My guest on this episode is an award-winning Canadian I’ve been hoping to interview since I started podcasting seven years ago – Jayne Eastwood. Back when the fabled Toronto production of Godspell burst on the scene in 1972, it made stars of its incredible cast – including Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Victor Garber,
Screen legend Eva Marie Saint passed away October 6 at 102 years of age. The Oscar and Emmy winner was an enduring star, celebrated at TCM Classic Film Festivals and at many other Hollywood occasions. Her death also provided an opportunity for me to test something I’ve been requesting for years as a member of
For the third week in a row we track how things are unfolding in Canada, ratings-wise and also content-wise, on Saturday nights. The third episode of Season 52 on Saturday Night Live, simulcast with NBC at 11:29 p.m. on CTV, continues on pace with how the series drew in previous years on Global. Host Shane
It was 65 years ago this fall that The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS. The half hour sitcom was not an instant hit, struggling in the ratings hammocked between Marshal Dillon and Bachelor Father and was canceled at the end of its first season. Executive producer Sheldon Leonard refused to give up on the
Before Late Night with David Letterman and within a year or two of Saturday Night Live and SCTV there was a little show that firmly planted the irony flag on the comedy landscape: Fernwood 2Nite. This offshoot from the equally groundbreaking Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman deconstructed talk show television in a way rarely seen on
All things must pass, and so we are into the new reality on Saturday night’s in Canada. After 74 years, a tradition dating back to 1952, there are no more “free” Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts. Rogers no longer shares their primetime weekend showcase with the public broadcaster. Viewers instead can subscribe to Sportsnet to
Murdoch Mysteries returns tonight for a 20th season — not bad for a series cancelled 15 seasons ago. Citytv felt there were no mysteries left to solve when they announced that they were ditching the series after five seasons in 2011. CBC swooped in immediately and cut a deal with production company Shaftesbury to extend
Back in 1996 I wrote a TV Guide Canada cover story on a local actress then making a name for herself on North America’s No. 1 series – ER. Her name is Gloria Reuben, born in Toronto and raised in London, Ontario. When I reached her by phone in Los Angeles, she had to interrupt