As we head into another frigid  Canadian winter we bring you a podcast about a series that is set and shot in the hottest part of Australia. The series is called Troppo, a term used in north Queensland that means going mad from the heat. Troppo is based on the best selling novel from Candice Fox titled Crimson Lake and it is about a disgraced American ex-cop played by Thomas Jane (HBO's Hung) hired to help an Australian  private investigator. They are teamed together on murder cases in far north Queensland.The actress playing the PI is Nicole Chamoun and we reached her half way around the world this week in Australia via a zoom call.  Seasons One and Two of Troppo are streaming now in Canada on Super Channel. 

 After 31 years as host of The Fifth Estate, plus another decade winning Emmys for CBS and NBC News, award-winning investigative journalist Bob McKeown is ready to retire.The Ottawa native never shied away from his assignments, especially when it came to reporting on football and head injuries. Back in the '70s, he was a CFL all-star centre for the Ottawa Rough Riders. He is without a doubt the only three-time recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award to have also won a Grey Cup.On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, the 74-year-old talks about how he lined up opposite the best the CFL and American college football had to offer. That he later went head-to-head with Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and even Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom host Marlin Perkins only added to his legend.Then there's the time he got bitten by a shark! Sink your teeth into the whole story on this story-packed podcast episode. Then see the highlights as part of The Fifth Estate: 50 Years of Truth, premiering Friday, November 29 on CBC and CBC Gem.  

Tyler and Jordie Schwartz started their business of selling retro toys and gifts in 2007 as the Canadian Leg Lamp Company. The idea came after shooting their fan film “Road Trip for Ralphie,” an homage to the kid from the 1983 classic, “A Christmas Story.”Next they introduced Moose Mugs from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989). Seventeen years later, they’ve branched out to all kinds of retro goodies, including toys, candy, books, games, ugly sweaters and much more.You’ll find them all packed inside their Oakville store, or on-line at retrofestive.ca. Thanks to the Schwartz's, you’ll also find these nostalgic Christmas treats at the TV on Film Party screenings I’ve been hosting at The Westdale theatre in Hamilton. Awarded as TV trivia prizes, they make the perfect treats for fans who know all about A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.Tyler talks about how these retro reminders bring us back to an innocent time spent growing up in front of the TV. Hear him this week on brioux.tv: the podcast.

When Jess Salgueiro auditioned in person for the role of Eve on Frasier, she had to do it in front of a pair of sitcom legends: Kelsey Grammer and director Jim Burrows.Pressure? Yes and no says the actress, who was born in Winnipeg, Man.  She figured there must be hundreds of others lining up to try and win a role on this reboot of a TV classic. With nothing to lose by trying, she told herself, just have fun and see if you can make them laugh.She did, and got the part.Now after two seasons streaming on demand at Paramount+, Salgueiro feels right at home on the famed Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood. This past September she and Grammer were in Toronto attending a public screening of the series. She was blown away when Grammer, speaking to the crowd beforehand, got emotional about having her as part of the cast.Hear all about her climb up the TV ladder as this week's guest on brioux.tv: the podcast.

 Stop me if you've seen this kind of Hallmark series before: an enterprising and attractive single woman (Sarah Drew from Grey's Anatomy) owns a Christmas store on the main street of a picturesque small town. She crosses paths with a handsome, newly single-police officer (Peter Mooney from Burden of Truth). Before you can say, "witness tampering," holiday sparks ensue.Mistletoe Murders, already launched in the US on Hallmark Channel and premiering Nov. 18 om W Network and STACKTV, does stick to a familiar tinsel template. The murder mystery angle, however, raises the stakes. Shot mainly in Pickering, Ont., the six-episode series is part of Hallmark's annual Countdown to Christmas. Every year, the production of dozens of festive flicks is an early Christmas present for many Canadian actors and even more local crew members. They shoot these films -- often in warm spring and summer months -- for November and December viewing. Find out if Drew and Mooney like eggnog, real Christmas trees and which holiday film is must see in their respective homes. 

 If only The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was still around to help us through another turbulent US Presidential election. Pat Paulsen -- where are you when we need you?A key writer/producer back on that 1967-69 comedy variety show was a Canadian -- Allan Byle. Before the Smothers, he worked for Fred Rogers as well as CBC songbird Juliette. Tommy Smothers, who has a knack for spotting talent, insisted that Blye, then in his twenties, be part of the Comedy Hour writing staff. The series became a mid-season, Sunday night hit. While tame by today's standards, controversial jokes, edgy guest stars and political pressure led to CBS firing the Smothers early in 1969.Blye carried on as a writer/producer. He went on to bring out the best in David Steinberg, Sonny & Cher, Dick Van Dyke, John Byner and Super Dave himself, Bob Einstein.The Winnipeg-born Emmy winner passed away in October at 87. On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, I welcome his younger brother Garry who also worked on many of those landmark shows.Garry's showbusiness credits are worthy of their own salute. He started as a talent agent, representing a couple of pretty good clients -- Elvis Presley and Col. Tom Parker. Garry's stories range from that 1968 Elvis Comeback Special to later on working with the likes of Redd Foxx, Cher, John Candy and more. Join us for an hour-plus of amazing showbiz memories that will fly Blye. 

 In Part 2 of my conversation with Ken Levine, more evidence that the Emmy-winner is one of TV's top storytellers.One of my favourite episodes from his excellent podcast, Hollywood & Levine, is the one where he told listeners exactly what he thought of the recent reboot of Frasier. Some might see this as sour grapes from one of the authors of the original series, but I for one was keenly interested in Levine's unvarnished take. He didn't hold back, and repeats what Fresh Hell he sees in the Paramount+ series.He also talks about a sitcom he co-created over 30 years ago with writing partner David Issacs: Big Wave Dave's. The cast was outstanding, but the network ditched it after six episodes. Hear why, and also which episode from that series Levine feels is the funniest thing he and his partner ever wrote.Also in Pt. 2: hear which episode from a classic TV sitcom from the '50s  made Levine laugh the most as a youngster -- and also inspired an episode with a similar one-big-joke premise 30 years later on Cheers. 

What hasn't Ken Levine done? He's an Emmy-winning screenwriter who has -- with writing partner David Issacs -- written for some of television's best comedies. You may have heard of M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier. In his spare time (!) he has also been a disc jockey, a major league baseball play-by-play announcer, a cartoonist, a playwright, a director, a travel writer, an executive producer, a blogger and a podcaster.His weekly podcast, Hollywood & Levine, helped make trips to the cottage fly by for me these past eight years. Recently, however, Levine stepped away from the mic. So I emailed him and asked: would he guest on my podcast?Here is the answer. a very entertaining two-parter, with great stories about all of these amazing things he's done. Part One starts with his start in the baseball broadcast booth, calling his very first big league game at Exhibition Stadium, the not so fondly remembered early home of the Toronto Blue Jays. From there Ken chronicles his path to success in the big leagues of writing for network sitcoms. If you love television you'll want to listen. If you want to write for television, you have to listen.

This past spring, the CBS action-drama Tracker became an instant hit, emerging as the No. 1 US network series of the season. On this episode, I speak with the tracker himself, Justin Hartley, who was in Toronto last June promoting the series at the CTV upfront. After a career in soaps (Passions; The Young and the Restless) as well as in primetime (Smallville; Emily Owens, MD), Hartley hit the TV jackpot as Kevin Pearson in This Is Us (2016-22). That led to the 47-year-old actor landing the lead as skilled survivalist Colter Shaw who helps others for money in Tracker. In this shorter-than-usual episode, the Illinois native talks about his love of baseball (he enjoyed a Blue Jays game while in Toronto), finding  success later in life, and about what to expect in Season Two. The Vancouver based series is back now on Sunday nights on CBS and CTV.

When you’ve been busy creating, writing and starring in TV shows and films for a couple of decades, who has time for a hobby?That’s been the case for Mark McKinney. This son of a diplomat moved around a lot as a lad and says comedy has always been his hobby. Together with Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCullough and Scott Thompson, he’s been performing on stage, film and television as one of the Kids in the Hall since the late 1980s. McKinney also spent a couple of seasons as a writer-performer on Saturday Night Live, helped create, write and act in Slings & Arrows, and appeared in shows such as Man Seeking Woman and Son of a Critch. He also was the showrunner on Less Than Kind and for six seasons co-starred as manager Glen Sturgis on the NBC sitcom Superstore.That didn’t leave much room for stamp collecting or skeet shooting. On Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby (Wednesdays on CTV and streaming on Crave), McKinney tries birding, fly fishing, puppetry and even tackled hockey playing robots. He’s joined by guests such as comedians Margaret Cho and Deb DiGiovanni, singer Billy Newton-Davis, Superstore co-star Ben Feldman, food critic James Chatto and Muppet puppeteer Trish Leeper.As you’ll see in episode one, however, he drew the line when it came to tattooing. Hear all about McKinney’s hobby search adventures on this week’s episode of brioux.tv the podcast.

The first scene of the new Fox and Global series Murder in a Small Town is set at that most sacred of Canadian television landmarks: the diner from The Beachcombers, Mollys Reach. Seated inside, shooting a first date scene, are two actors representing several generations of Canadian acting royalty: Kristin Kreuk, the Vancouver lass who went from Edgemont to Smallville to Beauty and the Beast to Burden of Truth to starring in this fifth network series, Opposite her is Rossif Sutherland. The late, great Donald was his dad; Kiefer his half brother. No pressure.Series creator and writer Ian Weir (also Canadian) screwed up and made Rossif a Chief of Police, not a Mountie. Kristin plays a librarian/muse, not Anne of Green Gables. Otherwise, almost everything else about this series is so Canadian it apologises. Sorry.Even one of our greatest homegrown actors, R.H. Thomson, plays a dead body in the pilot. That is so Canadian.Kreuk, one of the most popular guests ever at brioux.tv: the podcast, talks about all of this and more. Get comfy on a chesterfield, open a bag of ketchup chips, and join us.

 Ever wonder what it was like to be in Studio 8H opening night in 1975 on Saturday Night Live?Director Jason Reitman wondered and his new movie, "Saturday Night," is a recreation of the hours leading up to airtime on that historic night. Somebody who was there, however, is my guest this week on brioux.tv the podcast: Lorraine Santoli.No, she was never one of the "Not Ready from Prime Time Players." Lorraine, who worked at NBC, was on the floor, pulling cables for the camera operators during the broadcast. Lorraine went on to a spectacular career in entertainment. When we met 40 years ago in California, she was the main Disneyland publicist. Thanks to Lorraine, I had a backstage pass to a time when it was still possible to interview Roy Disney, animators Ward Kimball, Ken Anderson and Bill Justice and voice artists such as Jimmy Macdonald.Meanwhile, Lorraine became close friends with original Mouseketeers Annette Funicello and Bobby Burgess, among others. She later climbed the corporate ladder and became Head of Corporate Synergy at Disney, managing up to 60 companies during the Michael Eisney era.And wait till you hear her story about Pam Grier! Spend an hour with my friend Lorraine Santoli, this week at brioux.tv: the podcast. 

TV schedules and programs are like the places where we live. Sometimes they need somebody to come in a do a thorough de-cluttering.As CBC's Dragon's Den heads into a 19th season, who better to join the series as the latest investing entrepreneur than Brian Scudamore? He's the founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK. You know their slogan: "We make junk disapear. All you have to do is point!"As a pack rat who moved in the past year I know all about clinging to too much stuff. Scudamore tells me on this podcast episode how he came up with the idea of decluttering for others when, as a student, he was stuck in a fast food drive-through lineup. Since 1998, the business has spread to three countries and over 250 franchises. Now this author and podcaster is tackling all the other jobs we don't want to do with Shack Shine, WOW 1 Day Painting and You Move Me.Look for Scudamore to point and make other people's business dreams happen this season on Dragon's Den. The series returns Thursday, Sept. 26 on CBC and CBC Gem. 

After a two year wait, our long national farmhouse facelift crisis is over! Designer/contractor siblings Carolyn Wilbrink and Billy Pearson are back with a new, third season of HGTV's Farmhouse Facelift. The stylin' siblings--featured twice before on brioux.tv: the podcast--once again barnstorm through Southern Ontario, taking grim-looking concrete block bunkers and turning them, in Episode One for example, into custom country cottages. The eight new episodes also include a makeover of a cordwood farmhouse and a converted, one-roon school house. Plus hear what else Carolyn and Billy got up to during the two years between TV seasons. The new episodes are premiering weekly now on HGTV Canada and will also be streaming on Stack TV.

About two hours northeast of Toronto stands The Highlands Cinemas, a hand made movie palace carved out of cedars and mosquitoes. Every summer for 40 years, families from neighbouring towns and villages in Ontario’s cottage country have braved bear cubs in the parking lot to see everything from “Barbie” to the latest “Despicable Me” flick.It is entirely the vision of one of Kinmount, Ont.’s native sons, Keith Stata. “The Movie Man,” a documentary about this remarkable entrepreneur’s Don Quixote-like obsession with showing movies the way God intended — with an audience — is streaming now exclusively at Hollywood Suite.On this shorter-than-usual summer episode, we hear from Stata as well as director and photographer Matt Finlin, plus one of the executive producers of the documentary, Barenaked Ladies' frontman Ed Robertson. Finlin, Robertson and others came for the movies but kept cominng back for the incredible museum of movie projectors, film stills, drive-in speakers and other artifacts Stata has collected and displays in hallways that snake around the cinemas. This episode best enjoyed with popcorn.

Hugh Wilson talked his way into a job at MTM Enterprises at just the right time. When he arrived in the early '70s, they were busy making sitcom history with The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. Wilson, who had no prior TV experience, could often be found up in the rafters, taking a crash course in Funny 101.The result was his first series as a creator and executive producer, WKRP in Cincinnati (1978-82).In this "From the Vault" conversation from 2014, Wilson -- who passed away in 2018 at 74 -- talks about what it was like to strike gold with just the right cast at just the right time -- even if his rock 'n' roll radio station sitcom was never a big hit in the States.Among the surprising things he reveals:"When the show first went on, it was struggling in the ratings in the U.S. But the ratings in Canada were great right from the beginning," says Wilson, who used the Canadian response to successfully argue that the series needed time to find its audience. "I've never understood that but I've always been super grateful for it."

The death of comedy legend Bob Newhart July 18 had me scrambling for this "From the Vault" conversation with Bill Daily. Daily was one of Newhart's oldest friends from their Chicago days in the late '50s when Daily was directing and performing in television and Newhart was exploding onto the scene with, at the time, the biggest-selling comedy LP ever, "The Button-down Mind of Bob Newhart."The two reunited on The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78), a perfectly cast, well-written gem from the glory days of the MTM Studios. Daily praises, among other writers, Glen and Les Charles who went on to create Taxi and Cheers. He also talks about  how they all adored Suzanne Pleschette, as well as the incredible cast of zanies who stole scenes as Dr. Bob Hartley's group therapy patients. Then there's the story about how Newhart had to fire his best friend for getting the studio audience too heated in the warm-up  -- Don Rickles."I was so grateful to have that show," says Daily, previously best known for I Dream of Jeannie. In this conversation from 2014 -- four years before he died at 91 -- Daily saves his most heartfelt praise for Newhart. "He was the nicest man I've ever met."He also tells three of the funniest jokes I've ever heard. 

Welcome to a faster, higher, stronger podcast episode This week’s guest, Scott Russell, has medalled for years in Olympic Games coverage. He’s off to France for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, which runs July 26 through August 11. Russell will host the afternoon show, Bell Paris Prime, and he will remain host for CBC’s coverage of the Paralympic Games, which follows August 28 to September 8.And then he will leave the podium. The Canadian Screen Award and Gemini Award-winning broadcaster has already announced that this will be his last Games as CBC’s host.Russell has covered 16 Olympics for CBC, including six as host. He has also led the network’s coverage of the Pan Am Games, six Commonwealth Games, two FIFA World Cups and two FIFA Women's World Cups. He’s also been a host and rinkside reporter for 14 years on Hockey Night in Canada.After the games, he leaves to become the fifth chancellor of Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, where he holds an honorary doctorate.

In a spectacular career that's gone everywhere from The Streets of San Francisco to "Wall Street" and beyond, two-time Oscar winner Michael Douglas currently stars in the epic, eight-part limited series "Franklin," now streaming on AppleTV+.If you don't think Douglas looks like Benjamn Franklin, neither did the actor. He does an extraordinary job, however, disappearing under the skin of America's favourite founding father at his diplomatic best. These were the years where Franklin was tasked with trying to persuade the French to back the States in the War of Independence.Does it help to be famous to play someone famous? Douglas acknowledges that he could tap into some of the built-in, "rock star"-like advantages Franklin enjoyed. That "Franklin" is also about a struggle for democracy, as well as a tale of truth, lies and the power of the press, well, how bloody timely is that.Douglas also talks about one of my favourite series, The Kominsky Method, his farm in Quebec, the Canadian doctor who saved his life and, as he approaches his 80th birthday in September, gratitude. I'm just grateful for this candid, reflective conversation which is a Canadian podcast exclusive. 

Man it was fun heading down to Niagara last October and catching up with Ron James. He was shooting season two of his comedy series 1 Man's Treasure, which is up now and streaming on Bell Fibe.If this episode sounds different it is because it was shot outside in a park, and simply recorded on a Pixel phone. There is some reflection here about getting older, or, as James says, being in the "third quarter in the game and you're still trying to find the purpose in life."Ron needn't look any further; his is to make others laugh. We were joined by actor-comedian-philosopher Pat McKenna, another Second City survivor who co-stars on the series. Guests this season include Jayne Eastwood, Paul Sun Hyung Lee, Tony Nappo and others. A dilly of a conversation. Pull up a lawn chair and listen in.

The licensing of American specialty brands in Canada went all WWE in June as Rogers swooped in and wrestled away rights to The Food Network and HGTV brands, among others, from Corus. The new deals with Warners Bros. Discovery takes effect in January. There are indications Bell Media can't count on re-upping some of their Discovery brand imports either.What has sparked all the brand swapping? What are the ramifications for Corus and others?  Daniel Eves, who for years was at the table negotiating licensing deals  with American Studios while SVP at Corus, says the potential for all these specialty swaps has been there for several years.  He explains it all as this week's timely guest at brioux.tv: the podcast.

As "Toad" in "American Graffiti," Charles Martin Smith took playing the school nerd to new heights. Over 50 years later, the California-born actor-director co-stars opposite Toronto actress Anwen O'Driscoll in "This Time," director Robert Vaughn's very modern road picture now streaming on Super Channel.In between, Smith has acted with a Who's Who of Hollywood, including Burt Reynold ("Fuzz"), David Niven and Don Knotts (Disney's "No Deposit, No Return"), Sean Connery and Kevin Costner ("The Untouchables"), Jeff Bridges ("Starman") and Michael Keaton and Geena Davis ("Speechless"). His TV credits range from episodes of The Brady Bunch, Room 222 and The Streets of San Francisco to  LA Law, Northern Exposure and The X-Files.  He's worked on more Canadian shows and movies than most Canadians, including "Never Cry Wolf" and Da Vinci's Inquest.  His directing credits include "Air Bud" and "The Snow Walker."And then there are the roles that got away, including one he auditioned for -- Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars."Then there are his dad and uncles -- "Golden Age" animation directors for Walter Lantz, Disney and UPA. Smith is a great story teller and man does he share some doozies here.

Hugh Dillon is a man of many talents, including acting, writing and rocking -- the latter done with his band, Headstones.The acting writing and producing skills were put to the test this third season on the Paramount+ drama Mayor of Kingstown.  Dillon and his series co-creator Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone; Tulsa King) made it their mission to put their lead, Jeremy Renner, firmly back on his feet again after the actor suffered a horrible accident in January of 2023.  Renner's Mayor "Mike" McLusky spends most episodes racing from crisis to crisis as he tries to settle gang wars that are constantly errupting in his prison town.  Viewers will see McLusky pick up right where he left off at the end of Season 2, with Renner showing no signs of the damage he suffered as a result of being crushed under a  seven ton snow plow.On this episode, Dillon also references his former series, Flashpoint, his years growing up in his own prison town, Kingston, Ont., and his new album with the Headstones.

Here is another conversation I had in May at the CBC Media Upfront on Toronto.  Allan Hawco and Josephine Jobert -- stars of the upcoming CBC series Saint-Pierre -- talk about shooting the series, which will premiere in 2025. Currently in production on the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, the police procedural finds an out of favour St. John's detective (Hawco) teamed with a seasoned investigator from France.  Can opposites arrest? Hawco, who co-created the series, says don't expect another Republic of Doyle-style retro cop show.   Look instead for something a little darker, more of a modern British approach to detective drama. French actress Jobert has also played a cop before, and is best known for the BBC/WNET drama Death in Paradise.I've been to these small islands off the coast of Newfoundland which remain a territory of France. They are better known for tourism than terrorism, but the leads insist they are an intriquing setting for criminal behaviour.

One of the new shows on CBC's 2024-25 schedule is called Small Achievable Goals. It is a scripted comedy about female podcasters going through menopause. Those three words, however, coulld also describe, in a fiercely competitive and crowded media landscape, the only way forward for CBC.  On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, I speak with Executive Vice President Barbara Williams and General Manager Entertainment, Factual & Sports Sally Catto. We talk about new shows hitting the schedule, including series returns for Allan Hawco, Jennifer Whelan and Meredith MacNeill; shows that missed the cut, including Run the Burbs and One More Time, the upcoming Paris Summer Olympic Games and the uncomfortable fact that the leader of the opposition -- who has a wide lead in the polls -- has vowed to defund the CBC. 

Attention Hearties! And especially Hickies! Yes, this week's episode of brioux.tv: the podcast features Ben Rosenbaum. For over a decade, he's played Mike Hickam on When Calls the Heart, the longest-running series on both Hallmark and Super Channel.With Season 11 winding down, WCTH has already been renewed for a 12th season. Born and raised in the States, Rosenbaum has enjoyed his decade-long run working on the show in British Columbia so much he applied for landed immigrant status.  He looks back over the years and talks about Hickam's slow and steady romance with Mei Sou (Amanda Wong) and how his character has grown from being, to use an Andy Griffith Show comparison, the Barney Fife of Hope Valley to more of its Andy Taylor.

Evanka Osmak helps us keep score most nights along with Ken Reid at the Sportsnet Central desk. She's taking her own shot now in the publishing world with her first novel, a cool book for kids ages 6-11 titled "Ali Hoops."The PlumLeaf Press release is all about a young girl named Ali who loves shooting hoops with her schoolmate Leila. Can they both make the school basketball team? What if one of them does and the other does not?Born in New Jersey and raised in Oakville, Ont., Osmak has an inspiring track record when it comes to stepping up to her own foul lines in life. Trained and employed in the world of civil engineering, at 25 she tore up those plans and took a chance on a broadcasting career. That led to opportunities on both sides of the border and a job she's loved for over a dozen years now at Sportnet.Hear about her own two young readers at home, her love for the Toronto Blue Jays and how she cracked the Sportsnet lineup on this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast.

As briouxtv listeners know, executive producer Mitch Azaria loves to go Tripping. These past five years, he has taken us by mahogany lake boat up the Rideau Canal, sailing along the tip of The Bruce Peninsula, on a bird's eye view over the Niagara region and aboard a Budd train northwest of Superior to White River. This April, his latest immersive documentary is Tripping the French River. The mode of travel this time is aboard a cedar strip canoe as we travel from Lake Nipissing on a three-hour paddle towards Georgian Bay. If you haven't taken one of these TV trips before you'll get so close to nature you may find youself tripping outdoors all on your own! Mitch gets you ready with plenty of facts and surprises in this conversation. Did you know that the French River was the first waterway to be designated a Canadian heritage river? See the documentary when it premieres Sunday, April 21 on TVO, on TVO Today or on YouTube.

Stop doing whatever you are doing right now and listen to this podcast episode with Dave Thomas. The SCTV writer-producer-player looks back on his years working with the late, great, Joe Flaherty, who passed away April 1st at 82.Thomas and Flaherty produced the series in its second season, taking their cue from Harold Ramis and putting more of a spotlight on the cast's ability to morph into famous celebrities. They also had an uncanny way of mashing together good and bad films with, well, Fantasy Island. You will laugh, you will cry, you will kiss one hour goodbye but you will not find a better use of your time. Plus Thomas speculates on whether or not that Scorsese documentary will ever see the light of day. Tell it like it is, Bill Needle!

Terry Fox dipped his toe into the Atlantic off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland, on April 12, 1980. And so began his historic crusade against cancer, the Marathon of Hope.Forty-four years later, nearly a billion dollars has been raised to help people with cancer around the world in Terry's name. On this podcast, the man who ran with him halfway across Canada and who helped organize Fox's fundraiser, Bill Vigars, shares many first hand stories about this great Canadian hero.You'll find even more of them in his bestselling book, "Terry & Me," available all this month of April at 15 per cent off from publisher Sutherland House.Vigars, a previous brioux.tv podcast guest, gives the back story on all the Terry Fox statues across Canada, plus the whereabouts of Fox's running shoes and other artifacts from '84. He also talks a bit about his career as a network TV publicist, including a memorable encounter with the late, great Joe Flaherty back in the SCTV star's Maniac Mansion days. 

 Gotta sing! Gotta dance! Gotta watch the cast of Murdoch Mysteries do what no other scripted, dramatic Canadian TV series has done before -- present a full-blown musical episode.It happens Monday, March 25 on CBC (see it after the 25th on CBCGem) and April 6 on Ovation in the US."Why is Everybody Singing?" finds our hero, Det. William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), shot in the head while investigating a crime. In a coma, he watches, helplessly, while the rest of the cast go into their song and dance.In the mix is Daniel Maslany as Det. Lewellyn Watts. After eight seasons, he's the new guy no more on Murdoch. The Regina native tells me it was a blast ducking into his share of the 14 songs written and composed especially for this episode by writer Paul Aiken. Maslany says that, when he joined the series, his clue to his character was delivered in two words: "Think Columbo." Listen to the rest of our conversation to learn more about Maslany, his favourite Murdoch guest star (who returns for this special episode) and why being an actor is sometimes, yes, really, really fun! 

Trish Stratus is a WWE Hall of Famer, eight-time WWE Champion, and was recently named WWE's Greatest Female Superstar. Now she's heading into her third season as a judge on Canada's Got Talent, which has just been supersized with a million dollar payday thanks to Rogers. So if head judge Howie Mandel gets out of control this season on CGT, remember, he's just a body slam away from total annihilation!The Toronto native has parlayed her success and passion into the Stratusphere.  Through yoga and fitness she sticks to her philosophy of achieving wellness through balanced living. This mother of two has genuinely been wowed by the level of talent she's seen so far on the talent competition, which returns Tuesday on Citytv. Listen as she gives some surprising details about her own background and how she wrestled her own way to the top.

Back in 1974, fifty years ago, there was no streaming, no cable, no news or sports networks. What there finally was, however, was a third national Canadian broadcast network. On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, Corus Entertainment EVP Troy Reeb looks back at a time when Canada went Global. Once known as "The Love Boat network," it is the longtime Canadian home of some of TV’s most enduring hits, including the Young and the Restless and Saturday Night Live. Over the years, it was where Canadians first watched SCTV as well as 90210. Canadian originals in prime? Global could have done more, but highlights include Traders, Super Dave, Ready or Not, Rookie Blue and Private Eyes.Reeb talks about his own rise up the ranks from the news department to the executivesuite, as well as some of the high and lows of surviving in the ever-changing business of television.

The folks at AppleTV+ asked if I’d like a one-on-one with Eugene Levy. Before you could say Schitt’s Creek, I said yes!Levy – beloved in Canada for decades as part of the legendary SCTV cast – had just been inducted into the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame. The interview took place in February in Pasadena, CA. I also took part in a press conference with Levy a day earlier while attending the winter edition of the Television Critics Association semi-annual press tour. What I didn’t know at the time is that Levy will be a recurring character on the fourth season of Only Murders in the Building. There he will join friend and fellow SCTV cast mate Martin Short. Another SCTV alum, Andrea Martin, was a recurring character on season three. Steve Martin and Selina Gomez, of course, also star on the series. I’ve spoken with the 77-year-old Emmy winner in the past. He is a quiet gentleman by nature, happier to talk about his son Daniel Levy or anybody else really. And while he's still not crazy about travelling, he finds that there is a wee bit more Scotch in his blood than he realized when he visits, for the first time, the homeland of his mother. That happens in Episode Two.My mom was born in Scotland as well, so enjoy this double scotch, or double half-scotch, podcast episode. 

Have you seen The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down? The series is produced out of Grenville Island in Vancouver and among the executive producers is Seth Rogen. He is known more for pot than pottery but watch him get his hands dirty a few times on camera, making, of course, ash trays from behind a pottery wheel.Now, there is a lot to pottery. You’ve got to fire up your creations in a kiln and then add colours and glaze. The contestants on the show on the episodes I’ve seen are very talented.I sat down and recorded this interview with three key members of the series last December at the CBC broadcast centre in Toronto. Meet host Jennifer Robertson, along with judges Brendan Tang and Natalie Waddell. Catch up with the series by streaming it on CBC Gem, with new episodes airing Wednesdays on the main network.One note: the room where this was recorded up on the 10th floor at CBC was echo-y and only one mic was used so the sound levels are a little wonky. Producer Phil Wong put the audio through his tweak machine but apologies for the less-than-perfect sound.

TV shows don't just write and produce themselves. That takes showrunners! Two of the best in Canada have been Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern, the husband and wife team behind such hits as Flashpoint, X Company and Transplant.Their latest is the new Wednesday night CBC police drama Allegiance. The series stars Supinder Wraich as promising rookie cop Sabrina Sohal. She's teamed with a savvy police veteran played by Enrico Colantoni, my previous guest on brioux.tv : the podcast. Stephen Lobo also stars as Sabrina's wrongfully accused politician father.On this episode, I'm joined by Mark Ellis, who talks about the importance of casting,  writing and setting this series in Surrey, B.C. Ellis also talks about how he really didn't have much of a sense of Canadian identity until his family returned to Canada from England when he was a lad and he started watching The Beachcombers."I thought, okay, this is Canada," says Ellis. "Here we are in a boat with Nick and Relic and we're racing down the sunshine coast... and I thought, well, this is a lovely place." Hear how Mark is bringing that vision up to date now with Allegiance.

I had so much fun zooming with Karen Robinson, who lays down the law on the new Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent."Toronto is its own character in the show,” says Robinson, who loves that the city is representing itself for a change instead of somewhere else. “This is about us.”Robinson plays Inspector Vivienne Holness on this latest extension of the L&O franchise, which also stars Aden Young and Kathleen Munroe. And, yes, she played a zanier cop shop boss on another Tassie Cameron-helmed series, Pretty Hard Cases. If she had to count all the police characters she has played, well, “it’s been a lot.”Robinson came with her family from Jamaica at 16, moving first to Alberta where she studied under the great theatre showman Robin Phillips. She has since shone in everything from Slings and Arrows to Schitt’s Creek.Feel her joy and energy in this spirited conversation. Then check her out on Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent Thursday nights on Citytv.

One of Red Green's favourite sayings is, "If the ladies don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."Steve Smith may be the handiest fella ever in the history of Canadian television. Inspired by that ol' TV fishin' pal Red Fisher, Smith crafted Red Green out of duct tape and suspenders. The Red Green Show had humble beginnings out of Hamilton, Ont.'s CHCH, eventually airing 300 episodes over 16 seasons stretched across five different stations and networks, including CBC and 100 PBS affiliates in the U.S.Smith used to appear on PBS pledge breaks and say, "If you like our show, send a little money. If you don't like it, send lots of money so they can afford something better."Now 78, inductee Smith returns to Hamilton Feb. 23 in a live tribute show as part of the week-long Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame festivities. See him in person along with his Red Green co-stars Patrick McKenna (nephew Harold), Peter Keleghan and Jeff Lumby as well as comedy road warrior Ron James.Catch up with Smith first as my guest on a fun episode of brioux.tv: the podcast. And keep your stick on the ice!

For years, actor/comedian Tim Progosh has wondered: with all the great comedians Canada has produced over the years, why is there no Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame?Progosh has done more than wonder. He's made it happen. For more than 20 years, his efforts have been stymied by celebrations cut short by the 9/11 attacks, by deals falling through during a recession, by COVID and actor strike interruptions. Who knew saluting the funny was such a serious and challenging business?On this podcast episode, Progosh tells how -- while still set on an eventual  brick and mortar venue --  he was able to gain the political smarts to get a virtual Hall off the ground. This year's inductees include Eugene Levy and Martin Short, the cast of SCTV as a troupe, Jim Carrey and Red Green Show star and creator Steve Smith and even late great Hilarious House of Frightenstein comedy chameleon Billy Van. Going even further back, early film star Marie Dressler and radio's The Happy Gang also made the Hall. Festivities and live comedy shows take place in Hamilton, Ont., Feb. 21 through 24. Go see the shows (featuring Ron James, Shaun Majumder and other comedians) but first listen as Progosh salutes his Canadian comedy heroes on this week's laugh out loud episode of brioux.tv: the podcast.

I’m old enough to remember seeing The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. That "really big shew" happened on February 9, 1964 – 60 years ago. I remember my dad going on about their long hair and those so-called Beatle wigs. I could not, however, take my eyes off them, and neither could a then-record 73 million other people who watched that night on television.That summer of ‘64, The Beatles came to Toronto for two performances at Maple Leaf Gardens. There for both shows and chosen to interview them the next day for the Toronto Star, was one lucky teen – Michele Finney. At the time she was the young co-star, opposite Alan Hamel and Howard the Turtle, of the daily, live afternoon CBC kids show, Razzle Dazzle.Twenty years ago, on the 40th anniversary of Beatlemania, I interviewed Michele. This was back when I was the TV columnist for the Toronto Sun. She is just as fab now as she was then as you’ll hear in our conversation. Listen as she talks of many other adventures, including re-connecting with John Lennon during the Live Peace in Toronto concert in 1969.

Of the 137 podcast episodes I've done here over the past four-plus years, the most amazing conversation might be the second one we recorded. That was with one of my favourite actors, Enrico Colantoni.The man has done very well since he left Etobicoke for the Big Apple as a student at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts. Distinguishing himself there led to memorable roles in "Galaxy Quest," Just Shoot Me, Veronica Mars, Flashpoint, "A.I.", "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and on and on. We pick up where we left off with this episode as Rico talks about his latest project, playing a well-seasoned police officer mentoring a keen new recruit (played by Supinder Wraich) in the new procedural Allegiance (premiering Wednesday, Feb. 7 on CBC and CBC Gem).Rico throws himself into a conversation the same way he tackles a role. He is 100 per cent all in and, as a result, up goes everybody else's game. We go all over the map as usual, talking hip replacements, his re-teaming with showrunners Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern (the husband and wife team behind Flashpoint) and, of course, Apache Burger. He even shares a story about his late-great Just Shoot Me colleague, George Segal. Please join us.

In this episode: two CBC Tuesday night comedies for the price of one.First up is Andrew Pfung and company from Run The Burbs (Tues. on CBC). The sitcom returns for a third season with Rakhee Morzaria, who plays Camille, joining Phung on this round-table chat, along with  showrunners Jennica Harper and Nelu Handa.We start off talking yard sales, the focus of the season three premiere. "Almost all the ideas on the show come from a very real place," says Phung. Also noted is how the kids on the series (played by Zoria Wong and Roman Pesino) are growing up and are more involved in storylines. And, yes, hip hop neighbour Kardinal Offishall returns as himself.Phung also says he was pleased by the response to such a diverse family from viewers watching in the U.S. last season on The CW. "We have such nice comments on the specify and the representation of this family." In the second half of this episode, meet standup comedian D.J. Demers along with showrunner Jessie Gabe, the team behind CBC's One More Time.Demers worked at a Play it Again sports store his last three years of high school in Kitchener, Ont. The experience "stuck in my brain and I drew inspiration from it all these years later to make the show." Demers has worn hearing aides since he was four years old. Back in the sporting goods store, he learned to keep customers in front of him so they wouldn't think he was ignoring them. "I didn't want anybody going to my boss and saying, 'What's with that teenage asshole?'"Like his character, he never learned American Sign Language."I grew up in a hearing family and went to a regular school, so I never was exposed to it," he says.Among the people he did hear from were the casting folks on Conan O'Brien's former late night talk show, who invited Demers on three times. He's also been featured at Just for Laughs in Montreal.Also starring is Geri Hall (This Hour has 22 Minutes), Dan Beirne and Elise Bauman.One More Time airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC, immediately before Run the Burbs. 

Two actors known exclusively for their work in the horror genre step off script and into their own real-life thriller on their quest to decipher if Canada’s most ghostly places are truly haunted. Yes, Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan are the ghostbusters in this "factual" (CBC never uses the "R" word) series. Both have horror genre credits in their IMDb profiles, with Zack playing a killer gay vampire in the OUT tv series Ezra and Matthew  in the cast of the Paramount+ feature, "Orphan: First Kill."For Ghosting, they travel to places where spirits have supposedly been sighted, including The Merrill House in Picton, Ont., and the McDonald Log Cabin in Allison, Ont.On each episode, they bring a special guest along on their quest to declare these notorious abodes, "Haunted or not."Along the way, podcast host Bill Brioux tells his own hair-raising tale of an overnight visit to a supposedly haunted hospital in Louisville, Kentucky.Ghosting premieres Friday, January 26 on CBC with all episodes available at 9am ET on CBC Gem. 

To see your way clear to a new spin on a cop show is not easy. Sisters Karen Troubetzkoy and Nikolijne Troubetzkoy, series creators who've proven themselves on hits such as Orphan Black and Transplant, looked within themselves for inspiration.Karen, or Kat, has struggled with vision loss requiring multiple surgeries since her twenties. Her story led Kat and Niko to come up with a unique angle: what if a homicide detective suddenly became clinically blind? Could she team up with a remote, seeing eye partner to continue solving cases?That's the premise behind Sight Unseen, premiering Sunday, January 21 on CTV. The Vancouver-based drama stars newcomer Dolly Lewis as homicide detective Tess Avery. When her sight becomes badly clouded in the middle of a police chase, she relies on an app that links her to a remote seeing eye guide who lives 3000 miles away named Sunny (Agam Darshi). Together, they make a  surprisingly effective team. Sight Unseen, which moves to Monday nights on CTV (and eventually The CW), is a surprisingly suspenseful series. Kat and Niko explain how it all came about in this equally edge-of-your-seat podcast episode!  

Series creator and star Mark Critch needed to replicate the bridge of the original Star Trek Enterprise for a fantasy sequence on his St. John's-based sitcom Son of a Critch. The episode airs this Tuesday, January 16 on CBC. Who did Critch beam aboard to do the job? None other that my guest this week on brioux.tv: the podcast, Mark Steel. True, that name sounds more like a Marvel superhero than a  production designer. Steel, however, has been crafting the look of everything from phasers to flight decks as the production designer on the Toronto-based Paramount+ series Star Trek: Discovery.Emmy nominated for his TV work, he was also the production designer of The Umbrella Academy and an Art Director on What We Do in the Shadows as well as Heroes Reborn and Beauty and the Beast. Raised in Ottawa, Steel got his start back in the '90s as a set decorator on the original Kids in the Hall series, which he says was pretty much a great party every live taping.Set phasers for stun as he talks about how he got into the business and  how he brought the Enterprise to Newfoundland, one retro scene at a time. As Spock would say, "Fascinating."

When you are casting a he/she series, chemistry is everything. The producers behind the new Vancouver-based cop/caper hour Wild Cards struck gold with their leads: Vanessa Morgan (Riverdale) and Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey's Anatomy). He plays a by-the-books, wrongfully accused cop trying to clear his name after being demoted to harbour duty. She plays a daring schemer who can con her way out of just about any corner. When the two are thrown together to solve a case, these wild cards make for a pair of Aces. Surprisingly, when it came time to cast this series, the two actors did not meet in person for their initial chemistry read together -- they performed it over a zoom call.Gianniotti, who was born in Italy and raised in Toronto, agrees that zoom casting and/or chemistry reads can be "difficult and strange."  TV being an international business, however, the two were in different cities and had to try the remote route. Meeting for the first time over Zoom, however, didn't dampen their natural  connection."It helps when you're actually friends and get along great with your co-star," says Morgan, who was born in Ottawa and was also featured on The Shannara Chronicles. The former Junior Miss America might also be familiar to fans of The Amazing Race Canada. She and her sister Celina placed third in the very first season of that series.Wild Cards boasts another Ace in recurring star Jason Priestley. The series premieres January 10 on CBC and CBC Gem and Jan. 17 on The CW.

Two thousand and twenty-three was a challenging year in the TV business. Inflation and higher interest rates had consumers thinking twice about streaming subscriptions. The writers and actors strikes put a cork in the content pipeline. Peak TV seemed to slip back from the summit.The big success story in Canada, however, was the rapid growth of Pluto TV. In one year, the Free Ad-supported Streaming Television platform went from zero to pacing at over one billion total viewing minutes monthly. That rapid success might have had something to do with their catchy slogan: "Stream now, pay never." What drew viewers to visit Pluto? A robust menu of fan favourites from the Paramount pipeline, including hits from the Star Trek franchise, CSI, NCIS, South Park, Doctor Who, Frasier, Cheers -- even Dora the Explorer.On this episode, Doug Smith, SVP, Streaming and Content Licensing, Paramount Global, and Katrina Kowalski, SVP International Content Programming and Acquisitions, explain how they helped put Pluto TV in orbit and how they'll keep it growing in 2024.

Giddyap, pardner. This week's episode of brioux.tv: the podcast takes a deep dive into everything you need to know about collecting your favourite TV shows on DVD. My guest is archivist, curator and classic TV expert Andrew J. Klyde, executive producer of Bonanza: The Official Complete Series.For many boomers, Sunday nights were spent with your family crowded around the one set in the house watching Disney, Ed Sullivan at 8 and then at 9, Bonanza. Throughout its 14-season, 431-episode run, Bonanza was the most-popular TV series of the 1960s.Besides making sure every episode was restored and transferred from 35 mm camera negatives, Klyde packed extras and bonus materials into the Bonanza Complete Series DVDs. The result is a Master Class on the history of 20th century television. For example: In digging through the background of Ottawa-born actor Lorne Greene, not the first choice to play ranch patriarch Ben Cartwright, Klyde sourced and added rarely seen profiles and documentaries from the CBC and other Canadian sources. He even added an interview I did back in 1991 with Michael Landon, who played Little Joe on the series and went on to Little House on the Prairie and Highway to Heaven. Sadly, Landon died of cancer three months after we spoke.I'm proud to play a small role in such a handsome salute to this series.  Listen as Klyde takes us back to the Ponderosa with dozens of behind-the-scenes stories. Then if you have a classic TV fan on your Christmas list, take note: Bonanza: The Official Complete Series DVD set is on sale now at Amazon.

At brioux.tv, most podcasts deal with the people who make television memories. What about, however, people who collect TV memorabilia? We’re talking toys and games, trading cards, comic books, autographs and puzzles?Meet Canada keeper of every boomer’s childhood memories: Bruce Button. For close to 50 years, Button has been buying, selling and curating TV merch, specialising in pop memorabilia from the ‘60s. On this podcast, I visit his Hamilton, Ont., house, where four rooms are jammed full of Man from U.N.C.L.E. posters, Hogan’s Heroes and Beverly Hillbillies lunch boxes and board games based on everything from The Addams Family and Alf  to Snagglepuss and Stingray. His collection doesn't stop there. His Beatles, Charlie Brown, Marx Bros. and Three Stooges goodies, not to mention his comic book, TV Guide and record collections, could fill at least one room alone.If, like me, you still have a full set of Batman cards from the ‘60s, or a Kenner’s Give-a-Show Projector – or even if you simply know what those things are – you’ll want to listen in as Button gives a guided tour of his broadcast booty. His stories about meeting everyone from Channel 47’s Chuck the Night Watchman (Chas Lawther) to Tiny Tim are, well, one-of-a-kind.If you want to see some of his treasures, check out the photos posted at brioux.tv.