# McQueen (TV series)

McQueen was a Canadian drama television series which aired on CBC Television from 1969 to 1970.

## Premise

The plot features newspaper columnist McQueen (Ted Follows) whose The Actioneer feature exposed fraud artists and dubious businesses. He was assisted by Denise (Daphne Gibson) and Natasha (Jan Goldin).
The pilot episode, "There's a Car Upside-Down on My Lawn", concerned the disposition of an abandoned vehicle. The episode won two Canadian Film Awards in 1969, for Best Director (Francis Chapman) and Best Actress in a Non-Feature (Josephine Barrington).
Jenny (Margot Kidder) was featured in two episodes as an employee of McQueen's newspaper. In one episode, she helped expose a scam at a talent agency while in the other she sought McQueen's help for a Vietnam draft evader she was dating.
The series was inspired by Frank Drea's Action Line column of the Toronto Telegram, whose newsroom was used to film scenes for the series.
Guest actors during the series included Ruth Springford, Austin Willis and Louis Zorich.

## Scheduling

McQueen was broadcast on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. (Eastern) from 23 September 1969 until 18 September 1970. The show was not well-received; by January, the newly installed head of CBC Entertainment was quoted in the Toronto Star as saying: "Everybody knows it's a failure now, but unfortunately we're stuck with it for the rest of the season."

### Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
| 1 | "You'll Never Be Lonely" | Unknown | Unknown | 23 September 1969 (1969-09-23) |
| McQueen rescues a victim from a social club with an outrageous contract, but discovers that some other members don't want to be rescued. |||||
| 2 | "Mr. Flim-Flam" | Unknown | Unknown | 30 September 1969 (1969-09-30) |
| McQueen confronts a discount vacuum salesman, whose $10 vacuums are worthless. |||||
| 3 | "Faith Healer" | Unknown | Unknown | 7 October 1969 (1969-10-07) |
| McQueen sets out to expose a faith healer as a confidence trickster, but the reality is more complex. |||||
| 4 | "How Could You Use A Poor Maiden So?" | Unknown | Unknown | 14 October 1969 (1969-10-14) |
| A North Bay motel owner asks McQueen to write about an expensive cigarette lighter left behind in a room -- which leads to a revelation of infidelity. |||||
| 5 | "All The World's A Stage" | Unknown | Unknown | 21 October 1969 (1969-10-21) |
| McQueen goes up against an acting agency that rakes in money from would-be actors, but doesn't deliver employment. |||||
| 6 | "The Elevator" | Unknown | Unknown | 28 October 1969 (1969-10-28) |
| McQueen fights on behalf of tenants who are facing an arbitrary and unreasonable building manager. |||||
| 7 | "Brotherly Love" | Unknown | Unknown | 4 November 1969 (1969-11-04) |
| McQueen and Denise try to outwit a couple of con artists raising money for a non-existent orphanage. |||||
| 8 | "There's A Car Upside-Down On My Lawn" | Unknown | Unknown | 11 November 1969 (1969-11-11) |
| McQueen struggles with one bureaucratic nightmare after another, as he tries to help a couple get rid of an abandoned car on their property. |||||
| 9 | "Home Is Where The Draft Ain't" | Unknown | Unknown | 18 November 1969 (1969-11-18) |
| A young woman in McQueen's office is in love with a draft dodger, working in Canada illegally. |||||
| 10 | "Vanity, Vanity" | Unknown | Unknown | 25 November 1969 (1969-11-25) |
| A would-be novelist gets suckered into investing his life savings into a vanity publishing scam. |||||
| 11 | "The Man With The Green Head" | Unknown | Unknown | 2 December 1969 (1969-12-02) |
| McQueen tries to get a refund for a man who fell for a phony hair restoration scheme. |||||
| 12 | "The Book" | Unknown | Unknown | 9 December 1969 (1969-12-09) |
| McQueen and Denise find a valuable rare book donated to a newspaper-sponsored book drive. |||||
| 13 | "T Is For Teacher" | Unknown | Unknown | 16 December 1969 (1969-12-16) |
| McQueen champions the reinstatement of a teacher fired for her political beliefs. |||||
| 14 | "When You Have Lived Too Long" | Unknown | Unknown | 23 December 1969 (1969-12-23) |
| McQueen tries to secure a job for a lonely 70-year-old. |||||
| 15 | "A Small Deposit" | Unknown | Unknown | 30 December 1969 (1969-12-30) |
| McQueen goes undercover to get a young woman her deposit back on some unwanted furniture. |||||
| 16 | "The Skirt" | Unknown | Unknown | 6 January 1970 (1970-01-06) |
| McQueen faces off against a teacher who has banned skirts and sideburns in his class. |||||
| 17 | "The Delightful Monster" | Unknown | Unknown | 13 January 1970 (1970-01-13) |
| A woman begs McQueen to help her get a passport, which the authorities have denied her. |||||
| 18 | "Walk, Don't Run" | Unknown | Unknown | 27 January 1970 (1970-01-27) |
| McQueen defends a young man mistakenly arrested for shoplifting. |||||
| 19 | "Jerry and Jan" | Unknown | Unknown | 3 February 1970 (1970-02-03) |
| McQueen is called on to intervene when a couple of Nova Scotia drifters stay with relatives for weeks, running up outrageous bills. |||||
| 20 | "Carnival" | Unknown | Unknown | 10 February 1970 (1970-02-10) |
| McQueen helps a woman get a refund on a cancelled flight to Jamaica, but discovers others may be in danger of getting ripped off. |||||
| 21 | "Five Hectic Hours" | Unknown | Unknown | 17 February 1970 (1970-02-17) |
| McQueen and Denise try to help a young couple get married. |||||
| 22 | "Bombs Don't Need A Fuse" | Unknown | Unknown | 24 February 1970 (1970-02-24) |
| McQueen goes after used-car dealers selling "bombs" -- cars they know to have serious, life-threatening defects. |||||
| 23 | "The Last Of The Medicine Man" | Unknown | Unknown | 10 March 1970 (1970-03-10) |
| McQueen and Denise go after an old-fashioned pitchman, selling worthless bric-a-brac at wildly inflated prices. |||||
| 24 | "Who Only Stand And Wait" | Unknown | Unknown | 17 March 1970 (1970-03-17) |
| McQueen becomes involved with two lonely people (an artist and a poet) who may be perfect for each other. |||||
| 25 | "Emma Doesn't Live Here Anymore" | Unknown | Unknown | 24 March 1970 (1970-03-24) |
| McQueen investigates the disappearance of an elderly woman from her home. With Cathleen Nesbitt. |||||
| 26 | "Rewrite Column Four" | Unknown | Unknown | 31 March 1970 (1970-03-31) |
| A friend on a rival newspaper is fired, and McQueen thinks it night be because the publisher is trying to cover up a scandal about an unsafe building. |||||