Tuesday 4 November 2008

Brioux returns

Bill Brioux, the ever-prolific TV writer turfed from the Toronto Sun in January of 2007, returned to the Sunday Sun's ENT section on the weekend.

It was a Special to Sun Media effort and it felt so right.

Brioux, one of the many victims of Quebecor's senseless savaging of the Sun, gained a much wider audience after his exit, which speaks volumes for his talents.

He is everywhere. Based at the Canadian Press, he has been writing for Toronto Star's Starweek, he writes a popular TV Feeds My Family blog, he authored a book on TV fact and fiction.

This past weekend he had the cover story in StarWeek and a full page in ENT.

In his Sunday Sun piece, he talks about "edge" and that is something the Sun needs to recapture in the fiercely competitive Toronto print media market.

We've never met Brioux. He was after our time. But we like his style. Seeing his byline in the Sunday Sun again made us giddy, a feeling that has all but vanished in recent years.

It is the kind of edge we long for in the Sun.

Somewhere, there is an editor who said enough is enough and welcomed Brioux back into the Sunday Sun's printed pages after a two-year absence. We applaud you.

Want more edge in the print editions?

Pull Max Haines out of retirement, or clone him, for a weekly crime column; have the new poker guy write about more world tournaments with Canadians at the final tables; revive the lottery column to give players a voice; more features on the unexplained; a weekly cold case column etc.

But the return of Brioux to ENT is encouraging. Many more, but not for the television guide. Brioux fans beyond the GTA don't get it in their $2.68 Sunday papers.

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