brioux.tv: the podcast
Hosted by veteran TV columnist Bill Brioux. Each week, join in on an outspoken conversation with the actors, executives, and insiders that make the television industry pop. In each edition, Bill invites his guests to talk business, give up some great stories, and make it personal. Plus laughs.
Murdoch Mysteries' Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
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I first met Paul Sun-Hyung Lee several years ago on the set of the CBC comedy Kim’s Convenience. It was a warm and memorable conversation. That series was brand new and Paul, after paying dues on Train 48 as well as on the stage, was thrilled to finally land a leading role on a hit network sitcom.
Now the Canadian Screen Award winner begins his third season as Inspector Albert Choi on this, the 20th season of Murdoch Mysteries. The historical sleuth series airs Monday nights on CBC.
Then the...
Jimmy Kimmel steps up to salute SCTV
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We all know Jimmy Kimmel stands up for the First Amendment. Now there is also joy in Mellonville for he has done what not even Martin Scorsese could do -- complete a documentary about SCTV.
Kimmel is the executive producer of SCTV: The Greatest Show You've Never Heard Of. The 90-minute documentary premieres Friday, October 30 on Netflix.
I’ve had the good fortune to attend tapings of Jimmy Kimmel Live and to get to know this fearless firebrand of late night a little over the years.
A tru...
Jayne Eastwood makes everythng she's in funnier
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My guest this episode is an award-winning Canadian I've been looking to welcome since I started podcasting seven years ago – Jayne Eastwood.
Back when the fabled Toronto production of Godspell burst on the scene in 1972, it made stars of its incredible cast – including Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, and Dave Thomas.
Eastwood, in the opinion of Godspell doc director Nick Davis, was the biggest star of them all at the time. ("You Had to Be There," still in cinemas, comes to CBC in December.) Her ro...
Saluting 65 years of The Dick Van Dyke Show with David Van Deusen
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It was 65 years ago this fall that The Dick Van Dyke Show premiered on CBS.
The half hour sitcom was not an instant hit, struggled in the ratings hammocked between Marshal Dillon and Bachelor Father and was canceled at the end of its first season. Executive producer Sheldon Leonard refused to give up on the series, created by Carl Reiner, and went to New York to shop for another sponsor. He found a cigarette company that absorbed the cost of half the series and made a second season possible.
A...
Boston Blue's arresting Gloria Reuben
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Back in 1996 I wrote a TV Guide Canada cover story on a local actress then making a name for herself on North America’s No. 1 series – ER. Her name is Gloria Reuben, born in Toronto and raised in London, Ontario. When I reached her by phone in Los Angeles, she had to interrupt the call to accept a bottle of champagne sent from then NBC west coast president Don Ohlmeyer. He was congratulating Reuben and others in the cast – including George Clooney and Noah Wyle – for shattering yet another ratings record.
Flash ahead th...
Private Eyes duo Priestley & Sampson head for The Coast
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As a TV beat reporter with an eye on the ratings, I never could understand why the Global television network walked away from their top-rated Canadian original hit Private Eyes in 2021. This breezy, stylish detective series, reminiscent of past romantic hits such as Hart to Hart, was vaulting well over the million mark in viewers. Fans couldn’t get enough of stars Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson’s snappy repartee.
Well, now it is five years later and, backed by producers Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan, detectives Shade and Everett are back in Pr...
Godspell doc director Nick Davis
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Back in the ‘70s there was this hippie musical Godspell that ran for over a year in Toronto. The cast was mainly unknown at the time but wouldn’t stay that way for long. Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Andrea Martin, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber, Jayne Eastwood, Rudy Webb, and future Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer were all in on the act.
The story has been told bit by bit in other documentaries but never all in one place. Director Nick Davis has put it all together under a title that would...
Son of a Critch: the final season
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As George Harrison once said, all things must pass. Which brings us to the fifth and final season of Son of a Critch, the CBC sitcom based on the early life of Mark Critch (This Hour Has 22 Minutes).
Last June as production wrapped I met with the four main castmates from the series -- Critch, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Claire Rankin and Malcolm McDowell -- at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto. There we shared a conversation about how the series ends with young Mark (Ainsworth) graduating from high school and into...
Kathy Garver celebrates 60 years of Family Affair
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This week on brioux.tv: the podcast, meet a former child star who continues to impress -- Kathy Garver, best known for playing oldest sibling Cissy on Family Affair. The series premiered on Sept. 12, 1966 -- 60 years ago next month. It ran for five seasons and 138 episodes and starred Brian Keith as Uncle Bill, a Manhattan bachelor. With the help of his gentleman's gentleman Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot), he was suddenly tasked with raising three kids.
At 20 (though playing 15), Garver was already a showbiz veteran when the series began. She boasted credits in...
Marc Berman takes the Critics Quiz Pt. 2
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For Part Two of my conversation with "Programming Insider" Marc Berman, we continue with the back half of the Critics Quiz. What was the scariest thing you ever saw on television? Do you think the era of the late night TV talk show is about done? What was your most memorable Television Critics Association press tour moment?
Questions about those semi-annual network press gatherings dominate, including, "What show did you vote for in the annual TCA Awards as Program of the Year?" and, "Name your most unforgettable TCA character."
...
Marc Berman takes the Critics Quiz
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If you are reading this, you probably already follow Marc Berman, a.k.a. "Mister Television." In 1997, while at Mediaweek, Marc created The Programming Insider, the daily, digital online destination for television and media. We've known each other since then through our affiliation with the Television Critics Association. We've both worked our way through platefuls of scrambled eggs at fancy Pasadena and Hollywood hotels in bi-annual trips to countless network press tours.
Those live tour dates are no more but as readers at Inc. now know, Marc's passion for television remains...
FROM THE VAULT: late night's "Host Whisperer" Peter Lassally
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Back in 2008, I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Lassally, then winding up his extraordinary career in late night as executive producer of The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. For close to an hour, at his office deep within CBS Television City, Lassally regaled me with stories about Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Ferguson and many others.
In listening back to the conversation — for the first time in 18 years — I’m struck not just by his professionalism but also by how generous and candid he was on that day. He truly had Carson’...
FROM THE VAULT: the late Ronnie Schell on Good Morning World
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In 2022 I had the good fortune to welcome Ronnie Schell as a guest on this podcast. Schell was a familiar face and voice on TV for decades, most prominently as Jim Nabors' army pal on Gomer Pyle, USMC. He was also the voice of Hockey Night in Canada's animated mascot Peter Puck, did many Disney movies and cartoon voice-overs. Early on, he even snuck in an appearance on You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx.
Schell was 94 when he died last month, just 10 days before Joby Baker passed away at 92. The...
John Doyle Pt. II: from Late Shows to Heated Rivalries
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In Part II of this two-part conversation, retired Globe and Mail TV columnist John Doyle returns to talk a little bit more about soccer but mostly about our shared fascination with television.
The two of us tackle several of today's biggest TV challenges. For example: are late night talk shows going the way of the western? Does Crave sensation Heated Rivalry live up to the hype? Is funding at a crossroads in Canada? And because he simply can't help himself, Doyle also manages to put the world soccer body FIFA in c...
John Doyle, soccer sherpa!
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Can it be? Is that our John Doyle making sense of The World Cup in The Toronto Star? The former TV columnist at The Globe and Mail has come out of retirement to help explain why we are all suddenly mad for soccer as Canada continues to kick its way into contention.
This isn't the first time John has turned into a sports scribe. He has reported on three other World Cups as a journalist. Hey, he's not just another pretty face TV pundit. He wrote the 2010 bestseller "The World is a...
The Alan Sepinwall Zone
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Yes, TV is Good. ABC declared it back in the '90s in their press materials. Now Alan Sepinwall has used the slogan as the name of his new podcast, where he is paired with fellow critic Kathryn VanArendonk.
I first met Alan back when that slogan was coined at the Television Critics Association's semi-annual network press tours. He wasted no time establishing himself in what was a competitive room as one of North America's leading voices of TV criticism.
At first at the New Jersey Star-Ledger and later...
Tom Green Acres is the place for me
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There has been a lot of talk lately that talk shows, as we know them, are too expensive to last. The big band, the studio audience, the nightly monologue -- they all cost money.
Well, Tom Green thinks he has the answer. He's growing the talk show of the future now on 150 acres in Ontario on The Tom Green Farm (now streaming on Crave).
What about the guests you ask? Green has managed to persuade a whole barnload of friends to come up and visit. They include Dan Aykroyd...
Mrs Roper romps with Canadian costar Stevie Vallance
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This Saturday, May 30 at 12 noon, over 100 people in brightly-coloured orange wigs and vivid caftans will be storming Orangeville, Ont's city hall. Demanding more polyester? Lobbying for a clown college? No, this will kick off the 2nd annual Roper Romp Orangeville.
It's all thanks to super fan Sofie Weber, one of two guests on this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast. She tells me she has over 100 people set to dress up as Mrs Helen Roper, played by Audra Lindley in the late '70s ABC sitcom The Ropers. This Three's Company...
Murdoch's pod pair Jason Mewes & Matt Goehring
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World's collide as the talky half of Jay and Silent Bob meets Murdoch Mysteries. Yes, it turns out that Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith's pal since Clerks, is a superfan of the CBC historical whodunnit Murdoch Mysteries. He was turned on to the series by his buddy, Matt Goehring. Mewes binged 18 seasons and 300 episodes in six months. All caught up, he and Matt have teamed with Shaftesbury on The Murdoch Mysteries Podscast, which drops every Monday.
Hey, I know the value of talking to Murdoch's main players. Yannick Bisson is still the...
Retiring Hockey Night in Canada mainstay Scott Oake
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Please welcome a veteran sports reporter and host who, in my opinion, has been better on his feet and in the moment than anybody else in a rink or on a field. I’m talking of course about Scott Oake, who recently announced his retirement from Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada. Correction – he reluctantly announced, because he never wanted any fuss made about his departure. He just wanted to go quietly, to ghost. Sportsnet insisted a fuss be made and so he has squirmed through several interviews, including this one with me.
...
FROM THE VAULT: remembering Dinah Christie
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With the recent passing of Dinah Christie at 83 we go back into the vault for my 2014 conversation with the beloved Canadian entertainer.
Always a welcome presence on television in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, Christie was a touchstone for many boomers. I used to rush home from school to see the CHCH charades series Party Game where Christie, along with impish comedian Billy Van and "Captain" Jack Duffy, formed the almost unbeatable home team.
As we discuss in this interview, the weekday favourite was kind of Can...
Your ride with Cash Cab's Adam Growe has arrived
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Adam Growe is happy to be back behind the wheel of Cash Cab for a 10th season (airing Wednesdays on MUCH and streaming on Crave). Raised in Vancouver, the stand-up comedian had to re-take and pass his special cab licence in Toronto before shooting took place last October/November.
The series, which has been franchised in 40 counties, first took to the road back in 2008 in Canada. This new edition comes with a karaoke twist; passengers, after correctly answering trivia questions before arriving at their destination, can double their cash prize by answering on...
Brady Oliveira & Alex Blumberg really Must Love Dogs
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Who’s a good boy? All the puppies on the new CBC/CBC Gem series Must Love Dogs, that’s who. Premiering April 20, the 10 episodes feature a couple I met last December at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto – Brady Oliveira and Alex Blumberg. They live in Winnipeg and are very dedicated to rescuing and finding forever homes for canines all across Manitoba.
Brady can catch any dog. He is the star running back with his hometown club the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Over his six seasons, he’s been the leagues rushing leader twi...
Benjamin Ayres saddles up for Hope Valley 1874
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I first met today’s guest, BC native Benjamin Ayres, in 2010 when he was co-starring with Corner Gas’s Fred Ewanuick on a little Canadian comedy called Dan for Mayor. Ben’s 110 IMDb credits go back even further and show him to be skilled at both comedy and drama with roles in such shot-in-Canada gems as Saving Hope, Less Than Kind, Family Law, Burden of Truth, Suits, and going way back, jPod.
Now he’s saddling up as a no-nonsense rancher in Hope Valley 1874, a prequel to the ever popular When Calls the...
Ben Johnson runs it back in Hate the Player
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In this special episode, we go beyond the scandal and into the storytelling of one of the most infamous moments in Olympic sports history with the cast of Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story.
Through candid interviews conducted at the red carpet preview, hear from Mark McKinney, Andrew Phung, Emma Hunter and other top Canadian sketch players who bring this audacious mocumentary to life. Also interviewed is writer/creator Andrew Q Farrell (The Office), co-stars Karen Robinson, Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor who plays preening American sprinter Carl Lewis, and even Ben J...
Murdoch's Emmy-winning makeup ace Debi Drennan
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For over 300 episodes, Debi Drennan has been applying makeup to Yannick Bisson and all the leading actors on Murdoch Mysteries. She even works on bit players, such as, well, me. Twice.
With the series winding down its 19th season, Drennan looks back at her career as the head of makeup on the CBC hit series. She also hints that the season finale, set for Monday, April 13, sets up a nail-biter of a cliffhanger.
Before Murdoch, Drennan worked on several Canadian favourites, including Dragon's Den, Bomb Girls (which she co-created), Th...
Jerry Beck on Bugs Bunny hopping over to TCM
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What’s up, doc? Well, for one thing, they are now showing classic Bugs Bunny cartoons on Turner Classic Movies.
I first saw these seven-minute miracles back in the 1960s on The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Hour. When I wanted to read more about them there were two guys who had the scoop: Leonard Maltin and Jerry Beck. These two lifelong friends have been telling the story of Termite Terrace and other animation legends ever since.
Beck’s wonderful web site, Cartoon Research.com, is the place to get information on every...
Celebrating 22 Minutes' 700th with Stacey McGunnigle & Chris Wilson
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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 o...
Tara Bosch spun SmartSweets into Dragon's Den gold
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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 D...
Full Circle Dragon Jay Klein heads back to the Den
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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.
...
Bhaneja beams aboard Star Trek Starfleet Academy
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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...
Whalen and MacNeill's shared Goals
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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, a...
Barb Williams: I'll be CBC-ing you
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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 kno...
Saint-Pierre co-creator Robina Lord-Stafford
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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 caree...
Hawco & Jobert on Season Two of Saint-Pierre
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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 P...
Murdoch's Jonny Harris is Still Standing
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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...
Landman's Canadian law shark Kayla Wallace
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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 (J...
Rick Mercer stands up for Canada
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The year 2025 has certainly been a good year to stand up for Canada. Who better to turn that mission into a TV special than Rick Mercer?
The former This Hour has 22 Minutes and Rick Mercer Report firebrand returns Sunday, December 28, with Rick Mercer Stand Up for Canada. The hour-long comedy special, featuring fellow comics Sophie Buddle, Mayce Galoni and Julie Kim, was taped before a sold out crowd last fall in Saint John, New Brunswick. That show was part of a 20-city, cross Canada tour.
The CBC special opens...
TV pioneer David Boreanaz Sr. looks back on Rocketship 7
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Here is something I've been working on for a while -- a video podcast salute to a true TV pioneer: David Boreanaz, Sr. If you grew up in the '60s or '70s you may know him as Dave Thomas. No, not the SCTV comedy legend, but the host of Rocketship 7. Follow this link to blast off back to Mr. Beeper, Promo the Robot and the glory that was the space race. Buckle up for a nostaslgic ride back when TV shows flew through the air, on antennas, all the way to...
Happy 100th Dick Van Dyke
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Dick Van Dyke really has had the time of his life. Celebrate his centennial with three friends of the podcast: former New York Times TV critic Bill Carter, Dick Van Dyke Show expert and "Walnut Times" publisher David Van Deusen and Cinecon president and fellow film collector Stan Taffel. You'll also hear archival interviews with Van Dyke himself, original Van Dyke Show writer-producer Bill Persky, and a Canadian actress who guested on his later series, Diagnosis Murder, Claire Rankin (Son of a Critch). Enjoy this spoonful of sugar, then don't miss Van Dyke's 100...
