brioux.tv: the podcast

Send us Fan Mail This episode, TV critic Bill Brioux is in conversation with two of the stars of the Citytv series Hudson & Rex. They are Mayko Nguyen, who plays forensics expert Sarah Truong, and Kevin Hanchard, superintendent Joseph Donovan. The actors set up the third season and talk about the challenges of giving their canine costar cues and direction through COVID times while wearing mask...

Send us Fan Mail Had a lovely chat right before Christmas with Hélène Joy, who stars opposite Yannick Bisson as Dr. Julia Ogden on CBC's #MurdochMysteries . She talks about her roots in Australia where she studied acting with Hugh Jackman. We touch on her roles in Canada on everything from Durham Country to the cult comedy Puppets Who Kill , where her character had to... well, I'll let h...

Send us Fan Mail It's the most wonderful time of the year for fans of Christmas programming. This episode, we learn from the top organizer how North America's oldest Santa Claus parade will carry on despite COVID. Director Dylan Pearce tells us about his Edmonton-based Super Channel movie "Christmas with a Crown," and there's even a visit from St. Nick himself--who sounds...

Send us Fan Mail Ask anyone who has ever acted across from him in a scene: Nicholas Campbell raises the bar. Demanding the best of himself and others has led to stellar work on Da Vinci's Inquest, The Englishman's Boy and now on CBC's Coroner. Then there are the stories along the way; hear him on Laurence Olivier, Donald Sutherland, Gregory Peck, David Cronenberg, Sonny Grosso, Chri...

Send us Fan Mail Ron MacLean had to interrupt our podcast to do a COVID test. The veteran host of CBC's Hockey Night in Canada has been the boy in the bubble of late, isolating these days as host of Battle of the Blades. MacLean talks about getting swabbed every 24 hours to do television, about the athletes, male and female, featured this season on Blades and, oh yeah, about where things stan...

Send us Fan Mail A conversation with Canadian comedian Brent Butt, creator of Corner Gas Animated, The sitcom is back for a third season Monday nights on CTV Comedy Channel. Butt explains how making an animated version of the series has one big advantage: it avoids any COVID-19 shutdowns. Special guests this season include Arcade Fire's Win Barron, SCTV legend Andrea Martin and WWE stars Bret...

Send us Fan Mail During a break in production on Season 14 of Murdoch Mysteries, Yannick Bisson candidly takes stock of these COVID times. The father of three, married to his high school sweetheart, talks about how this period of isolation and distancing has affected him personally and professionally. An intimate look at a leading man who never wears out his welcome on television.

Send us Fan Mail The Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter is back with a second season of her CTV comedy JANN (airing Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET on CTV). Arden fulfills a lifelong dream and puts "Canada's Sweetheart," Sarah McLachlan, in a headlock in Season Two. She also expresses her recipe for living through these COVID times. It involves a good book, an old dog and bedtime by 8...

Send us Fan Mail Who better to talk to about television than author, film critic and historian Leonard Maltin? After all, as the New York native explains, "TV was a living museum of movies when I was growing up." That's where he first encountered Laurel & Hardy, the Marx Brothers and all those classic cartoons. Then along came "The Mickey Mouse Club" and before you cou...

Send us Fan Mail How do you explain to a dog that there is a pandemic? That's just one challenge facing Sherri Davis as she and the rest of the cast and crew resume production on Hudson & Rex. The shot-in-St. John's series co-stars Diesel vom Burgimwald, a four-year-old German Shepherd who plays police dog Rex. Sherri explains how she helps Diesel see past the masks in order to follo...

Send us Fan Mail Besides growing a COVID beard in 2020, I finally jumped into the deep end of the podcast pool. On this shorter-than-usual episode I recap some highlights including clips from conversations with Cardinal star Billy Campbell and Coroner's Roger Cross. There's also a quick look ahead at Season Two conversations with Hudson & Rex dog trainer Sherri Davis as well as autho...

Send us Fan Mail Roger Cross co-stars opposite Serinda Swan on the hit CBC drama Coroner. Premiering Aug. 5 on The CW, the series joins a select group of Canadian dramas ever to crack a U.S. network lineup. Raised in Vancouver, the Jamaican-born actor planned on a commercial airline career before roles on The X-Files and 24 changed his flight path. Listen as he tells of acting tips from Billy Dee...

Send us Fan Mail What's it take to land on a top TV sitcom or drama? Here's the guy who knows: Jon Comerford. He's cast many of today's biggest hits, including Schitt's Creek, Cardinal, Star Trek: Discovery, Coroner and, further back, Due South. A fella by the name of Ryan Reynolds got his big break thanks to Jon, who I've known since we were both cub scouts in Etobic...

Send us Fan Mail Who's in the middle of rescuing the Canadian television industry during this pandemic? None other than Canada Media Fund president and CEO Valerie Creighton. She very kindly found time to talk about several key issues of the day, including efforts to bridge producers through the pandemic with emergency funding and how television will best soldier on once safe practices are in...

Send us Fan Mail Calgary native Andrew Phung recently won his third Best Supporting Actor award for playing Kimchee on the CBC/Netflix comedy Kim's Convenience. The one year he didn't win? The series wasn't eligible! With at least two more seasons on order, the emcee and comedian may have to make more room on his trophy shelf. Phung talks about the thrill of seeing Canadian stories...

Send us Fan Mail After four seasons, the Canadian detective drama "Cardinal" bows out on CTV. We reach Canadian Screen Award winner Billy Campbell in southern Norway. The actor, whose body of work includes "Once & Again," "The Rocketeer" and "The Killing," talks about why he considered this taut drama the best working experience of his life. The finale a...

Send us Fan Mail For the first remote version of brioux tv: THE PODCAST, who better to guest than glib Globe and Mail TV critic John Doyle. We talk about TV's struggles to carry on through these pandemic times. Does it work when SNL and late night talk shows lose their live laughter? What scripted fare should viewers binge now and what does the future holds for networks rapidly running out of...

Send us Fan Mail A candid conversation with Christina Jennings, CEO and founder of Shaftesbury and Chair of the Canadian Film Centre. As she reveals in this podcast, Jennings took an unconventional path to the top. She didn't eat the other guy's lunch, she made the sandwich. One of the savviest visionaries in television, she combines a genuine passion for Canadian stories with a wide ope...

Send us Fan Mail A warm and candid 90 minutes with Enrico Colantoni -- currently starring opposite Tom Hanks in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood" -- who tells Bill Brioux that the road from Etobicoke to Hollywood is indeed long and winding. It's also filled with incredible stories about Just Shoot Me co-stars George Segal and David Spade, "Galaxy Quest" alumni Tim All...

Send us Fan Mail In advance of the final Royal Canadian Air Farce New Year's Eve special (Dec. 30 at 8/7c on CBC and CBC Gem), founding member Don Ferguson talks to television critic and columnist Bill Brioux about his 47 years with Canada's longest-running comedy troupe. Ferguson also shares his three-word formula for what makes a smart broadcast executive -- and it's not the three...