Every time I interview Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, he seems a half-foot taller than the last time I spoke with him. Yet his ego never grows as I found out last summer in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Ainsworth, of course, plays young Mark Critch, circa 1990, on the CBC sitcom. We were outdoors on location on a residential
There were some terrific dramas on television in 2024. Shogun (FX Networks/Disney+ in Canada) was a big budget movie a week, an impressive, uber subtitled effort and an example of Vancouver crew work at its finest. Kudos as well to Golden Globe nominated Hiroyuki Sanada as lead actor. Franklin, on AppleTV+, was another international, historical
This Hour has, well, not just 22 Minutes but a full hour as I catch up with Mark Critch, this week’s guest on brioux.tv: the podcast. The conversation was taped last summer in St. John’s, Nfld., during production on the fourth season of Son of a Critch (returning Thursday, Jan. 7 on CBC and CBC Gem). What a trip
ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. — First thing is, I’m not really in St. John’s, Newfoundland. I was though, and it is more fun to begin this story by typing in the place name. Makes the blog look more official like. I’m now back home in Orangeville, but I was way out into the Atlantic earlier this
The most Canadian network in America closed the recent Television Critics Association winter press tour last Thursday in Pasadena. The network was The CW, which is programmed by a former Toronto lad, Pop TV president and brioux.tv: the podcast guest, Brad Schwartz. “It’s so great to be back here at TCA and see you all
Winter finally arrived in much of Canada Tuesday night. The good news is so has CBC’s trio of Tuesday night comedies. I interviewed the casts of all three shows last month at the Winter Media launch at CBC’s downtown Toronto broadcast centre. Later this month over at brioux.tv: the podcast, you can listen as the
The CBC Monday released the dates of their winter 2024 schedule for new and returning series. There was no waiting around for writers and actors strikes to be settled for these homegrown series to premiere. All are set to air on the home network and will also be streaming on CBC Gem. Among their new
Emmy and Golden Globe award winning executive producer Andrew Barnsley has his Schitt’s Creek trophies on display at his other office. That is where he presides as president of the Toronto Film School. The trophies serve as inspiration for the young TV and film students looking for a leg up in an industry that keeps booming