Proof that Saturday Night Live is still appointment television in Canada came this past weekend. In much of the country, the 52nd season premiere of the series — and first ever on Bell/CTV — was bumped 16 minutes by a college football game overrun in the US. Hard to say if that will tackle CTV’s
As a TV beat reporter with an eye on the ratings, I never could understand why the Global television network walked away from their top-rated Canadian original hit Private Eyes in 2021. This breezy, stylish detective series, reminiscent of past romantic hits such as Hart to Hart, was vaulting well over the million mark in
Shocking revelation time: I was once a contestant on Big Brother Canada. Granted, it was a PR stunt where members of the press were gathered in the Big Brother house, so not for days and days although it seemed like it for the seven-and-a-half hours it took to kick me out. One of the other
Back in the ‘70s there was this hippie musical Godspell that ran for over a year in Toronto. The cast was mainly unknown at the time but wouldn’t stay that way for long. Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber, Jayne Eastwood, Rudy Webb, and future Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer
Sad to hear of the untimely death of the Toronto’s Sun’s iron man of editorial art, Andy Donato. The man spent a lifetime drawing cartoons. I met Andy many years before I worked as the Sun’s television columnist from 1999 to 2007. Back when I was a student at the University of Toronto I used
I don’t think CTV News Channel anchor Marcia MacMillan was ready for my assessment of Emmy presenters Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey when we spoke Tuesday morning about the 78th Annual Emmy Awards. Hey, I call them the way I see them, and I can’t wait to see them both when Brothers premieres next Wednesday
We like her. We really like her. That would be Sally Field, who took her Emmy-winning moment Monday night at the 78th Annual Emmy Awards to single out the country where her series was shot. “It’s Canada, blessed Canada, our neighbours, our friends.” Field picked up her fourth career Emmy for her role as lead
Sad to hear of the untimely death of the Toronto’s Sun’s iron man of editorial art, Andy Donato. The man spent a lifetime drawing cartoons. I met Andy many years before I worked as the Sun’s television columnist from 1999 to 2007. Back when I was a student at the University of Toronto I used
The last person I thought I’d run into at a festival of early “talkie” films in upstate New York was George Chuvalo. This was an annual event which ran for 35 years in Syracuse, N.Y., and showcased films – sometimes with live music accompaniment – projected on 16mm film. The guy who founded the festival,
Gloria Steinem was always more of a feminist icon than a TV personality. Still, her appearance at a memorable Television Critics Association press tour gathering in July of 2011 packed a Beverly Hilton ballroom. The social movement advocate, who passed away Sept. 2 at 92, was at TCA to promote Gloria: In Her Own Words,
Dolly Parton was such a welcome part of all of our lifetimes, no matter how old or young you are, that the announcement of her passing Tuesday at 80 feels like a death in the family. I will never forget meeting her in person at a well-known Los Angeles restaurant. Yamashiro Hollywood, located in the
Maybe AI can be an instrument of good if only it will become how children are portrayed in the future on TV or in movies. While no official cause has been announced, news Monday of the death of Hayden Panettiere within days of her 37th birthday seems linked to her constant life before cameras. While
Here is the news on Lloyd Robertson — he was a class act all the way. The veteran news anchor had a ring side seat to history, covering everything from Expo ’67 to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games. He brought Canadian news viewers the moon landings, the Quebec referendums, and countless reports on dozens
