Frightenstein's Mitch Markowitz

10/31/22 • 78 min

I think I was about 35 before I figured out that Billy Van played all those crazy characters on The Hilarious House of Frightenstein.
The series, consisting of 130 episodes cranked out over nine months, premiered more than 50 years ago in 1971. It is one of the most eccentric and enduring, locally-produced, TV shows ever made in Canada. It broke so many rules in childrens television that you'd have to cut it down to about four minutes to get it on a broadcast network today. (Edited versions still play on Crave, Tubi and YouTube.)
My guest on this podcast is Mitch Markowitz whose older brother Riff Markowitz took the idea of a horror-spoof kiddie show to Hamilton's CHCH. Mitch helped produce but also, at his brother's urging, appeared on-camera in short segments as "Super Hippy." Vincent Price was flown up from Hollywood to shoot 400 introductory segments which helped the Markowitz's syndicate the series stateside. Jumbo-sized Fishka Rais played Igor, assistant to The Count, Billy Van.
Van, later a key comedy player on Sony & Cher, also played Griselda the Ghastly Gourmet, The Librarian, Bwana Clyde Batty, The Oracle, The Maharishi and the Wolfman -- the latter a werewolf disc jockey.
Van wasn't supposed to play any of them, but, as Markowitz relates, he stepped in when a Plan-A that would never fly today didn't pan out. Van's tour-de-force was an inspiration to Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and other Canadians who grew up with the series before hitting it big in Hollywood.
Markowitz shares those stories and talks about the recent animated spinoff in a Halloween party episode even "Brucie" -- a copyright-infringing monster The Count was always trying to revive -- would enjoy.

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Moonshine's Jennifer Finnigan

I like my podcast guests to feel comfortable. That's not always possible over a zoom call, but that didn't stop Jennifer Finnigan, currently back for a second season on CBC's comedy-drama Moonshine. For our interview, the Montreal native chose to stay in bed.
That is a level of intimacy and/or laziness usually reserved for close friends or relatives so I'm flattered. Really.
Besides, Finnigan has been spending long days in production on an already ordered third season of the series, shot on the southern shore of Nova Scotia.
Created by Sheri Elwood (Call Me Fitz), Moonshine is about a ramshackle summer resort run by one whacked out family. Finnigan plays Lidia, the prodigal sister who returns from America. When her hippie parents (Peter MacNeill and Corrine Koslo) retire, Lidia gets drawn into a battle with her freaked out siblings for control of the joint.
Lidia's life takes a turn when she finds out her lying douche of a hubby was cheating on her. Finnigan's real-life husband Jonathan Silverman stepped right into the part.
The couple and their five-year-old daughter moved to Nova Scotia to work on the series. They've been having a blast working on Moonshine with Anastasia Phillips, Emma Hunter, Tom Stevens, Alexander Nunez and others. This season, Allan Hawco plays Lidia's new biker boy.
We also talk about Finnigan's past roles, including The Bold and the Beautiful (where she won three daytime Emmys), Crossing Jordan, Tyrant and Salvation. May all future interviews be this relaxed.

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Shantaram star Charlie Hunnam

If you could only talk with Charlie Hunnam for 11 minutes, what would you ask?
That's how long I had with the UK-born actor, who was recently in Toronto promoting his new AppleTV+ series Shantaram.
The 42-year-old former Sons of Anarchy star plays quick-thinking jailbird Lin Ford on AppleTV+'s new big-budget drama. Ford's motto: escape or die.
Hunnam is also a producer on the series, which is based on the semi-autobiographical international bestseller by Gregory David Roberts. Roberts broke out of an Australian prison and disappeared for several years in Bombay. Hunnam wanted to make sure the 12-episode drama captured every nuance of Roberts' book.
Why just 11 minutes? That's just how these press deals work. Other reporters were also waiting to speak with the actor, whose credits extend back to his teen years on Queer as Folk and Undeclared.
This episode does include a review of the series plus a story or two on the merits of saying yes to short interviews, including that time I was given five minutes to speak with Bill Maher.