Don Cherry’s been catching plenty of heat for his “pinko” prank at Toronto City Hall earlier this week. Grapes walked in like he was that WikiLeaks guy at a United Nations security council meeting and let everybody have it, right in the nuts. That musta hurt when they all rode their bikes home up Jarvis after the meeting.
Hey, all I know is, nobody watched the Brampton mayor and her co-conspirators being sworn in on TV this week. Nobody ever watched the Toronto deal before. Cherry is a lightening rod for Canadians and can fill a room faster than anybody else on TV in this country–period.
Does he have an ego the size of one of his Lincoln Mark VIs? Probably, although Grapes is always humble and shy whenever I encounter him. We spoke more about WWII and my recent trip to Hungary than hockey when I interviewed he and Ron MacLean at the CBC Winter launch last month.
The CBC elite may find Grapes a little too Tim Hortons for their Starbucks schedule but when they need to sell something, who do they call? It’s no accident that they’re not shooting the “At Issue” panel, or Being Erica, in 3D this weekend. No, it’s Cherry and Hockey Night in Canada, still the most effective weekly sales tool in Canadian television.
A clip of “Coach’s Corner” in 3D was shown at the CBC launch. Neither Grapes or MacLean thought much of it, saying the effect worked way better on the ice then in the studio. The desk bit featured a much wider set; “I liked that there was a lot of extra head room–for Don,” cracked MacLean.
I’m told even if you have one of the new sets and the special glasses you won’t see the 3D effect this Saturday during the “Coach’s Corner” segment. Just as well, Cherry’s crazy checkered suit jackets could cause dizziness, nausea and even vomiting in 3D–just like they do every week.
Not many of us have 3D sets but Panasonic–which loaned HNiC the six special cameras for Saturday’s Leafs/Habs tilt–probably hope they’ll sell a few this Christmas. A second 3D CBC hockey game, the annual outdoor Heritage Classic, will air Feb. 20.
For more on Cherry in 3D, check out the feature I wrote this week for The Canadian Press.
