Episodes is one of those lost-in-the-clutter shows that seems tailor-made for TV critics. It takes all the excesses of network television and pampered celebrity indulgence and rolls it all up into a big, venal ball. The satire hits some pretty broad targets, but it hits them smack in the bulls-eye. I thought this series might… Read on

  Is this the summer when Peak TV finally peaks in Canada? There was only one scripted series in the Canada Top-10 the week of July 31 – Aug. 6: the final episode of Saving Hope at No. 9 with 1,130,000 total viewers according to Numeris. The entire national Top-10 went like this: The Amazing Race Canada… Read on

I was lucky enough to spend a few nights in Bangkok this May with the cast and crew of The Amazing Race Canada. The series — which topped the ratings across Canada the week of July 31 – Aug. 6 with 1,830,000 viewers —  resumes tonight at 8 p.m. on CTV. Me and my ex-Toronto… Read on

MONTREAL — There’s an expression here at Just for Laughs: “Jump-the-liners.” These are folks who — in the minds of many stand-up comedians who have put in their dues in comedy clubs from Saskatchewan to Van Nuys — have had their big comedy break handed to them on a silver platter. One veteran comic I… Read on

  MONTREAL — People come to the Just for Laughs comedy festival for the laughter and stay for the wisdom. Take Friday night’s all-star awards show, please. The event is held at a hotel built into the side of as mall, which seems about right as presenter Jimmy Carr pointed out. Several of today’s top comics… Read on

MONTREAL — “I truly am in an existential crisis. I don’t believe in the character I’m selling. I don’t believe I’m a person anymore.” That statement had a packed, Place des Arts audience leaning forward Thursday night towards the end of an extraordinary, 90-minute show panel at Just for Laughs. The speaker was Jim Carrey, barely… Read on

MONTREAL — Things got real Wednesday night at the 35th annual Just for Laughs Comedy Festival with a return engagement 20 years in the making — by Jerry Seinfeld. The stand-up specialist teamed with Gad Elmaleh, a Moroccan-born funnyman who has lived in both Montreal and Paris and brought a french flavour to the duo’s two-hour set. The… Read on

On Tuesday night, CTV viewers watched as teams from The Amazing Race Canada arrived at the Great Wall of China. So much goes into making something like that happen; just getting all the cameras and sound equipment through customs at the Beijing airport is a major operation. The nature of the race, however, means that… Read on