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Seven hundred episodes of a Canadian TV series? Aside from Hockey Night in Canada, what could this be? Well, on Tuesday, March 3, CBC will air the 700th episode of This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The satirical sketch series began way back in 1993. On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, I speak with two of the current front five players -- Stacey McGunnigle and Chris Wilson. (Mark Critch, Trent McClellan and Aba Amuquandoh are the others.) 

Over the past five seasons, Chris and Stacey been having great fun slipping under the skin of Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry; Pierre Poilievre and Karoline Leavitt; and Galen Weston and Pam Bondi, among many others. We had so much fun doing this episode we did it twice! (Well, that was mainly because I didn't record it the first time.) The good news is that this second version is twice as fun! Give it a listen here, or you can watch the video version of this episode over on YouTube.

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On a special mid-week episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, meet Tara Bosch. Like Monday's podcast guest Jay Klein, she is walking back into the Dragon's Den a Canadian success story.

Both came up with better ways to take sugar out of everyday snacks. Bosch, from Surrey, BC, had a sweet tooth but yearned for a healthier alternative. She started experimenting in her basement apartment kitchen, eventually selling her home made treats from the trunk of her car. The goodies were called SweetSnacks, tasty, low-sugar alternative candy that the Season 12  Dragon's Den judges couldn't resist. Four years after her pitch, Bosch sold her business for a jaw-dropping $360 million dollars!

Now she mentors other young women looking for early-stage capital through her initiative Bold Beginnings. She is also launching a new line of healthy fun foods under the brand name snackish. 

Look for her, Klein, and three other returning "Full Circle Dragons" this Thursday night as well as March 5 on the two-part, 20th season finale of Dragon's Den (CBC, CBC Gem).

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Some of us just chew gum. While he was chewing it over, however, Jay Klein thought: how can I make gum better?

Klein is the founder and CEO of PÜR, a brand committed to making snacks better-for-you and still taste great and fun to chew. 

Born in Florida, he moved to Toronto to study at York University and founded The PÜR Company in 2010. He took his sugar- and aspartame-free gum into the Dragon’s Den in 2014 (Season 9). Soon all the Dragons were chewing and chomping to deal.

Klein spun his business from one manufacturer and warehouse to a worldwide enterprise. PÜR has become the #1 selling aspartame-free gum in the world. Mints and popcorn are now part of the brand.

On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, we talk about what a big deal this is to guys like me who have to watch their sugar intake. Watch for Klein Feb. 26 and March 5 when he and other Full Circle Dragons return to the Den to deal with a new generation of pitchers. It’s all part of the Season 20 two-part finale (CBC and CBC Gem).

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Who is that on the flight deck of the Starship Athena? Why it is none other than Raoul Bhaneja who has boldly gone on to wow audiences across Canada on stages as well as in feature films and television.
The Manchester born, Ottawa-raised actor-musician plays Chancellor Kelrec, head of the Star Fleet's War College, in Paramount +'s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.
Interviewed while finishing up production in Toronto on Season Two of the series, Bhaneja says he's having a blast acting opposite Oscar winner Holly Hunter, Emmy-winner Paul Giamatti and promising young Canadian Sandro Rosta, among others in the cast.
Hear Bhaneja turn his phasers on so-called critics such as Elon Musk and Stephen Miller, both whining about the multi-species, "woke" nature of the series. Their opinions are at odds not just with Gene Roddenberry's original vision for Star Trek, but also with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, who deem it "Certified Fresh." 

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The former Baronesses are back as Jennifer Whalen and Meredith MacNeill launch into Season Two of Small Achievable Goals (Tuesday nights on CBC; also streaming on demand on CBCGem). 

The writer-producers play Kris and Julie, two women at different stages of peri-menopause and menopause, who talk about it on their peri-meno-podcast.

Hot topics include hot flashes, HRT's, and even cooling capes and collars. Also turning up the heat is a demanding King of Queens Studios boss played by Tamara Podemski (Reservation Dogs). Fellow Baronesse Aurora Brown guests this season, as does Jackie Richardson (Law & Order: Toronto). Jon Dore returns as Julie's husband Pete, who starts to lose his cool over the night sweats and brain fogs; Meanwhile, Kris has a new love interest.

Recorded in December at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto. 

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Barbara Williams first media job was as a receptionist at the all-news radio station CKO. She quickly rose up the ranks, eventually becoming President of Shaw Media, COO of CORUS and for the past seven years Executive Vice President of CBC. 

This month she retires, with former Paramount content licensing head Douglas Smith named CBC’s new EVP.

In this conversation, recorded in December at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto, Barb talks about the rewards and challenges of bringing a business approach to a culture institution. Did she know going in her CBC job would be as much about politics as programming? 

“I thought I was prepared for how different it would be,” she says. "It was a big adjustment." Previous jobs were all bottom line driven. Williams found championing “public worth” values a very different leadership challenge.

Hear Barb on big issues such as the impact in Canada of multi-billion dollar takeovers of Big Media companies south of the border; the pressures of satisfying audiences now hooked on endless on-demand content; and the need, especially now, to open doors to more Canadian storytelling. Also: should the public network ditch advertising? (Spoiler alert: that would be no, sez Barb)

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In Part Two of my look at the return of Saint Pierre meet Robina Lord-Stafford. Not only does she have one of the coolest names in Canadian television, she is also, along with Allan Hawco, the co-creator of the CBC police series.

Plus she lives in the same town north of the GTA where I live, Orangeville, Ont. This podcast episode, therefore, was recorded right at my kitchen table -- a first.

Aspiring to write for television or currently in a writers’ room? Check out this conversation. Robina’s career has rocketed her up the ranks of players in the Canadian television community. Her first writing credits were on Frankie Drake Mysteries and Blood and Water, moving on to episodes of Hudson & Rex and Moonshine. Besides writing, she added producer credits on Pretty Hard Cases and Mary Murdoch before jumping to supervising producer on Wild Cards and now co-showrunner and executive producer status on Saint-Pierre.

Hear about the mentors who helped her up the ladder as well as a pet project she hopes to one day complete: a movie about an infamous relative who once flew the Jolly Roger as a Caribbean pirate -- and I don't mean a film pirate. It is all part of the story that is Robina Lord-Stafford.

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At the start of this conversation recorded before Christmas at the CBC broadcast centre in Toronto, Allan Hawco reminded me that I've been tailing him for 20 years -- back to the launch of Republic of Doyle in 2005. 

Hawco and costar Josephine Jobert are back with 12 new episodes of Saint-Pierre, the highest-rated sophomore series on CBC. The police procedural is shot on location on a tiny part of France off the coast of Newfoundland. I keep asking Allan, what, did somebody steal another baguette? Is there really that much crime in Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an eight island archipelago, pop. 5,819? Mais qui, say the stars, with stories about international smuggling, among other things, based on real crimes. 

This is the first half of a two-part conversation on Season Two of Saint Pierre. Next week, hear my interview with the co-creator of the series, Robina Lord-Stafford, who happens to be an Orangeville neighbour. Hear about her rapid rise up the ranks of Canadian content creators, from writing on Frankie Drake Mysteries and Moonshine (where she met Hawco) to work on Pretty Hard Cases, Wild Cards, and now Saint-Pierre. 

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One actor/comedian I have had on my most sought-after list since this venture began in 2019 is my guest this week on brioux.tv: the podcast. Jonny Harris just happens to be a busy guy, working two CBC series at once. On Murdoch Mysteries, now in its 19th season, his character Constable Crabtree has been a fan favourite since the very beginning. His own series, Still Standing, starts its 11th season this Tuesday with Harris visiting the remote, desert-like terrain of the Osoyoos Indian Band in southern British Columbia.

At a time when all of Canada has its elbows up, Harris brings his folksy, community-first approach to towns across Canada trying to rebound from tough times. He visits St. Thomas, Ont., once a thriving auto centre. He heads to Acton, Ont., once worth the drive to visit the now defunct leather tannery.

Harris gets the entire town out for these TV showcases, and spreads good cheer and positive stories of rebirth. Along the way, he’s not above getting an elephant shaved into the back of his head. Murdoch Mysteries continues Mondays; Still Standing returns Tuesday, Jan. 6. Both are on CBC and CBC Gem.

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Did you hear about the lady lawyer who dropped her briefs and became a solicitor? No? Me neither but BC-born Kayla Wallace plays the kick-ass law shark on Landman, now streaming on Paramount+. The second season premiere of this Taylor Sheridan series was such a hit that a third season has already been ordered. 

Landman stars Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris the titular Landman, the manager of a large Texas oil field. Sam Elliott plays his dad. Demi Moore plays his boss, overwhelmed after the death of her husband in (John Hamm). Andy Garcia plays the shady financier who launders drug money by bailing out oil companies.  Tommy does not want his help but needs it, ane he'll need every trick that Wallace's savvy character, Rebecca, can throw at rivals looking to sue this oil enterprise into recievership.

If Wallace looks familiar she was a regular on When Calls the Heart before landing Landman. WCTH's Kevin McGarry is her husband. Attention all you Hearties and McGarries: the couple are expecting their first child in the new year.