There are TV stars whose passing seems to catch us by surprise even when they die at 87. When the hell, we think upon hearing the sad news, did Loretta Swit turn 87? How can I still have a crush on somebody who is 87? Yet there it is. Swit, the coroner declared, died at
In Part Two of my conversation with Ken Levine, more evidence that the Emmy-winner is one of TV’s top storytellers. One of my favourite episodes from his excellent podcast, Hollywood & Levine, is the one where he told listeners exactly what he thought of the recent reboot of Frasier. Some might see this as sour
What hasn’t Ken Levine done? He’s an Emmy-winning screenwriter who has — with writing partner David Issacs — written for some of television’s best comedies. You may have heard of M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier. In his spare time (!) he has also been a disc jockey, a major league baseball play-by-play announcer, a cartoonist, a playwright, a director,
The tributes to Bob Newhart last week were universal in tone. A great comic, great sitcom star, great guy. If there was anyone who had a bad word to say about Newhart, I didn’t hear it or read it. The passing of Newhart brought back memories for those of us lucky enough to remember his
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
I always resented the series M*A*S*H. This had nothing to do with the merits of the multiple Emmy Award-winning series, or the fact that, when my career began at TV Guide Canada shortly before the series ended, it was a pain having to shift keys and type an asterisk every time in between capitalizing the
Every year I plan on taking a short cut by posting this list with the idea of simply cutting and pasting something I wrote from a previous year. Every year, however, a few shows jump to the top of the list that were overlooked in the past. This year is no exception, starting with the
When film fans think of Sally Kellerman, the first image that comes to mind is generally of her screaming out of the shower in Robert Altman’s movie version of “M*A*S*H” (1970). While that part earned her an Academy Award nomination, she stood out in many other roles, big and small, over a six decade career