J.R. Diggs just won’t give up. The mop-haired dude from Hamilton, Ont., has been aching to be Canada’s next great late night talk show host since he started making TV shows for nickles and dimes around 10 years ago. Of late, on Man with a Van (late Saturday nights around 2 a.m. on Global), he’s been using his 1991 Ford Econoline van as his studio/production centre.
Gotta hand it to the guy for perseverance. He parlayed a Gemini nomination into a whole lotta ink through direct appeals to guys like me who write about television. John Doyle, Bill Harris and others jumped on the chance to find a human interest angle they could live with at the Geminis. (Diggs lost to Strombo last week, which made sense even to Diggs).
Me, I kinda see Diggs as a modern day Don Quixote, tilting at the windmills dotting the Canadian television landscape. Part of me wants him to stand down from this quest, part of me wants to be his Pancho Vila.
Here’s my profile of Diggs which appeared in shorter form in Sunday’s Toronto Star. Toronto.com has the book length version.
