I was chatting online with an old colleague of mine who spent several years at City TV, both at 99 Queen St. E and their later location at 299 Queen W. The subject of some of the people who worked in that newsroom when it was run by Moses Znaimer came up. And I have to say, I’m still amazed by the talent that went through the doors of a place that always ran on the cheap. My friend related some of their names and has given me permission to reproduce his email.
 
----
 
You’re right in thinking that Citytv under Moses was one of the cheapest places you could ever work. You practically had to give away your first born just to get a pen out of the supply cupboard. (And God help you if you didn’t already have a pen to sign it out with!)
 
Anyway, on the subject of who worked there, you’re probably aware of the famous story of how future SNL star Dan Aykroyd was the announcer for a terrible – and incredibly cheap – locally shot game show called “Greed,” hosted by Rummy Bishop, a relation of Rat Pack member Joey Bishop. What a terrible show that was, but Aykroyd cut his teeth on it.
 
Meanwhile, the newsroom had its share of future stars. Most people remember John “J.D.” Roberts, a former CHUM jock and CityPulse 10 PM anchor, who now covers the White House for Fox News. He left City to anchor a newscast at CBS affiliate WTVJ in Miami, and was discovered down there by the network.  I think he believed he would eventually get the CBS Evening News anchor chair, and quit when the prestigious appointment went to someone else.
 
Richard Maddan is currently with CTV News in Washington, and always wanted a bigger stage than just a local TV station. He finally got it at the White House.
 
Thalia Assuras started as a reporter, worked her way up to an anchor and eventually turned up on CBS and ABC. She now runs a media training outfit in Washington, D.C. (I remember the day her hiring was announced, the then-news director cynically said, “Boy, the Greek community is going to love me after this!”)
 
Muhammad Lila worked as a local reporter for a brief time, and later – to my astonishment – turned up on CNN and ABC, reporting from a lot of war zones. I’m not sure what he’s up to now, but he appears to be a reporter for hire.
 
(Both of the two above names were very nice people, but among the most humourless I’ve ever met. I can’t recall ever hearing either one of them tell a joke or crack a smile in the entire time I worked with them, but I guess some people really earn the title of “serious” journalist.)
 
But perhaps the two biggest surprises are people who let humour be their stock in trade and worked in the newsroom while they were honing their laugh craft.
 
Debra DiGiovanni is a successful and sarcastic stand up comic who once answered the phones in the newsroom. I’m not sure how she stifled her caustic responses when viewers called up to complain about the most ridiculous things. I don’t know how long she lasted, but I can distinctly remember her sitting at the reception desk.
 
And then there was a guy who worked briefly at CityPulse as a cable puller. That’s really all he did as he was biding his time waiting for his other career to take off. And take off it did. He’s since become one of the world’s leading (and presumably highest paid) comics on the circuit and recently starred in his own series called “The Indian Detective.” If you ask Russell Peters about those days, he’ll admit to having done that job – but I strongly suspect he prefers pulling legs to pulling cable.