Here is the naked truth about Sunday night’s 96th Annual Academy Awards: ratings were up. Bell Media credited native son Ryan Gosling’s “big Canadian Kenergy” for boosting CTV’s coverage of the Oscars to an average audience of 3.5 million viewers. That makes it the most-watched English entertainment broadcast of the year according to Numeris, with

Kudos to Jimmy Kimmel, who, in his fourth turn as Oscar host, brought the show in on time and — just before it ended — managed to roast one of his harshest critics. Kimmel was smooth and confident throughout, keeping things fun as well as moving. Suggesting the show was running short towards the end,

Maureen Donaldson would tell such outrageous stories you’d swear she was making it all up. Who packs all this into one life: a May-September affair with Cary Grant? A parrot that once belonged to Muhammad Ali? A first job with The Beatles? Word came via a Facebook posting this week from mutual friend Ray Bennett

In 1982, I was invited to a private dinner with Norman Jewison. Memories of that encounter flooded back on the news this week that the dean of Canadian film directors had passed away Saturday at 97. Forty-two years ago, he had accepted an invitation to be a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto. The

The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour had a profound effect on this 10 to 12-year-old. You watched TV as a family back then, in front of the one screen in the house, in our case, a 25-inch Clairtone. “From Television City in Hollywood,” said announcer Roger Carroll. “Ladies and gentlemen, The Smothers Brothers.” Shot from above,

Andre Braugher’s performance as Detective Frank Pembleton on David Simon’s critically acclaimed police drama Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-1999) was nuanced and electric. It was almost shocking, therefore, to see him bring such sharp comedy chops 14 years later to Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013-2021). Braugher’s impressive range as an actor was absolutely akin to what

Some of the people who make the TV we love pass away so soon we can’t believe it. Then there are those legends who live so long, we’re surprised that they pass away at all. Norman Lear died Tuesday, Dec. 5 in Los Angeles at 101. His face, under that trademark floppy off-white hat, would