Is it possible to be bored with a Fall TV season before it even starts? That seems to be the case with many critics this September after suffering through a largely lame, unadventurous pack of pilots. Talk about seen-it-before: Don Johnson, John Stamos, Rob Lowe, The Muppets and Heroes? I feel as if I’ve covered
David Bianculli and the gang over at TV Worth Watching told me to go see a movie. The catch was they wanted a review right away. The movie? A TV series makeover, of course–“The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” I guess Bianculli knew I had a Johnny 7 spy gun when I was a kid. The original Man
My buddy Bob Cowan had me on CHCH Morning Live Monday to chat up the 2015-16 season. That was the idea, anyway, but we spent a lot of time trashing ABC’s revival of The Muppets. So be warned–we come off like those two old coots who used to heckle The Muppet Show from the balcony–Stadler
Looking for something smart on TV this weekend? Try your local movie theatre. “Best of Enemies” opens in selected cinemas—including Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox—this Friday, July 31. The documentary, from filmmakers Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon (“Respect Yourself: The Staxx Records Story”), looks at a fascinating footnote to the explosive year 1968. William F. Buckley
Looking for a good summer read? This came out last year but I just got to it last week at the cottage: I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend by Martin Short (HarperCollins 2014). Short has had an amazing life so far. He grew up in Hamilton, Ont., dreaming of showbiz and fascinated by
Did you know that Samsung has been the No. 1 manufacturer of TV’s sold worldwide for nine consecutive years? That’s just one of the things I learned after an overnight test drive of the new Samsung curved, 4K UHD TV. The test occurred two weekends ago at a swanky, Hollywood-style pad tucked into the tony Toronto neighbourhood
Last October when I was at MIPCOM in Cannes you couldn’t help but notice all the signage for Just For Laughs Gags. Scenes from the very visual Quebec comedy were everywhere, on giant electronic billboards as well as on the sides and roofs of the many overpriced taxis. The message: visual gag comedy sells internationally.
Summer is the fastest season, A few days have already whizzed by before I could get this link up to this story I wrote on Summer Television for The Canadian Press. Things slowed right down, however, for Sunday’s Season Two premiere of True Detective (HBO, HBO Canada). I watched most of the first hour on an 88-inch,