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Vietnam: Canada's Shadow War Redefines Our History
Way, way back in the Sixties when I was a lowly undergrad at the University of Toronto there was something called the Vietnam War raging half a world away.But the conflict very definitely impinged upon...
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Many Canadian Cable Channels Could Disappear
For years I've been trying to find someone else who watched the lowly Cable channel Outdoor Life.I'm still trying.I rather like the oddball service which has Ghost Hunters as well as various editions...
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I Remember Alberta Watson
"It's funny, honey, but I've been in this crazy business for 30 years and here I am now in the lead!"And Alberta Watson let out with a cannonading cackle that hushed all spectators.There I was in a...
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TV's Walking The Nile: Simply A Must See
I'm always telling people about great TV series they never knew existed.So here I go again.I've just watched a preview of the first hour of the simply stupendous new British documentary series Walking...
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Schitt's Creek: A Welcome New CBC Hit
A very demure friend of mine in Ottawa told me she'd just have to phone me back."Right now I'm watching my favorite series Schitt's Creek," she said before hanging up.And then there was the check out...
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What Will You Watch This Weekend?
So what will it be this Easter weekend?Jesus Christ or Don Draper?No, I'm not bering irreligious. The TV choice has never been as stark.Don Draper is down to his last six episodes as Mad Men winds up a...
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Franklin's Lost Ships: Muse-See TV
It's a case of saving the best for the last as The Nature Of Things waits until its final hour of the season to unveil the sensational new dramatic documentary Franklin's Lost Ships.This one is a model...
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X Company Deserves Its Second Season
X Company is CBC's new World War II drama that probably seems even better than it is.That's because of the sheer lack of competition: the conventional Canadian networks simply will not make anything...
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Why There Are Few Canadian Sitcoms
So here I am watching the preview DVDs of two hit HBO sitcoms.Both Veep and Silicon Valley are returning with news seasons Sunday night although you'd never know it because the focus is relentlessly on...
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Game Of Thrones Back For Fifth Season
Until a few months back I'd never seen a single episode of Games Of Thrones.There. I've said it.To me the HBO drama was merely another cable show I promised myself I'd one day sit down and watch.Well,...
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Emergency Latest Canadian Reality Outing
Don't get me wrong --there are some reality shows I wouldn't miss: Dog The Bounty Hunter, Pawn Stars, Storage Wars.And a few even are Canadian or at least Love It Or List It (Hillary Clinton's...
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TV's Mummies Alive Decodes The Dead
Boy was I surprised --I got a three episode preview of the new TV series Mummies Alive and figured it would all be set in ancient Egypt.But the opener, The Gunslinger Mummy, premiering Sunday April 19...
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Discovery's Mankind From Space: Smart TV Is Back
Smart TV is back.It used to exist in such dazzling TV creations as Civilisation and any number of David Attenborough nature series.But lately "Smart TV" has been in decline as increasingly dumb...
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I Confess: Full House
This is the time and place for me to 'fess up to one of TV's Unsolved Mysteries.But first a little background regarding TV's planned reboot of Full House.When I told the checkout cashier that Full...
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Death On TV
On television death can come at any time," my friend Toronto actress Susan Douglas once told me.And she should know.I remember telling her that as a young kid I'd run home from Withrow public school...
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Mad Men's Ambiguous End
You have to remember most long running TV series never post a farewell episode.It's bad for the rerun market and so most series simply fade to black.Except those that come back years later with younger...
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Is David Letterman Really A Jerk?
The column by The New York Post TV Critic Don Kaplan says it all."To most reporters David Letterman was kind of a jerk!" writes Kaplan.And sadly I must agree with him.In my 38 years of writing about TV...
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Jeremy Wade Is Really Into River Monsters
"We definitely are not a fishing show!"Jeremy Wade's laughter rings out --he's phoning from Seattle where he's working on the eighth season of one of TV's most unusual shows --River Monsters.Canada's...
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Sugar Coated Hits A Home Run
"Sugar is the new tobacco," says Gemini award winning documentarist Michele Hozer."When I realized this I had the makings of my new production --it was as simple as that."Indeed the 90-minute film...
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CBC Does Have A Future
I wasn't sure about attending the 2015 CBC Fall Press Preview because I'd been hearing from employees inside the Corp that the public network was facing dire days.After all I've been covering these CBC...
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