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On this very day, four busloads of fans from Iowa are pulling up in front of the CBC studios in downtown Toronto to meet their hero, Red Green.
The 185 Americans are in town to attend a special taping of The New Red Green Show, which returns Oct. 13 on CBC. During the episode, Green will twin Possum Lodge with the entire state of Iowa. The question is: Why?
"It's the corn capitol," explains Steve Smith, the man behind Red's beard.
Besides a fondness for vegetables, Smith has no idea why his goofy Canadian comedy is so embraced south of the border, where it airs on PBS. "The show is especially popular in Iowa, where we regularly win our timeslot," says Smith. "A quarter of our PBS pledge money comes from that state."
The funny thing is, the Iowa PBS programmer who originally bought Red Green shelved it for a year. As soon as it hit the air, it was a hit.
Now Green is a PBS staple, along with such political yucksters as Mark Russell. "I always say that he makes dumb jokes about smart things and we do just the opposite," says Smith.
The busload of tourists is expected to arrive wearing T-shirts proclaiming, "I survived the trip to Possum Lodge." Five of the Iowa faithful will be dressed up in full lodge gear and written into the show.
Meanwhile, Smith has his stick on the ice for his first Red Green feature, Duct Tape Fever. Production will begin next May.
"We're going to finance the movie through a PBS fundraiser in March," says Smith. "We're telling people that we just need the last 95% of the financing."
Smith can also be seen tonight on A Celebration Of Television: The Banff Rockie Awards 2000, 10 p.m. on CBC. The industry back-slapper is hosted by fellow Green guy Gordon Pinsent and honorary Possum Cynthia Dale.