Launching The Hour !

Season six

The Hour begins in earnest.
Last week was just a few pre-season games.

MONDAY SEPT 28

One Hour Special with Michael J Fox

To open season six George sits down with Michael J. Fox for a compelling and candid one hour interview.

Recently actor Michael J. Fox brought his Parkinson's research foundation to Canada. The Foundation has funded 149 Million in research for better treatments for Parkinson's disease.

TUESDAY SEPT 29
Author Richard Dawkins returns to The Hour for more debate about religion, his favourite topic in his many books including his latest one.

plus
Credit her with being more than just a young actress now Drew Barrymore talks about her career and directing her new film about Roller Derby and finding your passion.

The film is called "Whip It".

WEDNESDAY SEPT 30
Director Michael Moore promotes his new film
“Capitalism: A Love Story”

and

CBC's Battle of the Blades
begins it's first season of teaching talented hockey players to figure skate?!

With two tough hockey stars Tie Domi and Bob Probert
( other battles Bob has fought off the ice)
If you follow Tie on twitter you will read this; Be one of the first to return to the historic Maple Leaf Gardens for a live taping of BOTB. Tickets go on sale Mon, Sept 28 @ 12 pm ET

THURSDAY OCT 1... NO Make that Friday Oct 2nd!
Lord Christopher Monckton

is a British politician, business consultant, policy adviser, writer, columnist, and inventor
plus
British Actor Clive Owen talks about his new film "The Boys Are Back", a family drama that Owen produced.

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A website of note.
CBC now has an easy to search video library page
where you can find more than just the episodes of The hour you may have missed but other CBC show you may want to catch up on.
Endless hours of fun!

More about The Hour from the Isle

These are all new pre-season shows from Ireland!

Wednesday Sept 23rd
George talks with Economist, Broadcaster and author David McWilliams
You can follow him on twitter here

and Comic Tommy Tiernan.
Watch him here

Thursday Sept 24th
George interviews former Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
and
London born Comedian Des Bishop.
A five minute clip of his comedy routine not suitable for all ages.
If you are of a suitable age click here

on
Friday Sept 24th
George interviews the very outspoken Janeane Garofolo.
OOPS She didn't make it after all!

Here what is on Friday instead...

Irish Actress Maria Doyle Kennedy (The Tudors)

songwriter/poet Shane McGowan

Plus The Hour Season 6 Upcoming Highlights

George's status update from the Emerald Isle

George had completed several interviews in Ireland and last night he posted a status update...

Strombo
Awake in Dublin. Hitting 'The Tudors" set, then to Tipperary to film with Shane MacGowan. Listening to 'Dead Skeleton - Dead Mantra'



It's a bit hypnotic!
Kick back and enjoy!

Mystery Date...This Week on The Hour

So for those of you who like to plan your viewing based on the guests slated to appear... bad news. Welcome to 'Fly By the Seat of Your Pants Week' for what's coming up on The Hour.

The summer long schedule of guests scheduled to appear that we'd been provided ran only till September 18th so to discover who's appearing on The Hour... tune in at 11pm - deal?

I can promise you that there are some terrific interviews coming up this season. A few pre-taped interviews I was fortunate to attend during the Toronto International Film Festval include: Michael Douglas, Drew Barrymore, Patricia (flirty girl) Clarkson and Nick Hornby. One I did NOT attend but can't wait for is the Doggfather himself, Snoop Dogg. Wonder if he was voted the guest most likely put the Green in Green Room?

I am glad to confirm that this is indeed the last week of re-runs and the 6th Season of The Hour will launch on Monday, September 28th with a one hour special featuring one of the most beloved actors, activists and authors on the planet. One of Canada's finest exports -- Mr. Michael J. Fox. His work alone as an actor in TV and film would be impressive enough, but the understanding, compassion and awareness he has been able to generate in his long and public battle with Parkinson's Disease has been remarkable. Yes, his tremors can be distracting, but in recent interviews I've seen, this soon melts away and you see only the man's message of optimism, humour and passion for making the most of what you've got. Pretty damn inspiring.

His Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research has provided $149 Million Dollars in funding thus far and his decision to be public about his fight has taken him to testify in Washington and advocate.

So what's the crew up to then if they aren't cranking out new shows this week? Well... George and a few staff from The Hour's usual crew have taken off to Dublin to tape some interviews to air later this season.

Here's a mini feature on The Hour's visit to Dublin where the crew is taping shows in the chq building... 'overlooking the River Liffey and George's Dock'. George's dock huh? Kismet.

Listed as guests for the Ireland tapings are : Bertie Ahern, Tommy Tiernan and Janeane Garafalo.

Perhaps the issues and constructs of working in a coalition government might come up with Bertie? Tommy Tiernan may crack a joke or two... and Janeane, oh Janeane will pretty much say whatever the hell she wants to - why should she change now?

The irony of the fact that U2 was in Toronto for night one of their two day long engagement at the Rogers Centre as the team at The Hour was flying across the pond was not lost on George. High hopes are there to put something very special together with Bono and the boys in the future.

So... in the words of a fabulous and notorious Irishman - Oscar Wilde - who may as well been talking about interview subjects with a 'Best Story Ever' - a little quote to close:

'I prefer women with a past. They're always so damned amusing to talk to.'

Slainte!

Hour Books: My Years as Prime Minister

You can't look at Canadian history for the past few decades without seeing the influence former Prime Minister Jean Chretien had on the country. Even before he lead the country, he played a huge role in defining Canada as it is today. I looked forward to reading his biography basically because I wanted to hear how he viewed what happened during his tenure as Prime Minister in particular the Quebec Referendum.

My Years as Prime Minister follows the 10 years that Chretien was Prime Minister of Canada.
It is a very interesting story, told in a very personable voice. I found myself captivated at certain points in the book, something that rarely happens to me in biographies. I enjoyed reading the stories that made the world leaders more personable than their politician personas generally let them be. I was particularly interested in his version of what happened with the whole Paul Martin situation. Beyond a being an engaging read, I love that this book captures 10 years of Canadian history.

Chretien visited The Hour after recovering from an unexpected heart bypass surgery that prevented an earlier visit to the show. I found the interview fascinating, so make sure you check out the full length, uncut interview on the website

It Aint Over, Till It's Over.....Re-runs that is.

Limber up my friends, limber up...
Almost finished with the re-runs & soon your boyfriend will once again, join you in your living room for your 5 nights/week, rendevous.
(And lets face it....there's not many boyfriends that dedicated!)

If you can't wait that long & you're in the TO area, there may still be tickets left for pre-tapings:
Monday September 14th - Ed Norton, Michael Moore & Anna Kendrick -10:15AM
Tuesday September 15th - Timothy Olyphant - 10:00AM
Tuesday September 15th - George Romero - 12:30PM
Tuesday September 15th - Alice in Chains, Snoop Dogg - 4:00PM

The highly anticipated Season Premiere of The Hour is September 28th, which will be a 1-hour special with Michael J. Fox.

Regular studio tapings with a live audience will then begin on:
Tuesday, September 29th.

For those of you who have been hearing rumours of The Hour in Dublin:
Info regarding the Guiness contest and Ireland is still to come...things are still being worked out.
(A huge Thank You to Jeffrey P, for taking time to help out & keeping our readers in the loop!)
On The Hour ~ Sept. 14 -18
Mon, Sept 14

Tom Cruise

Tues, Sept 15

Tim Robbins & Ricky Gervais

Wed, Sept 16

Diana Krall, Lewis Black, Bruce Greenwood

Thurs, Sept 17

Larry King, Steve Earle, Paul Potts

Fri, Sept 18

Sarah Palin, Marlee Matlin, John Legend

Get your tickets for the last TIFF pretapes!

In the Toronto area? Going through withdrawl from The Hour? Are you available Monday and Tuesday afternoon? Then make your way to the tickets page on The Hour website and get your tickets for the last of the 2009 TIFF pretapes.

Here's who is on the schedule for Monday and Tuesday.

Monday
10:00AM
Ed Norton, Michael Moore, Anna Kendrick

Tuesday
10:00AM
Timothy Olyphant

12:30PM
George Romero

4:00PM
Alice in Chains, Snoop Dog

These interviews will appear throughout the sixth season of The Hour which premieres on Monday, September 28th with a one hour special episode with Michael J. Fox.

Special Tapings for TIFF -- It's On!!!!

If you're on Twitter and follow any of the Canadian Gossip or Entertainment Television sites - you'll know that the hype is on for TIFF - The Toronto International Film Festival, which kicks off September 10th and runs through September 19th.

From the sublime to the banal, celebrity sightings are becoming commonplace around Toronto... from Yorkville and beyond.

I consume a lot of the entertainment info babble but it's getting a bit extreme. For example? Not one hour ago - one of the Jonas Brothers was spotted getting coffee at Starbucks.
I don't really care - but armed with that nugget of info, I can get my coffee elsewhere and establish a comfortable, Jonas free perimeter. Thank YOU Entertainment Tonight Canada!

That aside -- there is another place that is guaranteed Jonas Free -- and that's the CBC studio where The Hour will be pretaping interviews starting September 10th.

As guests and times are confirmed, they will be added onto the show's website. Keep in mind that with the hectic pace and constant changes, guests and times may change... so be prepared to roll with the punches and be flexible.

So... if you want to see some pretapes check The Hour's website periodically to see who's been added to the lineup of celebs sitting in the Red Chair! Peter Sarsgaard and Paul Haggis tapings are open as I post this info...

Happy TIFFing kids!

Hour Books: The Great Depression Ahead

I received a copy of The Great Depression Ahead by Harry S. Dent jr. when I attended a taping of The Hour last season. I do remember browsing it at the time, but pretty much ignored it after that. For the past two weeks, I've struggled to read this book.

The first time I picked it up, I read about two pages and got distracted by shiny objects. I think that people who either work in finance or have a solid working knowledge about the banking system would find this book interesting and easy to read. Because I lack a solid understanding, I just couldn't get into it. I do think it's interesting that Dent thinks that we'll see the worst banking collapse the world has seen since the Great Depression.

I recommend watching the interview with Harry S. Dent jr. when he appeared on The Hour last season.

A funny week at The Hour

On The Hour September 7th to the 11th

Monday Sept 7th

Author
Chuck Palahniuk

Country Music Star

Keith Urban

Author

Suzy Welch

Tues Sept 8th
Wayne's Dad

Walter Gretzky

Comedian

Ben Elton
The original fighter

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter

Wed Sept 9th
Comedian and Actor

Judah Friedlander

Comedian

Finesse Mitchell

Comedy Team
Cheech & Chong

Thurs Sept 10th

Comedian Billy Connolly

and Comedian
Margaret Cho

Comedy writer and performer

Samantha Bee

Fri Sept 11

Filmmaker extraordinaire

David Cronenberg


Film actor

Bradley Cooper

The Hour is back at work now!
They are prepping for pre season interviews with TIFF stars and filmmakers. You can book tickets for that online if you plan to be in the GTA between Sept 10th and the 15th.
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Entre the contest on The Hour's website and you could win a little trip to Dublin Ireland courtesy of Guinness . (click on the links to see the details)