“Amanda is Boston Rob in a girl’s body!” Russell declares at one point in Thursdays’ quietly intriguing hour. This, in his mind, was why she had to go. She’s too popular (had never been eliminated in two previous games), is plucky in challenges plus—unlike Rob–smoking hot in a bikini. She was even good natured and… Read on

The curse of being in this business this long is that you keep tripping over the same territory. Take Canwest’s announcement Wednesday that they are digging up the Kennedys for yet another made-in-Canada miniseries.This new, eight-hour American Camelot rehash will get plenty of tabloid press with Tom Cruise’s captive wife Katie Holmes cast as Jackie… Read on

This week, Scott claims he’s living in Happy Town. That’s the spooky new “Twin Peaks”-like series premiering tonight on ABC and /A. Actually, Happy Town was shot on the other side of Toronto, Port Hope, Ontario. Scott lives in Steel Town, which might also made for a good TV series.We also talk about today’s announcement… Read on

People ask me: which celebrity was your worst interview ever? I always reply without hesitation: Sam Neill.The New Zealand-born actor (right) is part of the large ensemble cast starring in ABC’s spooky new drama Happy Town, premiering tonight at 10 p.m. on ABC and /A.Way, way back in the ’80s when I had just started… Read on

Last week, The CRTC published their annual channel-by-channel financial summaries for the various pay-TV, pay-per-view, video-on-demand and specialty services. Remember all that boo-hooing from the broadcast suits about how 2009 was the worst year ever and that the recession was crippling the Canadian TV industry? Well, if there is a broken business model in Canadian… Read on

As my eagle-eyed daughter pointed out the other day, the current issue of Rolling Stone–with various members of the Glee cast on the cover–bears a strong resemblance to a 70-year-old poster hanging in our family room. While there is no panties peek (as provided left, centre, by cheeky Lea Michele), the original poster, promoting the… Read on

Like Betamax machines and UHF receivers, community programming seems like something out of the ’80s. Maybe it just looks that way to me because I was involved in that game over 25 years ago as a volunteer producer for long defunct MacLean-Hunter Cable TV in Etobicoke.You mean you never heard of Bullock & Brioux and… Read on

As previously noted here at TVFMF, Canadian specialty channels continue to stray ever farther from their original mandates. Parking Wars Marathon on TVTropolis? Garage Gurus Week on Discovery? Lordy.Meanwhile, down in Hollywood, Turner Classic Movies continues to show specialty channels on both sides of the border how to stick to your brand and delight your… Read on