were devastated by major flooding last summer, so Still Standing documents their history.

During its most recent season, Still Standing featured towns in eight provinces and territories, ranging from Lillooet, B.C. to Botwood, N.L.

During each episode, Harris interviews residents about the history and culture of the town and learns about how the community has overcome challenges. Harris caps off his visit with a live comedy show, incorporating inside jokes about the town into his set.

It’s good to laugh and Jonny gets folks doubled over, laughing in the aisles practically.

He may be delving into small rural towns that have seen better days but, as the title hints, they are definitely still standing.

An experienced actor and one of the co-stars of the Canadian show Murdoch Mysteries, he might be based in Toronto, but Jonny has never forgotten where he came from.

And one of these seasons, he’ll have to take the crew to visit Pouch Cove.

Former Advertiser and Journal reporter Wendy Elliott lives in Wolfville.