Some Tuesday TV news and notes:
This morning started with a visit with my pals Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson of Humble & Fred fame. Every two months I talk to the lads only to find out they are watching more TV than me. Howard is big on the new Jason Bateman series DTF St. Louis, a dark comedy about a deadly love triangle costarring David Harbour and Linda Cardelini. It premiered March 1 on HBO/Crave. Fred’s pick is Riot Women, a BBC One drama created by and starring Sally Wainwright. It’s about five menopausal women who let out their frustrations as a makeshift punk rock band. Looks like I have my next two viewing assignments.
Tonight, CBC will air the 700th episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. On this week’s brioux.tv podcast I speak with two of the main five cast members, Stacey McGunnigle and Chris Wilson. They do a lot of the celebrity impersonations: Chris does Pierre Poilievre, Justin Trudeau, Galen Weston; Stacey does Pam Bondi, Karoline Leavitt and Katy Perry. Ratings are up this year on CBC and the sketch series has been scoring with shorter YouTube videos, especially of Mark Critch as Trump. Critch went to Greenland as Trump a month ago and his impression of the Bored of Peace chair gave the local townspeople chills.
Seven hundred episodes is a lot of Canadian television. I don’t think Wayne & Shuster did that many; while they were headlining over four decades, their shows were always either monthly or four specials a year. Air Farce did about half that, 320, but also logged 25 years of radio shows. Red Green did 300. SCTV 135, Kids in the Hall 109. Baroness Von Sketch Show 46. Monty Python 45.
SNL leads all sketch shows with almost 1000 episodes (991). Other random numbers: The Simpsons just passed the 800 mark. Beachcombers 387. MAD TV 329. Your Show of Shows from the ‘50s 160 — and Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca did that in just four seasons!
GO TO THE STREAMING WINDOW: As discussed on Humble & Fred this morning, check out Paul McCartney: Man on the Run. Director Morgan Neville gets it started with some fun and fast visuals, ripping thru the history of the Beatles in about 3 minutes. I could have used more outside voices, Ringo? Elton John? Julian Lennon? Mick is heard once or twice as is Chrissy Hynde. Howard liked that this wasn’t the usual parade of talking heads. There are some Wings stories that surprise, including that trip to Africa to record Band on the Run. Those rumours about Paul being dead nearly came true. Still, I think I’d be more interested in a doc about his Third Act, the mature McCartney, still writing songs that speak to us as we age along with him.
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ALSO WATCHING: Shrinking (AppleTV). While this ensemble comedy which revolves around a Pasadena psychiatry boutique tends to veer into too many white people problems, Season Three is the best one yet for me. Crotchety senior partner Harrison Ford is convincing and moving as someone dealing with Parkinson’s. Relaxed and delightful Ted McGinley has finally found a part to put all those nasty “show killer” comments to rest. Fun seeing the occasional cameo from Michael J. Fox as well.
On Thursday, Dragon’s Den is winding down its 20th season on CBC. Returning ex-champs include my recent podcast guests Tara Bosch and Jay Klein. Both started with zilch and created multi-million dollar businesses by coming up with tempting sugar substitutes.
Recent retro viewing: “After Hours,” the 1985 Scorsese film which briefly features Catherine O’Hara. Besides her brilliance (even in a minor role), this slight slice of Scorsese made me nostalgic for dirty old New York, so run down and dangerous in the mid-’80s.
Finally, here is a TV bargain: Hollywood Suite — one of our sponsors here at brioux.tv — is free all this month. These free preview dealios don’t come around that often, so if you are tired of paying for too many streaming subscriptions and finding nothing on, check out this Suite deal. You’ll find hundreds of movies available uncut and on demand.
