Near the end of Bill Brioux’s podcast interview with legendary TV writer Ken Levine, Bill asks his guest what TV he’s watching these days. Levine – whose writing credits include M*A*S*H, Frasier, The Simpsons, Everybody Loves Raymond and many others – could only come up with baseball and Jeopardy! I feel your pain, Ken. The
When Jess Salgueiro auditioned in person for the role of young single mom Eve on Frasier, she had to do it in front of a pair of sitcom legends: star and producer Kelsey Grammer and director Jim Burrows. Pressure? Yes and no says the actress, who was born in Winnipeg, Man. She figured there must
That’s Iron Mike Tyson eying my ears like they were big juicy pork chops. (Thanks to TCA colleague April Neale for the timely photo op.) Back in 2011, at a Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, Calif., the former heavyweight champion was a guest at an OWN Network launch party hosted by Oprah Winfrey.
If you are a fan of The Beatles, all you need is love and a Disney+ subscription to get back to where you once belonged. Every couple of months seems to bring another documentary. The next one, Beatles ’64, begins streaming on November 29. It is produced by Martin Scorsese (too busy, it seems, to
Looking for something to stream you can hum along to? You can do no better than Music By John Williams, streaming now on demand on Disney+. The documentary is directed by French filmmaker Laurent Bouzereau (Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind) and produced by many of the people whose films Williams has enhanced, including Steven Spielberg,
Early last month, when I wrote about the death of Canadian talk show host Mike Bullard, it reminded me of a turning point for one of the biggest late night stars in America: Conan O’Brien. Now 61, O’Brien was 40 early in 2004 and after a decade at 12:35 a.m. secure enough in his job
Stop me if you’ve seen this kind of Hallmark movie before: an enterprising and attractive single woman named Emily Lane (Sarah Drew from Grey’s Anatomy) owns a Christmas store on the main street of a picturesque small town. She crosses paths with a handsome, newly single-police officer (Peter Mooney from Burden of Truth). Before you
Early last month, when I wrote about the death of Canadian talk show host Mike Bullard, it reminded me of a turning point for one of the biggest late night stars in America: Conan O’Brien. Now 61, O’Brien was 40 early in 2004 and after a decade at 12:35 a.m. secure enough in his job
Teri Garr was a unique and welcome personality who shone in any role, big or small. She passed away Oct. 29 at 79 after dealing for decades with multiple schlerosis. The daughter of a comedic actor father and a dancer/wardrobe mistress, Garr’s showbusiness roots ran deep. In the 1960s, the California native danced her way
There was a time when Mike Bullard was the King of comedy in Canada. His death from a heart attack Saturday at age 67 brings to an end a complicated legacy, one I had a window seat on for many years. Bullard, who grew up in Mississauga, Ont., had a day job at Bell Canada
Bill Vigars would not want this to be a sad story. He lived an amazing life, had friends across Canada, and Robert Duvall once played him in a movie. Oh yes — he also helped raise a billion dollars to find a cure for cancer. Still, Bill Vigars has died, and that is terribly, terribly
In the summer of 2012, Ethel Kennedy — who died October 10 at 96 — made an appearance in Los Angeles at a Television Critics Association press tour. She was accompanied by her daughter, Rory Kennedy, who directed “Ethel,” the HBO documentary about her famous mother, the widow of slain senator and presidential candidate Robert
During the decade of the 1970s one of the busiest and most-watched actors on television was John Amos. Not a bad trick considering the New Jersey native did not start out in television as an actor. He was writing for a local news show when singer-actress Leslie Uggams started working on her variety show. She