I didn’t know it at the time, but this past Monday I did my final guest report for Drive Home host Scott Thompson at Hamilton’s all-news radio station CHML. They wanted a TV commentator to talk about CBC’s Olympic coverge and ratings. I was moving stuff out of storage that day — a hold over
There was a joke once on The Larry Sanders Show that went like this: Paula (Janeane Garafalo) tried to bluff Larry (Garry Shandling) that she’s leaving to take a producers job at Conan (a fledgling series at the time of the early ’90s episode). Sanders asks how long she thinks that will last; Paula swallows
On Thursday I was speaking with Global NewsRadio’s Bill Kelly on CHML 900. The subject was box office returns in the age of COVID. he remarked how the new sci-fi feature “Tenet” was seen as a strong lure to fill seats in newly-opened cinemas. Domestic returns however, fell short of first week projections (although overseas
CHML’s Bill Kelly called the other day asking if Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” might be stir up a new Netflix Oscar controversy. Last February, readers may recall, Steven Spielberg sounded a bit like an old coot telling kids to stay off his lawn, grumbled about how Netflix has no business at the Oscars. Scorsese himself
This week, Disney announced that their much anticipated new streaming service, Disney Plus, will launch in November in the United States. It’s priced to entice even the most ardent Netflix supporter, with the entire suite of Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN all bundled at US$12.99. Disney aims to be consumers’ top choice as viewers continue
On Tuesday, CHML’s AM900 morning host Bill Kelly suggested to me that Steven Bochco was to television what Steven Spielberg was to movies. Both moved their medium forward. Bochco certainly was an innovator as a writer and story editor, combining serial elements into police procedurals. Bochco also encouraged Hill Street Blues pilot director Robert Butler to literally
Think viewers weren’t ready for another visit from the Conners? Tuesday night’s revival of Roseanne on ABC drew an overnight, average audience of 18.2 million viewers from 8 to 9 p.m. The audience was higher in the second half-hour than it was in the first, and it’s likely to go higher again — perhaps beyond