Prediction: the Oscar ratings will be down this year. Based on what? I was asked to blather about the 87th annual awards show on a couple of radio shows this week. Both times the hosts and I got sidetracked and ran out of time before getting to the Oscars. That never happens. Much as I liked “Birdman,”
If both Sheldon and Leonard left The Big Bang Theory would you still watch? Consider then how Two and a Half Men continued to be a giant profit centre for Warner Bros. Television and CBS after shedding both Charlie Sheen and Angus T. Jones. Whatever you think of the merits of the series–and most critics
I was snowed under with print deadlines yesterday so a day late with this but still wanted to draw attention to a fine show: X Company. It premiered Wednesday night sat 9 p.m. on CBC. The World War II spy drama hails from Flashpoint showrunners Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern. They’ve kept this idea simmering
There was a lot of disappointment Sunday night, on Twitter at least, in Eddie Murphy’s return to Saturday Night Live. He was lionized by Chris Rock, walked out the door and down the steps past the band, and basically took a bow. It was anticlimactic, like when Dave Keon finally returned to Maple Leaf Gardens.
There was a time when all you had to do was cup your ear and, before you even spoke, everybody knew you were doing a Gary Owens impression. The man with that unmistakable announcer’s voice died Friday at 80. Owens was already a seasoned radio hand when he became a TV star—along with Goldie Hawn,
“If you disagree with us, ignore us.” That’s what Ezra Levant told Canadians minutes into his first broadcast on Sun News Network. Who knew he had that much power and influence? The Little Station that Couldn’t rose from obscurity and is now headed for oblivion. It peters out a few days after Brian Williams implodes
This week, CHML’s Scott Thompson wondered if it was wrong to compare Better Call Saul to Breaking Bad. He describes those first few episodes of Breaking Bad as “a sack of angry cats.” I think that means he feels it was the cat’s meow right from the start. Better Call Saul (Mondays at 10 p.m. on
Politicians were called on the (red) carpet last week in Ottawa as This Hour Has 22 Minutes performed for the first time outside of Halifax. I worked the carpet and caught opposition leader Thomas Mulcair and MP Scott Brison among the Parliamentarians who braved the performance. The show was taped before a packed crowd of