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20 Minute Workout

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20 Minute Workout
Created byRon Harris
Written byDavid Van Fleet[1]
Directed byRon Harris[1]
Presented byBess Motta
Arlaine Wright
Opening theme1983 byShiva[1]
1984 by Peter Jermyn and Gilles Ouellet
Ending theme1983 by Shiva
1984 by Peter Jermyn and Gilles Ouellet
Country of originCanada
United States
No.of seasons2
Production
Producers
Running time30 minutes
Production companiesOrion Entertainment Corporation
Nelvana
Chumcity
Original release
NetworkCity(Canada)
Syndication(US)
ReleaseJune 1983(1983-06)[1]
1985(1985)

20 Minute Workoutis a Canadian-producedaerobics-based television program that ran from 1983 to 1984, in which "a bevy of beautiful girls" demonstrated exercise[1]on a rotating platform.

Series background

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20 Minute Workoutwas created byRon Harrisin 1983, produced byTantra Entertainmentin association with the Canadian animation companyNelvana,and broadcast locally onCitytv.In the United States, it wassyndicatedbyOrion Television.Two seasons of the program were produced, although reruns continued to appear for many years afterwards. The first season featured a different instructor for each day of the week, Monday through Friday.Bess Motta,Arlaine Wright,Holly Butler,Nicole Nardini, and Anne Schumacher all had speaking roles. The second season featured only Bess and Arlaine as instructors. One selling point of the show was the young attractive women exercising in leotards. The exercise routines were demanding, high-impact aerobics, followed by astretchingsection. Pulsating music from synthesizers played in the background, although in the first season bass and electric guitar and saxophone were also used in the exercise music scores. For the first season, music was performed by the groupShiva,while the second season featured music by the trio Jermyn/King/Ouillet.

There are numerous websites hosted by fans that detail about the dancers, and include so-called screen-captures from the show. The:20 Minute Workoutis aspin-offfromAerobicise,a series of home videos that were first released in 1981, which had varying subtitles of "The Beginners Workout," "The Ultimate Workout," and "The Beautiful Workout."[citation needed]In 1982, a series of segments aired in the U.S. onShowtimeasunscheduled fillerin between features, and lasting no longer than five minutes. Both the videos and the filler featured a different cast, and unlike the show they later spawned, exercise instruction was either kept minimal, or not featured at all, and any that was present was given by an off-screennarrator.The narrator was Jami Allen, one of the show's producers.

"Aerobicise" is also the name of the original 1982 pilot episode of20 Minute Workout.

Scenes from the show are visible on televisions in some scenes of 1984'sFriday the 13th: The Final Chapter,Beat Street,Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Birdand the 1994Luc BessonfilmLeon: The Professional.

Cast

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First season

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Second season

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  • Michelle Brimacombe
  • Ella Collins
  • Sharon Hasfal
  • Alison Hope
  • Nerise Houghton
  • Bess Motta
  • Anne Schumacher
  • Arlaine Wright

References

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  1. ^abcdefghijklmnopqTerrace, Vincent (1986). Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials: 1974-1984. Verlag für die Deutsche Wirtschaft AG. p. 427.ISBN978-0-918432-61-2.Google Books.Retrieved 2009-03-01.
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