ADVENTURES IN RAINBOW COUNTRY (1970-1971) – This forgotten Canadian series starred LOIS MAXWELL herself as Nancy Williams, a widowed single mother raising her teenage son and daughter in a home on Lake Huron in the late 1960s.
Stephen Cottier starred as Nancy’s son Billy while Susan Conway played her daughter Hannah. Billy and his Ojibway friend Pete Gawa (Buckley Petawabano) had various adventures and misadventures which were at the heart of most episodes.
Twenty-six half-hour episodes were produced. The series was among Canada’s highest rated but unfortunately the production company disbanded before additional episodes could be ordered. It has lived on in reruns ever since then.
STANDOUT EPISODES:
LA CHUTE – Billy and Pete scout out campsites and portages for a canoe expedition recreating the journey of explorer Etienne Brule. The priest (Gordon Pinsent) leading the group of youngsters in the undertaking decides to suicidally risk rapids.
THE FRANK WILLIAMS FILE – A law enforcement official (Donald Harron of Hee Haw fame) tells Nancy, Billy and Hannah that their father/ husband may still be alive. Billy and Pete lead the man to the isolated location where Billy’s father used to have a cabin, only for Nancy to learn the alleged lawman is an imposter.
THE KID FROM SPANISH HARLEM – A troubled delinquent (Gilbert Geigler) slips away from the youth group showing inner city children Canada’s great outdoors. He steals a motorboat and tries robbing Billy and Pete. A fight breaks out, stranding the boys in a cave-in at an abandoned mine. “Lassie, go for help!” Oh, wrong show.
PANIC IN THE BUSH – Billy and Pete go on a canoe trip but get separated when taking in the forest. Pete helps a search team find the lost Billy.
LONG, TOUGH RACE – Nancy Williams is entertaining John Onoman (Duke Redbird) and Dr. Janet Rhodes (Margot Kidder). John and Dr. Rhodes clash over the best medical treatment for John’s disease-stricken daughter.
THE TOWN THAT DIED – One of Nancy’s friends, Roger (Albert Millaire) works with Billy to try to make a documentary about Bourke’s Creek, which became a ghost town after the mine closed. The locals try to drive Billy and Roger away, prompting the pair to dig deeper to see what they are covering up.
THE RETURN OF ELI ROCQUE – Another mystery surrounding the disappearance of Nancy’s husband and her children’s father. When Pete spots Eli Rocque, the guide who disappeared with Billy’s father years earlier, Nancy, Billy, Pete and others set out for Whitefish Falls to get to the bottom of things.
LAC DU DIABLE – Billy, Pete and Roger try to dispel the superstitions surrounding the remote “Lake of the Devil” but get caught up in quasi-supernatural events when they become stranded there. Roger disappears after diving into the lake.
WALL OF SILENCE – When a military jet crashes in Lake Huron, Nancy and Hannah rescue the pilot. Billy and Pete come across a mysterious box which seems to contain something which caused the government to declare the entire area off-limits. David Hemmings guest stars.
THE BIRD WATCHERS – Billy and Pete and their band are performing on the opening night of a new discotheque (LMAO). They both fall for the same young lady but find a brusque, pushy man from Montreal also vying for her affections.
MYSTERY AT WHALEBACK BAY – Billy and Pete find what turns out to be the robbery proceeds of a pair of jewel thieves. The men dumped the bag over the lake and have now shown up posing as vacationing divers to try locating their plunder.
DREAMERS ROCK – Nancy, Billy and Pete learn that a mining company is planning to strip-mine a nearby peak where Ojibway youths spend time to get their initiatory visions as a rite of passage into adulthood. Final episode.
FOR MORE FORGOTTEN TELEVISION CLICK HERE.
Balladeer's Blog 
🧡
Thanks!