I first met Paul Sun-Hyung Lee on the set of the CBC comedy Kim’s Convenience. It was a warm and memorable conversation. That series was brand new and Paul, after being part of the ensemble on the Train 48 soap as well as a successful stage career, was thrilled to finally land a leading role
We all know Jimmy Kimmel stands up for the First Amendment. Now there is also joy in Mellonville for he has done what not even Martin Scorsese could do — complete a documentary about SCTV. Kimmel is the executive producer of SCTV: The Greatest Show You’ve Never Heard Of. The 90-minute documentary premieres Friday, October
My guest on this episode is an award-winning Canadian I’ve been hoping to interview since I started podcasting seven years ago – Jayne Eastwood. Back when the fabled Toronto production of Godspell burst on the scene in 1972, it made stars of its incredible cast – including Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Victor Garber,
It was 65 years ago this fall that The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS. The half hour sitcom was not an instant hit, struggling in the ratings hammocked between Marshal Dillon and Bachelor Father and was canceled at the end of its first season. Executive producer Sheldon Leonard refused to give up on the
Back in 1996 I wrote a TV Guide Canada cover story on a local actress then making a name for herself on North America’s No. 1 series – ER. Her name is Gloria Reuben, born in Toronto and raised in London, Ontario. When I reached her by phone in Los Angeles, she had to interrupt
As a TV beat reporter with an eye on the ratings, I never could understand why the Global television network walked away from their top-rated Canadian original hit Private Eyes in 2021. This breezy, stylish detective series, reminiscent of past romantic hits such as Hart to Hart, was vaulting well over the million mark in
Back in the ‘70s there was this hippie musical Godspell that ran for over a year in Toronto. The cast was mainly unknown at the time but wouldn’t stay that way for long. Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber, Jayne Eastwood, Rudy Webb, and future Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer
All things must pass, as George Harrison once said. Which brings us to the fifth and final season of Son of a Critch, the CBC sitcom based on the early life of Mark Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes). Last June as production wrapped I met with the four main castmates from the series —