Bill Vigars has stories to burn. Like the time, when he was a lad delivering newspapers back in St. Thomas, Ont.,, when he stopped to set a school on fire. It somehow led to him running halfway across Canada with Terry Fox. Or the time he pulled a fake gun on real-life “French Connection” cop
My friend Alan Pergament of the Buffalo News tweeted that, “You have to love The Beatles as much as John loved Yoko to watch all 8 hours of ‘Get Back’ in one day.” As usual, Alan is not wrong. I love The Beatles and even I had to watch Peter Jackson’s epic repackaging of “Let
As the man himself would have said, it’s “marvelous” to be in the Saturday Toronto Star today with a full-page story on Elwy Yost. Find the feature on page C4 of the Culture/Entertainment section or here on-line for subscribers at theStar.ca. Between 1974 and 1999 Yost was the pipe smoking, mustachioed host of “Saturday Night
There will be many who watch Peter Jackson’s The Beatles Get Back, currently rolling out over three consecutive days on Disney+, who will say six hours is not enough. Having watched the second two-hour installment, as John Lennon says on “Revolution,” count me “in — out.” It begins with such drama. George Harrison has walked
Who wouldn’t want to spend six hours with The Beatles? Even if it is in January of 1969? Watching director Peter Jackson’s documentary “The Beatles Get Back” is a trip, especially if, like me, you’re old enough to have lined up on Yonge Street at 8 am on a weekend morning to climb the stairs
Believe it or not, The Munsters once rode in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A photo of Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis, in full makeup as Herman and Grandpa Munster, caught my eye the other day when it was posted on Facebook. This Thursday morning, from 9 am to noon, NBC will present the 95th Annual
According to Numeris, the beautifully photographed, two-hour informercial for Adele’s new album “30” topped the Top-30 list of the most-watched shows in Canada for November 8-14. Adele One Night Only was the only TV show to top the two million total viewer mark that same week in Canada. Four of the Top-5 most-watched shows in
Believe it or not, The Munsters once rode in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A photo of Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis, in full makeup as Herman and Grandpa Munster, caught my eye the other day when it was posted on Facebook. This Thursday morning, from 9 am to noon, NBC will present the 95th Annual
Retired publicist pal Bill Vigars reached out from the West Coast this week. He let me know an actor who headlined a hit series in Canada back when I was starting out on the TV beat was in need. Scott Hylands was one of the stars of Night Heat (1985-89), a Gemini Award-winning CTV cop
You can draw a straight line from Mort Sahl to Dave Chappelle. Fearless, contentious, uncompromising and sometimes his own worst enemy. The Montreal native died Oct 26 at his home near San Francisco. He was 94. His rise in the mid- to late- ’50s was so pronounced it seems as if he should be older.
“We knew this was coming,” actor Michael McKean tweeted upon news of the passing of Peter Scolari. “Doesn’t make it easier. RIP my friend.” Scolari, a native of New Rochelle, N.Y., died Friday at 66 after a two year battle with cancer. The actor was best known for two roles: playing opposite Tom Hanks in
You’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do if you’re not celebrating 70 years of I Love Lucy. Television’s most enduring comedy began on Oct. 15, 1951. With the help of showrunner Jess Openheimer, Lucille Ball, who bounced from RKO comedies to chorus girl roles in movies, turned a radio hit into a TV sensation. She did
Alan Kalter, best known as David Letterman’s CBS Late Show announcer for 20 years, died Oct. 4. He was 78. Kalter was born in New York, or as he used to call it at the top of each show, “the greatest city in the world.”. He took over from retiring announcer Bill Wendell as the