On this week’s episode, Steve and Diana chat with the star of the new hit CBC comedy Son Of a Critch - Newfoundland’s own, Mark Critch!  Mark explains how weird it was to play his own father while doing voice over for a character based on his own childhood, what it felt like to recreate his family’s living room, and the surreal comedy advice he got from Dan Aykroyd in the 90s. Mark introduces us to fellow East Coast comedian, Vicky Mullaley!  Also from Newfoundland, Vicky has a hellova hell gig story, how support from fellow comedians like Mark has helped her career, and why doing ..read more

In this episode, Steve and Diana go on an EPIC journey with none other than legendary comedian and weed aficionado, Tommy Chong. What do they talk about? WHAT DO THEY NOT TALK ABOUT?! Grab a seat and buckle up because this chat goes everywhere from growing up poor in Alberta and going to church for entertainment, to hustling at pool, to the rise of Cheech and Chong, to sharing a jail cell with the Wolf of Wall Street!  In a beautifully unique twist, Tommy shines a posthumous light on someone we should all know more about in Canada - poet Patrick Lane. Tommy and Patrick grew up together a ..read more

This week, Diana and Steve chat with the songwriter’s songwriter of songwriters, none other than Mr. Ron Sexsmith! Ron talks about how Elvis Costello helped launch his early career, how the town of Stratford inspired the cover art for his new album ‘Hermitage,’ and of course - he and Steve wax poetic about the beauty of a ‘good pun.’ Ron shines the spotlight on his fellow musician, songwriter and friend Lori Cullen! Lori describes how music has saved her life through Covid, as well as her collaboration with Sexsmith and Swinghammer. And if that sounds like a sexy combination of words, just w ..read more

This week we head east to celebrate Canada’s Queen (and Princess Warrior) of Comedy - Mary Walsh! As a founding member of the legendary sketch groups CODCO and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Mary muses on why Newfoundland produces so many great comedians, how she’s been playing old characters since she was young, and the origin story of Marg Delahunty. Mary shines the spotlight on her fellow Newfoundland comedian and writer Dave Sullivan! Dave and Mary star in the award-winning web series The Missus Downstairs on Bell Fibe, (which just won Best Performance at the LA Comedy Film & Screenplay Fe ..read more

This week we keep Season Two rocking and rolling along with legendary Canadian musician, radio host and storyteller, Randy Bachman! Randy regales Steve and Diana with rock star quality stories from the road, how The Guess Who got their start (hint, that wasn’t their original name!) how Vinyl Tap came to be on CBC Radio and its new, syndicated home at Corus Entertainment! Randy shines the spotlight on his son, Tal Bachman - a star in his own right, but how could we say no to double Bachmen? Tal talks about the joy of working and touring with his Dad, and the genesis of their hilarious, unscri ..read more

To kick off Season Two of the podcast, Steve and Diana chat with one of Canada’s brightest, energetic and positive personalities - star of the new CBC comedy ‘Run the Burbs’ - Andrew Phung! Andrew explains how including his Vietnamese/Chinese parents into his love of comedy made them his biggest fan (to the point where his Mom will tell people on airplanes to watch Kim’s Convenience). Plus he explains his love of sneakers, Calgary and getting his start in improv at Loose Moose Theatre. Andrew introduces us to the woman who plays his sister Carol on ‘Run The Burbs,’ Kimberly-Ann Truong! Kimmy ..read more

In this week’s episode, we talk about upcoming episodes! Steve is busy preparing for The Debaters Live Tour so Diana and our technical director Donovan announce our Season Two launch date, and how you can see both him and Steve live in person in the next few months! (Fun fact, Diana writes for the Debaters Live tours, so even though she’s not physically there, she’s kinda there.) If you’re keen to see The Debaters Live, check out the tour schedule here:  https://debaterslive.com/ And if you’d also like to see Diana be funny on stage, you can follow her all female improv and standup co ..read more

In this special ‘bonus’ episode, Steve, Diana and our technical producer, Donovan, recap some of the best answers from Season One to the question, ‘The Canadian star system is…’ Guests such as Allanah Harkin, Griffin Cork, Fred Penner, Bruce McCulloch, Terry O’Reilly, Colin Mochrie and Deb McGrath weigh in with what they think the Canadian star system is, should be and could be! If you haven’t already, be sure to listen to all their episodes from Season One, which should tide you over until we launch Season Two very soon! HOST: Steve Patterson (Twitter: @patterballs) PRODUCER & CO-HO ..read more

Welcome to the special BONUS EPISODE of The Canadian Star System, where our featured guest is none other than author, podcaster, keynote speaker, advertising guru, and *technically,* Steve and Diana’s podcast boss - Terry O’Reilly. If you’re a fan of Terry’s insanely popular CBC Radio show and podcast, UNDER THE INFLUENCE, then you’re going to love this bonus episode Diana and Steve dive into Terry’s newest book, MY BEST MISTAKE, and talk about how finding the ‘hidden gift’ in a terrible situation can be the first step towards pulling yourself up out of the mud you may feel stuck in.  ..read more

For our season one finale, we are THRILLED to have the Canadian Queen of R&B and soul - none other than Jully Black! Jully regales us with tales of meeting the other Queen (of England) and shares some of the wise words of wisdom from her mother. She also explains how having a degree in law enforcement has been invaluable when navigating the complicated and often financially dangerous aspects of the music industry. Jully introduces us to the incredible actress Vinessa Antoine! Vinessa is the first Black female lead of a Canadian drama series on the hit CBC show Diggstown (which is a huge a ..read more