Vancouver Courier - Kudo and Kvetches - 2002

We don't know if we just happened to catch a particularly stellar installment of ZeD the other week, but the late-night CBC TV show had us fighting an overwhelming desire to crawl under the covers. Heck, we may even program our VCR to tape it if we can't stay up to watch it-and that's something we never do.

The short films it screened were nothing short of brilliant and funny. We actually laughed out loud. A standout was a short by a Scottish filmmaker featuring Ewan McGregor picking up an eclair on a lonely beach only to... (we won't ruin the ending-they may screen it again). Another highlight was the short about a germ-obsessed woman using a restaurant washroom and doing her best not to touch anything. Hmmm... they should see us on a bus when we've forgotten to wear our gloves.

Hosted by the talented and outgoing Sharon Lewis, formerly of CBC's counterSpin, the 11:25 p.m. nightly show combines short films from around the world (some as short as 60 seconds), interviews, cross-Canada dispatches, studio performances and silly setups that display Lewis's irresistable lack of shame.

We'd like to hate the young, beautiful and whipsmart Lewis for her overachieving ways-she's an author, actor, director, producer, funky dresser, activist (yeah, but has she saved the world yet?)-but she obviously has enough goofy DNA flowing through her body to counter any "I'm-trying-to-prove-something-to-the-world" ambition.

Since we're praising CBC TV, kudos must also go to the always-evolving and up-to-date Street Cents. The consumer-report program may be aimed at the 25 and under crowd (maybe even younger), but each time we stumble upon it we pick up useful information. One reason for Street Cents' continued success is its refusal to talk down to its young audience. There's nothing more annoying than hearing adults change the way they talk-and the pitch of their voices-when they're speaking to youth. Aargh.