Tyler and Jordie Schwartz started their business of selling retro toys and gifts in 2007 as the Canadian Leg Lamp Company. The idea came after shooting their fan film “Road Trip for Ralphie,” an homage to the kid from the 1983 classic, “A Christmas Story.”

Next they introduced Moose Mugs from “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989). Seventeen years later, they’ve branched out to all kinds of retro goodies, including toys, candy, books, games, ugly sweaters and much more.

You’ll find them all packed inside their Oakville store, or on-line at retrofestive.ca.

Thanks to the Schwartz's, you’ll also find these nostalgic Christmas treats at the TV on Film Party screenings I’ve been hosting at The Westdale theatre in Hamilton. Awarded as TV trivia prizes, they make the perfect treats for fans who know all about A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Grinch and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

Tyler talks about how these retro reminders bring us back to an innocent time spent growing up in front of the TV. Hear him this week on brioux.tv: the podcast.

When Jess Salgueiro auditioned in person for the role of Eve on Frasier, she had to do it in front of a pair of sitcom legends: Kelsey Grammer and director Jim Burrows.
Pressure? Yes and no says the actress, who was born in Winnipeg, Man. She figured there must be hundreds of others lining up to try and win a role on this reboot of a TV classic. With nothing to lose by trying, she told herself, just have fun and see if you can make them laugh.
She did, and got the part.
Now after two seasons streaming on demand at Paramount+, Salgueiro feels right at home on the famed Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood.
This past September she and Grammer were in Toronto attending a public screening of the series. She was blown away when Grammer, speaking to the crowd beforehand, got emotional about having her as part of the cast.
Hear all about her climb up the TV ladder as this week's guest on brioux.tv: the podcast.

Stop me if you've seen this kind of Hallmark series before: an enterprising and attractive single woman (Sarah Drew from Grey's Anatomy) owns a Christmas store on the main street of a picturesque small town. She crosses paths with a handsome, newly single-police officer (Peter Mooney from Burden of Truth). Before you can say, "witness tampering," holiday sparks ensue.
Mistletoe Murders, already launched in the US on Hallmark Channel and premiering Nov. 18 om W Network and STACKTV, does stick to a familiar tinsel template. The murder mystery angle, however, raises the stakes.
Shot mainly in Pickering, Ont., the six-episode series is part of Hallmark's annual Countdown to Christmas. Every year, the production of dozens of festive flicks is an early Christmas present for many Canadian actors and even more local crew members. They shoot these films -- often in warm spring and summer months -- for November and December viewing.
Find out if Drew and Mooney like eggnog, real Christmas trees and which holiday film is must see in their respective homes.

If only The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour was still around to help us through another turbulent US Presidential election. Pat Paulsen -- where are you when we need you?
A key writer/producer back on that 1967-69 comedy variety show was a Canadian -- Allan Byle. Before the Smothers, he worked for Fred Rogers as well as CBC songbird Juliette.
Tommy Smothers, who has a knack for spotting talent, insisted that Blye, then in his twenties, be part of the Comedy Hour writing staff.
The series became a mid-season, Sunday night hit. While tame by today's standards, controversial jokes, edgy guest stars and political pressure led to CBS firing the Smothers early in 1969.
Blye carried on as a writer/producer. He went on to bring out the best in David Steinberg, Sonny & Cher, Dick Van Dyke, John Byner and Super Dave himself, Bob Einstein.
The Winnipeg-born Emmy winner passed away in October at 87. On this episode of brioux.tv: the podcast, I welcome his younger brother Garry who also worked on many of those landmark shows.
Garry's showbusiness credits are worthy of their own salute. He started as a talent agent, representing a couple of pretty good clients -- Elvis Presley and Col. Tom Parker. Garry's stories range from that 1968 Elvis Comeback Special to later on working with the likes of Redd Foxx, Cher, John Candy and more.
Join us for an hour-plus of amazing showbiz memories that will fly Blye.

In Part 2 of my conversation with Ken Levine, more evidence that the Emmy-winner is one of TV's top storytellers.
One of my favourite episodes from his excellent podcast, Hollywood & Levine, is the one where he told listeners exactly what he thought of the recent reboot of Frasier. Some might see this as sour grapes from one of the authors of the original series, but I for one was keenly interested in Levine's unvarnished take. He didn't hold back, and repeats what Fresh Hell he sees in the Paramount+ series.
He also talks about a sitcom he co-created over 30 years ago with writing partner David Issacs: Big Wave Dave's. The cast was outstanding, but the network ditched it after six episodes. Hear why, and also which episode from that series Levine feels is the funniest thing he and his partner ever wrote.
Also in Pt. 2: hear which episode from a classic TV sitcom from the '50s made Levine laugh the most as a youngster -- and also inspired an episode with a similar one-big-joke premise 30 years later on Cheers.

What hasn't Ken Levine done? He's an Emmy-winning screenwriter who has -- with writing partner David Issacs -- written for some of television's best comedies. You may have heard of M*A*S*H, Cheers and Frasier.
In his spare time (!) he has also been a disc jockey, a major league baseball play-by-play announcer, a cartoonist, a playwright, a director, a travel writer, an executive producer, a blogger and a podcaster.
His weekly podcast, Hollywood & Levine, helped make trips to the cottage fly by for me these past eight years. Recently, however, Levine stepped away from the mic. So I emailed him and asked: would he guest on my podcast?
Here is the answer. a very entertaining two-parter, with great stories about all of these amazing things he's done. Part One starts with his start in the baseball broadcast booth, calling his very first big league game at Exhibition Stadium, the not so fondly remembered early home of the Toronto Blue Jays. From there Ken
chronicles his path to success in the big leagues of writing for network sitcoms. If you love television you'll want to listen. If you want to write for television, you have to listen.

This past spring, the CBS action-drama Tracker became an instant hit, emerging as the No. 1 US network series of the season. On this episode, I speak with the tracker himself, Justin Hartley, who was in Toronto last June promoting the series at the CTV upfront.
After a career in soaps (Passions; The Young and the Restless) as well as in primetime (Smallville; Emily Owens, MD), Hartley hit the TV jackpot as Kevin Pearson in This Is Us (2016-22). That led to the 47-year-old actor landing the lead as skilled survivalist Colter Shaw who helps others for money in Tracker.
In this shorter-than-usual episode, the Illinois native talks about his love of baseball (he enjoyed a Blue Jays game while in Toronto), finding success later in life, and about what to expect in Season Two. The Vancouver based series is back now on Sunday nights on CBS and CTV.

When you’ve been busy creating, writing and starring in TV shows and films for a couple of decades, who has time for a hobby?

That’s been the case for Mark McKinney. This son of a diplomat moved around a lot as a lad and says comedy has always been his hobby. Together with Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCullough and Scott Thompson, he’s been performing on stage, film and television as one of the Kids in the Hall since the late 1980s. McKinney also spent a couple of seasons as a writer-performer on Saturday Night Live, helped create, write and act in Slings & Arrows, and appeared in shows such as Man Seeking Woman and Son of a Critch. He also was the showrunner on Less Than Kind and for six seasons co-starred as manager Glen Sturgis on the NBC sitcom Superstore.

That didn’t leave much room for stamp collecting or skeet shooting. On Mark McKinney Needs a Hobby (Wednesdays on CTV and streaming on Crave), McKinney tries birding, fly fishing, puppetry and even tackled hockey playing robots. He’s joined by guests such as comedians Margaret Cho and Deb DiGiovanni, singer Billy Newton-Davis, Superstore co-star Ben Feldman, food critic James Chatto and Muppet puppeteer Trish Leeper.

As you’ll see in episode one, however, he drew the line when it came to tattooing. Hear all about McKinney’s hobby search adventures on this week’s episode of brioux.tv the podcast.