50 Worst Shows Of All Time

15th – Manimal

NBC, September 30, 1983 – December 31, 1983

Thought you saw a puddy-tat? So did everyone else who watched Manimal, an astonishingly silly, unintentionally hilarious crime series that starred Simon MacCorkindale as Jonathon Chase a scientist who discovered “the secrets that divide man from animal.” Able to transform into the beast of his choosing, Chase helped the NYPD battle bad guys even though he looks like a “Cats” understudy.

Read more…

Lovestruck

Harlequin novels sell like hotcakes, but do they make good TV-movies? Oh yes, whew, yes indeed. All you have to do is lie back and let yourself enjoy them

“He’s over there,” they said, pointing past a priceless Darracq touring car toward the massive Rosedale mansion surrounded by summer gardens in full bloom.

But the woman didn’t need to be told who Simon was. He drew her gaze as effortlessly – and unwittingly – as a burning flame captures the innocent gray moth. Unable to tear her eyes away, and knowing full well he hadn’t seen her yet, she stood outside the estate’s gates and studied him, shamelessly, from head to toe.

Simon strode from the dark entranceway and down the stone steps into bright daylight. She knew instantly from the storm of emotion in his flashing eyes that he was terribly angry, and when he leaned over the Darracq and spoke with barely controlled fury, the driver shrank back from his unbridled power.

Read more…

Teacher’s Pet

In this week’s Counterstrike (Saturday on CTV), Simon MacCorkindale played coach to rocker and neophyte actress Latoya Jackson—a bit of “stunt casting” that works, says MacCorkindale, because her role was tailored to her “extraordinary look” and “natural abilities.” In the show, Jackson (left, with MacCorkindale) plays a fashion maven with deadly designs on her models for the most bloodcurdling of reasons. “It’s a weird,  off-the-wall” episode, MacCorkindale admits, but Jackson “pitched right into it. She listened and watched, and she learned very quickly. I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve been in the business for years who didn’t have the relaxation and the wit to learn the technique as quickly as she did.”

Celebrity Chef

Simon MacCorkindale, Counterstrike, CTV

Talk about commuting: Counter-strike star Simon MacCorkindale lives in England and works in Canada and France. “Going back and forth is the toughest part of the job’ says the 39-year-old actor, who’ll make an extra trip to Toronto this week to attend the Gemini Awards ceremony, where he’s nominated for best series actor, along with costar Christopher Plummer.

Read more…

The Envelope, Please!

(Manimal Article)

Apparently, every dog will have its day. Even Manimal, NBC’s late, unlamented adventure-drama about a crimebuster who could turn himself into various beasts at will. Some of those beasts have won Patsy Awards, given annually by the American Humane Association to non-human actors. Among the winners: leopards Dodger and Ivory; and Merlin, the hawk who doubled for series star Simon MacCorkindale (above) in his flightier moods. NBC had no comment. However, a spokesman for 20th Century Fox, which produced the series, did offer this: “We’re glad to get any recognition we can for the show. But we don’t think animal lovers will beat down NBC’s doors to get it back on the air.”

Simon Didn’t Die on the Nile!

Riding high on the successes of Death on the Nile and Riddle of the Sand is handsome young British newcomer Simon MacCorkindale.

Shortly after wife Fiona Fullerton (above) welcomed him back to London after a jaunt to Mexico for the filming of Cabo Blanco, Simon was greeted with the news that Thames Television had chosen him for the leading role in the forthcoming TV series, Quatermass.

Read more…