Celebrate Canada Day Early With Jonathan Torrens
You can celebrate Canada Day early with Jonathan Torrens in the exceptional new CBC-TV special Your Special Canada.It premieres on CBC Sunday June 25 at 9 p.m. with a repeat on July 1 at 7 p.m. on...
View ArticleFarewell To Peter Mansbridsge
So there I was was covering CBC-TV's fall launch in September 1976 when the head of CBC news Knowlton Nash marched to the podium to exclaim "I've just lost my Mr. Clean!"CBC news anchor Lloyd...
View ArticleThe River Of My Dreams: Gordon Pinsent Looks Back
It's entirely appropriate Documentary Channel is presenting the brilliant new TV biography of Gordon Pinsent titled The River Of My Dreams on Canada Day at 8 p.m.Because there never has been a more...
View ArticleLittle India: Village Of Dreams A Must See
It's entirely appropriate for the brilliant new documentary Little India: Village Of Dreams to premiere on Canada Day --it runs Saturday July 1 at 9 p.m. on TVOntario.Filmmaker Nina Beveridge tells me...
View ArticleThe Tea Explorer May Be The Year's Best TV Documentary
Did I really want to preview the new documentary The Tea Explorer? I wasn't sure but since it was directed by Andrew Gregg I figured it had to be of high quality.Well, I brewed a big pot of Scottish...
View ArticleCBC-TV's 21 Thunder Is Promising
In ye olden days --say about a decade or so ago --every major TV network would sport summer series worth watching.So three cheers to CBC-TV for trying to revive that tradition with the Montreal made 21...
View ArticleMuch Too Young: Must-See Canadian TV
Don't get distracted by the glut of new and returning TV series popping up all over your TV screens this fall.Save some time for the brilliant new Canadian made TV documentary Much Too Young which has...
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Last season CBC-TV's new sitcom Kim's Convenience was the surprise hit of the year.I still think the decision of a past management to fold RCAF was a major mistake --here was a Canadian staple that...
View ArticleI REMEMBER HUGH HEFNER!
Way back in 1976 I hailed a taxi at the Century Plaza hotel in Century City and simply said "The Playboy Mansion, Please!"And there I was at the Tudor style estate, the home of Hugh Hefner and a bevy...
View ArticleOld Friends Get Together
fliIt's that time of the year as four old friends get together: a prominent TV actress, veteran publicist and a famous TV producer. Here are highlights of our luncheon chatter:ME: The big news is the...
View ArticleBeyond The Spectrum Is Must-See TV
It's the sheer honesty and deep commitment of two parents that should immediately strike you when watching the brilliant new TVOntario documentary Beyond The Spectrum: A Family's Year Confronting...
View ArticleAlun Armstrong Shines In Discovery's Frontier
I specifically asked to interview the brilliant British character star Alun Armstrong in Toronto to promote the second season of Discovery Channel's first dramatic series Frontier.You can catch it...
View ArticleInto The Fire Burns With Intensity
When I spotted the name Leora Eisen I just knew I'd be watching her brilliant new documentary Into The Fire which premieres on CBC-TV's The Nature Of Things Sunday November 5 at 8 p.m.Over the years...
View ArticleCBC's National: Can It Be Saved?
I had just moved to The Toronto Star in 1981 when the new, improved National news debuted --attached to The Journal.I saw it as two separate shows warring within the bosom of one hour and I predicted...
View ArticleI Remember Monty Hall
So there I was in the Beverly Hills living room of one of Canada's Biggest Ever TV stars.Lorne Greene?Nope!Gisele Mackenzie?Hardly!Morley Safer?I said TV star of stars!It was Monty HallLet's Make A...
View ArticleSecrets From The Ice Proves Of Things Still Thriving
I well remember a conversation not so long ago when a head CBC programmer mused about canceling The Nature Of Things after its 50th season on air.Well, that programmer has long departed while NOT is...
View ArticleA Better Man: The TV Documentary At Its Finest
It's entirely appropriate that at one screening of the new documentary A Better Man there were therapists stationed in the lobby available for counseling.The vivid film directed by Attiya Khan and...
View ArticleI Remember David Cassidy
As a summer student at The Globe And Mail my assignment was to seek out the newest teen sensation David Cassidy for a "tell all".It must have been the summer of 1971 when "Cassidymania" was at its...
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