A true tastemaker and a real gentleman, legendary late night executive producer Peter Lassally died July 19 in Los Angeles. He was 93. Back in 2008, I had the great pleasure of interviewing Mr. Lassally as he was winding up his extraordinary career in late night with his final stint as executive producer of The
According to overnight estimates, the World Cup final drew an average minute audience of over 5.5 million Canadian viewers on Bell Media platforms TSN and CTV. Of the total, 1,672,000 were estimated to have watched on the main broadcast network CTV. The game, won by Spain 1-0 over Argentina, may have been a one-sided yawn
People ask me: which was your worst celebrity interview ever? I always reply without hesitation: Sam Neill. Born in Ireland and raised in New Zealand, the Golden Globe and Emmy nominated actor passed away July 13 at 78. He had shared on social media recently that tests showed he had licked a rare blood lymphoma.
In 2022 I had the good fortune to welcome Ronnie Schell as a guest on this podcast. Schell was a familiar face and voice on TV for decades, most prominently as Jim Nabors’ army pal on Gomer Pyle, USMC. He was also the voice of Hockey Night in Canada‘s animated mascot Peter Puck, did many Disney movies
When I was on “Humble” Howard Glassman and Fred Patterson’s Internet radio show this past week I picked up a good tip on a current comedy movie. This isn’t the first time this has happened. Every two months I guest as their go-to TV critic, and inevitably Howard has seen way more news shows than
Louise Lasser was a genuine original who burned bright in the 1970s. The star of the daily, syndicated, soap-comedy Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976 -77), she was probably the first major TV character to suffer a season-long nervous breakdown. Post Nixon, Watergate and Vietnam, she represented what many North Americans were feeling at what was,
Joby Baker might have had a bigger TV career if only he was better at memorizing his lines. The Montreal native, who passed away June 22 at 92, was raised in Hawaii before studying acting in New York. He had only one starring role on television. That was when he was paired with Ronnie Schell
In Part II of this two-part conversation, retired Globe and Mail TV columnist John Doyle returns to talk a little bit more about soccer but mostly about our shared fascination with television. The two of us tackle several of today’s biggest TV challenges. For example: are late night talk shows going the way of the