Several recent pop culture documentaries have dug deep into the age-old boomer gold mine. There was yet another study of The Beach Boys as well as Jim Henson’s legacy with the Muppets. Steve Martin was shown to be not always such a wild and crazy guy. Even the original Beatles’ doc “Let it Be” has
Man it was fun heading down to Niagara last October and catching up with Canada’s coast-to-coast comedy sage, Ron James. He was shooting season two of his comedy series 1 Man’s Treasure, which is up now and streaming on Bell Fibe. If this podcast episode sounds different it is because it was shot outside in a
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
“Atoll K.” “Dance with Me, Henry.” “A King in New York.” “Love Happy.” These were the last films of Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, Charlie Chaplin and The Marx Bros. The kings of comedy who brought joy to millions. Not in their final films, however. Robbed of their youth and vitality, they all seem
While it wasn’t the happy ending many Canadians had hoped for, it certainly was a tremendous draw. Sportsnet claims that an average minute audience of 7.55 million Canadians ages two and up watched Monday’s seventh and final game of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. They saw the Florida Panthers win their first ever NHL championship,
Canadian media companies lobbied hard, back in the “Let’s Talk TV” days, for the removal of genre protection when it came to defining specialty channels. Everybody felt boxed in. Too much time spent justifying genre walls at CRTC hearings. Free market or bust. Well, be careful what you ask for. One of the drawbacks of
Donald Sutherland had been a major movie star for decades before he appeared opposite Geena Davis in the 2005-06 ABC drama Commander in Chief. I was one of the reporters hoping to get a few words with the acclaimed actor on a visit to the L.A. set of that short-lived series. Davis played the first
Give the fans what they want and they’ll watch. Last Saturday’s fourth game in the 2024 Stanley Cup finals saw the Edmonton Oilers, on the brink of elimination, defeat the Florida Panthers by the lopsided score of 8-1. The win boosted final round ratings to their highest level yet in English Canada. An average, overnight