Last June, at the Corus upfront in Toronto, myself and several other TV beat writers were in a room awaiting Shamar Moore to come in and tell us all about S.W.A.T. The remake of the mid-’70s cop show, premiering Thursday night, was one of Global’s major prime time acquisitions this season. Just before Moore walked into the room, we
One of the last great “characters” of the Television Critics Association has gone to the big cathode ray tube in the sky: Frank Barron. The TCA’s oldest living member passed away Monday according to his widow and constant companion, Margie Barron. He was 98. Put in TV terms, Frank aged beyond the all important 18-49-year-old
This season marks 25 years since the launch of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Conceived by Mary Walsh as the follow up to her earlier CBC comedy series CODCO, the weekly news satire has lampooned politicians and Canada in general since Jean Chretien was strangling citizens on Parliament Hill. Halifax-based author Angela Mombourquette – who worked
CANNES — British comedian Sir Lenny Henry brought his “one big idea” to MIPCOM Wednesday. The 59-year-old actor, singer and Comic Relief co-founder was asked to give a keynote on diversity and he pushed a very intriguing notion: provide tax breaks tied to diversity. Henry told how, when he first arrived at BBC, the network
CANNES — Forget all that stuff about Peak TV and the new “Golden Age.” Every year at MIPCOM, the heap of content on display during the international TV market is staggering. As it says on an enormous poster on the side of one of the 200-foot yachts out in the harbor, “Content is king. Distribution is
CANNES — Want to get your series streamed before two billion subscribers? Now you can, thanks to Facebook. The social media giant was represented earlier this week at MIPCOM by two dudes without socks: Ricky Van Veen, head of Global Creative Strategy, and Daniel Danker, Director of Video Product. Six weeks ago, they helped launch Facebook’s
CANNES — Caught up with the star of Caught — Allan Hawco — Tuesday at MIPCOM. He was at the swank, seaside, eOne booth to help promote his upcoming CBC action series, penciled in for the post Winter Olympic Games – pre-hockey playoffs slot in 2018. The five episode Caught has the former Republic of
CANNES — Richard Plepler just looks like money. He always appears as if he just stepped off one of the 200-foot yachts docked in the harbour surrounding the main pavilion here at MIPCOM. He looks like Thurston Howell the Fourth or Fifth. HBO’s Chairman and CEO was presented with the “Hey, he showed up” award Monday