If you are a fan of comedy, film, television, movies, music, or even Bazooka Joe bubble gum jokes, join me this week in conversation with Frank Santopadre. For over eight years and 600 episodes he brought comedian Gilbert Gottfied in like a tugboat to harbour in the truly amazing Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal podcast. Santopadre,
The 61st annual Cinecon is this weekend at the Writer’s Guild Theater in Los Angeles. This is the granddaddy of all the classic film festivals, programmed by the president of the organization, currator Stan Taffel. This is where archivists, authors, collectors, and film fans come together for four days of classic film & TV screenings,
I went into the vault this week to create a 3-Pack of favourite TV stars from the ’60s. Two are from interviews conducted in 1997 at a Hollywood Collectors autograph show. This one featured about 70 stars from the past including the co-owner of the hotel, Beverly Garland (My Three Sons). First up is Dawn
David Ketchum, who passed away on August 10 at the age of 97, is probably best remembered for his recurring role on the NBC sitcom Get Smart! (1965-70). He was the guy whose head would pop up out of vending machines, mail boxes and washing machines as Agent 13. His appearances opposite Don Adams are
This has been a transitional year for the Television Critics Associiation. It was finally acknowledged that the semi-annual press tour, or “the Bataan death march with cocktails” as veteran scribes called it, was, like late night television, viewed by the networks as no longer financially supportable. To paraphrase Tina Fey at one of our award
Today, August 15, 2025, would have been Oscar Peterson’s 100th birthday. The Canadian jazz piano phenomenon, who passed away at 82 in 2007, won eight Grammy awards. He is celebrated in a wonderful documentary titled, “Oscar Peterson: Black + White.” Released in 2021 and directed by Barry Avrich, the COVID-era tribute features many musicians who
I grew up with the classic Match Game daytime series, the one Gene Rayburn hosted with that telescoping mic. It featured Bret Summers, Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Dawson, all served on a bed of orange shag carpeting. A decade ago a revival featured Alec Baldwin as host, complete with that goofy antenna mic. The
Editor’s note: summer is a good time to finally crack open those books you’ve been meaning to read all year. Contributor Maurice Tougas gets things started with his review of Desi Arnaz, The Man Who Invented Television (Simon and Schuster), Lucille Ball – just Lucy to her millions of fans – has rightfully been elevated