Early last month, when I wrote about the death of Canadian talk show host Mike Bullard, it reminded me of a turning point for one of the biggest late night stars in America: Conan O’Brien. Now 61, O’Brien was 40 early in 2004 and after a decade at 12:35 a.m. secure enough in his job
There was a time when Mike Bullard was the King of comedy in Canada. His death from a heart attack Saturday at age 67 brings to an end a complicated legacy, one I had a window seat on for many years. Bullard, who grew up in Mississauga, Ont., had a day job at Bell Canada
Back in the ’80s, you rarely saw anybody waving around sex toys on TV. The one shining exception was Sue Johanson, who passed away Wednesday, surrounded by family, in a long-term care home in Thornhill, Ont. She was 93. Johanson was a registered nurse and sex therapist who gave advice to several generations of Canadians
Back in the early ’90’s. before he became a late-night TV host, Conan O’Brien and his Harvard writing pal Greg Daniels (creator of the American version of The Office) decided to take a road trip to Vancouver. Turning on the TV in the hotel, they became mesmerized by this strange Canadian series about a B.C.
I’m still not sure how to critique, or even process, Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special. The Quebec City native died of acute leukemia in Duarte, Calif., in September of 2021. This final, posthumous comedy performance, self-recorded from his home in the summer of 2020, shows him delivering a 50-minute comedy monologue the night prior to a
Seth Rogan kind of nailed it Sunday night at the 73rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. “There are way too many of us in this room,” he said early in the three-hour and 15 minute (and seemed longer) broadcast. As he pointed out, it was supposed to be an outdoor event. Why was there a roof
“I can’t stand stuck-up bodies of water. It’s like, get over yourself, Lake Superior.” In 2018, in one of his last high profile TV efforts, Norm Macdonald had Jane Fonda read that joke on Norm Macdonald Has a Show. The 10-episode Netflix series was so stripped down it was barely more than a podcast, but
There was once a joke 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 hard and