Tommy Hunter was on TV so long he has friends he doesn't even know.

"I get a lot of people who walk up to me and say, 'Good to see you again,' and I ask where we've met and they say, 'We've never met, but I used to watch you on TV,' and they know everything about me," Hunter says. "It's nice to have that feeling."

Hunter was a part of the country's prime-time TV landscape for 36 years, first as host of Country Hoe-down in 1965, before getting his own show nine years later. The Tommy Hunter Show ran on CBC for 27 years, drawing more than a million viewers each week.

This month Canada's Country Gentleman will return to the same studio his show was shot in for an hour-long special as part of CBC's 50th-anniversary celebrations. The show will air in March.

He was initially reluctant to do the special, but agreed after CBC management allowed his original production team to work together again, including people who no longer work at the station.

"I wouldn't have done it in a million years," he says adamantly. "I didn't want to work with a new crew."

Hunter, 65, is proud of his initial run, which allowed him to work with heroes such as Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, George Jones, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. He was also responsible for introducing up-and-coming artists such as Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson and Shania Twain, who all received their first major exposure on his show.

"They had the talent and they deserved it, we just opened up one of many doors for them," Hunter says modestly.

Hunter and his band, the Travelin' Men, still tour regularly on their Still Making Memories Tour, which recreates the intimate atmosphere of The Tommy Hunter Show with stories and songs.

"The stuff I do, if you're going to bring back memories, you have to bring back material that I did on the show. People still want to hear certain songs I'm associated with."

Hunter's crowds are usually a mixture of older adults who were fans of the show, and younger adults who watched the show whether they wanted to or not, Hunter laughs.

"There will come a day when I will hang it up. I won't push it until I'm 90 and get on stage and embarrass myself, but as long as I can do it and people keep coming out and liking it I see no reason to stop," he says.