Clik here to view.
Now Let Us Praise Dorothy Malone
A great pal of mine, Dorothy Malone, finally gets her due with a 24-hour salute on Turner Classic Movies Friday.Guess I'll have to stay home for that one.Malone died in January of this year at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
No Avoiding Cliches: Must-See TV!
"The business wanted to kill me."Alfie Zappacosta is trying to explain the strange up and downs of a career that included working on the Dirty Dancin' album, leads in such hits as Hair, and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Equus Opens New Season of Nature Of Things Quite Brilliantly
These are dark days for Canadian TV as viewership shrinks and other platforms compete for viewers.And then along comes a miniseries as brilliant as Equus and just maybe I'm thinking there is a future...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Another Power Lunch
I always enjoy my long, lingering power lunches with a top Canadian TV actress, a veteran opublicist and one of TV's most prolific producers.Here are highlights of our conversation last week at a top...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Is Canadian TV Finished?
So  there I was at a luxury Christmas lunch in Toronto where many eminent Canadians were eating, drinking and being merry.I hadn't been in this section of northern Rosedale for decades --in fact in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Answer Your Em-Mails
At the Toronto Star I used to get a flood of letters regarding my columns on TV.These days there are no letters but emails instead.So here's a sampling of what's bothering viewers these days:Dear Jim:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I Remember Fay Wray
I'm supposed to be on bed rest after a major operation but a brand new book arrived in the post and I just couldn't stop reading it until the wee hours.Titled Fay Wray and Robert Riskin: A Hollywood...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where Is Canadian TV?
I just spent Sunday night watching three hours of often brilliant documentary reportage.And once again I wondered: Where the heck is CBC-TV these days.First up was Fareed Zachara's one hour look at the...
View ArticleMe And Doris Day
I'm  Remembering  Doris DayI was lucky to share an interview with the legendary Doris Day .The location was her swank dressing room at Warners' Burbank Studios in 1969Also present was the ageless TV...
View ArticleCTV Looking To The Future
That was quite a performance CTV put Thursday afternoon to an over flood crowd of potential buyers as Canada's largest private network strutted itself.It was the Annual Fall TV Preview and was as star...
View ArticleA Place Of Tide And Time Is Remarkable
Watching the current trends in Canadian TV can be hazardous to the health of a veteran TV criticI started my career in 1970 when CBC was fairly bursting with arts specials, dance profiles directed by...
View ArticleNow Let Us Praise Sean McCann
Sean McCann was one of my favourite Canadian TV character actors.His death at 83 although not unexpected creates a huge void in the Canadian TV acting community.I guess I first met and interviewed him...
View ArticleI Remember Valerie Harper
News that my friend Valerie Harper had died from cancer aged 80 was disturbing but not unexpected.Harper was battling the strange illness of cancer of the membrane of the brain lining and had several...
View ArticleThe Nature Of Things Continues To Fascinate
So here I am at Ryerson University for the retirement of eminent teacher and filmmaker David Tucker who in his day contributed several outstanding films for CBC's The Nature Of Things.And gathered...
View ArticleI Remember Rod Coneybeare
So there I was at The Hamilton Spectator in September 1971 and it was my first day on the job as TV critic.My wonderful first features editor, Alex Beer, said he wanted me to start by surveying the...
View ArticleThe Divided Brain Divides Me
CBC's Documentary channel sent me a video link to a new 78-minute documentary The Divided Brain.My left brain said no but my right brain said take a shot and since I'm an impulsive guy I watched and...
View ArticleA Kandahar Away Is Must See TV
A Kandahar Away is a complete surprise --a compelling but beguiling documentary about one man's decision to honour his home town of Kandahar by building a war memorial in another Kandahar --a Canadian...
View Article