Tomfoolery
(Canscene) — At a reception last year, I ran into an old broadcasting friend from CTV, now long retired. We talked about Dave Duval, the best weatherman ever to grace Canadian TV screens who had just officially bowed off our screens.
We mutually shed a tear and expressed heavy criticism at the introduction of Tom Brown as the new weatherman. With all the hand and facial mannerisms of an operatic divo this self-indulgent ham “performs” his way through weathercasts and last month also was seen emceeing the building of toy mountains at prominent malls, hotel lobbies schools and other public places….. Grrrr!
No amount of histrionics can ever replace the presence of Dave Duval who had exactly the right balance between performing and informing. But now theatrics has taken over.
Frank Ferragine as guest gardening expert on CityTV
For my money, the most balanced current Ontario weatherman is CityTV’s Frank Ferragine. His crisp, no-nonsense delivery is sometimes larded with welcome bytes on gardening on which he is also the TV station’s expert.
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