As my ol’ Toronto Sun colleague Jim Slotek reminded me the other day, critics used to call Michael Landon, “Jesus of Malibu.” With his long flowing hair and decades of playing good guys (on Highway to Heaven, for example, he talked to God), Landon was a one-man, family-friendly, entertainment messiah. I felt very fortunate to
I kid you not: I was too young to have seen Jack Paar in his prime as host of The Tonight Show. I was born in 1957, the year Paar took over Tonight from Steve Allen and made it his own for the next five years. With the show starting around 11:15 p.m., this was
This week’s episode of brioux.tv the podcast features the creator and original host of the Tonight Show, Steve Allen, plus the man who hosted from 1957 to 1962, Jack Paar. Allen, who died in 2000 at 78, was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1996. Here’s a clip from that event, including some
Bill Maher once said that, “Everybody who ever has done a talk show should pay a royalty to Steve Allen.” Allen would probably have agreed. He was the first host of NBC’s Tonight Show, starting with a local New York version in 1953 and then launching the series nationally in September of 1954. David Letterman,
For quite a while now I’ve been thinking about tapping into my collection of old school cassette recordings to see if I could turn dust-gathering interview blather into podcast gold. Thank goodness that some of those old cassette tapes I’ve boxed away for years still work! Many contain recorded conversations I’ve had with TV and
It pays to be a pack rat. Example: believe it or not, an interview I did with comedy legend George Burns way back in December of 1985 still plays on a cassette recorder. It will kick off a series of “From the Vault” podcasts coming to brioux.tv. Burns was about to turn 90 when I
Next time you are squinting trying to read ingredients on a label, think of Mary Mammoliti. The AMI-tv host and podcaster zips around her kitchen turning out scrumptious dishes and she can barely see at all! Hear her incredible story this week on brioux.tv the podcast. The Toronto resident also talks about the second season
For the first time ever, comedian Ron James is headlining at Stratford. No, not as Macbeth, or King Lear or Hamlet. He’ll be performing his politically charged, subversive standup set Saturday at the Avon Theatre. If you haven’t seen James live and in person, get thee to the theatre! It’s all part of Stratfest; ticket