Meet Derek

Derek  has spent a lifetime turning ordinary moments into stories that sparkle. Long
before *Codgers Television* was born, he was a young folk-rocker in 1960s New York —
singing lead, playing guitar and five-string banjo, and soaking in the city’s electric mix of
music and rebellion. Those years shaped everything that came after: the rhythm, the
curiosity, and the belief that a good story is always worth telling.

By the 1970s, Derek had traded smoky clubs for bright studios, founding his first
production company and launching a television career that would span more than three
decades. He went on to produce nearly 700 network programs, including two long-running
Canadian classics — *Celebrity Cooks* with Bruno Gerussi and *Do It For Yourself* with
Mary Bellows. Both series celebrated everyday people doing extraordinary things, a theme
that has defined his work ever since.

Now in his eighties, Derek hasn’t slowed down — not in spirit, not in humor, and certainly
not in song. With *Codgers Television*, he and his partner Maggie have built something
entirely their own: a heartfelt, mischievous, and deeply human series that finds beauty in
the later chapters of life. Derek’s ukulele, now his signature instrument, strums through the
show’s original music — from anthems like “Codgers Arise” to the tender “Last Hurrah
Waltz.” Backed by his band *The Grumpy Old Men*, Derek reminds us that music and
laughter still matter, perhaps now more than ever.

A producer, performer, and lifelong storyteller, Derek Smith continues to craft work that’s
funny, hopeful, and grounded in truth. His rallying cry, “Codgers Unite,” isn’t just a slogan —
it’s a philosophy, and one he lives every day.