Seeing Things (TV series)
A journalist solves murders using postcognitive visions.
**Seeing Things** is a Canadian television series that blends comedy, drama, and mystery with a supernatural element. The show centers on a journalist who experiences postcognitive visions, which he uses to crack each episode's case. It aired on CBC Television from 1981 to 1987 and reached audiences in Europe, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Australia, and the United States. A total of 43 episodes were produced, all one hour long except for the 90-minute episode "Seeing R.E.D."
The series was co-created by Louis Del Grande, who also starred as the lead. Del Grande—previously an actor, writer, and co-producer on *The King of Kensington*—wrote the first three episodes alongside David Barlow. The pair then supervised the writing staff and produced all 43 episodes.
**Cast and Premise** Louis Del Grande plays Louis Ciccone, a balding, overweight, fast-talking journalist in his forties who works for the *Toronto Gazette*. Though generally friendly, Louis is often pushy, self-centered, and disorganized in his pursuit of stories. He is also tenacious and dedicated, and his limited postcognitive ability helps him solve murders and land headline scoops. He can only control these visions by investigating clues they reveal; each new discovery triggers further visions that grow more detailed until the killer is identified. At the series' start, Louis’s personal life is shaky: he is separated from his wife and living in a storeroom above his parents' bakery. Despite his career focus, he is equally determined to reconcile with his semi-estranged wife and stay involved in his pre-teen son’s life.
Martha Gibson—Del Grande’s real-life wife—plays Marge, Louis’s ex-wife. Though separated, she reluctantly helps him with cases, even driving him around (Louis, like Del Grande, was too hyper to get a driver’s license). Marge initially rejects Louis’s attempts to rekindle their relationship. She still loves him but grows frustrated with his job’s unpredictable schedule and the long stretches it takes him away from family. They finally reunite as a couple in the final season. Del Grande and Gibson were married, divorced, and then remarried just before the series began.
Janet-Laine Green portrays Heather Redfern, an assistant crown attorney from an upper-class background. She is one of the few people aware of Louis’s visions, which often relate to her cases.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Mystery Comedy Fantasy Drama
- Creator
- David Barlow / Louis Del Grande
- Writer
- David Barlow, Louis Del Grande, Anna Sandor & Bill Gough, Sheldon Chad, Bill Hartley & Bill Lynn, Larry Gaynor, David Cole, Jerome McCann
- Director
- George McCowan
- Starring
- Louis Del Grande / Janet-Laine Green / Martha Gibson
- Composer
- Philip Schreibman
- Country
- Canada
- Language
- English
- Num Seasons
- 6
- Num Episodes
- 43
- Executive Producer
- Robert Allen
- Editor
- Vincent Kent
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Series star Louis Del Grande (formerly an actor, writer, and co-producer of the hit sitcom *The King of Kensington*) was also the show's co-creator, with writer David Barlow. Del Grande and Barlow wrote the first three episodes, and thereafter oversaw the writing staff and produced all 43 episodes. Louis Del Grande stars as Louis Ciccone, a balding, overweight 40-ish newspaper journalist for the *Toronto Gazette*. Although the manic, motormouthed Louis is generally friendly, in pursuing his stories he's often pushy and self-centered, and is usually somewhat disorganized. However, Lou is tenacious and dedicated, and he also has limited postcognitive abilities, which help him to solve murders (and get the resultant headline scoops). Louis can only control his postcognitive abilities by investigating clues given to him in a vision ...
Reader's Guide
Seeing Things is significant as a Canadian television series that blended comedy, drama, and mystery with a fantasy element—postcognitive visions—which was unusual for its time. It aired on CBC Television from 1981 to 1987, and was also seen in Europe, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Australia and the United States. The show won several awards. In 1983, Del Grande won an ACTRA Award for Best Actor in a Television Drama, and Sheldon Chad won an ACTRA award for Best Writer Television Drama for the episode "Seeing Double". In Canada, it aired on CBC, typically drawing 1.1 million viewers. In the United States, it was broadcast by PBS. At the time it first aired, it was the "most successful home-grown program in Canada." The series guest-starred several celebrities, such as Ronnie Hawkins, Bruno Gerussi, Gordon Pinsent and Karen Kain. Another notable appearance is by Mark McKinney of The Kids in the Hall, who played a character working in a morgue in the episode "Another Point of View." The show's legacy lies in its unique premise and its success as a homegrown Canadian production that found international audiences.
Did You Know?
- Louis Del Grande, the star, was also the show's co-creator and co-writer of the first three episodes.
- Martha Gibson, who played Marge, was Del Grande's real-life wife; they had re-wed just before the series started.
- The final episode aired on a Friday, five weeks after the rest of the series.
- The show was the 'most successful home-grown program in Canada' at the time it first aired.
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