Born Feb. 22, 1918, Dominick George “Don” Pardo joined the NBC Radio Network as an announcer in June of 1944–or, as Lorne Michaels once pointed out, “before I was born.” Michaels hired Pardo in Sept. of 1975 as the original announcer for Saturday Night Live and, save for one season in the ’80s, he has
After five seasons, the show they couldn’t kill with a stick is finally getting unplugged. The Listener will air its final episode Monday night at 9 p.m. CTV always treated this show like a pinch hitter, throwing it in anywhere, anytime, with nary a word of promotion. Astoundingly, it almost always drew over a million
This week, CHML’s Scott Thompson asks my thoughts on the passing of Robin Williams. This one is longer than usual at 18 minutes. We talk about the reaction on social media, some news reports I found objectionable and Conan O’Brien’s shocked reaction at the end of his show Monday. I even tell the story about the meeting
Another slow summer week in Canada, ratings-wise. Here’s a quick look at Aug. 4-10 according to overnight estimates: MONDAY The big news this week was that CTV has announced it is shutting down The Listener after five seasons and 65 episodes. The show they couldn’t kill with a stick is finally getting whacked but there seems
Some entertainers, you really hope that when you meet them, you like them. They’ve made you smile on TV or film and you hope for that same experience in a scrum or a press conference. The thing about Robin Williams was that, when you met him, you liked him even more. The surprise was how
It’s the end of a brilliant episode of Louie–an early gem which in many ways foreshadowed the most recent season. Louie CK and Robin Williams are leaving a strip club. They were drawn there after the death of Barney, a comedy club owner who used to be a regular. Seems he was always ripping off
Who knew Harpo Marx made a series of TV commercials for Labatt’s beer? That’s just one of the delightful surprises found in The Marx Brothers TV Collection. The collectible gem, graced with a terrific cover illustration by Drew Friedman, is from Shout! Factory and hits the street Tuesday Aug. 12. Order it here from Shout!
There’s a scene in The Knick where a guy takes a needle full of junk up his junk. Ouch! The turn-of-the-20th century hospital drama premieres Friday night on Cinemax as well as The Movie Network/Movie Central. Clive Owen plays Dr. Thackery, a House-like MD operating at a once proud New York City hospital called The