Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Rob Salem's Top 10 Stories: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1504

Episode Date: June 11, 2024

In this 1504th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Rob Salem on what was supposed to be Rita Zekas's debut. In lieu of Rita, Rob shares his 10 best stories not shared during his Toronto Mike'd debut. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Yes, We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Toronto Welcome to episode 1504 of Toronto Miked, proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma pasta, enjoy the taste of fresh homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma pasta in Mississauga and Oakville. The Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, the best baseball in the city outside the dome. I'm there July 7th 2 p.m. Mother Nature be damned. RecycleMyElectronics.ca

Committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. Season 6 of Yes We Are Open, an award-winning Monaris podcast hosted by FOTM Al Greggo and Ridley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, returning to Toronto Mike to share up to 10 great stories not shared the first time he visited is Rob Salem. Welcome back, Rob. I am so happy to be back. Now where's Rita? Okay, I was, this was in my calendar as the Rita Zekes Toronto Mike debut but you are Rita-less.

Yes, I am Rita-less. Unfortunately, she's cat sitting and with a very sick cat that had a stroke. Oh, you know, that's a good excuse. So she's taking care of the cat, but she really wanted to do it. And we are funny together. Well, listen, no, so we'll do a rain check. Oh, absolutely. She apologizes and says, come back. She wants to come back. So, you know, we could have just had you come back with her, but then I thought since I actually had my Sunday recording

postponed due to rain, I was supposed to be at Christie Pitt Sunday, and then the rains came down and I postponed that. And then I had a surprise episode recording yesterday, and I won't disclose who it was, but things basically he couldn't do it, which is a sad story unto itself to be told at a later time. But you, Rob Salem, you're here to tell me stories. And it wasn't that long ago you made your Toronto Mike debut, right? Less than a month ago.

That's right. And I enjoyed it immensely. I particularly enjoyed the lasagna. So do you want another one? Oh, God, yes. We lived for like three days on the last one. You know what? I bet there's a lot of a lot of a lot of good food in the in the large Lasagna and I have one in my freezer for you So you can't bring one home to Rita and then when Rita comes for her debut and you'll get another one like that's three Lasagna's that'll bring her here if nothing else And if you're you know the sick cat and I feel bad for the sick cat, but if this cat is anything like Garfield

Right. Yeah, they're gonna be lasagna fanatics. Oh, yeah Well, you know lasagna and cats They know it's a match made in heaven. Okay, so no Rita. We have Rob Salem back I'm gonna read the description and then I'm gonna set this episode up But I did bring a couple of like audio nuggets from last episode So this is gonna be a nice experience for you, but you were here May 14th episode 1489 and In that episode Mike chats with Rob Salem who spent 40 years writing about entertainment in the Toronto Star

He also played the minister who married spike and snake on Degrassi and did I mention he snorted coke with Mel Gibson So those are a couple of stories, So we won't hear the Mel Gibson Coke story because that's an episode 1489. We're going to hear new stories today. New stories. But before we get to the new stuff, I do have a clip. I pulled a clip because I was blown away by that fun fact you shared. So let's listen to this. Do you Christine Nelson take Archibald Rupert Simpson to be your lawfully wedded husband? I do. And do you, Archibald Rupert Simpson,

take Christine Nelson as your lawfully wedded wife? I do. And by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride. Yeah! Whoo-hoo-hoo! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Yeah! That was the moment, Rob.

Wow. Wow. That was amazing. I seem to recall, and I may be wrong because it was a while ago, that I didn't have a script. Really? It makes me want to listen to it again if you ago that I didn't have a script. Um, I just sort of, I don't want to listen to it again. If you do that off the top of your head, it was sort of the sitcom version of every wedding ceremony that it always lasts like three lines and unless

somebody, oh yeah, the short version for TV. But I don't recall, because I recall struggling to remember the names, uh, cause you know, they were spiked. Cause you want, you want to call them snake and spike, but they have like real, like, you know, proper remember the names. Cause you know, they were spiky. Yeah, cause you want to call them Snake and Spike, but they have like real like, you know, proper names. Actual people names, yeah. And plus there were the actors, you know,

and Drake was there somewhere too. Well yeah, here, I'm gonna just play it again. Just that opening part. Christine Nelson take Archibald Rupert Simpson. Yeah, like Archibald Rupert Simpson. Yeah, that was tough to remember. Nobody thinks of Snake as Archibald Rupert. And Rupert, like they just must have made that up.

I'm sure they had no idea he had a middle name. But great job. So when you dropped that fun fact on me, I was like, okay, that's like, that should be the first line in your bio from now on. Like you married Snake and Spike and Degrassi. Yes, I am immensely proud of that accomplishment. And here's another, I pulled another clip

because we didn't have, we didn't really dive into it last time, but I'm, you know, I'm just mopping up from the last episode, which was less than a month ago, but I pulled another clip because we didn't have we didn't really dive into it last time But I'm you know, I'm just mopping up from the last episode which was less than a month ago But I pulled this clip. I'm Rob Salem Each and every Sunday night for a thematic B-movie triple bill showcase This kind of thing is just my meat. Exploited violent depraved sexist hilariously over-the-top. No budget schlock I'm thinking there'll be some breasted There's Rob Salem alvira without the cleavage.

Am I getting through to you? Who else is going to bring in this stuff? Sallon Watt, Sundays on Drive-In Classes. I think you've given me something to think about. I have not heard that promo since it actually aired. In fact, I wanted a copy of it and I never got it. Well, I can send you the...

Oh, please, send me the audio. I can send you that audio for sure. Wow, that was my favorite promo. Okay, that's the one I chose because it was my favorite too. So Salem's Lot and that was for driving classics and we didn't dive too deep into it, but how many years did you... About six years, a little more than six years. Okay. But it was interesting because like we shot it for the first couple of years in my den

right in front of my TV right and There was no one watching back then so essentially it was being recorded in my in my den Going up onto a satellite coming back down straight to my den on an endless loop I know no one else is cutting on the accent but actually it did actually get quite popular so um I'm sure those who like it like it a lot it's a show that could not run today that channel could not exist today because people are too sensitive but can't they just run a disclaimer like this is of its time it would be it there

would be disclaimer for five minutes, you can run anything like, okay, this was appropriate. This was like at the time and the social norms of the time, this was a movie, but today we know better. So just don't let your kids watch it and be aware that this is no longer appropriate. Yeah. But the entire channel- You can use that one, okay.

The entire channel was fueled by exploitation films. So we had like Russ Meyer and yeah Roger Corman movies and oh it was I love that stuff So this was heaven and the other thing about the station couldn't exist now is because it's all on YouTube and to be True to be is a endless treasure trove of exploitation films from the 70s and 80s good tip there I feel like I just watched a Rambo on Tubi. Like I just did this. Like, and I was like really impressed that like all this great stuff's just there and it's like... I know. It's just amazing. Absolutely. Now, speaking of amazing, one of my favorite shows of all time.

We're gonna listen to a little of this and then you're gonna start your story time. Story time with Rob Salem. Story time with Rob. for story time, story time with Rob Salem. Just to get us in the mood, get your, was it your Manhattan? What are you drinking? Alright Rob, you're going to talk to me about Mad Men, the launch party, all your Mad Men related stories, but what did you think of the series? I loved the series, absolutely loved the series, because that was my youth, my childhood youth, wasn't it?

I'm only 66. Was there a time at the Toronto Star when you could go into the liquor cabinet during the day and pour yourself a glass? I had, no, but I nonetheless had a bunch of airport, airline bottles in my desk drawer just in case of emergencies. You know what, and I don't recall actually ever using them, Rita did, back in the day they'd watch Sex in the City. Sure.

They'd go into my boss's office, because they were editing late, and it was on at midnight. And she'd go in there with a bottle of champagne and one of the other editors, and they'd have their little Sex in the City night. It was lovely. I would like, you know, One Young Street After Dark. That's the exploitation film I'm holding out for.

But please, the floor is yours. I love this theme too. Oh, it's a great song. It's great. And this is the full version too, so it gets a little trippy. But tell me, please, everything you can about the Mad Men launch party and all your Mad Men related stories. I actually had a really fun conversation

with Matt Winder, the creator of the show, in the lobby of the Beverly Hilton. So it was one of the few sort of 60s type hotel lounges. Anyway, I question him, because he's like 10 years younger than me. How come you're nostalgic for the 60s when the 70s were really your era?

And he just, it was, I think, the foreignness of it to him in a firsthand basis, that it just, there was a kitsch factor that he could appreciate that perhaps I wasn't as cognizant of. He came from The Sopranos, am I right? The Sopranos, yeah, he was an absolutely story editor on The Sopranos.

So yeah, really interesting, nice guy. So The Party, I think I mentioned last time that the TV critics, North American TV critics, all get together twice a year in either Pasadena or LA, and all the networks bring their shows out. So it's like everybody's heard of the up front. Sure. It's like that, but for press. And HBO always has the best parties and the best swag. I have so many duffel bags with HBO logos on them. Amazing. But anyway, they had the launch party from admin. But they're not a that's not an HBO show.

Oh, sorry. AMC. Yeah, I'm here to call you out because you know what? Oh my God. It should have been an HBO show. It should have. And it felt like an HBO show. It was too good to not be an HBO show. That was my thought watching. I'm like, this should be an HBO show. Yeah, no, it is. It really and it really set the bar for AMC.

And that's why I thought it was an HBO show. But it came from the Sopranos, but they passed they passed on it right isn't that the story that HBO passed on it? Yes they did. Anyway so okay so this was an AMC party and they hadn't quite established the reputation of having great parties yet because their programming was only with Mad Men and shows like that had started to sort of register on that level. This was, however, the most brilliantly conceived party. It was, first of all, at the L.A. Friars Club, which is like this historic place.

It's where they used to do all the roasts, and the George Burns and Milton Berle and all these old- The perfect place for a Mad Men launch party. Oh, absolutely. And in fact, there's still peanut shells on the floor, in the pool room. So yeah, they had it at Friars, which was just totally cool, just from a historical standpoint.

But it was a 60s themed party, and they had cocktail waitresses in little, they weren't quite bunny outfits, but there were that vibe. And the push up bras and cocktails, like martinis and manhattans. And the best part was Jeff Goldblum had a jazz quartet and he was the entertainment. And they sang 60s TV theme songs, but they did covers, but in jazz. So it was like a jazz version of the theme from Bonanza is the one that really sticks out in my mind. And it was great. And, and, and, you know, Rob, they were so concerned whether they could have jazz covers of sixties TV theme songs. They

never stopped to consider whether they should have jazz. Yes. And now in retrospect, having had the experience, I could say that absolutely it was the right way to go. And so are you hanging out with John Hamm? Yeah, yeah, the whole cast. And oh my God, I can't believe I'm blanking on her name. Christina Hendricks. Yes.

I just saw you were moving your hands. I was about to do a figure like, okay, Christina Hendricks. My goodness, you're in the same room as Christina Hendricks. Yes, I am. You lucky son of a bitch. I'm silly she's In height in stature very tiny well not very tiny but smaller than you'd think right given her other proportions But she's kind of like a living breathing Jessica rabbit. Yeah, she is. She's a she's a lovely woman They were all they were really nice people like, you know often you will get casts especially from new shows going oh we're just like a family but

these guys really you could tell they were really enjoying each other's company and in fact usually at one of these things the cast is sort of split up encouraged to split up and schmooze with all the press. These guys were all sticking together. Kind of neat and it was a great cast of course and a great run for a wonderful show that was so good. It should have been on HBO, but it was on AMC. It was on AMC. I can't believe I got that wrong. And I feel like AMC and HBO, like HBO, they'll let you drop as many f-bombs as you want every episode. Like

there's no rule set there, but I feel like AMC has a rule of some nature, like one swear a season or something like that. Yeah, no f-bom are no F bombs. I think that's verboten, but you can occasionally. Maybe you get an S word or two a season. Yeah, occasionally. But yeah, they have a whole other criteria. Standards or whatever. But okay, well done. Love that show. Love hearing about the Madman lunch. And so are there any other like local media that were wearing a lampshade on their head that night? Like is there any Bill Brio tales or anything like that? No, I wish there were. Usually when someone misbehaves at one of those things,

it's me. So I can't really say. Yeah, those were different days. But yeah, it was, there were, there are tales of Derek Due from TCA tour it's called, TV Critics Association press tour. Okay I love love these tales tell as many tales out of school as you can but that so I started with the theme from Mad Men but you know since you left I've been talking

to people about a certain fascination of yours so here's a theme you might know Wow, man, this John Williams guy is pretty good. Okay. So let's talk about this lifelong obsession of Superman and how it intersects with your professional life. But before you begin, I'm going to tell you, a gentleman came over since you were here. His name is Jerry Levitan. He is the kid who interviewed John Lennon. And spoiler alert, we'll talk about John Lennon soon. But I just thought I'd let you know that Jerry might like Superman as

much as you do, but that's a tall hill to climb. But talk to us about Superman. You know, hearing this music, you just want to put your fists on your hips and stand there like your cape flat. Yeah, I've had this fixation with Superman as long as I can remember. I think I've psychologically, of course, tried self-examination to understand why, and there are a couple of reasons one was my mother threw it on my comic books when I was about 12 because a friend of a friend of hers was a psychologist and it

was going to impede my ability to read somehow when in fact reading comic books was how I got into reading so sure she was wrong she was wrong she went to this age your gateway drug to reading? Yeah, that was... Well, Classics Illustrated were probably the first ones to actually reading books, going from comics to reading Classics Illustrated to reading... But Superman was always big. And in fact, the first time I was ever on television was talking about Superman.

First article I wrote for the Toronto Star was about Superman. Wow. It was 77s when the movie came out. The first one, okay. Yeah. And so, yeah,s when the movie came out. The first one, okay. Yeah. And so yeah, I've got a Superman tattoo. I have a Superman collection of memorabilia. I have a one-inch swatch from George Reeve's Superman cape. This is the original Superman. The original. Well, actually not the original. The original was Kirk Allen in the serials. George Reeve's was his TV

Superman. Gotcha. So you have a piece of his cape. I have a piece of his cape, a one inch swatch signed authenticated, not signed by him obviously, but authenticated by the Superman Museum of Metropolis, Illinois. Well, that's a man again. We've already, we discussed in your initial visit that you ended up at the Toronto Star, which was the inspiration for the newspaper. So like there's just a huge tie in like to the Toronto Star just a huge tie in to the Toronto Star, is a huge tie in to Superman lore anyway. Yeah, the Daily Planet was originally the Daily Star

based on Toronto Star. And also Metropolis was based on the skyline of Toronto. Joe Schuster, the artist from Toronto, when he was nine years old, I think I talked about this last time. Yeah, but we'll do this. When he was nine years old, he delivered the paper downtown, the star.

And he's since told, in fact, in his story in the star, that these were the inspirations. And also, there was the psychological thing about Superman, because I really have given this some thought. And he's the ultimate outsider. I mean, he's the ultimate outsider. I mean he's the ultimate immigrant Not that I'm an immigrant my family's, you know fourth generation I think but you know and and also half Jewish Joe Schuster It's well Segal there's these fully Jewish right there a Segal and Joe Schuster. So half Canadian all Jewish

He's Superman Plus it's such a cool costume. And what were the odds here? Just think about the odds that George Reeve, who a piece of his cape you actually own, George Reeve would be like the first Superman on TV or whatever, and then a guy named Christopher Reeves would play him in the movies. Like what were the odds a Reeve and a Reeves would be the two guys? I know that's really bizarre. And name another Reeve, like that's the only two I can think of. Yeah, I can't either. What were the odds?

Okay, but you met Christopher Reeve. I did. I met, I went on the junket for Superman 4, which was the least of the Superman movies. Quest for Peace. That was the one with nuclear. And 3 wasn't that good. So like... No, 3 was a prior movie, basically.

Right, right, right. But yeah, 4 was pretty horrible. But it was the 75th anniversary of Superman. And there was an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution, and it is institution, not institute by the way, I was corrected on that. Okay. In Washington.

So they had the junket for Superman Four in Washington, and we went to the Smithsonian opening of this Superman exhibit. Right. When they had the original costume, probably not the same one I have a piece of. And these are all sorts of Superman stuff. of this Superman exhibit when they had the original costume, probably not the same one I have a piece of. And these are all sorts of Superman stuff.

And I wore to the opening, I had an embroidered Superman tie from the 40s that I'd gotten in some little cheesy shop in LA. And so I wore that and the curator of the exhibit followed me around all night. Oh, you gotta donate that tie. You have to donate that. Come on, it's your duty as an American citizen.

I'm going well. I'm Canadian. So take that. But then Jack Larson was there, the original Jimmy Olsen. And he donated his bow tie. So I thought if Jimmy Olsen could donate his bow tie, I can give him a bloody tie. So I did.

You did, look at you. And I got a deed. They give you like a deed when you donate something to Smithsonian and I lost it. I have no idea where it is. Oh my God. Now I have a question about Superman 4. So how often are you at a junket for a movie but they don't let you see it? This is the first and only time that's ever happened. That's amazing. It is amazing. They know they got a dog with fleas and they can't, you know, let the critics like you see it because no one will like this movie. Yeah. Well, what happened was going global who were the merchants of of schlock? Well, at least they were cheap. I took over the franchise so they cut a lot of money out of this so

Crowd scenes were down to ten people and you know, so they meant a lot of compromisesises it was originally an idea by Reeve to get him to do it again so his idea was the nuclear disarmament aspect of it but anyway the movie so bad and a junket normally what you do is they show you the movie and then there's a party and then the next day you do the round-robin interviews and I described the mechanics of that last time is one piece of talent, six journalists or so, and they go from table to table. Well, this was quite awkward because the movie was so bad they did not show it to us. That's a bad movie.

Now I'm gonna ask you for what you thought of the movie, but first, I was curious, am I saying, is it Christopher, so it's Christopher Reeve. Yes. No S. But it's George Reeves with an S. I think in my head it was inverted there. I just wanted to, I don't want any, you know, Robert Lawson fact checking me. No, no, it's George Reeves with an s. I think in my head it was inverted there I just wanted to be I don't want any you know, Robert loss and fact checking me No, no, no, so Reeves George Reeves who I see passed away in 1959. Yes in very mysterious

Circumstances, I am convinced he was murdered but it was ruled a suicide There's a whole story there, but the movie Hollywood land basically deals. Okay, there's a whole story there. But the movie Hollywoodland basically deals with that. Okay, there's a whole episode there. But okay, Christopher Reeve, you met him. I met him. And again, this was his idea, the nuclear disarmament part of it. So yeah, what did you think of it? Because you're a diehard Superman fan. I hated it. So you hated it, okay. There are moments of the first Superman movie I hated, like when he throws a huge cellophane S shield at somebody.

Just, you know, or rebuilds the Great Wall of China with his eyes. I mean, I object to when they stray that far from canon, but, um, but they're all Superman movies. And he was so good in that role. I mean, he was incredible in that role. Absolutely. And another also dies tragically. So there, he was incredible in that role. Absolutely. And another also dies tragically, so there seems to be a Superman curse here. Yeah, well, that's often the talk of that. But think of how valuable his life became in the wake of that, how the fundraising he did and the advocating for disabled. He was quite a man, and there's a new documentary Being released probably gonna save it for around the time that the James Gunn Superman movie comes out

But it's called super and super slash man the Christopher Reeves story and now I'm remembering his wife died Tragically very young of lung cancer as I recall and she was a nonsmoker as well Yeah, just sat all around what would happen there. Yeah. Yeah. No the Superman curse very young of lung cancer as I recall and she was a non-smoker as well and just sat all around with what happened there. Yeah, yeah, you know the Superman curse is something that's taught, I mean it doesn't seem to be hurting, what's his name, Henry Cavill. That guy, yeah, handsome guy, they're all handsome. They're all handsome guys, except Dean Kane who played him on TV was turned out to be a jerk. No, he is a jerk. I've seen his online social media stuff. He's a jerk, but handsome jerk.

Yeah. Brandon Rose was a good Superman and a good guy. Nice nice guy. All right. We need more nice Superman. We'll pluralize it here. All right here. Let's listen to a little bit of another theme song here.

Space, a final frontier. song here. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. It's five-year mission to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations To boldly go where no man has gone before All right, Rob, this is your time to shine. Bury me in Star Trek stories. Star Trek. Well, as much as I love Superman, I almost love Star Trek as much.

And I refuse to refer to myself as a Trekker because that's just stupid. I'm a Trekkie. Always have been. Any tattoos though? No Star Trek tattoos. I didn't quite go that far with it. But yeah, huge fan. William Shatner, I mean, cause I was like 12 when the reruns started. And so William Shatner was my hero. And I've gotten to meet him, not only have I gotten to meet William Shatner several times,

I've been on most of the Star Trek sets up to the current one, which I haven't been on. Which is here, right? In Toronto? Yeah, they shoot the Strange New Worlds, the current Enterprise series here. I'll get there eventually. I have friends. I heard Dana Levinson had a guest appearance as an alien of some sort. I'm not a Trekkie, so I can't speak the language, but I'm dying.

I love it when people are passionate about something. So you've you're telling me now I'm hearing it in my headphones. You stood on the bridge of every USS Enterprise, except for the current one. And that's the one in your hometown. I did not sit on the original, although well, because I was in Zygote. Right. But the makes it harder. Yeah. A good bit of a guest alien, though. The Zygo for Mars. I did stand on the original transporter pads

They kept from the original series and put them in the transporter room in Voyager So I actually did stand on the original, okay So that's and Bill Brewer took my picture and didn't come out. And I've never forgiven him. Wait a minute, so he, say that again, what are you saying there? Bill Breaux took the photo of you on these transporter pads. On the transporter pads. But he didn't send you the picture?

No, it didn't come out. Oh, the photo didn't come out. A little disposable camera. Bill didn't come out, you know, it's Pride Month and everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, well it's not too late. It's not too late for that.

No, this was before cell phone pictures and he had a little disposable camera and nothing came out. Anyway, so that was the risk. But I was on, I had a tour of the Enterprise Enterprise from the series Enterprise, conducted by, well actually on the tour with me was Josh Whedon, who was more excited than anybody. He was like, oh, projectile weapons. And I was on the bridge of Voyager and I was on the bridge of the Enterprise from next generation, which was really disappointing because it's so small. I mean, you invent its proportions in your head and the camera.

Look, I've heard the same thing about this very studio that you're in right now. You know, Oh, it's your first time here. It's smaller than I expected. It's exactly as far as I expected, but I'm never sure how to react. I get that. It's like, Oh, is it because you know, Oh, Oh, and I can't name this FOTM, but a top secret FOTM who will be heard on the father's day special that will drop on father's day. Uh, I asked her like, she's heard so many, she's seen so many live streams from the studio. Like like what do you think about this visit to the basement? And it was something like, oh, it's much smaller than I thought.

And you're like, you know, I disappointed another person. What can I do here? But let's get back to William Shatner. Yes. Fellow Canadian. Shatner, fellow Canadian. Still with us. Still with us.

Walk on the wood. He's like 170 years old. He's still kicking around. The guy's ind Walk on the wood. He's like 170 years old, he's still kicking around. The guy's indefatigable. He's... He's been to space in real life? Yes, he's been to space, a perfect man. Interesting story he told me, I've met him several times

and each one is a good story. And he was like a childhood hero of yours. A childhood hero of mine. And one of the times we were talking, he, talking about him being in space, when the moon landing happened, it was post-Sartrech, he was 69, he was doing dinner theater,

and he was lying down in the bunk in his trailer with a little portable black and white TV on his chest watching the moon landing. And this was a guy who was there long before they were. So it was only right that he actually got to go to space. But I just, that was such a powerful story to me. Yeah, that's fantastic.

And it speaks to his career. I mean, he, he's quite brilliant at exploiting himself. He, when he did that non singing singing thing of Rocketman, he spun that off into a really good album. It has been. It's a terrific album, even though he doesn't sing. Is that cover of Common People on it? Yes. Because I love his cover of Common People. Yeah, I listened to the album, I'm telling you.

It is so good. Now, saying all this, and he's been nothing but lovely to me, I hear he's very hard to walk with. Not a jerk. I've heard only because Alan Cross has been on the program and he did some kind of a speaking tour with William Shatner and I won't speak for Alan. He talks to me about it on Toronto Mic,

but in your experience with William Shatner, he was a sweetheart, a good boy. He was a lovely man. He was a lovely man. Good to hear. And all of these things I say, he's a very accomplished individual and Raises horses and does he's such an entrepreneur. He's made so much you want to know my first encounter

Obviously, I've never met in real life, but my first encounter in media with William Shatner TJ hooker. Yeah, this is my first exposure to William Shatterer's that really bad rug that he had and it's like oh then I think it was Wrath of Khan. Some movie comes out and now I'm like, oh that's the guy from T.J. Hooker. That's not the guy Captain Kirk. It's all your first introduction. Yeah, that's totally ass backwards. I'm sorry Mike, it doesn't work that way. I know, I know. I'm a victim of like the year of my birth. But a very shrewd business man, in fact when I did, we videotaped one of the interviews I did, he was sitting at my desk and he wouldn't let me have a Kirk action figure in the background

because he obviously wasn't getting cut in on the proceeds. And I also asked him, here's an interesting shatner piece of trivia, the original mask of Jason Voorhees. Which looks something like that. Does? No, no, it's the, it's the other guy. Mike Myers? Oh, Mike Myers, yeah.

Yeah, Mike Myers got the face mask. Was it Captain Kirk? It was a James Kirk mask. I've heard that. Turned inside out and painted. And he, I asked him about this and he said, yeah, I tried to sue them. Yeah, that's from Halloween.

Halloween, that's it. She's AMC, HBO, Halloween, I don't know. I'm fact checking you in real time here. Oh my God. Let me just shout out J-Ho, who's on the live stream and says that the Strange New Worlds set is off Eastern Avenue, he believes. We gotta get you there, that's the closest one.

And the transporter pads were also in Next Generation, he says. Oh they were, well then I've been on them twice. Now here's, so obviously a Star Trek fan, here's my Next Generation bit. Okay. There is a really best loved loved episode one of the best loved episodes where Picard is killed and Goes to heaven and his arch nemesis Q is in heaven. He made him there. I was there I was in the studio when they shot that that that is a that's amazing. It was all all white

It was like all the light was blasting. I was standing right there. You must have been in heaven yourself. I was totally in heaven and that same trip because I was editing at the time I was editing the Star Trek fan magazine, Canadian Star Trek fan magazine. Wow.

Star Trek Communique. So I had this access, so I had access to the next generation sets. Yeah. And then they took me on a tour. They were just prepping the pilot for Deep Space Nine. And they let me loose on the Promenade. And they just left me there for an hour.

I'm wandering the halls of the Promenade talking into my tape recorder. I wish I still had this tape. But yeah, so I've had a few Star Trek. I wish I had that tape too, because I would literally append that to the end of this episode. This is Rob talking, you know, it's like you're essentially podcasting. Hey, quick catch up. So I've had a few star drinks. I wish I had that tape too, because I would literally append that to the end of this episode. Rob talking, you know, it's like you're essentially podcasting. Hey, quick, catch up. So we started with Mad Men and VP of sales is on the live stream and he says there were a handful of F bombs on Mad Men.

I remember there was like one a year, but he says, according to IMDB, in the history of Mad Men, 14 F bombs were uttered. Now if it was an HBO show, it might have been 14 in episodes, so that's the big difference. Now that Picard death episode was like a version of It's a Wonderful Life, that was the... Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't, I have to, I gotta say, I've never,

I gotta get into Star Trek, you're selling me on it here. Yeah, oh, it's so good. It's not too late, right? So my first meeting with Shatner, this was the junket for generations. Actually, no, that was my second meeting with Shatner, this was the junket for generations. Actually, no, that was my second meeting with Shatner. My first meeting with Shatner was, oh, the one he directed with God, meeting Star Trek meets God.

Very dumb episode, or film. So we're doing the interviews, the roundtables, and they're finished, and I go to get on the elevator to go up to the room Mm-hmm, and there's no elevator and I turn around and Shatner and Nimoy get on with me And I'm like this whole time I've tried to be so cool and so professional and so detached and there's like a 12 year old inside jumping up and down going Oh god, I'm on the turbo lift with Kirk Spock. And I'm trying to be so cool. But I think I'm being cool, but Shatner clearly busts me immediately.

And I'm standing in front of the button panel and I sort of, I don't trust myself to talk. So I just indicate, you know, what floor would you like? And Shatner looks at me, he looks at Nimoy, he looks back at me and goes, bridge. It was so great. me, he looks at me, when he looks back at me and goes, bridge. It was so great. That's amazing. But you were his ghostwriter, right? I was his ghostwriter. They made him editor of the Star for a day.

He came into town. He was doing a one man show. Right. And so they talked to the opportunity. I don't recall them ever doing this before, but I'm, they must have at some point, but they made him editor for a day So he had to write an editorial So I basically just sat and talked with him for like an hour hour and a half and took that Sure and turned it into his editorial, but I did ghost write for William Shatner. Oh man Yeah, between your years your Superman stories and your Star Trek stories. You're you're a happy boy here. Okay. I'm happy. Now speaking of happy boys, what can you tell me about Shelley Winters? Well, it's not, I gave you this title, the capacious underpants of Shelley

Winters, because that's what we refer to the story. I was afraid to call it by its title. I wasn't sure of the content. Capacious just means large. And I only use it because that was when we were going to do a podcast, that's what we were going to call it, the comparisons underpins the celly windows. This is the story that that comes from. And I'm going to leave out names because I think that's- Can I guess the names? Are they famous people that you're leaving out or just- No.

Okay, they're not famous, but it doesn't matter. But I think he's still alive and it would be embarrassing for him. So we would occasionally get freebie hotel nights, different occasions. And this one we were doing Rob and Rita together. And so this one particular hotel, which downtown hotel, which was frequented by celebrities at the time, everybody stayed there, had a resident butler who took care of the celebrity clientele. And so we knew him over the years and we're staying there and he starts coming over and bringing these magnums of champagne that guests have left for him as a gratuity.

He's got a whole fridge full of them. At one point he drags us over to his place because he's living in there and his room and it's just the fridge has always got a big champagne bottles on it. Anyway we went to his room because we couldn't get him out of our room. You know we figured we could always leave. Right. But we just he and we got progressively drunker and drunker and drunker and I think he had a little crush on Rita. He's German by the way. So he was singing. President Butler had a little crush on Rita. He's German, by the way. So he was singing. This is President Butler had a crush on Rita. Yeah, and he started singing German operetta.

And then he had to leave, and this is where Shelley Winters comes in, because he had to leave to go watch Shelley Winters' bloomers. So he excused himself, it loaded, he came back and continued to drink. And then at one point he started to get really kind of weepy. And I'm thinking, oh, this is like the beginning

of the end, please. And finally he says, he brings out a photo album, opens a picture, and there's a guy standing in front of a big car. And he says, my father was Goebbels driver. Wow. He's, you know what? He's basically confessing here, like cathartic for him probably.

It was it was a big moment. I'm like if my father was Corbis driver. Wow. That was quite a moment. Wow okay and it all ties back to Shelly Winters underwear. Yeah well that was just again that was sort of our reference point for that thing but that's what that's what we're going to call that amazing that the resident butler. So Shelly Winters was staying at this hotel at the time. Yes, of course. I guess. Why are you washing her her bloomers there? OK, she came specially.

I like that name, the capacious underpants of Shelly Winters. You never know where that story is going to go. We were going to call the podcast that or this is why we drink. Or my father was able to go. How do you say that in Gables? How do you say that name? Cause the German G-O-E. Goebbels. Goebbels. Okay, you know.

That's Goebbels, driver. That's funny. Okay, now we're gonna do another story. Then I'm going to shed out some partners and then I'm gonna play a song that will lead to yet another story. These are going wonderfully. But tell me if you don't mind about the Golden Globes.

The Golden Globes. The Golden Globes were like the most corrupt thing, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the most corrupt organization in existence. It was basically people from foreign papers who lived in LA, who were based in LA. And if you've ever been at a press conference with these people, they ask the stupidest questions.

And a lot of it's a language thing that it doesn't translate well, but also they're not really, most of them don't actually, at the time, do not actually write anything for anyone. There are 90 of them. So when people- Total scam.

Yeah, total scam. And even to this day, when they vote on the Golden Globe Awards, there's like 90, 100 people voting, that's it. That's the opinion of 90 or 100 people. And it always gets credit for pre-dicting the Oscars. Because basically these people live in Hollywood, they hang out, they get the scuttlebutt,

they hear what's got hot, and they usually nominate it. Now, they will nominate things that are not hot, or would. Again, they've apparently cleaned up their act, but it's gonna take some time. No, I mean, there was one year they didn't even. Again, they've apparently cleaned up their act, but it's gonna take some time. But I mean, there was one year they didn't even air this thing because they were cleaning up their act. Yeah, because they were cleaning up their act.

Because they got busted, because their longtime publicist went public with all the scamming that was going on. Whistleblower. But you could have gone public with all this. Come on, okay. I did go public with it, and I got banned. I was never allowed to come back.

Wow. In real time. I knew that the Golden Globes had lost their credibility when they made Pia Zadora the most promising newcomer of the year. And then many years later, Cher had a movie, Showgirls, no it wasn't Showgirls, but it was a stripper movie or something, Striptease. Striptease, no that was Demi Moore.

It was some Cher movie and Oh, a Cher movie. And it was strippers. Anyway, they paid for the entire Hollywood Foreign Press to come to Vegas and see Cher's show. She was in residence then, and put them up in the hotel, luxury hotel, and they were all the perks and that. Funnily enough, Cher got nominated for that movie.

Wow, what do you know? It's called Burlesque. Yeah, Burlesque, that's it, thank you. Had to Google it. My memory is just so good today. But so, so it works. And I was in a lot of Greece with Harvey Weinstein and... Oh, yeah, you could buy a Golden Globe. I can imagine. And it's weird how people looked at... Because when I was growing up,

and well, until very recently, actually, they always said, yeah, you'll get a clue as to who's going to win the Oscar by what happens at the... What are these called? The Golden Golden Globe Awards. And you would tune into the Golden Globe Awards like they matter. But then I started talking to people like, I want to shout out Norm Willner and people like that. I mentored Norman Willner. I did. I gave him his first job at the start. Because Norm was like, you know, this doesn't mean anything. These guys don't know what they're doing. Like he was kind of tipping me off to what you got you banned from the Golden Globes. Yeah.

But then I started looking into it like, oh, it's like we give so much credence to this and it's like, who are these people? Yeah, they're desperately trying to get some cred now and they may achieve it. And they do to their credit. I don't know where they get all this money from, but they have many foundation donation things. So I don't know how it works, but they are trying to clean up their act. But they know so burlesque is an example of where they were out to lunch, but they typically got it

pretty, pretty close. Well, they're plugged into the buzz of what's going on. So you know, because they're hanger outs, hanger outers, right? Not quite hangers on because they don't quite have a grip. But you got banned. Okay, so you got banned and then it's not the first, it's not the only time you've been banned from a big event like that, right? No, it does. I have been kicked out of better places than that. Yeah, there was, for a couple of years in a row, because I covered the festival, the film festival, Toronto Film Festival for almost since it started. And ultimately, it's become such a market and such a business-focused thing.

Vanity Fair would start to have parties. Vanity Fair has this famous Oscar party every year. So Vanity Fair party was a big deal, and I got invited to the first one, and it was great. But I started shooting video with my phone. So I was under- And that's not allowed. No, that is not in the.

What happens at the Tiff Manny Fair Party stays at the Tiff Manny Fair Party. Well, it's not so much that, it's that they've given the photographic rights to somebody. Oh shit, of course. Yeah, so they. They sold it to people or something like that. Exactly, exactly. Or style, or one of those stupid manges.

So, yeah, so I was taken off the list. But my managing editor, having heard this story, the next year He got invited, but he wanted me to go sneak in So he gave me his ticket and his ID in his press pass and did it work not in the loop I didn't get past the doorman. You don't look like you're managing editor. No. Yeah, I did not work. They did not work What happens when you get caught trying to sneak into a Tiff Vanity Fair party? Well, the local security would be fine with it

because I knew all of them. And you were at the star, right? It's not like your, you know, Joe Blow's blog or whatever. Well, the Toronto Film Festival, despite its heart of gold, became less and less about Toronto as it got more and more popular. So, you know, they would cordon off the Canadian press at a party that's just a point. Yeah

So that stuff's not new so the anti-fair was mostly about inviting all the people who were in town from the studios and Talent and right and it's just said they had their own photographer covering it. Sure, but It was a great party. You couldn't even empty a champagne glass. You would get it like three quarters full and someone would come along and freshen it up. That's a sign of a good party. So between the butler at the hotel and the Vanity Fair party, a lot of free booze flowing.

A lot of champagne. We had a lot of champagne in our lives. So before I ask you about Cannes, you say, that's how you say it, right? Cannes. Cannes, yes. See, look at that. I'm say, that's how you say it, right? Can. Yes. See, look at that. I'm learning here because I didn't call it cans everybody, but I am going to give you cans. See what I'm doing here, Rob?

I'm going to, you know, you got the booze flowing at all these events you go to and now I'm giving you cans of Great Lakes beer. Oh, this is much better than champagne. Much better. That's the champagne of South Etobicoke. That's what we say here. Delicious. I'm telling you, I've enjoyed, you know what? I was out, you know, I had a little

bike ride this morning, biking my kids to school and I kind of was wearing like a hoodie and shorts and I was thinking, oh, I might need gloves out here. Like it was like, it felt like a winter, like it was, it's so, it's so freaking cold, but there has been some night stays lately where I've enjoyed some sunny side session IPAs outside in the sun and there's nothing finer. So get your ass to Great Lakes Brewery and pick up some fresh craft beer. I recommend the Sunnyside session IPA. But you're already getting your Palma Pasta lasagna. You've got more beer.

More beer. And you got a speaker last time, right? I did get a speaker. Okay. Have you? I've used it. Have you subscribed to season six of Yes We Are Open from Monaris? Oh yeah, of course. Of course. Okay. I'll, uh, I've used it. Have you subscribed to season six of yes, we are open from Monaris. Oh yeah. Of course. Of course. Okay. I'll quiz you on it right now.

Al Grego is an award winning podcaster and he tells great stories of small businesses and their challenges and how they overcome adversity. And I love this podcast and Al does a great job. So everybody should subscribe to season six of guests. We are open. Okay. And you got the measuring tape from Ridley funeral. I used that the other day too. Love it. All this stuff is coming in so useful in my life.

See Rita's gonna get all this stuff when she comes over, she'll get her own measuring tape and she can measure anything she wants. Oh boy, she'll be so thrilled. Teaser with that one. And recyclemyelectronics.ca, I'm sure I told you about that last time. Yeah.

That's how you get your, get rid of your old tech, your old devices, your old cables. You go to recyclemyelect my electronics dot ca get them properly Recycled and I just want to send a message out to the listenership So two Sundays in a row I've had plans to record live from Christie Pitts during Toronto Maple Leafs baseball games and two Sundays in a row it poured rain one Sunday. They literally cancelled the game. They didn't cancel the game this past Sunday I actually went as a spectator had a good time with Blair Packham, shout out to Blair Packham. But I did not record of Mike Richards because he had a long, because of the rain. So July 7, everybody, this is a long-winded

way of saying July 7 at 2 p.m. If it's not thundering and storming outside, I'll be recording live from beyond the left field fence with Mike Richards and others who will drop by. It'll be a great time. July 7th, come see me at Toronto Maple Leafs baseball game at Christie Pitts. You got that Rob? I got it. I'm there. You're there. Okay. And one last thing here. I have a great book that was published independently. So self published by Bruce Dobigan, who's an excellent sports writer and his son,

Evan Dobigan. It's called Deal With It. It's the trades that stunned the NHL. I remember from last time that you don't give a fuck about it, right, Ron? I am not a sportsman. All right, you know what? You don't have to take that book, but hey, I got to mention it, and again,

no money changed hands in this particular deal. I just want the world to know that it's a good book. It's a very attractive book. It's a good looking book. The cover is very nice. Very nice. Deal With It, the trades that stunned the NHL. If you love hockey, you will love this book. Bruce and his son Evan did a great job and they self-published it and I wish them nothing but

the best. You went to Cannes. Yes. You mentioned Mike Richards. I mentioned the other Mike Richards, the former Kramer. I actually knew the real Kramer. He has a book that just came out. Oh really? Yeah. I actually know the real Kenny Kramer, but that's a whole other story. Michael Richards was in a movie with Maury Chaykin, the late great Maury Chaykin, a Canadian actor, at Cannes. And he was pronouncing it as many who want to sound pretentious mispronounce it as Con. The wrath of Con. Yeah, exactly exactly so I corrected

him I'm interviewing him in a stairwell because the room was awful so he and I huddled in the stairwell and he's calling a con actually Michael Richards Michael Richards okay and I corrected him I said no actually it's Ken well he said he said well they told me a niece that it was Khan. He said, well, I know it's Nice and not nice. That's true. At least he didn't say the N word. So he's made progress there. Yes, exactly.

And then we finished and I said, we'll say hi to Mori for it because I knew Mori. Whale music. And he says, well, I know it's Mori and not Murray. I liked them in UHF. I loved UHF. Wasn't that great? It was a great movie.

We don't need our stinking badgers. I liked them in UHF. I loved UHF. Wasn't that great? It was a great movie. Conan and the Librarians. We don't need our stinking badgers. The whole thing. I'm a spatula city, if I recall. It was a great movie. I was always a Weird Al fan from Dr. Demento. Oh me too. I show my fan, I listen to Dr. Demento and I loved it.

I saw Al and Cyndi Lauper on a double bill at the Masonic Temple. Oh my god, 888 Yonge Street. They're having concerts there again. I was just at a show. It's a great concert venue now. But before that Bullard guy ruined it, it's great now. But did you ever appear on Mike Bullard's show? I did, and I actually got to meet and hug a lion.

A real lion. A real lion. Not a BC lion. No, this was a real lion. His name was Blongo. He's since died, unfortunately. But he was the number one his name was bongo. He's since died unfortunately, but he was the number one Lion actor in the business like in in

The white hunter black whatever Clint Eastwood he played there were two lions and he played both of them Because today they won't let a real lion do it though. This is you see Gia Yeah, but this this lion and he was incredible, but they bring him in. Originally the publicist brought him to the star to bring him into the newsroom and they wouldn't let her come up. So, but Rita and I cat people really wanted to meet this lion. So she invited us, the lion was gonna be on the Mike Bullard show that night. So we go, as soon as they bring the lion into the green room, everyone is back up against the wall. Oh, before they bring the lion in,

they say, okay, all smaller children and shorter people should get out because he might think you're prey. Oh my God. So everybody else. I get out of there so fast. Yeah, everybody else is like back up against the wall. And incautiously and perhaps unwisely, Rita and I, as soon as we see this beast, we're not running over, we came over slowly.

And so, you know, can we hug him? Yeah, sure. So, we got to hug this lion. Oh, and you hear this, I thought it was a purr, but apparently it's some other vocalization, but it comes right from his chest. And you just hear it, oh, God, it was life changing. It was just life changing. And, spoiler alert, Bullard was not devoured by this lion.

No, but he was terrified. He was terrified. Apparently they brought the light out on stage and it sort of put his front paws up on the desk and Bullard just ran. Do you know who worked on this? So this Bullard show that went, this is the version that was on CTV, right? Not the global one. Okay. Ben Mulrooney worked as an intern on this show I had a private chat with Ben about his Bullard show memories it was quite something and maybe one day he'll come on the show and share those then and I and Seamus O'Regan who's a politician and a couple other people were on a show that shot there at the same Masonic Temple

building yeah called the couch and it was like you know she's I wonder what And a couple other people were on a show that shot there at the same Masonic Temple building called The Couch. And it was like, you know, she's I wonder what ever happened to those other guys on that show. I mean, Rony had a career. My last guest prior to you was an MP. So Friday, Charlie Angus came over who was the punk rock politician. He's an MP, although he's not running

next federal election because he's going back to his roots and that's quite the episode Listen to that on Friday. Oh, okay So can Michael Richards who yet does have a new book because he's been making like, you know He after the n-word incident he canceled himself in his words, you know which is a preemptive strike really and he laid low but he's put out a Like a book a memoir of some sort and I noticed he's doing a little press and all anybody wants to talk about is like What were you thinking when you're on stage, right? So it's like I'm thinking about him. Oh, yeah, if he came on Toronto Mike That would probably be my first question too. Yeah, you can't like the 90 900 pound gorilla in the room

Yeah, like okay, so you gotta ask him about it. What do you think and and The apologists have said he was trying to be The apologists have said he was trying to be edgy. It was an edgy joke. It wasn't, he was just being a jerk. I mean, well, I can't say that I wasn't there, but you know. No, it's almost like he took on like a persona. And I don't know of how, I don't know the man at all. Have you seen the video?

I remember it at the time. It's shocking, yeah. Yeah, and it's one of those things like, okay, so is he doing this because it's outrageous? Because you know, Howard Stern back in the day did a lot of stuff. Howard Stern wouldn't dare do today. Okay. I am all I am. I listened to quite a bit and I'm almost certain how was turn use the N word on that program in the eighties. And there's a lot of stuff that changed. It's like, you know, things you did in the eighties, you wouldn't dare do today.

Yeah. But you know, with Michael Richards, we're not going back to the eighties even we're going to cycle, I don't know, with Michael Richards, we're not going back to the 80s even we're going to cycle late 90s or something. Yeah, but late 90s driving classics, like I said today, you couldn't get that show on the air. That I want to disagree with you, I feel like you can. It's just you have to give it some context or something. Well, if you look at some of the other promos, they're all just

jiggling breasts and you know, it's but there's still boobs movies go there's still You know, the difference is I think like we're revenge of the nerds for example, which always aired on City TV late great movies, which gives me an excuse to play this The following program contains adult themes nudity in coarse language viewer and parental discretion is advised You know, we laughed we laughed our asses off on this We loved it because there were boobs in it like oh my god look at this I can see this on my regular television but now you look back

it's like oh yeah he put on a mask and pretended to be her boyfriend and then they screwed in this dark room it's like oh that's it that's rape okay so it's like you were laughing our ass off so like a lot of that stuff has an age but if you give it you know context. Yeah I mean maybe we could get away with it. I think I'm just being the old guy going, you know back in my day we used to have titties. Have you ever seen a breast? Have you ever seen euphoria?

Okay, it's on my HBO. Okay, who is the worst interview in your career? I get asked that a lot. There are certainly many contenders, but I think the worst worst was Tawny Welch, who you've probably never heard of. It was Raquel Welch We've probably never heard of his Raquel Welch his daughter. I know Raquel Welch Well, but his her daughter and and she was in the two cocoon movies You won't get any older you're never gonna die. Yeah, and he was like my age when

So she She had this was the second one. It's the sequel, so she was in both of them. And she just sat down at the table, it was one of these round robin deals again, she sat down at the table and somebody, wrongly, was taking pictures of her so she held up something in front of her face and just pouted. And I was working in radio too at the time, I was double teaming radio and print, so I had a big, back then they were huge digital recorder to record for radio.

And she just turned into such a bitch. She was like, I thought, she was clearly sensitive about everything. So, and started crapping on the movie, like how much she hated the movie. The publicist loves it when you do that. Yeah, and then like, why do you have her on the junket if she's gonna do this? like how much she hated the movie. And... The publicist loves it when you do that. Yeah.

And then, like, why do you have her on the junket if she's going to do this? And then I tried to find something, because it was an awkward silence at this point. Nobody wanted to ask her anything. I said, well, I thought this was the safest way to put this question, because I knew she'd hate it. Did you get into acting because of or in spite of your mother's experience? Which is a good question. I thought so.

She did not. So, anyway, she said something snarky. I don't remember what it was. And I got so pissed off, I hit the stop button on my tape recorder, the tape deck, and the stop eject, and ejected, and the tape flipped up in the air. It came clattering down, and I was like,

ah, I think I've made my point. All right. Tony Welch, bad interview. Whatever became of Tony Welch? Do we know? I don't think she worked again because right after the next day she was on Letterman crapping on the movie. So I don't think, no, I don't think she worked again. Sounds like she would have had a great podcast though. Lots of real talk in that. So you're Tony Welch. That's like my Molly Johnson episode. If you're ever bored, listen to people. Not a week goes by that somebody doesn't tell me they just heard the Molly Johnson episode of Toronto mic for the first time and they feel a need to talk about it.

So if you're bored with Rita, their stick on Molly Johnson's Toronto mic debut, there's marching orders. Okay. I'm going to play a little song cause it's been a while since I played a cut. We got the Madman. We got a lot of themes, but this is not a theme, but... Just a little Eagles on a cold June day. City girls just seem to find out early How to open doors with just a smile A rich old man, and she won't have to worry She'll dress her up all in lace and go in style See the chorus should be right there. Okay, can we, give me the Eagles on line two.

Okay, I need to talk to these guys here. Okay, Lion Eyes. Yeah. I'll bring it to the background, because they don't want to get to the chorus, they want to bore us. Okay, talk to me, my, because they don't want to get to the chorus, they want to bore us. Okay, talk to me, my friend, about Maureen Donaldson. Maureen Donaldson, the very late, great Maureen Donaldson, she died a couple months ago. Also a friend of Bill, Brio's.

And Maureen, just the most unforgettable character, British, crazy photographer, a fabulous, fabulous. She would tell stories and they were totally impossible and yet you totally believed them because there was always a grain of truth in it. For example, she claimed to have been deflowered by John Lennon. Wow, John Lennon. Now, I've seen pictures of her as like the president of the fan club of the Beatles in some town in England. So there's a possibility that she encountered John Lennon and there's a possibility that

she had her clothes off. But the only thing we can confirm for sure is that she met John Lennon. Now this song that we're listening to, Maureen always claimed was about her. Now Maureen lived with Cary Grant for a short time. Okay. She was his little hippie chick. Wow. And she claimed that this song was actually that the rich old man with hands as cold as ice was Cary Grant.

And the young hot guy that she was sneaking off to see was David Cassidy. Wow, David Cassidy. Again, this story is so bizarre. And David Cassidy. You, David Cassidy. Again, this story is so bizarre. You just have to believe it. David Cassidy owned a horse called Peter the Gross named after Peter Gross. I did not know that. Harry Lefkoe told him to do that. Is there a connection? He loves his horses. Yeah. Anyway, Bill, Bill met one of the Eagles and asked him if this talk was about her. So Bill Breo? Yeah, Bill knows her. Bill Breo said, hey, is Lion Eyes about Maureen Donaldson and Cary Grant? Oh my God.

She was so wonderful. We were supposed to go straight. She's a book on her years with Cary, which we suspect she kind of... Well, grain of salt on this one. If you're lying about Lion Eyes, in the John Lennon story, I mean, I'll have to call up my Jerry Levitan and see if he can... Oh yeah, maybe Jerry, maybe they talked about it. She, yeah, I get, you know, you just never knew with her. But she was just so child.

But she could spin a good yarn. Yeah, we were going to ghost write, again, we were going to ghost write her book. She wrote about her years with Carrie. Although I've since come to suspect that they weren't maybe years. They might have been more like months. It's probably one weekend. A lost weekend with Cary. Although I've since come to suspect that they weren't maybe years. They might have been more like months. It's probably one weekend. Yeah. A lost weekend with Cary Grant.

But she did write a whole book and it sold terribly, except in Canada it did okay, but there was another guy that came out with a much better book who didn't live with Cary Grant. Right. Well, listen, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Her big revelation was Caryair Grant War Woman's underwear. Wow, you know, between that and the, we have the, all the, the Bloomer story earlier. A lot of underwear stuff going on in my life.

We'll do an episode just on underwear stories here. Okay, so loving this very much. A few more here. I would love you to tell me any stories about Jerry Lewis. Jerry Lewis. I've interviewed Jerry Lewis three times. He was one of my heroes too, although only from The Nutty Professor, the original Nutty Professor, which is one of my top five favorite movies of all time. I just love that movie. So he was my hero for that and the Martin and Lewis movies I also loved. So I have to interview him. He's coming through Toronto for a film, horrible film, based on a Kurt Vonnegut story called

Slapstick. The story, the book was called Slapstick. The movie was called Slapstick of Another Kind, obviously trying to capitalize on close encounters. Horrible movie with Jerry Lewis and the unnaturally talented Madeleine Kahn. So I'm walking into a room with Jerry Lewis and I'm so nervous because if you've ever read he does not treat journalists well. Like I was talking about last time with Sean Connery. He is an asshole. First order.

So the Sean Connery story is not being told today because of course you told it in the initial. So people just if they haven't heard your first visit there's some great stories with Mel Gibson and Sean Connery and the grassy, etc. But back to Jerry. So the one thing that Sean Connery and Jerry Lewis have a common and there aren't a lot of things, but is they just eat journalists alive. So I was very nervous and I'm checking my notes and I know they're on the way up to the suite and I see he's got an IQ of one hundred and forty five. I think that's a high number, right?

That's high. Yeah. And that just, anyway, I got up there and I was totally overpowered. And usually I was pretty good at being, you know. Hanging with these guys. Mature, but no, I just, I basically turned into Jerry Lewis.

I was like, hi, hi, hi, lady, hi. It was horrible. It was horrible. And for youngsters who don't really know that character, Professor Frank on The Simpsons is based on this Jerry Lewis thing. We have to flip him. Yeah, you got to, if you know Frank, then you know what we're talking about there. So in a great Seinfeld episode, right?

Yeah. The shoes and yeah, oh no, that was, yeah, that was for the Jerry Lewis thing. That was Mel Torme, though, who was in the old comes back to Kramer. He just had dental work done in Mel Torme. I never saw that one. You know, I love Mel Torme. You got to watch that episode. That's a pretty good one. Anyway.

Anyway, so my second Jerry Lewis wanting to over to make up for the last time, not that he would remember, but I did. And this was really touching because he was doing a tour of Damn Yankees and it was coming to Toronto, but he was in Detroit doing it before. So I had to go to Detroit to meet with Jerry Lewis. So first of all, I'm terrified to be in Detroit, to be here with.

And Jerry Lewis is staying like an hour out of town because he doesn't want to be in Detroit either. So I'm going to interview him in the limo on the way back to his hotel, which will take an hour. So I am stuck for an hour. One hour with Jerry Lewis in a limo. Okay. And if it doesn't go well.

Did you record this via audio or you just take it off? No, I recorded that audio. I didn't start recording video until like maybe five years. But even like an hour of you and Jerry Lewis back then, imagine like, listen, do you keep these tapes or what? Like where's that audio? I used to, but I got rid of them all at one point. You know what, you made a big mistake.

I did, I made a huge mistake. Literally, you could bring it with you here, I would digitize it through this, and then I could grab the MP3, and it would be fascinating to hear you and Jerry Lewis in a limo for an hour. I would love to hear it, because I don't remember what happened.

I wanna hear it. Where's my audio? So one good thing about when they brought in video stuff when you had to start taping it was I've got and you asked me where I could be found online I forgot to mention I've got a YouTube channel Rob Salem 1 and there's like a hundred interviews on it. Okay so Rob Salem and the numeric one on YouTube. Okay good. So all that stuff's there.

Not Jerry Lewis unfortunately. No because you didn't save that tape. Anyway I kissed his ass for an entire hour. I just I researched so hard I found out for one thing he was one of the best trick gun jugglers in the in the world Wow, okay, yeah, like who knew that so I've been about that movie. We've never seen the is it the Holocaust Yes, I did the day the last day the clown laughs or the day the the clown... The day the clown laughed. No, the day the clown cried. Something like that. Something like that.

Apparently, the moratorium on it being released is up and it's going to actually release soon. There is a large chunk of it that was like, I think, a Danish documentary that had a lot of footage from it that was shot on the set. But no, it has not, Harry Shearer from Zoom has seen it. Oh yes. He has seen it. So it exists and it is gonna come out eventually. But I did, yes, I did ask him about it. The day the clown cried.

The day the clown cried. I did ask him, I've asked him about everything. I've asked him a lot of stuff about Dean, because Dean Martin was the coolest man ever born. And he threw in stuff like the gun juggling. He loved me. He signed a keychain, like a special Jerry Lewis official keychain and a hat. He just loved me.

Okay, so we're keeping track at home. The first interview of Jerry Lewis, you embarrassed yourself, but the second one in the limo went well because you kissed his ass. I would say you kicked his ass, but you kissed his ass. I kissed his ass. But you couldn't leave on that high note. No, no. The third one, and this was after he had gotten into trouble for suggesting that a woman reporter he didn't like at a press conference was perhaps having her period.

Just charming, charming man. Oh my goodness. And just the third time, it it was I felt like I was something He'd scraped off his shoe. He was just rude dismissive and Just didn't like any of the questions. He was horrible He was just he was as horrible as we have later learned. He was all the time But that one magic limo ride was enough and I got a really good picture of the two of us together.

He posed with me. So. Okay, good. And you kept that. I kept that. That I kept. I would have that as the photo that accompanies the audio you didn't keep, but I can't drop it.

I'll take it up. Now, you mentioned last time you were on Toronto Mic'd, which was less than a month ago. This might be the quickest return, but you used Rita Zekes as the bait and switch. I know what you're doing here, Rob. She doesn't actually exist. You know what? I doing here, Rob. She doesn't actually exist. You know, I'm starting to think you don't even know Rita.

You know, I don't believe you know her, but you mentioned you had met most of your heroes. And we talked about a few of them, but John Cleese, Monty Python's own. Yeah, I had a couple of times I interviewed him. It was great. There's a great, again, I have a good picture of him and I and he's like six seven or something and we're both sitting on opposite ends of this Coffee, you're a tall guy. Yeah, I'm six. So you keep hitting your head. I was six three, but I shrunk

Anyway, so there's this shot of two of us with our legs up on the table. It's just wonderful Anyway, I have some great photos Yeah, I interviewed him for a couple of things. One was when they did the third attempt to do an American version of Faulty Towers, which was with John Larroquette and JoBeth Williams. Oh, I remember this, yeah. And he was an honorary, obviously, producer on that.

So we talked about that and how it wouldn't translate to America. And it didn't. But they never knew what to do with it. Like one of these trends attempts to adapt it, they put it as a vehicle for B. Arthur. So they got rid of Basil Fawlty and kept the female character and made it be Arthur. And that was Fawlty Towers in the States. But it's interesting how some British shows do come over and are big deals, like The Office and, wasn't Friends based on a? Friends was based on,

Yeah, like there's a few that were kind of based on British success stories. And then some that were big in England and then over here, like a lead balloon. Yeah, Coupling or Couples, I think, was the British one. Yeah, that's it. And then they tried to do it in another reversal, they tried to do an Americanized version of that and

God it was anyway So yeah, John please was wonderful absolutely wonderful, and I want to hurt he might be a little cranky He can be cranky, but I mean I kind of like cranky. Yeah, I like cranky, but also you know you're both there for a reason I mean There's a it's a great art of John and you're there to get stuff that you can use, and they're there to promote whatever they're promoting. And when it exceeds those barriers, it never goes well. But he, I wanted to know about Faulty Towers,

because it's like the best sitcom ever, ever, ever. And he talked about how they did it, and they, like most shows, do index cards with plot points and arrange them. But, and I used to teach this, Follies Dots, we did a whole class on it where- At Humbert? Yeah.

We would connect the different plot threads, and they would combine and resolve each other, and it was just the way, and they would take like weeks to do like one show. And he co-wrote it with his wife at the time, Connie Booth, who played the maid, and they did like six, and then they were off for like two, three years. They didn't do another one.

And in that period of time, Connie Booth and John Cleese got divorced. And in spite of that, they got back together and did six more episodes. You know, worked together as writers and as actors. So clearly it was a fairly amicable divorce. Although I asked him at one point, I thought this was so clever. I said, were you able to work out some of your marital issues, the two of you portraying

this relationship between Basil and Sybil Faulty, the worst couple ever? And I didn't say that, but I did ask him if they were able to work out their marital issues. And he just looked at me like I was insane. So I felt I'd let myself down in the eyes of my hero. But I've interviewed him a couple times since and he was just wonderful, very, very smart man. And what about Rowan Atkinson?

Rowan Atkinson, well he, Mr. Bean was actually invented of a live stage show he did, and this was pre-Bean, and before he took it to Broadway, I took it to Toronto, and he did it at the Bayview Playhouse. It was a one-man show, Rowan Atkinson's one-man show. There's some of it, not the Toronto production, but the same show on YouTube, if people are Rowan Acker's fans, it's quite brilliant.

And so I interviewed him for that, and the poor guy, he was totally jet-lagged, I got him like right off the plane, and he sort of half-dosed through this interview. But he remembered it, and years later, when he came back to Toronto, and Mr. Bean was a huge international hit and he did a public appearance for the video release at the Eaton Center and it was mobbed. Like it was scary day of the locust mob. And so I and then they usher him back into the back room and I'm just sitting with him and

he's trying to overcome. He's just trying to deal with it. He's never had an experience like that in his life. But he did say something really interesting to me because the two shows that he's known for, Blackadder and Mr. Bean, they're very different schools of comedy. One is the very physical, non-verbal slapstick, which is of course very internationally successful because everybody gets it. And then Blackadder, which is very idiomatic, it's very insult comedy, it's quite sophisticated humor. Sarcasm, big on sarcasm. So I kind of asked him about that, saying, you know, it's interesting. I said, I was talking about how the facility he had with both of those disciplines and he said, you know, actually it's interesting because really

the only other person that has been said about, he said this in a much more modest way, but that it was also true of Peter Sellers. And I said, right, of course, yes, Peter Sellers was, I mean, you look at being there and then you look at the mouse that roared. I mean, and the other interesting thing was that they both were obsessed with cars, with race cars. And it all comes back to John Lennon now because I saw Peter Sellers in the Get Back documentary

by Peter Jackson. Yeah. Okay. Very good. Now, last time you were here, I think you were just finishing up your run at Humbert College and you weren't coming back. So like how are you feeling about that? Just you're wishing you had a Humberbre College to go back to in September?

Yes, in a lot of ways, yes. And I haven't totally given up on it coming back eventually. But yeah, I've sort of come to terms with it. It was interesting, I got to do the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, which was last week, and they asked me to moderate a panel for Less Than Kind, a terrific series with Morrie Chagin,

who we just talked about. Yeah, Jesse Camacho from the program. Jesse was there. It's been down here. Yeah, Jesse's a great guy, great guy. So he was there and Brooke Paulson who was also in it and the two producers and Mark McKinney was on Zoom lubing over as Godlike.

The thinking man's Kevin Hall. But running that and sort of, it kind of brought all of the skills that I used as a teacher back into play. And I've done something like stuff like that before at moderating panels. But this one was just so much fun and it got me all enthused again. So yeah, I think I'm going to be looking for something, something like that. I feel like, you know, how Bill's got the old 16. Yeah.

Like, maybe you guys combine and you have these like events or whatever. I don't know. This must be a way to combine your knowledge of TV history and you were a professor of TV history at Humber College and his. You guys would make a good team. That's a frightening concept. I would be your target audience, okay, if it's the Brio Salem program here. Okay, we're going to do one last show.

That's one last show. We're going to do one last story here and then we're going to take our photo, but don't leave without your pome pasta. But before we get to the last story, just to let you know, I love hearing a good story. You've lived quite a life. You've got great stories. You know how to spin a yarn and other than messing up HBO and AMC, you did a great job. But I corrected that right away.

So on your, you know, your subway ride home, you weren't going to be haunted when you said, did I say HBO? I've lost all credibility. No, I saved you here. But the men who would be king. Yeah. Well, this sort of, it spins off of the Sean

Connery story because I had set out at one point, I don't know intentionally, but to meet all of the people from my top three favorite movies, which were The Nutty Professor, Matt Jerry Lewis, and Singing in the Rain. And I met Sid Shreese and Don O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds. And my favorite movie of all time, Man Who Would Be King. And I had met Connery, but I hadn't met the others. I ultimately met, well, Rita was a friend of Christopher Plummer's, who was also in the movie. And she took me, we were in Stratford,

and she took me to a very boring production of Lear. It was like this minimalist, no sets or props or things. And I fell asleep and started snoring. And he never forgave me. No, I asleep and started snoring. Oh. He never forgave me. No, I, you know, that's unbelievable. I think on his deathbed he said, that Rob Salem.

So I did need him, but not under the best circumstances. And I got to meet Michael Caine, also another really tall guy. And it was at a party, it was for the opening of Chaplin, Robert Downey. Yeah, which was good. Yeah, which was really good. And they actually had the premiere in the theater, the old theater that was built for the premiere of Modern Times. And it had since fallen on Rough Times and it was all kind of smelly and urine-y and, but they cleaned it up a bit and they

had – so there's a scene in the movie where they show in the premiere of Modern Times in this theater that was, that Chaplin paid to finish so the movie could be there. We're in that actual theater watching this, that was called, they had a party in this theater. And they were shooting Jurassic Park at the time, so Richard Attenborough was there. Oh wow. Steven Spielberg.

Wow. And Michael Caine was there. And the three of them were standing at the party talking. I sort of edged myself into the conversation or tried to physically sort of moved. Oops, sorry. Physically sort of moved into their orbit. And you know, somebody said something funny, it didn't work. They ignored me completely. But I stood in close proximity to Michael Caine, and that was good enough for me. What I like about the name Michael Caine is if you say it quickly, it sounds,

no, shout out to your good friend, Steve Anthony. It sounds like you're saying Michael Caine. Yeah. And shout out to Peter Gross and all my cocaine devouring friends. But, oh, you never got to meet John Houston, though. Never got to be John Houston. I met Angelica Houston, had a good time with Angelica Houston.

She was fun. She looks fun. She was fun. She had directed a film. She had the festival and she was delightful. But John Houston was dead, as was the singer in the rain list. I didn't get Gene Kelly because he was dead. Yeah, it's tougher when they're dead. Shout out to Ridley Funeral Home. You got to get like a shovel and you got to go at night. And it's a whole different story to meet these people after they've passed away.

But you've met some fascinating people and you've got great stories. And now you've got another lasagna. I am so thrilled. And you're coming back with Rita. Like, you're not just using that as like a character. But only for the lasagna. We're bored with you already. I haven't even met this woman yet.

I'm excited. OK, so we'll reschedule that. We'll get you back. But Rob, thanks for doing this. Thank you for having me. This is such fun. I love doing this. And I got to play the clip of Snake and Spike getting married. Oh my god. That's so wild. I have that on a VHS tape somewhere. I think I'm going to dig it up and go play it. Yeah, revisit it, man. I was watching it. So it's on, I found it on YouTube the whole episode. Oh, okay. Well, I don't even have to do that. Yeah. I don't even have to dust off the VHS machine it so it's on I found it on YouTube the whole episode yeah and I'm watching it off the VHS machine and it's like you know there's Joey Jeremiah's in this like it's like there's a lot of stuff for us OG Degrassi fans you know I had him write the story the right a review of

it of the episode and because I was doing his gig, so I let him do mine. That's fine. Pat Mastery or Annie? Yeah. Right. Did you ever review the wonderful made-for-TV finale of the original Degrassi called Schools Out? No, I did not.

All right. If you had, I'd have you back for a three-hour deep dive into that film. We've done it before. I'll do it again. Thank you, Rob Salem. Thank you, Toronto Mike. And that brings us to the end of our 1504th show. My favorite number.

We just learned Rob Salem 1 is a YouTube channel you should subscribe to. Get more Rob Salem in your diet, it's good for you. You can follow me all over the place, Twitter, Blue Sky, all over the place. I'm at Toronto Mike, you can go to torontom over the place, Twitter, Blue Sky, all over the place. I'm at Toronto Mike. You can go to torontomike.com. But much love to all who made this possible. That's Great Lakes Brewery. Subscribe to their podcast, Between Two Fermenters.

It's very good. Palm of pasta. I've got a lasagna for Rob and he's going to get another one when he comes back with Rita. RecycleMyElectronics.ca, the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, July 7. It's gonna happen if Mother Nature allows it. Monaris and Ridley Funeral Home. See you all tomorrow when we have a deep dive into the band, Strange Advance.

If you're a Strange Advance head, come on by. We got family members and everything. That's tomorrow afternoon. See you all then!