Lindsay Blackett strays from the script
By Frank Moher
So, Lindsay Blackett was just performing a public service when, at the Banff World Television Festival, he called Canadian TV “shit”? Apparently so. As the Alberta Minister of Culture and Community Spirit told the Calgary Herald earlier this week, his intention was to create “a national discussion” about Canadian TV’s crapitude. But I [...]
Old spice, new approach
By Jodi A. Shaw
Either the media gods have been listening to my pleas or there’s a refreshing new trend in advertising these days.
Over the last few months, TV commercials have not only been advertising products and services, but have been encouraging something a little more surprising: gender equality. Amazing!
I first noticed [...]
Betty White on Saturday Night Live: not cute
By Frank Moher
The show hasn’t reached my time zone yet, but by all Twitter accounts Betty White is killing it on “Saturday Night Live” tonight. But all this amazement that she can still do the job is a bit misplaced, no? For one thing, she’s only 88-years old. My buddy Antony Holland, whom some of [...]
Kate Gosselin: Go dancing with your kids, now
By Jodi A. Shaw
Dear Kate Gosselin:
What a long, twisty road you have travelled! I first met you when the smiling, laughing faces of your sextuplets caught my eye as I channel-surfed one lazy afternoon. I confess, I fell in love with your children and spent many afternoons looking in on your family. [...]
9/11 honour and dishonour
By Frank Moher
As it becomes increasingly clear that the official explanation of 9/11 is insupportable and won’t stand the test of time, I thought it might be apropos to establish a media “Honour” and “Dishonour” roll, recording those news organizations who have or haven’t done their job in reporting the story. The idea here is [...]
What the hell, Conan? TBS?
By Frank Moher
TBS? TBS? All over Canada, Conan O’Brien fans are asking: What the hell is TBS?
And how the hell are we going to watch Conan?
A quick check shows that the cable network to which O’Brien today declared allegiance — Turner Broadcasting System — is nowhere available in Canada; no, not on cable or satellite, [...]
Miley Cyrus’s secret
By Rachel Krueger
Proposition: Ostensible tweenstress Miley Cyrus is, in fact, an aging dowager.
While her bio and her boobs say she’s still well shy of 20, Miley Cyrus’s actions have all the quiet desperation of a washed-up starlet three times her age. The navel-exposing Myspaced photos “leaked” in 2008 are the closest to a sex-tape Hannah [...]
Fame is the new “skill”
By Rachel Krueger
Books are shit nowadays, and I blame you.
You may not have made the book deal with “Jersey Shore”’s bronzed illiterates Ronnie and J-Woww (I wish that was a typo), but you will probably read it. And even if you bypass what is sure to be the most gloriously misspelled Gym-Tan-Laundry manifesto, you watch [...]
CanWest Idol
By Frank Moher
Let’s play CanWest Idol! — in which we decide who should get to buy the bankrupt media company’s assets.
The finalists for the TV operation appear to be just two: Shaw Communications and Catalyst Capital. The former is the Alberta-based cable company; the latter is the front-organization for Leonard Asper and New York investment [...]
Fixing Canadian TV the NHL way
By Frank Moher
I didn’t think I had a home team in the TV broadcasters vs. TV distributors battle that has been thrust at us in recent months. Seemed like one set of mega-rich corporations pounding on another to see who’ll get to remain the fattest longest.
The nut of the dispute, in case your TV is [...]
