Yesterday in CBC History

Who could forget the début of the One?

First airing on July 19, 2006, it gave us all something to groan about in the summertime.

The contestants of The One completed their debut performances on Tuesday night, and anxiously returned to the Academy, where friendships and a budding romance between Nick and Aubrey have blossomed.

Ah, Nick and Aubrey. We hardly knew ye. You and “George S.

This year, what have we got?

The distasteful site of TV critics from National and National-by-Proxy Canadian Newspapers sucking up to The Stars at the Television Critic Association in Beverly Hills. Andrew Ryan at the Globe, Rob McKenzie at the National Post, and now Rob Salem at the Toronto Star.

Who fucking cares? The most interesting thing in any of them is watching perennial sad sack Andrew Ryan struggle with fonts and margins in his blog.

Please don’t click the links. You’ll only encourage them.

Credit goes out to tips from “a former CBCer” as well as the Toronto Media Mudsling.
Thanks.
~O

16 Comments

  • Allan says:

    So the National’s story on Internet/Free Speech has been delayed.
    And we were so looking forward to it.
    I began looking deeper into it and was intrigued by the issue of linking to a story as being a form of re-publishing.
    Is this a problem or an absurdity?
    The latter.
    The real question, I think, is how do we protect ourselves from an anonymous person writing outrageous remarks or fictional yet convincing accounts claiming we eat boogers and don’t wash our hands after going poo-poo?
    Tell us, o wise Ouimet.

    So far, I’ve read the paranoid and non-sensical remarks of Richard Francis on the libel suit by Crookes,.
    I’ll defend him when he needs it, but for the moment I’m going to challenge him, particularly when he’s calling for money.
    He says some pretty dumb things, and nothing of the meat of the issue in contention:

    Not long ago, libel chill was not something a common person experienced because common people were not publishing. Now we are and so are exposed to the pitfalls of hundreds of years of antiquated law designed to protect aristocratic authority. Mackinnon wanted to know how this lawsuit is affecting our lives.

    (This was not something I was expecting to find inside a political Party which has in its constitution the principles of participatory democracy and social justice, but I digress…)

    If “libel chill” is going to enter the lexicon then I think we need to define it.
    Surely it is something experienced only by someone NOT being sued, but just worried and therefore self-censoring.
    Richard is not experiencing libel chill. He’s being sued for libel, plain and simple.
    All laws may seem antiquated in due course, but libel and defamation laws serve a vital purpose, and if you breach a current law then you may be duly held to account.

    Did Francis libel Crookes or not?
    Want to have the trial here and now?
    I’m up for it.
    But a court is the only place for a definitive ruling that goes into “the record”.
    If Francis has indeed committed libel, then why should any of us help him out of the mess he created?
    If he has not libeled then either call Clayton Ruby or have a smidgen of faith in the people who administrate justice in our great and native land.
    (Speaking from personal experience, I would advise you to have no faith at all, and to start learning the law and your arguments fast)
    Mr. Francis should stop with the whining and look seriously at what he’s gotten himself into, since he can’t bring himself to talk with us about it out of fear of compromising his future defense.
    People who are freaking out tend to say things that are emotional and irrelevant, and Francis gets right to Section 15, as if he’s being victimized, and claims a law is “designed to protect aristocratic authority”.
    I’d like to hear his case for that in a courtroom, or on the stage at Yuk-Yuk’s.
    He also fantasizes that The Green Party is supposed to be on his side.
    He really has a lot to learn.

    Incidentally, should I be worried that Francis will sue me for my opinion if it be adverse to his cause or his self-esteem?
    Of course not.
    I’m just an old fogey sitting in the balcony of Ouimet’s Muppet Show, Your Honour, and I can say whatever the fuck I want.

    P.S. That “Ghetto dude” should sue!

  • Anonymous says:

    We are waiting for the great Garth Drabinksky flame-out in the fall.
    The One too.

  • Anonymous says:

    I’ve seen it on Alitalia as well … one hides one’s passport. Hasn’t Canadian television really gone completely to shit.

  • Anonymous says:

    Just for laughs is so not funny, kinda like Little Mosque on the Prairie is so not funny (yet the WRONG people keep on laughing…tick, tock, tick, tock…ya hear that? that’s the sound of the cancel clock…now that’s funny!!)

    Are people that desperate for comedy?

    Can’t wait to laugh my head off when it’s cancelled.

  • Anonymous says:

    I hate that show so much. It’s the worst thing about flying Air Transat.

  • CQ says:

    “This year, what have got?”

    Last week in CBC History, as far as I know, Just for Laughs: Gags made the jump to American Big-Three network, ABC, primetime. There’s an announcer quietly attached but otherwise it looked the same.
    The channel listing shows Just for Laughs: Gags receiving the entire 8pm hour this happy Tuesday. (eehhhhh!)

  • Anonymous says:

    Wow, that latest Ryan piece is amazing… first eight paragraphs repeated off the top… and take a look at the page source! At one point there are over 400 lines of blank space in the code.

  • Allan says:

    It’s actually a new game show in development.
    First question:
    Who should be more worried:
    (a) a Blogger
    (b) someone living at Jane & Finch

  • Ouimet says:

    “Bogus jeopardy” did you make that up? Very catchy.

    Ok, you have a date. And some great points. Let’s see what this TV show is all about, and then meet back here.

  • Allan says:

    In whose interest is it to deny freedom of speech to Canadians?
    And how likely are they to get away with it?
    True, I haven’t seen the piece, but this smacks of bogus jeopardy.
    Anyone has a right to ask for, and have pulled, something from the internet that they feel belongs to them, or take civil action if they think someone is publishing or broadcasting irresponsibly.
    The Hour could have rightfully retrieved the edit job I did on George last year, and Kirsten could have sued anyone pretending to know her personal life and spreading false gossip.

    There is one limit to freedom of speech in Canada that still doesn’t feel right, having to do with that guy Zundel, but the guys in England who called for Muslims to kill anyone not on their side, and were sentenced to seven years, had to be controlled or expelled.

    I’ll see if I can be around to tape tomorrow’s item, and then you can decide if you want to post it, and then we can take it apart.
    How would that be?

  • Ouimet says:

    I’m not so sure, Allen.

    The House of Commons got that YouTube video taken down.

    I’d never even heard of this guy Wayne Crookes until this morning. It sounds like an interesting story.

    I’ll definitely watch, but I’m not shelling out anything for any kind of “legal defence fund” just yet.

  • Allan says:

    RE: Threat to the ‘Net and Political Free Speech in Canada
    There’s no threat whatsoever to freedom of speech on the internet or anywhere else in Canada.
    Period.
    And this posting reminds me of all the excitement about Area 52.
    Send your money to Tammy Faye instead. It’ll be just as productive.

    Isn’t this story just as much about the right of an individual to sue?
    And how come so many from the same guy?
    It must be relatively easy to file a lawsuit even if you’re not Conrad Black.

  • Allan says:

    It’s God’s way of telling you to get a life.
    Or cable.

  • Anonymous says:

    I go to cbc.ca and learn that tonight’s “CBC Summer Movie” is “Troy” … why?

  • Kempton says:

    Hello O,

    I want my money back. (smile) I was expected to read more about George S. and The One but I felt you did a B & S. (smile) (Note to self: must not be so easily baited by pix of George S. (smile))

    You see, The One is still a sore subject and one that I shouldn’t have asked in a recent interview.

  • Allan says:

    I always enjoy seeing old pictures of George, but this post has me asking “where’s the beef?” Despite your warning, I clicked on and read all three.
    I once dreamed of attending the TV Critics junket, if only to ask Carol Burnett if she’d care to play Beach Blanket Bingo.
    It’s interesting to see the three different approaches of each writer.
    Andrew seems especially in half-coma thinking of something to write about that won’t offend his hosts. With the wisdom that only a veteran could bring to the subject, he declares:
    “Television recycles ideas, but rarely talent.”
    whereas, my youthful gaze sees them doing just that constantly.
    (Even Chaci is about to return, Ouimet!)
    He also quotes another visionary, Star Jones, as saying:
    “Conversation is coming back to daytime television!”
    though it’s been there for years now, and improved considerably when she left The View.

    The National Post guy seems kind of young, doesn’t he?

    Rob Salem shows how it’s done, providing real news and far more thorough coverage.
    I can still remember clearly the first time I saw this local Shrek-sized gumshoe reporter, hailing a cab for himself and two hookers at Broadview and Queen.
    So it’s not that surprising when he writes:
    “(Kelsey Grammer’s) fractious former co-anchor, played by Patricia Heaton, who finally has someone substantial to bounce off of, having wasted nine years blowing Ray Romano …

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