This has been a transitional year for the Television Critics Associiation. It was finally acknowledged that the semi-annual press tour, or “the Bataan death march with cocktails” as veteran scribes called it, was, like late night television, viewed by the networks as no longer financially supportable. To paraphrase Tina Fey at one of our award
As friends and readers of brioux.tv may know, I’ve been collecting 16mm films for many years. Sixteen millimeter is the width of film shown on those large reels shown in classrooms in the 1960s and ’70s. Some boomers may remember this as “nap time.” I have around two thousand films in my collection, which, believe
Today, August 15, 2025, would have been Oscar Peterson’s 100th birthday. The Canadian jazz piano phenomenon, who passed away at 82 in 2007, won eight Grammy awards. He is celebrated in a wonderful documentary titled, “Oscar Peterson: Black + White.” Released in 2021 and directed by Barry Avrich, the COVID-era tribute features many musicians who
I grew up with the classic Match Game daytime series, the one Gene Rayburn hosted with that telescoping mic. It featured Bret Summers, Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Dawson, all served on a bed of orange shag carpeting. A decade ago a revival featured Alec Baldwin as host, complete with that goofy antenna mic. The
Editor’s note: summer is a good time to finally crack open those books you’ve been meaning to read all year. Contributor Maurice Tougas gets things started with his review of Desi Arnaz, The Man Who Invented Television (Simon and Schuster), Lucille Ball – just Lucy to her millions of fans – has rightfully been elevated
Mark Maron’s WTF podcast has been essential listening for me ever since the COVID pandemic. He’s been at it since way before that, sixteen years in fact. His peers consider him the O.G. of podcasting. His decision to shut things down come October, podcast wise, has nothing to do with the title of his new
I met Loni Anderson 20 years ago in Los Angeles on a Television Critics Association press tour. It was at a cable network event that took place at the Universal Hilton. Other stars, including Wayne Newton and George Hamilton were in the room. It was cool meeting those guys as well but Anderson stood out
I met Loni Anderson 20 years ago in Los Angeles on a Television Critics Association press tour. It was at a cable network event that took place at the Universal Hilton. Other stars, including Wayne Newton and George Hamilton were in the room. It was cool meeting those guys as well but Anderson stood out
I’ll always be grateful to my Grade 7 teacher, Mr. (Tom) O’Hanley, for turning me and my classmates on to the brilliance of Tom Lehrer. The New York City native passed away Saturday in Connecticut at 97. His earthly exit will get a fraction of the attention that came earlier this week with the death
Sometimes my name trips people up on the phone. In 2008, for example, Hulk Hogan wrestled with it. “Bill Brioux–sounds like a wrestling name,” said the WWE’s ultimate showman. Hogan was on the line to promote the finale of American Gladiators, then in its first incarnation on NBC and City-TV. The Hulkster was shocked to
Bloody hell! Wasn’t Ozzy Osbourne supposed to live forever? The Black Sabbath frontman and self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness” died Tuesday at 76. Besides a half century of substance abuse, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer battled Parkinsons and emphysema. Not being much of a Heavy Metal fan, my first exposure to the Warwickshire, England,
As Theo Huxtable, Malcolm-Jamal Warner was probably one of the biggest teen stars ever on broadcast network television. Back in the 1980s, when The Cosby Show was at it’s “Must See” peak on NBC, around 40 million U.S. viewers a week were watching The Huxtables — live at 8 pm on a Thursday. It was
David Gergen looked like who he was: a political operative, a back room advisor, a news network commentator. Or maybe he’s just who we think of first when assessing who excelled in all those careers. Earning law degrees with honours from both Yale and Harvard, he was an advisor to four US presidents: Richard Nixon,
