Edmonton TV station Global turned 50 this month. That news may not mean much to anyone outside of Global Edmonton’s reach – and considering the sad state of local TV, it might not mean that much in Edmonton either – but without Global Edmonton the classic sketch comedy series SCTV wouldn’t exist. CITV, later shortened
Cue the Sun!: The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum (Random House). In the introduction to Cue the Sun!, Pulitzer Prize-winning television critic Emily Nussbaum reveals that in 2003 she told a friend that she wanted to write a book about this new genre called ‘reality TV’. After all, Survivor was a smash hit.
You might say Japan is having a pop culture moment. From the multi-Emmy award-nominated drama Shogun (all episodes available on Disney+) to a steady stream of utterly bizarre Japanese contestants on America’s Got Talent, Japan is everywhere this year. If you’ve got a hankering for a little TV sushi, I have some other suggestions from
The tributes to Bob Newhart last week were universal in tone. A great comic, great sitcom star, great guy. If there was anyone who had a bad word to say about Newhart, I didn’t hear it or read it. The passing of Newhart brought back memories for those of us lucky enough to remember his
One day, the date I cannot remember, I was scanning my cable TV listings when I came upon an unfamiliar station. It was called Turner Classic Movies, and it played nothing but movies, movies and more movies. And, blessedly, they were commercial-free. Well, I thought I had died and gone to movie heaven. I’ve added
Before there was Netflix, or Apple TV+, or Amazon or any of the myriad of streaming services, there was only one place to go for ‘prestige’ TV, and that was HBO. HBO changed television forever with the debut of The Sopranos 25 years ago. Since then, HBO has produced a raft of the best TV
OK, so I have Netflix, Crave, Disney (for a month, anyway) , Amazon Prime and CBC Gem. Why can’t I find a series I want to watch? I tried True Detective on Crave, but it seemed more like sci-fi than detective. I got a few episodes into Fool Me Once on Netflix, but gave up
The Christmas/holiday season is upon us. Once the shopping is done, the kids have been put to bed and/or the out-of-town relatives have gone home, it’s a good time to put up your feet, decompress, and watch some TV. But where to turn? What to watch? If I may, a few humble suggestions about TV