One day, the date I cannot remember, I was scanning my cable TV listings when I came upon an unfamiliar station. It was called Turner Classic Movies, and it played nothing but movies, movies and more movies. And, blessedly, they were commercial-free. Well, I thought I had died and gone to movie heaven. I’ve added
When you heard that Michael Douglas was cast in the role of Benjamin Franklin, be honest. Your first thought was, Whaat? Michael Douglas?? Maybe Paul Giamatti, but Michael Douglas does not look like the guy on the US hundred dollar bill. Yet, about four minutes into Franklin, AppleTV+’s epic, eight-part historical series about the founding
Just yesterday, I was watching one of my 16mm film prints of CBS sports reels used to promote seasonal programming back in the ’60s and ’70s. Some early ones featured OJ Simpson back when he was a star running back, first in college at USC and later as a member of the Buffalo Bills. Simpson
Terry Fox dipped his toe into the Atlantic off the coast of St. John’s, Newfoundland, on April 12, 1980. This marked the launch of his historic crusade against cancer, the Marathon of Hope.Sinc then, nearly a billion dollars has been raised to help other people with cancer around the world in Terry’s name. On this
Yes, Virgina, way back in time, the Toronto Maple Leafs did actually win thre Stanley Cup. They won it 11 times, actually, including four championships in the 1960s alone. As we head into another Stanley Cup playoff tournament (the regular season ends April 18), chants of “Sixty-seven!” mock the fact that it has been 57
The late great NBC programming boss, Brandon Tartikoff, once called TV ratings “the box score of the ‘90s.” That was back when shows such as Cheers, Frasier and Friends competed to see who was the most “Must See” of the week. Those were the B.S. years – Before Streaming. Viewers haven’t been stuck with broadcast
Warner Bros. Television Group Chairman and CEO Channing Dungey will return to the Banff International Media Festival this June as a keynote speaker. Dungey, who once described herself as “a TV junkie who somehow scored a backstage pass,” has shepherded such shows as Ted Lasso and Abbott Elementary while at Warners. Prior to arriving at
Those of us who grew up with SCTV have it deep inside our nervous systems. To this day, if Joe Flaherty and John Candy show up on Instagram, as they did for me yesterday, in a sketch as the two hopeless lads from “Goin’ Down the Road,” we watch it all again and love every