Man Alive was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 television series about faith and spirituality

Spirituality

Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

. It took its name from a poem by St. Irenaeus

Irenaeus

Saint Irenaeus , was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire . He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology...

, a 2nd-century Bishop of Lyon

Lyon

Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

 who wrote: The glory of God is a man truly alive.

The program, debuted in 1967 on CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

, hosted by Roy Bonisteel

Roy Bonisteel

Roy Bonisteel, CM is a Canadian journalist and the former host of the CBC Television program Man Alive....

. Bonisteel retired in 1989, and was replaced by Peter Downie. Arthur Kent

Arthur Kent

Arthur Kent is a Canadian television journalist. He rose to international prominence during the 1991 Persian Gulf War during which he acquired the nickname "The Scud Stud"...

 replaced Downie for one season. R. H. Thomson

R. H. Thomson

Robert Holmes "R. H." Thomson, is a Canadian television, film and stage actor.Thomson was born in Richmond Hill, Ontario. He studied at the University of Toronto, and the National Theatre School. His own play The Lost Boys was staged at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in March 2000 and at...

 hosted until the show was canceled.

Man Alive took a diverse non-denominational approach to religious and spiritual matters. The program covered a wide range of topics: nuclear war

Nuclear warfare

Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...

, UFOs, Holocaust survivors, sexual abuse

Sexual abuse

Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...

, Third World

Third World

The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...

 development, family relationships, people with disabilities

Disability

A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...

, the Vatican Bank

Vatican Bank

The Institute for Works of Religion , commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a privately held institute located inside Vatican City run by a professional bank CEO who reports directly to a committee of cardinals, and ultimately to the Pope...

 scandal and profiles of religious figures such as Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...

, Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu

Desmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...

 and the Dalai Lama.

After several seasons of co-productions with Vision TV

Vision TV

VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic....

 and the Life Network, the last episode aired on CBC Television 17 December 2000.

External links

• Museum of Broadcast Communications: Man Alive Man Alive segment; last updated 7 April 2005.
• CBC Digital Archives – Man Alive