Earle Hagen, composer of The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Andy Griffith Show themes, died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 88, which is a sweet number to reach if you are a composer, especially if you play the piano (88 keys). Read his L.A. Times obit here. A former big band trombonist, Hagen
Author, film historian and long time Entertainment Tonight correspondent Leonard Maltin just posted a mini-review of my book Truth and Rumors: The Reality Behind TV’s Most Famous Myths. You can read it here on his engrossing blog for film fans, Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy.Maltin’s love of movies and pop culture in general is infectious and
Ever have to throw a party when you are broke? You drag out last year’s decorations, serve warmed-over appetizers. If you spend anywhere you spend it on a snazzy pair of new red shoes. That was CBC’s 2008-09 season preview yesterday, held in the echo-y atrium of the Toronto bunker. What is left of the
I have a real affection for comedy duos. Laurel & Hardy and Abbott & Costello always make me laugh. Wayne & Shuster were the dudes in Canada, while the Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and Peter Cook and Dudley Moore were a stitch in England. Stiller & Meara and Nichols and May, took things in
Marilyn Denis fans will want to catch today’s CityLine (Citytv at 10 a.m.). After 19 years, it is her final show as host. In the past, when CityLine needed a face lift, Denis would simply go out and get one! Not this time. Denis was caught in a corporate tug of war after CTV gobbled
This week’s radio chat with CHML’s Scott Thompson follows up on the preceding post: Jack Duffy‘s lost legacy on Party Game. Gardiner Westbound, again, we salute you. You can listen in here.There’s also a brief mention of tonight’s big event, the finale of American Idol, the results of which can be found someplace else. Some
Mention the name “Captain” Jack Duffy and if the other person smiles, he or she is between the ages of 45 and 55 and lkely grew up in the Toronto/Hamilton/Niagara region. Duffy, who died Monday in Toronto at 81, was one of the stars of Party Game, a fondly-remembered suppertime charades series produced out of
“You wanna live in the zip? You’ve gotta live by the code.” That’s the slogan for the new CW series 90210 (coming to Canada on Global). At least they kept the old theme song. Check it out below: That’s Shenae Grimes, first featured in the promo. She’s the new Brenda Walsh. The 18-year-old Toronto lass