Bill Lawrence was pretty much there when television began in Canada. The CHCH legend was spinning great stories about the early days as we met on the set of the Tiny Talent Time revival. The series is back Saturdays at 7 p.m. on CHCH, repeating Sundays at 5 p.m. Now in his eighties, the always
I was speaking with Late Night host Seth Meyers Wednesday about several things, including his upcoming Toronto appearances at JFL42 as well as his animated series, The Awesomes. We were wrapping up, and I thought I’d better bring up one more subject: Joan Rivers. The latest report suggested she was “resting comfortably.” In Rivers-speak, that was code
I was just exiting the CHCH news studio Tuesday morning after my Emmy report on Morning Live (you can watch here) when who did I run into but “Uncle Bill.” That would be Bill Lawrence to those of us who grew up in the GTA and remember Lawrence from his many years as a ‘CH weatherman
This week, CHML’s Scott Thompson asks about another radio voice: Don Pardo. Pardo died Monday at 96. He’s best known, of course, as the announcer on Saturday Night Live but he began his NBC career in 1944 as a radio man. We pay homage to Pardo for ten minutes, or about as long as it took
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
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
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!
I was working as a busboy at a restaurant in Ontario Place at the foot of Toronto the summer Richard Nixon resigned from the White House. I was a high school student and it was a pretty good summer job; $2:10 an hour and all the chips you could eat. The restaurant faced East so I