Remembering Cliff Robertson

What I liked about the late Cliff Robertson was his sheer ordinariness.
Sure he was handsome in a square jawed sort of way.
But he never scaled the heights of super movie stardom as happened to such contemporaries as Paul Newman and Jack Lemmon.
Robertson who died on Sept. 10 a day before his 88th birthday once told me he'd survived for decades in Hollywood because "I looked so American to the casting directors I guess."
But what a range of famous Americans he played: John Kennedy, Hugh Hefner, Buzz Aldrin, Henry Ford, Cole Younger.
A group of us shared lunch with Robertson in 1984 in Phoenix, Arizona, where CBS was having its fall TV preview for visiting critics.
Robertson by this time was doing mostly TV --where he'd started in the 1950s--and had signed for a year of guest appearances on the CBS night time soap Falcon Crest at $50,000 an episode..
And why not?
"The money's good, the exposure is tops and people of my generation sit home watching TV these days," he said with a relaxed laugh.
He was born Clifford Parker Robertson in 1923 in La Jolla, California, the son of wealthy parents. He studied English Literature at Antioch College and later worked as a reporter for the Springfield Daily News and served as a merchant marine in World War II.
He joined a repertory company in the Catskill Mountains and he then landed a small role in the touring company of Mister Roberts and another in The Wisteria Trees. In 1955 he signed with Columbia Pioctures and debuted in Picnic opposite Bill Holden and Kim Novak.
"My big break came with my second picture, Autumn Leaves (1956) starring the great Joan Crawford. I know what people say about her but she was entirely professional and saw to it that I was promoted by Columbia."
in 1957 came his first lead in The Naked And The Dead. then he had his biggest ever hit in Gidget (1959) which he hated but which made him a top box office attraction.
In 1963 he was cast as young John Kennedy in the wartime film PT 109 (1963) --"President Kennedy saw it, liked it but mentioned I had my hair parted on the wrong side of my head! Then he was assassinated and nobody had the stomach to see it after that."
In 1968 Robertson won the Oscar for Charly but he was filming in the Philippines and couldn't make the awards ceremony.
In 1977 while routinely reviewing all his earnings for income tax purposes Robertson noticed a check for $10,000 that he did not remember cashing.
He discovered his signature had been forged by Columbia executive David Begelman
Robertson was warned by studio heads not to press charged or he'd be blackballed --he refused and Begelman went to jail for forgery.
"And I did not work again in that town for seven years," Robertson told me.
Robertson who remained a very charming guy --I later got a hand written note of thanks from him for the story I wrote about his joining Falcon Crest.
He was married twice --first to Jack Lemmon's ex-wife Cynthia and then to actress Dina Merrill.
I always liked him in whatever he did.

The One Anniversary Of 9/11 Special You Must Catch

I certainly do remember 9/11.
I was working away at my desk at the Toronto Star that afternoon and went to the window to see what every one was shouting about.
I looked out at Lake Ontario and saw the sky was clogged with American jumbo jets --every U.S. flight east of the Mississippi had been ordered out of American air space --to Toronto or Montreal airports.
So I get bad vibes watching all these anniversary specials.
Until I popped in a Canadian made one that offered insights and hope --and a truly unique twist.
It's titled Hero Dogs Of 9/11 and amazingly the hourlong documentary offers a twist on that day I had never heard of --the canines that tirelessly worked the field of carnage. And some of them even perished in the line of duty.
The hour is seamless which is astounding because producer Tanya Kelen of kelencontent only started working on it in July.
I had no idea over 300 dogs were involved in search and rescue missions that day and the days after. Some were involved in search and rescue missions and doing outstanding work. Others offered solace to tired and despairing crews who were fighting against time to search the ruins for survivors.
Individual dogs get profiled including the security dog Sirius left in a basement cage in the World Trade Center as his owner walked upstairs to try and offer help.
The resulting collapse of the towers meant Sirius was a casualty --mourned by the officer to this day.
And there's the seeing eye dog , Nikki, who calmly and methodically guided her scared and blind owner owner down flights of stairs to safety, stopping occasionally to allow firemen to walk up the stairs --they would never come down alive.
We see how many dogs succumbed to the same ailments as humans and needed medical care --over 100 dogs would be treated in the next few weeks. Many had to be fitted with canine dog pads because of the smoking heat emanating from the fallen steel beams.
And we see how arduous the training is to turn a dog into an expert search and rescue dog--it takes a good 18 months.
Some are cadaver dogs trained to sniff dead bodies in rubble. Others can catch the scent of living people who need to be helped. And some are simply there as therapy dogs.
There's Nikki, the Golden Retriever, who guided the scared blind man out of the towers. And there's a marker for Sirius who also gave his life.
Producer Kelen has expertly recreated many scenes interweaving actual footage with recreations so masterfully I couldn't spot any seams. Some of it is so scarey viewers seem stuck right there in the stairwells. And she's also highlighted the true saga of one of the few humans who actually survived and might have died in the rubble had not search dogs located her. Incredibly she has gone on to have two beautiful children.
We also visit with a reunion of the search dogs and the introduction of new dogs --many of the canine heroes have passed away in the subsequent decade. Nikki died in 2004.
I came away from this wonderful hour not depressed but uplifted by its life affirming message. Hero Dogs Of 9/11 is simply stated the best 9/11 special I've seen tso far and is highly recommended.
HERO DOGS OF 9/11 PREMIERES ON ANIMAL PLANET SUND. SEPT. 11 AT 7 P.M.
MY RATING: ****.

Christine Cushing's Fearless In The Kitchen Moves To OWN

"Boy, we have some pretty awful cooks this season," laughs Christine Cushing as her cooking series Fearless In the Kitchen moves from W to OWN for its third season premiere.
"It makes for very exciting TV, I predict. And the twist this year is simply we're using more partners than ever before."
In each of the 13 half hours viewers will be introduced to hapless participants who are just plain lousy in the kitchen.
And by the end? "I'm not saying great chefs will be made," Cushing says on the phone from her editing suite where she's still fine tuning new shows. "But viewers will certainly see a big difference, they'll watch as our guests try and confront their fears about cooking."
In this day of specialized cooking series where great chefs are touted or participants cook in a kind of Survivor Kitchen mode Cushman offers a pleasing difference.
"I'm there to help. I can also tease, cajole, get them going. What I don't do is shout, anything like that. Because it's not me. I don't think that stuff makes for enjoyable TV. It is sort of disturbing."
A lot depends on the selection of the right guests.
"And we really get a great couple in the first new show, a father and his son Peter. Like so many we found them at a travel show --we also get some at home shows. And Peter just came up and said he never learned to cook and his dad was just as bad and their jokes and their energy --that half hour really worked!"
To get those precious 21 minutes of actual footage "well, it took 21 hours of shooting. No, I'm not kidding. We never know at the time what we'll be using, how the session will go, and then comes the editing. So much good stuff has to be discarded. After all we're telling a story that is still unfolding."
Front and center of each episode is Cushing's test kitchen which is laid out to accommodate TV lights and cameras. She says her method is to quickly get the guests accustomed to the cameras and crew and hope after a few moments the subjects will simply settle down.
"It worked this time --pretty son Dave and Peter were joking up a storm. I had them busy preparing a seafood soup and they did almost everything wrong. I asked my producer 'Please don't make me taste that!' But he said it was part of the show. How was it. Utterly awful, like dishwater. Blah!"
From the depths it was Christine's job top raise them to the heights. "By teaching a healthy respect for the food, where it came from, how it has to be managed. I want them to explore but I'm also there to teach."
At one point she takes the men to an actual pig farm and orders them to muck up in one pen --it's one way of showing where food comes from but also gets the boys working in tandem.
I won't give away the final elegant dinner they must prepare --it includes rack of lamb --but it's an adventure for both as well as viewers.
Cushing despite her youth and vigour is a ten year veteran of the TV wars. She effortlessly sports the kind of warm personality that makes guests trust her. And she knows what she's speaking about --she's toiled in such Toronto restaurants as The Four Seasons hoteland Scaramouche and has published two best selling cookbooks including Dish It Out.
Made by Fushion Television for Corus Entertainment Cushing's series was quickly snapped up by Oprah Winfrey's OWN network in Canada and there's a deal going on to bring it also to U.S. Viewers.
"The first one works so well, maybe in the next batch I should only do pairs. I want viewers to learn as much as these two are doing on camera."
THE THIRD SEASON DEBUT OF FEARLESS IN THE KITCHEN IS ON OWN THURS. SEPT. 8 AT 7:30 P/M.

Scott McGillivray Is Back With Income Property

How do I know the Toronto made Income Property is just about the hottest series currently on HGTV?
Because host/star Scott McGillivray is on the phone telling me that the series has just been picked up for two new seasons (6 and 7).
"And that happened just as we finished Season 5 so that's a vote of confidence."
The fifth season actually debuts on HGTV Thurs. Sept. 8 at 9 p.m. --a new day and time befitting a top rated Canadian cable series.
"We're no longer a new show so things are going to change somewhat this season,"McGillivray promises.
"Big news is we're getting out of the basement. We'll be moving to renovating entire houses as income property --that seemed the way to go."
And with 65 episodes in the can McGillivray's partners can now start selling the show in such markets as Great Britain.
"British TV, they want a lot of episodes, other places we started selling with our first order of 13. So 65 episodes is a big step forward."
A lot of HGTV product needs such refreshening. Some of the more familiar titles have been around for awhile and there's a sameness to the product that inevitably creeps in.
"We're looser in front of the camera, we have some funny moments,"he explains. In earlier segment he often seemed a bit uncertain and that occurred when the series was evolving. These new episodes highlight a more relaxed, genial host who obviously enjoys what he does.
"Some change is good, positive but too much might drive away dedicated fans, that's what I feel anyhow. But with success comes a certain freedom to play a bit with the format."
Indeed in the first new show music gets added to the mix in the demolition segment --what emerges is a sort of fractured rock video.
"I didn't want to tackle the same solutions every week. We still deal with people in emergency situations who desperately need help or they could lose their homes.
"We'll always be about helping."
McGillivray, 33, protests he's still the same guy who went into the series. "Probably I was too trusting, that's all"
He's referring to the lady customer who figured his TV work had made him pretty wealthy and sat in a chair watching as his crew attempted to renovate her home --she demanded something like $70,000 in additional insulation and the experience, he says, was the siole negative experience of TV making.
When I tell him I got a huge number of comments about the feature I wrote on him last year he seems to brighten up.
And I'm still getting comments. I read one received the other day:
"I love Scott and His Show. He has taught me so much about home design. I would like to use his designer on the beach penthouse in Boa Raton. I want them to decorate the 5,000sq ft on the 28th floor."
So what about it, Scott? Interested in branching out from just Toronto?
MacGillivray chortles and says send him the em-ail address.
In fact one of his ventures is as a landlord --he currently owns and/or renovates 20 properties in Toronto but has been slowly converting to U.S. properties.
"In 33 states there are laws encouraging the buying of heavily discounted properties. So I've reduced my Canadian properties by about 50 per cent."
And another correspondent mentioned she'd once eaten in a restaurant he managed and owned in Burlington.
So what kind of food did you serve?
"Mediterranean."
And why did it go under.
"It seems to be the fate of most restaurants these days. They only last six months and then another becomes faddish."
And did you ever think had it succeeded you might have wound up as a host on Food Network instead of HGTV?
"Not really." But he's chuckling.
I ask McGillivray if the burden of being so famous means people can be bothersome on occasion.
"No, not really. The fans are generally great, they like to chat and if I didn't like this I'd be doing something else."
THE FIFTH SEASON OF INCOME PROPERTY DEBUTS ON HGTV THURS. SEPt. 8 AT 9 P.M.

Against The Wall: New "Canadian" Drama On Bravo!

This is shaping up to be the TV Season of the "New Woman"
Yet another cop drama extolling the virtues of an independent female debuts Wed. night at 9 on Bravo!.
Against The Wall is pretty darned good although wholly derivative of other, bigger network series.
Rachael Carpani is well cast as a struggling police woman Abby Kowalski who at 30 finally gets to be a detective --only its in the hated and feared Internal Affairs division.
If Carpani looks familiar she starred for eight seasons on the Australian TV series McLeod's Daughters.
Here she has mastered a North American accent with apparent ease.
She's got a tough cop (Treat Williams) for a father and all three of her brothers are Chicago beat cops.
And if that doesn't somehow remind you of Blood Brothers then you haven't been watching the CBS drama that stars Tom Selleck.
And on the job Abby finds herself coupled with a toughie, a street smart female detective who shows her the ropes. Think Cagney And Lacey and you're getting warm.
Set in Chicago, the series is getting filmed in Toronto and that's not even a first. CTV's past hit Due South was set in Chicago but also filmed here.
It's a tradition that goes all the way back to Night Heat --look for the streetcar tracks, the Ontario plates on the taxis, and in the very first scene is instantly recognizable as Front. Street West. And I also spotted a passerby buying a copy of the Toronto Star from a coin box.
But I digress. Despite its bag load of derivatives Against The Wall works because of some top notch actors.
As Abby's parents there are two experienced actors with hit series under their belts: Williams and Kathy Bates from PIcket Fences
Catch the droll scene where Baker forces Williams to eat cereal for breakfast after he picks a fight with daughter Abby..
And because this is treasured Cancon lots of fine local actors get chances to shine: Steve Byers(Falcon Beach), James Thomas as brother Donnie, Andrew Walker as boyfriend Brody, and Mayko Nguyen (ReGenesis) who's also co-starring in Rookie Blue.
The series is long on character development, short on the usual police histrionics. In the first episode Abby is investigating a charge of police brutality lodged against two officers who were caught in as barroom brawl.
But that part of the hour seems perfunctory. Against The Wall really works by exploring the family dynamics: a disagreement in church between Abby and her mother, the anger of her father who didn't want her to join the department despised by most cops, and Abby's ambivalence about hooking up with an old friend.
Carpani has the sort of personality that makes you want to get interested in her character.
The series was primarily made for the U.S. cable network Lifetime which specializes in stories of the empowerment of women and on this basic level Against The Wall truly delivers.
Technical details are on a par with any network series. Against The Wall will surely find a willing female audience out there willing to watch this thirtysomething detective find her bearings.
AGAINST THE WALL PREMIERES ON BRAVO! ON WED. SEPT. 7 AT 9 P.M.
MY RATING: ***.

Two More Drama Series Return On Sunday

This is the time of the year when Americanseries new and returning inundate Canadian TV networks.
But Sunday night the two returning series coming back with new episodes at least have buckets of Canadian content.
First up is Season Two of Lost Girl. It's Toronto made and stars Kristen Holden Ried, Anna Silk (Billable Hours) and Ksenia Solo in a very appealing blend of sci fi nonsense, sheer whimsy and ancient myths and folklore.
Silk is very beautiful in the lead as the audacious BO who when she kisses somebody kills them just like that.
Then there's the police detective Dyson played with panache by Reid who is actually a Fae --a sort of vampire I'm guessing with a dash of werewolf on the side.
Just to be reassuring this is not Buffy land, nor Twilight time, it has an unique style of its own.
Sets and camerawork are up to movie standards and the three leads are obviously enjoying acting with each other.
Did I understand the plot at all? Nope. But I persevered and watched to the end and never once was bored.
For Reid it's a big step forward since I first interviewed him on the set of the late lamented CBC soaper Riverdale. But the series wasn't made for me --it's obviously been carefully crafted to garner in all those True Blood fans out there.
Because of its obviously derivative nature it's a bit of a challenge to get overly excited about Lost Girl.
But there are no weak points --the plot crackles along and the first week's look at an itinerant circus where the denizens are up to no good was pretty smartly staged.
Bo's attitude to men is ambiguous --nothing here is plain and simple.
Lost Girl premiered a year ago to pretty solid reviews and the second season opener may help grow the ratings. Made by Prodigy Pictures and filmed in and around Toronto the show has a look all its own.
An hour later another Canadian made cable drama, Covert Affairs, also returns for its Second Season.
Made in Toronto for USA cable network Covert Affairs highlights the beauty of Piper Perablo as 28-year old Annie Walker who gets picked right from rigorous CIA training and plopped out to the field as a fully functioning agent.
Walker has all the physical training to acquit herself in dangerous situations but she's also darned attractive. Her technical backup comes from Christopher Gorham (Ugly Betty), a brilliant technician despite the fact he's blind. Buit he's awfully funny and supportive.
Kari Matchett returns to Toronto as Walker's CIA assigner Joan Campbell and Peter Gallagher is an ambiguously powerful lawyer. From Heroes as another supportive agent there's Sendhil Ramamurthy.
First new episode has Walker coming to the aid of an Estonian tennis star and she seems to have matured after a first season of battling the baddies.
Covert Affairs is strangely lightly likable despite its serious subject matter.
LOST GIRL SEASON 2 PREMIERES ON SHOWCASE SUND. SEPT. 4 AT 9.
MY RATING: ***.
COVERT AFFAIRS SEASON 2 PREMIERES ON SHOWCASE SUND. SEPT. 4 AT 10.
MY RATING: ***.

Why Warehouse 13 Is Moving To Showcase

Consider the strange case of Warehouse 13.
The series revved up in 2009 and first ran on CityTV but to weak ratings.
For season 3 it's getting better promotion and a berth on Showcase and why not?
Is it Canadian or American?
Well, it's shot in Canada and the local stars include Aaron Ashmore and Saul Rubinek along with such Americans as Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly.
The show is watchable but wholly derivative. In the U.S. it's one of the staples of the SyFy network. Up here its shenanigans might confuse viewers used to fact based shows.
The premise finds two Secret Service agents transferred to "Warehouse 13" after saving the life of the President. It's a massive structure set deep within the mountains in South Dakota where every object and artifact of magic and even whimsy gets stored.
Rubinek overacts wildly as the eccentric curator of the collection named Eddie.
Pete(McClintock) and Myka (Joanne Kelly) are busy chasing down every and all reports of fantastical situations and supernatural happenings. And naturally the U.S. government officially refuses to admit such a facility exists.
Made by Universal Cable Productions, the series sports high production values but the situations are played more for laughs than thrills. The cast are allowed to mug furiously to cover up plot deficiencies. But just try to stop watching --there's something about this band of sleuths that's entertaining.
I think the series is thriving because of the amiability of the stars particularly McClintock and Kelly who refuse to take anything seriously. He's convinced every female is instantly falling for him. She's a by-the-book agent who at first seems impervious to his charms.
Don't take any of it seriously and you might like this show although I think it really belongs on Space.
And this season Aaron Ashmore comes onboard as a new agent--and a gay one at that -- with the ability to tell whether or not people he's interviewing are actually liars. But the show is so plot oriented there's never been much time to explore relationships.
So watch Season's 3 debut Thursday night at 10 on Showcase and tell me what you think.
WAREHOUSE 13 PREMIERES ON SHOWCASE THURSD. AUG. 31 AT 10 P.M.
MY RATING: ***.